Fan Rant: Those Kids and Their Scorsese Jones
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense, Disney, Paramount, Exhibition, Family Films, Fan Rant, Trailers and Clips
While attending a midnight showing of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra last week, we got a surprisingly diverse group of trailers attached to a movie that's based on a kid's property, but has no shortage of impaled skulls and throwing stars to the eye sockets (but it's bloodless, Prince Caspian-style, so it's okay!).
The one that got the biggest rise out of the audience was that of Old Dogs, from the director of Wild Hogs (get it?) and starring Robin Williams and John Travolta as swinging bachelors suddenly saddled with kids to care for and forced, one would gather, to learn new tricks (get it?). And lo, the audience did howl, and lo, I did slouch further and further into my seat. A kid is hit in the head by a ball! Williams loses depth perception after the brats mix up his meds! Seth Green is being cuddled by a gorilla that gets angry if he doesn't sing for it! John Travolta gets pecked in the head by aggravated penguins! Sweet Charlie Chaplin's ghost, that there's a knee-slapper!
Immediately after came a trailer for acclaimed director Martin Scorsese's latest thriller, Shutter Island. A spooky-looking mystery starring Leonardo DiCaprio and based on a Dennis Lehane novel, it shut the crowd right up. Booming thunder and crashing waves, flickering lights in dank hallways, Jackie Earle Haley looking freaky and Ben Kingsley looking even freakier by virtue of just being there – there were murmurs afterward of modest approval, but in a crowd filled with some little kids and mostly big ones, it was a tonal turn from which the pre-show did not recover. (The cartoonish nature of the feature itself pepped them up, though.)
My question is: at a time when the MPAA seems to be making extra-clear distinctions between what used to be appropriate for "all audiences" and what is now proper for either "appropriate audiences" or "mature audiences"* to see before their movie, how in the Sam Hill did the projectionist see fit to combine such contrasting trailers? Or, if the projectionist had been directed per studio memos (as some have told me they are), how did the studio not see that a dark drama might stand amidst broad comedies, therefore making a less welcome impression on a crowd than it normally might? Does it stand to reason that a childish-looking PG-13 film is to be blame for drawing families and grown-ups alike? Or is the real problem that Old Dogs is going to be the next Paul Blart-like blockbuster and therefore cause to weep for future generations (or maybe we should lock them up on an island with dear old Leo, for their own safety)?
Then again, knowing that the mere sight of M. Night Shyamalan's name upon the teaser for his kid-friendly adaptation of The Last Airbender caused a significant amount of groans from said crowd tells me that there may be hope for the multiplex masses yet.
*The red-band trailer for this fall's Zombieland looks like a lot of fun, and would in theory only be attached to other R-rated films, but "mature" is probably the last word I'd use to describe it. Just sayin'.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-11-2009 @ 4:48PM
hiki said...
"kid-friendly adaptation of The Last Airbender "
kid-friendly? you do know it's based on a cartoon which aired on Nickelodeon - a children's network, right?
Reply
8-11-2009 @ 4:50PM
William Goss said...
"Kid-friendly" when compared to the other work Shyamalan has done - PG-13 and R-rated thrillers.
I'm well aware of the show, though I've not actually seen it for myself.
8-11-2009 @ 9:34PM
madgamer said...
I felt the same way about the old dogs trailer. I was thinking omg I can't belive there are so many people laughing at stuff that is this lame.
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8-12-2009 @ 10:11AM
Evan said...
I gotta admit, I did laugh a little when the ape made Seth Green keep singing. I know I'm not the only one.
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8-11-2009 @ 9:34PM
FilmJunkie29 said...
I work as a film projectionist and built up prints of "G.I. Joe," and can vouch that, 99% of the time, the studios dictate which trailers you see before a specific film. Films are sometimes shipped with up to 12 different trailers, and often times the theater chains have already struck a deal with certain studios guaranteeing that you will see their pre-chosen trailer on the film (pre-chosen being the one that came shipped with the print). Other times the projectionist chooses which trailers to be shown from the ones shipped with each print. What's interesting in the case of "G.I. Joe" is the trailers that were shipped with it. The list includes:
"The Last Airbender"
"Shutter Island"
"9"
"Old Dogs"
"Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief"
"The Vampire's Assistant"
"Armored"
"Whiteout"
"Astro Boy"
This is far and away the most eclectic group of trailers I've seen with a film in quite some time. It's as if every studio had a different idea as to what demographic was being targeted with "G.I. Joe," which I guess goes to show that every demographic is being targeted, although it still causes whiplash in audience members when viewing these trailers one after another.
Then we have "(500) Days of Summer," which has amongst its required trailers "The Stepfather." Seriously, Sony, THIS is the movie on your upcoming roster you feel best suits the "(500) Days of Summer" crowd? WTF? At least "Sorority Row" is on "The Hurt Locker" because it's the attached trailer from a studio with not a lot of product.
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8-19-2009 @ 1:52PM
Phoenix Dark said...
I too work as a film projectionist and I can confirm that every week I get an email from the regional manager with a list of the movies and the trailers that I am supposed to put on them, and in what order. I use it as a guideline mostly because I can't always match my trailer supply with what is desired on the page.
Films are shipped with trailers in the same format as the print (there are two formats, flat and scope) and at least some of the trailers in the can or box containing the film's reels will be on the list of desired trailers. But often there are other trailers which are shipped separately and if they don't show up in time, or not at all, I have to find something else. Sometimes, I will have a trailer for a movie, but it's in the other format, so I can't put it on the movie without it looking weird.
I have been told that each movie is required to have a minimum of 4 trailers. Most films include an attached trailer that is already connected to the first reel of the movie. This is always another movie from the same production company (or in rare cases, a partner company or another company owned by that company), which makes sense. Where they come up with the rest of the list is beyond me. I do find some of the choices odd, but I think that in many instances, the film companies are just trying to advertise. There may be some people who are in the audience who don't often see suspense thrillers and perhaps they would have never known about Shutter Island unless they saw the trailer in something else they were watching (despite the television advertising, since there are plenty of people out there who 'don't watch television').
At my theater, we sometimes get a movie a week or two after its wide release. In that case, I don't always have a list of trailers, so I have to wing it. I try to pick movies that are in the same realm, but I don't always have enough in my inventory. In order to get that 4 trailer minimum, I have to pick a few strange choices sometimes.
As I mentioned before, the email that I get provides an intended order, and the cans/boxes that the films are shipped in contain trailers. I have a friend/co-worker who is a big horror person, and he often tries to convince me to put the new Halloween or SAW trailers on a movie that would be appropriate. Sometimes, the list calls for that movie, and sometimes it doesn’t. Usually, I'll stick to the list, but if I don’t have one of the trailers on the list, I will put on the horror trailer. I like to try and build up to the movie though. Like, with The Collector. It had no attached trailer, so I put Inglourious Basterds on first, then Shutter Island, then Sorority Row, and finally Halloween 2. I began with a non-horror movie, then moved to a suspense thriller, then to a horror-like thriller, and finally to a horror movie. That helped set the tone for The Collector, which was a lot like a SAW movie (and was written by two of the writers from the SAW franchise).
The order doesn't matter much to me, as long as I record the correct order into my trailer report (which is sent to the regional manager and the district manager). I am supposed to comment on any changes that I had to make to the emailed list so that it is on record for when film companies come around to check-up on their trailers. I'm pretty sure that they pay money to have certain trailers shown before a movie, which pretty much would explain a lot. That's why I don't change the line-up unless I don't have the trailer.
It's a complicated process, but I am sure that the film corporations would like you to just shut up and watch the movie and then when the movies that you saw the trailers for come out, go dish out another $10-12 per person to see that too.
8-12-2009 @ 8:19AM
IanL said...
Re: FilmJunkie29
Wow, thats a fairly different process from how we make up trailers in the UK. If you don't know, in the UK we have different certificates for films AND trailers, Universal, Parental Guidance, 12, 15 and 18. That means sometimes we can have different trailers cut to a different cert so that the trailers are more appropriate for the specific film. For instance, here the trailer for Shutter Island is a 15, and GI Joe as a film is a 12, therefore we CANNOT play the Shutter Island trailer on Joe, technically its illegal.
Seems to make a bit more sense to me to be honest. Its cool that sometimes you guys can pick the trailers you play, as we have to have a VERY specific trailer set every time.
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8-18-2009 @ 11:20AM
Kelley said...
I'm pretty sure these are just the ONLY trailers available right now. At the last 4 movies I've seen (Public Enemy, 500 Days of Summer, Ugly Truth, and Time Travelers Wife) I've gotten the same exact combo of trailers at each one. I would have chalked it up to just seeing similar movies, but Public Enemy is vastly different from the others on my list.
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8-18-2009 @ 11:20AM
William Kelly said...
Here's an idea... You're a "journalist" why dont you do some research, you know that stuff real jornalists did before writing an article before blogging became the way to report "news". Maybe call your local theatre and say, "hey, Mr. Regal, hoy do you choose the movie trailers?" Or call a studio. Sheesh
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8-18-2009 @ 11:23AM
William Goss said...
I asked a Regal projectionist friend of mine how it works before writing this, and he said, "Studios send us memos saying what to attach. With indies, we get to choose."
That became "Or, if the projectionist had been directed per studio memos (as some have told me they are)". It's a Fan Rant -- an editorial, if you will -- and not a proper article. I know the difference, and I know what work ought to go into what type of reporting, Mr. Kelly.
8-18-2009 @ 7:12PM
William Kelly said...
So then in turn this is the kind of slop I should expect from Cinematical?
8-18-2009 @ 8:00PM
William Goss said...
If it was good enough for my editors and is good enough for the re-directed readers of IMDb, then I'm afraid that I'll manage with it not living up to your own personal criteria, Mr. Kelly.
8-18-2009 @ 11:20AM
Sabrie said...
Well, deciding which trailers go on a movie can be tough. I'm not a projectionist, but I work down on the floor for a movie theater, and sometimes it seems that we can't win with the movie-going public.
People complain when the only trailers on "The Perfect Getaway" are for horror films, but they don't like to see romantic comedy trailers before "Public Enemies".
Tons of parents complained that the approved for all audiences trailer for the PG-13 "The Grudge 2" was too scary for their pre-teen kids, never mind the fact that it was attached to the R-rated "Jackass 2".
Online all you hear is that there are too many ads/trailers before we present the movie everyone came to see, and yet the people who come to our theater complain because we only put 7-10 minutes of trailers on our films, which means they miss the beginning of the movie when they arrive 20 minutes late.
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8-18-2009 @ 7:56PM
Laurie Mann said...
I saw District 9 the other day (which I generally liked quite a bit) but was subjected to five awful trailers:
3 for bad horror movies
1 for a well-cast but probably bad suspense movie (Shutter Island)
1 for an amusing idea but it looks completely gross (Zombieland)
While District 9 has some horrible images, it's a pretty smart SF movie. Something like the trailer for 9 would have been much more appropriate.
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8-18-2009 @ 8:19PM
Erika said...
I was a manager at a movie theatre for a few years. We got lists from the companies distributing each film telling us which trailers must go on which movies. Some movies even come with a couple trailers attached to the print. Theatres have no say in what trailers go where.
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8-18-2009 @ 10:30PM
ajnrules said...
I worked as a projectionist before, but it was in a university theater, so we had a little bit more freedom as to what trailers to show when the movie was kind of old. For example, I got to show a Snakes on a Plane trailer that we had in our booth before a Snakes on a Plane showing (that was a riot). Other times, if we had a trailer for a movie that was showing later in the year, we'd attach that as well.
But occasionally we'd get a sneak preview from a big film company, and in those cases we have to show the trailers that came with it.
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8-20-2009 @ 4:53PM
Mark said...
"Then again, knowing that the mere sight of M. Night Shyamalan's name upon the teaser for his kid-friendly adaptation of The Last Airbender caused a significant amount of groans from said crowd tells me that there may be hope for the multiplex masses yet."
That's completely unfair, you haven't even seen the movie yet.
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8-19-2009 @ 2:13AM
William Goss said...
Neither had anyone else in that theater.