Wednesday, November 29, 2006
The Ten Best Trailers I've Seen - #10
Preface: These ten movie trailers are by no means the ten best ever. Hell, they're probably not even truly the ten best I've seen. But they are the ten best that I can remember, for one reason or another. So here we go.

I'm going to point out five things for each trailer: the "money shot" (the moment that really hits you and makes you remember it), how it is musically, how it is visually/cinematically, the ending, and any extra, special reasons why it is effective.

Bowling for Columbine - View Hi-Res Trailer

Let's get one thing clear. I didn't particularly enjoy this movie. I didn't think it was as hilarious as most people thought, and in fact was blatantly manipulative and used cheap ploys for effect. And I loathe Michael Moore. I want to push him down a hill covered in jagged glass and hungry fire ants.

That being said, the trailer for the movie is quite effective. It gets right down to business and tells you immediately what it's about, and has a good mix of interesting and humorous clips from the movie.

Money Shot: Probably the first "highlight" of the trailer is the scene where Moore signs up for the bank account that comes with a free gun. Probably more than anything else in the trailer - or the entire movie, for that matter - this scene singlehandedly illustrates what Moore is trying to show people. It's perfect for the film, because it makes you say "What? No way that's true, that's just idiotic." Which is exactly Moore's point.

Musically: Pretty plain, but the whimsical mood appropriately fits the tongue-in-cheek nature of the film.

Visually: Plain. Nothing extra here.

The Ending: Clears up the title pretty good, while getting in another of Moore's famous "silly theoretical questions that in retrospect isn't so silly." Straightforward but good ending.

Extras: None. This trailer is exactly what it aims to be, and is exactly how the movie is. It is unremarkable, but very solid.

In conclusion, the trailer for Bowling for Columbine is plain and unimaginative, but it does a efficient job of selling the movie by telling you exactly what you'll be seeing. Plus, the whole idea of opening a bank account and getting a free gun is just TOO INSANE not to stick in your head after seeing it.


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Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Lately I've been cataloguing a list of the best movie trailers I've ever seen. Not necessarily for the best movies, or even for movies I liked. I'm talking about just the trailer itself. I'll be posting a top 10 list starting tomorrow, but just to get into the spirit of things, I thought I'd start with the ABSOLUTELY WORST TRAILER ever imaginable: Stomp the Yard.

Now granted, this might be a little unfair because well, look at the movie...I don't know what else they could have done. But it's almost like they tried to incorporate every horrible cliche into a single, vomit-inducing package.

It's like West Side Story meets Remember the Titans meets...I don't know, Wu-Tang Clan, or something. With dancing. Sorry, "stepping". As if that isn't the most retarded name ever. Anyways, just watch it.



To summarize, and quote from the trailer: "What the hell are they doing?" I honestly think this is the only non-comedy trailer I've seen that has literally made me burst out laughing in the middle of the theater.


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Thursday, November 23, 2006
Okay, so this Sam McGuffie guy is a pretty good football player.



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Sunday, November 19, 2006
Nick: It's tough to top the giving of weapons as gifts.

Very true. How very true.

The Sony Playstation 3 came out this weekend, for like $800 or something insane like this. Perhaps almost as ridiculous as the price tag was the lengths people have been going to to get one of these systems. We're talking paying hobos $100/day to stand in line for them, a pregnant woman trying to ignore her contractions because she was in line, following people home from Best Buy and breaking into their cars to try to get one, ski mask-wearing robbers terrorizing and shooting people in line (and other miscellaneous beatings, stabbings, and thuggery), full scale riots in Boston (requiring 12 police cars) and drive-by shootings at the people lining up.

And now, my personal fave. One Wal-Mart in Wisconsin had 50 people line up outside, but the store only had 10 systems. So what did they do? The assistant manager lined up ten chairs and had the group race to see who would get a seat (and PS3). The results? Tramplings, chaos, hospital injuries, and unbridled anarchy. One guy got shoved as he was running and ran facefirst into a metal pole. (Video link)

Quite a contrast from the Wii, which is a third of the PS3's price. Like this story about a guy who was given an extra Wii claim ticket so he wouldn't have to go all around town. Oh, and this story about a calm lineup with people tagging along with friends just to keep them company while they waited. One group was even playing Risk! Quite a difference.


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Friday, November 03, 2006
I almost want an Xbox 360 just so I can play this game.



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