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The 5 Best Trailers for So-Far Unreleased Movies

An Evening Comment Diversion / Dustin Rowles

Comment Diversions | August 20, 2009 | Comments (50)

This is sort of a Seriously Random List / Comment diversion hybrid. The title was to get you to click, and perhaps show some more love for 5 phenomenal trailers of upcoming films, some of which you may have missed the first time around.


But I’d also hoped to use this as a jumping off point for our Trailer Appreciation series. What are your favorite trailers of all time? The most effective? The most entertaining? The most misleading? What trailers in your past stick out in your mind?

I hope to include many of your suggestions in upcoming editions of Trailer Appreciation, so let’s hear it.

In the meantime, here are the five best trailers for so-far-as-yet unreleased movies:


5. The Invention of Lying


4. Alice in Wonderland


3. Sherlock Holmes


2. Zombieland


1. Where the Wild Things Are


← Bronson Trailer | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows →



Comments


Blech. I think Where the Wild Things Are looks so washed out. What child imagines a world colored with different shades of light brown? Only Zombieland interests me.

On the other hand, I say District 9 this weekend (along with Ponyo), and they previewed some shit-bang movie, Legion, about angels, explosions, martial arts, automatic weapons, and all sorts of gooey goodness. Allow me to nominate it for Honorable Mention. As trailers go, it was the craziest thing I'd seen since Midnight Meat Wagon. And it features a little old grandma literally climbing the walls, chattering about the end of the world! It will be the Hot Pocket of movies.

Posted by: Lance at August 20, 2009 9:09 PM

Before I even read this, I just want you to know that the clown scared me so bad I almost threw up. Now to scroll up ever so carefully, never going all the way to the top and glimpsing that painted hell-beast again.

Posted by: Pinky McLadybits (aka Dangle McGee) at August 20, 2009 9:09 PM

I think Inglorious Bastardos still qualifies for this list.

Posted by: L.O.V.E. at August 20, 2009 9:12 PM

Lance, that trailer was up on this website recently, actually. And they had me at Paul Bettany.

Posted by: KatSings at August 20, 2009 9:19 PM

Shutter Island
Sherlock Holmes
Avatar
The Lovely Bones
Pandorum

Posted by: Continental Almonds at August 20, 2009 9:19 PM

Yes, I'm at work and can't view the trailers, so which movie is the clown from? Will not be seeing ever, thank you.

Posted by: vikky at August 20, 2009 9:27 PM

One of my favorites was for Silence of The Lambs. Lecter whispering at the end still gives me chills. Also, the trailer for The Matrix was pretty awesome.

Posted by: admin at August 20, 2009 9:44 PM

I love trailers--I always go to the theater early so as not to miss 'em--but have never thought about them in terms of favorites.

One that does spring to mind is the trailer for American Beauty. It evoked the film perfectly and showed you enough of the story so that you understood what kind of movie you'd be in for, yet without giving away anything significant.

I recently saw the trailer for Away From Her and it affected me so strongly that I cried uncontrollably. Over the fucking trailer. I haven't worked up the nerve to see the actual film. I'm afraid I'll slit my wrists.

Posted by: Jerce at August 20, 2009 9:47 PM

For me, it's Magnolia. I love the closeups of the major characters just saying their names, intercut with kinetic snippets of tension and drama, all backed by the smoky, world-weary voice of Aimee Mann:

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4237558041/

The first time I saw that trailer, I knew I'd be paying to see the movie multiple times.

Posted by: sansho1 at August 20, 2009 9:49 PM

In general, I hate trailers. (Teasers, on the other hand, are usually o.k.) They are filled with spoilers, and it's often a decent bet that there is an inverse relationship between the allure of the trailer and the quality of the movie. It's all about money, marketing, demographic targets, and the rest of that crap.

I once participated in a movie trailer focus group, and the person running it was one of those pep-rally types: "Who loves trailers?!?" Everyone clapped and cheered but me. Then the person asked, "Who doesn't like trailers?" I raised my hand. The crowd booed me with jeers of "Why are you here then?" Gee, maybe because the best way to improve them is to give feedback? There is an artistry to them; it is possible to entice the audience and give a taste of the story without giving too much away.

Anyway, that all said, of these five, I've only seen the top three. I find the Wild Things and Zombieland trailers excellent. The Sherlock Holmes trailer is decently executed I guess for the audience they are trying to pull in, but it won't get me to the theater.

I like the old school Hitchcock trailers with Hitchcock talking to the audience. They give away too much in the end in those too (e.g., The Birds), but I like that unconventional delivery. That reminds me of those Fight Club teasers too. It's always cool when they give you footage that exists solely outside the movie itself.

One of the worst trailers ever: Titanic. It's like a ten-minute Cliff's Notes that gives you every single plot beat from A to Z.

Another horrible trailer: LA Confidential. Great movie, but that trailer did not do a good job of communicating to the audience.

Trailer pet peeve: Telling you the entire first act, and then the seriously intoned "Now..." that begins the complete explanation of the second act's conflict.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at August 20, 2009 9:49 PM

sansho1 >> Good call on Magnolia! PTA does a pretty good job on all his trailers. It's led me to wonder if he insists on cutting them himself.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at August 20, 2009 9:57 PM

Thanks Darth. I think it embodies what you're talking about -- it's a true teaser. The music establishes the mood and it gives you just enough dialogue to want to find out the context. That and some great faces, and you've got yourself a kickass trailer.

Posted by: sansho1 at August 20, 2009 10:08 PM

Where the hell is Machete?!

Posted by: Dr. Mo at August 20, 2009 10:31 PM

In the Loop trailer, most recently. Hilariously rapid fire.

Starring:
Ron Weasley
John and Yoko
Baby from Eraserhead
The woman from The Crying Game
That boy from the Shining
NAZI JULIE ANDREWS (had me right here)
Seaside donkey

Posted by: Mick J at August 20, 2009 10:40 PM

Darth: seeing how LA Confidential is my favorite movie of all time, I refused to believe it and had to check it out.

*watches trailer*

"It's like an AIDS test, what's the results? Not positive."

Posted by: Mick J at August 20, 2009 10:47 PM

Okay, so the most misleading trailer is going to have to Vantage Point. The trailer looked fucking amazing, but the movie was boring as ballsacks.

Great trailers- Okay, I have to say The Wolfman looks good. Sweeny Todd was a kickass trailer.
Men In Black remember back in the day, that teaser trailer with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones was amazing!!!
1408 had me hooked immediately. Great trailer.
I can probably think of more, but I hope you guys check those out.

Posted by: Ryan at August 20, 2009 11:05 PM

Say what you will about the movie itself, but I still think one of the best I've seen is the original teaser for Independence Day. For a movie about aliens, spaceships, Will Smith, and Jeff Motherfucking Goldblum, it showed you almost none of those things. Only a brief and indistinct view of a spaceship as the White House blew up. And still everyone wanted to see it.

"What is it, a meteor?"
"No sir, definitely not."
"How can you tell?"
"Well sir, it's slowing down."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PACkdtHKVk

Posted by: Bistro at August 20, 2009 11:07 PM

Is that header photo from "Killer Clowns From Outer Space?" If not, it should be.
Bleh.

Posted by: Lindsey with an 'e' at August 20, 2009 11:11 PM

I've been mightily impressed with the trailers that Magnet Films has been putting together. Timecrimes. Let the Right One In. Special. Big Man Japan. Surveillance. Mutant Chronicles. Splinter. Half these movies weren't particularly good, but damned if I wasn't sucked in by the trailers.

Posted by: YLlama at August 20, 2009 11:22 PM

For unreleased movies I really liked the Wolfman trailer from earlier today, and of course Where the Wild Things Are.

Otherwise:

Watchmen (the first trailer)
Crank (1 & 2)
LOTR
The Dark Knight
Shaun of the Dead

Posted by: annoyingmouse at August 20, 2009 11:56 PM

when i scroll over that clown, it says it's a zombieland photo.
i think the green hair creeps me out.
well, that and the murderous stare.

have i damned dustin today?

Posted by: gp at August 20, 2009 11:57 PM

Zombies and Van Halen = fanfuckingtastically awesome. If they put Kristin Kreuk in that trailer I might have gotten a hard on.

I loved The Dark Knight trailer, the first one where we see the Joker. Perfectly done. It got me even more psyched to see the movie than I already was.

Posted by: Dave at August 21, 2009 12:04 AM

Though I ended up loving the film, the trailer for Alien 3 was seriously misleading. Quickly cut, fast paced, well narrated and it used the most thrilling parts of the Aliens score to really emphasize it. "The bitch is back"? Come on, that is a great tagline for an Alien movie.

I personally think the trailer is mostly responsible for Alien 3's failure and poor reception today. Once they planted the idea that it was Aliens 2, as opposed to what it really is, it was done. Game over.

Even now I watch the trailer and wonder if it isn't for a different movie that somehow got switched at the lab, ala frankensteins brain.

"oops, the good one broke...we'll just use this one instead and audiences will be none the wiser..."

Posted by: Some Guy at August 21, 2009 12:57 AM

The best trailers ever are, without a doubt, Pixar teaser trailers. They get you excited for the movie, introduce the main characters, are usually pretty funny, and, this is the best part, don't spoil an ounce of the plot.

We could all learn more from Pixar trailers, particularly that it would be a good idea to institute the death penalty on trailer editors that ruin the whole plot of the movie in 2 minutes, flat.

Posted by: George at August 21, 2009 1:29 AM

There Will Be Blood. Done.

Posted by: Sapphiar at August 21, 2009 1:40 AM

Trick 'R Treat.

Well, wait a minute. I can't remember if the trailer was any good...as trailers go. It was 12 years ago when I saw it.

Hell, hats off to it anyway, because it heralded the (eventual) release of a movie about Halloween that is actually about...you know...Halloween.

Posted by: laredo at August 21, 2009 2:03 AM

For misleading I would have to go with A Thin Red Line, the trailer made it look like fucking Saving Private Ryan, the movie turned out being suck my nuts for awhile and dabble in boredom. The only film in my entire life I was minutes away from walking out on.

Posted by: Deistbrawler at August 21, 2009 2:18 AM

Deistbrawler,
You got the film genre right, but the wrong trailer. The most compelling WWII movie trailer that ended up being a festering turd was Pearl Harbor. I'm a cynical asshole that likes to think I'm above such sentimental schlock, but Jon Voit reciting FDR's speech to congress with the slow motion shots of kids playing baseball, clothes drying on the line with planes flying by and bombs dropping and all that crap, it got me. Of course it was directed by Michael Bay and starred Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett's squinty face. It was by no means a shocker when it sucked my choad. But a damn fine example of the deceptive effectiveness of a good trailer.

Again, horrible movie. But damn fine trailer.

Posted by: heybulldog at August 21, 2009 2:57 AM

LoL

Sexy ++ ++ Love ++ Celebrity Singles +++NBAplayer
====
~~~T a l l l o v i n g.c O m~~

Posted by: tallloving c o m at August 21, 2009 3:03 AM

Sooo... fuck this list?

Posted by: Jared at August 21, 2009 4:59 AM

Speaking of spoiler-trailers, I remember seeing the trailer for Cast Away where it showed Tom Hanks' character hugging his wife on the runway (I think).
When I watched the movie and that didn't happen BEFORE he took off in the plane, I knew he came back alive so the rest of the movie just felt like I was going through the motions.

Posted by: missh at August 21, 2009 6:40 AM

How can no one have mentioned the best part of Grindhouse? The faux trailers in that movie were so good that two of them are being made into actual movies. Thanksgiving, Machete, Werewolf women of the SS (Nicholas Cage as Fu Manchu!) and Don't.

Posted by: Mrcreosote at August 21, 2009 7:02 AM

I love trailers, because they can make even the shittiest movie look great. I'm also one of the few people (apparently) who isn't bothered by spoilers, so even trailers that give away a lot are OK by me. I'm interested in the dialog and acting and directing, and knowing how a movie ends doesn't really ruin that for me.

Although I do wish they'd break away from the popular format of having a lot of talky bits at the start, then playing the frantic music as the pace of the cuts increase until everything is a blur. The Zombieland trailer is great in how they match the images to the music.

I wonder if that Invention of Lying film is based on a book I read a while back in which children are conditioned to never, ever lie by subjecting them to horrific pain while they are forced to recite lies. After that the thought of saying anything untrue is unbearable because they associate it with great physical pain. Despite all that, the book was quite funny. One guy asks his kid's teacher how he puts up with the brats all day and the guy responds with, "I'm frequently drunk"; signs in elevators warn that they are "maintained by people who hate their jobs"; people diagnosed with terminal illnesses are given pamphlets that read "Cancer and You: The News is All Bad". It was an interesting world.

Posted by: DeadBessie at August 21, 2009 7:47 AM

I'm very excited to see Alice in Wonderland despite the fact Burton did exactly what I didn't want him to do... that is, visually similar to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Honestly though... I think the trailer is garbage. I'd agreee with the remaining choices... although I think the trailer to 9 with Coheed and Cambria playing is f'n brilliant.

Posted by: Colin at August 21, 2009 8:04 AM

By the way, can something be done about the text wrapping with the posts?! I can never read everything people write... even if my browser is full screen.

Posted by: Colin at August 21, 2009 8:08 AM

I got laughed at by employees when I came out of 500 Days of Summer because I may have squealed when I saw a Where the Wild Things Are poster. I certainly stood there far longer than I should have with a huge grin on my face and might have shed a tear. So...beautiful.

I will be crushed if it turns out to be merely mediocre. I need it to be incredible or atrocious. I need a reaction other than "pretty pretty CGI" and "squee!"

Posted by: Robert at August 21, 2009 8:08 AM

I love, love, love, the UK/European trailer for Breakfast on Pluto; the one with no dialogue just a collection of scenes from the film set to Dusty Springfield's "The Windmills of Your Mind".

Posted by: CurlieQt at August 21, 2009 8:10 AM

Just saw the trailer for Dorian Gray and that looks shitballs awesome

Posted by: Ben at August 21, 2009 8:28 AM

The best trailer ever was for Sin City. That song was so good (the servant: cells) that I remember being pissed when they didn't use it in the movie. I don't know how you could watch that trailer and not get excited for that movie. Even my gf who hates violence and action movies was excited for sin city.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKFLrTYKIXk

Posted by: "luker" the barbarian at August 21, 2009 9:00 AM

The Spider-Man 2 trailer where it was just him and Mary Jane in the coffee shop was one of the best I've ever seen. REALLY got me excited to see the movie.

There was a trailer for Babel that was really great, with a bunch of the best images from the movie, but I've never been able to find it anywhere since the movie came out.

And colin, I feel your pain. I don't know what the deal is with that.

Posted by: Todd at August 21, 2009 9:04 AM

Where the Wild Things Are: One of the most pitch perfect trailers I can think of. So simple, sweet and magical. And human beings are finally learning who the Arcade Fire are! (Took them long enough)

Broken Embraces: I'm a sucker for two things in particular: Film Noir and Almodovar. So to see the trailer for his haunting new film really sends chills down my spine. Then again, it uses a Cat Power song, which also helps.

The Lovely Bones: Being an occasional movie extra as well as a citizen of the state of Pennsylvania, I was lucky enough to land a job in The Lovely Bones. So not only does the trailer look like a bold and faithful adaptation of a great novel, but I'm in it!

Alice in Wonderland: Here's a film that combines the right amount of spooky and fun and cool into the mix. Though my friend put it best, it'll be like almost every other Tim Burton film, very good, but not great. For the time being, it looks great, though I cannot stand Anne Hathaway.

Nine: I'm especially excited for Nine, having recently seen and loving 8 1/2, Nine sounds like a truly fun and elaborate musical. Its trailer shows enough footage that it needs to, so you're not convinced you know the full story.

Posted by: Kamikaze Feminist at August 21, 2009 10:02 AM

I'm going to have to nominate the trailer for Religulous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdkyLrDpaUg

It's extremely well done, funny, and clever. I personally didn't like the movie very much, but I still enjoy the trailer. It got a lot of people to go see the film, at least out of my friends.

Posted by: Sean at August 21, 2009 12:03 PM

What the fuck? NO ONE mentioned Legion??

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/legion/

GO.

Posted by: AmbroseKalifornia at August 21, 2009 12:36 PM

Colin and Todd, it looks just fine to me- text-wrapping where there should be text-wrapping. I'm using Firefox.

In regards to trailers, Legion looks really awesome, and I'm not usually into bloody movies. Because of the greatness of the trailer though, I am looking forward to seeing the movie. I do agree that spoilers in trailers are annoyingly common though, especially for action movies, where they often show the best bits of the culminating fight, so you know where the entire movie is leading.

Posted by: Phaeolus at August 21, 2009 12:43 PM

Posted by: Lucas at August 21, 2009 1:17 PM

Zombieland=bad ass awesomeness

Posted by: dammitjanet at August 21, 2009 3:06 PM

Phaeolus, I think it's just because I'm using IE6 on my work laptop.

And in order to upgrade to IE7 or whatever I have to get Data Security access which is a pain in my ass.

Posted by: Colin at August 21, 2009 3:15 PM

I still think the Little Children trailer was fantastic. It's that train whistle, man!

My benchmark for misleading trailers is probably The Beach. DiCaprio screaming, "I WILL NOT. DIE. TODAY!" out of context really made it look like a thriller when it kind of wasn't...at all.

Posted by: littlesilverboulder at August 21, 2009 8:20 PM

"Sherlock Holmes" trailer reminds me of "Wild Wild West".

Posted by: Shazinator at August 23, 2009 12:55 PM

I thought that Alice In Wonderland trailer was ten kinds of lame. How about The Boat That Rocked?

Posted by: Christian H at August 23, 2009 3:18 PM