Posts filed under 'hype'
March 31st, 2009
If you want to see how imaginative movie advertising used to be, point your browser in the direction of SCENES FROM THE MORGUE, a great lil’ blog collecting all sorts of old movie ads. This month has been a salute to Alfred Hitchcock (a guy who knew how to promote a movie), but they’re all pretty good. Here, for example, is Hitch himself hyping PSYCHO…
The deal with PSYCHO, in case you don’t know, was that Hitchcock “insisted” that no one could enter the theater after the movie had started. I have no idea if anyone was kept out — I can’t imagine theater owners turning down a paid admission — but the hype worked, PSYCHO was a hit and the rest was history.
October 23rd, 2008
With the release of a few new seconds of footage, it’s inevitable that the folks behind WATCHMEN would be releasing a new teaser poster — and here it is:
If you’ve read the comic, you know exactly what this scene is showing — who the guy is, who tossed him out the window and who finds that blood-spattered smiley face badge.
October 9th, 2008
Over at his fascinating movie blog, Greenbriar Picture Shows, John McElwee takes a loving look at the pairing of FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA in movie theaters. Seems like a natural, almost inevitable idea now, but that wasn’t always the case. As McElwee says…
“For seven years after their initial release in 1931, showmen regarded them separately. Playdates were infrequent as Universal provided sequels (BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA’S DAUGHTER) beginning right where originals left off, but there were gold deposits untapped even as the mine’s route lay not hidden, but in plain sight. The magic was in combining them, but nobody thought of that until seemingly bungled reissues of FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA suddenly caught fire together in August 1938.”
Here’s part one, and here’s part two. They’re long articles, but well worth reading. And Greenbriar always features an amazing amount of rare promotional art. I can only image what McElwee’s personal archives look like — and boy, and I jealous.
August 18th, 2008
That’s the tagline for Oliver Stone’s Bush biopic, W, which arrives in theaters Oct. 26. Here are the posters that go with it, featuring Josh Brolin in the big chair. (Images courtesy of Hollywood Elsewhere.)
In case you were wondering, “misunderstimated” is a word (or non word) our president has used. More than once.
So what do you think of this ad campaign — and, more generally, this movie? Obviously Stone is no Bush fan, but I thought his underrated 1995 biopic NIXON was surprisingly sympathetic. NIXON, by the way, arrives on DVD tomorrow in a new edition, and is worth another look. I’ll probably review it in the next few weeks.
August 1st, 2008
If you get sick of reading about WATCHMEN between now and next spring, when it opens, I apologize in advance — but as a comic book fan who devoured the original series when it was published way back in the mid 1980s, I’m jazzed about the movie. Yes, I realize it could be a completely dud, but so far, director Zack Snyder and crew seem to be hitting all the right notes.
Take, for instance, these new promo posters Warner Bros. has released. They capture the mood of the story perfectly, probably because they’re photographic recreations of posters original artist Dave Gibbons drew 20 years ago to hype the comic. Well, most of them are. This one, featuring Carla Gugino as the original Silk Spectre, is completely new — but somehow captures the humor, nostalgia and spirit of the others. And who’s going to complain about Ms. Gugino dressed up as a superhero? Not me!
Check out the rest of the posters here.
June 25th, 2008
Not long ago, I posted a trailer for THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, the movie due out this Christmas that reunites director David Fincher with actor Brad Pitt (and, since they teamed up on both SEVEN and FIGHT CLUB, there’s reason to believe this could be something special). Now the official trailer has been released, and it’s pretty amazing. You get to see a lot more of Pitt in his old man/young man makeup, and the epic scope of the film becomes more obvious. Take a look:
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May 8th, 2008
Want to see the first seven minutes of SPEED RACER? Click here.
Two observations:
1. It looks amazing. Like no other movie I’ve ever seen. Candy-colored, crystal-clear and the closest a live-action movie has ever come to capturing the visual craziness of a cartoon.
2. I’m not sure I could withstand 2 hours and 9 minutes of this — especially considering this is the (comparatively) quiet part.
April 14th, 2008
In the comments section of last week’s post about THE INCREDIBLE HULK, reader Brian put the upcoming SPEED RACER movie way at the bottom of the summer movie list, saying it would only appeal to “young kids and masochistic viewers.” You might be right, Brian — some of that dialogue is beyond lame, and I question the use of Matthew “I’m acting as woodenly as I can” Fox in the pivotal role of the ultra-cool Racer X.
But as a boy who spent his formative years watching the high speed thrills and crashing carnage of the original SPEED RACER cartoon, I have to admit I’m looking forward to this one, and not just out of some warped sense of nostalgia (though that’s part of it). Looking at the trailers, I see a very real possibility that — at least on a purely visual level –this could be a groundbreaking movie. I can’t think of a time that the bright, pop-off-the-screen, candy-colored punch of cartoons has been brought to live-action with such zip and zing. Just check out this trailer…
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/8aLwVYmcBg8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
I think we’re looking at something new here, something that takes the comic book physics of THE MATRIX movies (the Wachowski brothers’ last cinematic effort) and throws it right out the window, replacing it with something even wilder (and a heck of a lot more colorful). The way those cars bounce around mirrors the original cartoon perfectly, and even the quiet scenes pop right off the screen. Personally, I can’t wait to see this one, and on the biggest screen possible.
It is interesting to see Emile Hirsch, who starred in the ultra-serious INTO THE WILD, take on the role of Speed, but he seems to have the right wide-eyed wonder to carry it off. (Something he had, in fact, during INTO THE WILD, too.) And speaking of wide-eyed, if there’s a better casting choice for Trixie (Speed’s girlfriend) than Christina Ricci, I can’t think of it. She’s practically an anime character come to life. Not since her early work as Wednesday Addams has a role fit her this well. Even Matthew Fox seems well-used, with a digital boost making his voice even more robotic — and more fitting for the mysterious Racer X.
And if you need one more reason to be hopeful, there’s this: With all the computer-generated imagery packed into every frame of this film, they used a real chimp to play Chim Chim. Now that’s entertainment.
April 10th, 2008
There’s trouble in Hulk-land, according to this article from the New York Times.
For one thing, the recently unveiled trailer got a decidedly mixed reaction from fans and critics. As the article says, “The look of the new Hulk — meaner and greener — won praise from some fans online, but several influential tastemakers held their noses. Entertainment Weekly pronounced the computer-generated effects ‘totally fake-looking,’ while obsessedwithfilm.com deemed the project ‘just hideous.’ ”
To add to the troubles, the movie stars Edward Norton — a very talented actor, but apparently not the easiest guy to work with when the movie isn’t what he wants it to be. (See also AMERICAN HISTORY X and THE ITALIAN JOB). Asked to respond to reports of friction between the studio and Norton (who is also working on the script), the Times article quotes Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel, then offers a helpful explanantion of Hollywood-ese:
“When you get to this point in the process, there are always lots of passionate discussions,” he said. “Edward is very passionate. He is as passionate about the Hulk as we are.” (For those unaccustomed to Hollywood speak, “very passionate” roughly translates to a seven on the “he’s a difficult person” scale.)
THE INCREDIBLE HULK is set to open on June 13, and it’s far from the only game in town. THE DARK KNIGHT (the new Batman movie), IRON MAN (also based on a Marvel Comics character), SPEED RACER (from the Matrix boys, the Wachowski brothers), HANCOCK (Will Smith’s movie about a down-and-out superhero) and, of course, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL will all be competing for the same audience, and bad word of mouth combined with the lackluster reception to Ang Lee’s 2003 HULK movie could spell Doom for this Marvel movie, and I’m not talking about Dr. Doom.
Here’s the trailer. What do you think?
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ia3uPDuojmU" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
February 14th, 2008
Of course you do! So just click here, then come back and tell me what you think.
Here are a few observations after an initial viewing:
1. At first, I was worried they were focusing too much on Indy as an icon, getting overly serious in recapping the previous three films. Then the footage from the new one started and the fun kicked in almost immediately. Nice to see Indy’s seat-of-the-pants style and deadpan sense of humor remains intact.
2. I don’t know if the stuntwork got a CGI boost, but it looks real, and that’s what counts. And that looks like Harrison Ford swinging from the whip, which counts even more.
3. I like how Shia LaBeouf is amazed Indy is, in fact, a teacher. Those scenes of him actually in front of a classroom at the beginning of RAIDERS are a great counterpoint to the craziness that follows.
4. No signs of Karen Allen (playing Marion) that I could see, but plenty of Cate Blanchett as the villain.
5. Did I see the words “Roswell, New Mexico”? – guess we know what that means.
6. I can’t imagine any film fan watching this trailer and not having a smile on his face when it’s over. This sort of thing is the reason I love movies.
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