SFIFF 2014: Movies With Terrible Trailers
It's well known that a comedy trailer with no gags is a dire warning sign, but the principle can be applied more broadly. If the filmmakers can't tell a story in three minutes, it's unlikely they can do it in 90. Or 120. Or, in the case of Norte: The End of History, 250.
In approximate order from worst to best:
Art and Craft
The Overnighters
Dear White People
Boyhood
These movies have no trailer whatsoever. Boyhood should maybe get a pass because Richard Linklater, and Dear White People has plenty of teaser on their Youtube channel, but the other two must be desperately seeking obscurity.
Norte: The End of History - Nothing happens in the trailer. The movie is over 4 hours long.
Tracks - A woman starts to walk across the Australian Outback. Everything looks beautiful. There are camels. Then a New-Agey Peter Gabriel-type song starts playing and blows everything.
Of Horses and Men - The description reads "dark comic vignettes", but the trailer has more landscape than horses or men. Two of the horses have sex, so there's that.
Coherence - This movie description reads "Twilight Zone meets Primer", but the trailer is The Big Chill meets Sex In The City (but just the City parts). N.B. I couldn't remember the title of The Big Chill and found it by doing a search for "Yuppie movie".
Manuscripts Don't Burn - Persian men being tense.
Tangerines - A Chechen and a Georgian being tense, but also occasionally trying to punch each other. Someone picks tangerines.
In approximate order from worst to best:
Art and Craft
The Overnighters
Dear White People
Boyhood
These movies have no trailer whatsoever. Boyhood should maybe get a pass because Richard Linklater, and Dear White People has plenty of teaser on their Youtube channel, but the other two must be desperately seeking obscurity.
Norte: The End of History - Nothing happens in the trailer. The movie is over 4 hours long.
Tracks - A woman starts to walk across the Australian Outback. Everything looks beautiful. There are camels. Then a New-Agey Peter Gabriel-type song starts playing and blows everything.
Of Horses and Men - The description reads "dark comic vignettes", but the trailer has more landscape than horses or men. Two of the horses have sex, so there's that.
Coherence - This movie description reads "Twilight Zone meets Primer", but the trailer is The Big Chill meets Sex In The City (but just the City parts). N.B. I couldn't remember the title of The Big Chill and found it by doing a search for "Yuppie movie".
Manuscripts Don't Burn - Persian men being tense.
Tangerines - A Chechen and a Georgian being tense, but also occasionally trying to punch each other. Someone picks tangerines.