I write an article at movies.com called Trailer Truth. Here are the three latest 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.)
The Avengers
What I Knew Before: I did my required homework. I have seen Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America. I hadn't seen one second of a trailer. How you ask? Well, I was able to catch the movie a week and a half before it opened. More importantly, I'm good at what I do. I barely watch any live TV, and even when I do, I typically pause it to give me a good five-minute buffer so I can fast forward during any movie previews. Plus, I only had to get up and walk out of a theater once, because most advanced screenings don't have previews. I knew Loki (Tom Hiddleston) was the bad guy, and I wasn't thrilled with that. Then again, I don't think any of the villains in this series have been particularly interesting. I was hoping for a fun ride. CLICK HERE to read the rest of Trailer Truth: The Avengers
The Five-Year Engagement
What I Knew Before: Jason Segel and Emily Blunt. Sometimes that's enough. For a romantic comedy, it's absolutely plenty, right? What kills me is I know I'm forgetting someone here. Maybe April (Aubrey Plaza) from Parks & Recreation is in it. Man, my memory is bad. Which makes it perfect for this column. I did catch Segel on The Late Show with David Letterman (skipping the movie clip of course). He talked about his fluctuating weight. I can completely and unequivocally vouch for Segel's up and down pounds as I recently watched six seasons of How I Met Your Mother in one month. Perhaps most importantly, the title Five-Year Engagement is grammatically correct. There are plenty of critics (and retired English teachers) who cringed anytime they had to read The 40 Year-Old Virgin. CLICK HERE to read the rest of Trailer Truth: The Five-Year Engagement
Think Like a Man
What I Knew Before: I avoided the trailer, but Kevin Hart worked hard to make sure I knew Think Like a Man existed. I was on a short-lived entertainment/news show in Portland on KOIN Local 6. Hart was a guest since he was in town doing stand-up. He briefly told me about the film off-camera, and what I mainly noticed is he has the power to turn his personality on and off. Months later he was playing in the NBA All-Star 2012 Celebrity Game, pitching the movie when possible. He's also shown up on "Inside the NBA" in those awkward promotions/hanging out things. In all instances, except that off-camera moment, Hart's personality was switched into the "on" category. It's like Kevin James making weight jokes. It just feels forced. CLICK HERE to read the rest of Trailer Truth: Think Like a Man