I write an article at movies.com called Trailer Truth. Here are links to the first three I've written. Give it some love, comments, tweets, Facebook affection. I never watch a trailer until after I’ve seen the movie, and I also attempt to avoid as much news as possible. Then I compare what I knew, to what you knew. Let’s find out if what we see in the trailer is what we get, and if there is any advantage to going in fresh. (There will be spoilers.)
American Reunion
What I Knew Before: I knew these guys. I liked these guys. Did I need a reunion? I knew the whole gang was back together again, which is clearly the appeal to this sequel. You see, there have been seven Pies. American Pie, American Pie 2 and American Wedding were in theaters. American Pie Presents: Band Camp, American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile, American Pie Presents: Beta House, American Pie Presents: The Book of Love were straight to DVD.
Getting the gang back together always sounds like a fun idea, but are any of us shocked everyone was available? I'll attempt to focus on the positive here and say Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan and John Cho are the biggest success stories.
My hunch is, the trailer will focus on old jokes, and attempt to tap into our nostalgia. That means jokes about band camp and Stifler's mom. I hope I'm wrong. After all, with 13 years separating us from the original, it's new humor that will matter, not something that feels as stale as … Tara Reid. Most importantly, if they don't immediately explain why their reunion is occurring 13 years after they graduate, I will refuse to enjoy any of this Pie. CLICK HERE to read the rest of Trailer Truth: American Reunion
Mirror Mirror
What I Knew Before: I knew this is the one with Julia Roberts. I'm pretty sure this is also the one with Armie Hammer, but then I think that means Kristen Stewart and her armor are in this, but that doesn't sound right because I'm almost positive Charlize Theron is with Stewart. Sigh. Do the marketing departments realize what they are up against?
What's odd is, normally I spend plenty of time trying to avoid trailers while watching TV. That hasn't been a problem with Mirror Mirror. No show I watch has played a TV spot, and I watch a lot. What does this mean? Well, perhaps a clue is with the rating. Mirror Mirror is PG, which immediately makes me realize I'm not about to see an "adult version" Snow White.
This "summer" we have Mirror Mirror vs. Snow White and the Huntsmen, in a Snow White showdown. At first I thought I found a perfect formula with the movie that comes out first being forgotten, and the second makes more cash, is totally appreciated, and eventually ridiculed. That only happened with Deep Impact vs. Armageddon, and not Dante's Peak vs. Volcano or Gordy vs. Babe. I'm just happy I will finally know who is co-starring with Roberts in this one. CLICK HERE to read the rest of Trailer Truth: Mirror Mirror
The Hunger Games
What I Knew: This film is not about ordering every item on Wendy's Value Menu and seeing if you can finish it. That much I knew. OK, I knew a little more. Jennifer Lawrence is the star, but you could also talk me into it being that girl from True Grit. Lenny Kravitz, and Josh Hutcherson (who used to annoy me, but not lately) are also in this flick. I had friends who read the book (it's cute that people still do that) and understood this: in "the future" kids are chosen to fight. The winner gets food. I also knew the book's fan base was being compared to the "Twilight" fan base. In the effort of full disclosure, I also saw two seconds of the preview, and knew someone was upset. I believe her exact words were "Nooooo." CLICK HERE to read the rest of Trailer Truth: The Hunger Games