September 30, 2005

Friday Film Fun What would a preview for the classic film The Shining look like if it were made today? Not quite the movie you'd expect... [MOV 1st link]
posted by jaypro22 18 years ago
  • I don't know how they missed this: 1. Play massively faster, frenzied buildup of action 2. Stop frenzied music 3. Have movie character say a stupid punchline 4. Orchestra hit and "coming October xx" or whatever.
  • I already posted it. Damn me for not knowing it was FPP material. DAMN ME!!!
  • Thanks, I needed that :)
  • That's been going around my circle as well. It's really brilliant--totally subverts what you're seeing with judicious editing and music choices. My best friend and I were talking about the sort of expectations movie trailers (and other information) set up for you. He said, and I agree, that genre-bending films are at a real disadvatage in the trailer department. For instance, I unintentionally went to a horror film with him a few years ago, thinking it was going to be a Grisham-type legal thriller. I hate horror movies and wouldn't see one in the theater (and would have declined the invitation if I'd known), but I hadn't seen all the promotional materials and what I had seen left me with the impression that I was getting something very different. One of the things I like about Netflix is the opportunity cost of getting a movie based on such a bum recommendation is very low. Pop it in the mailer and send it back, and in a couple of days something else will be at your door.
  • Who is that guy with the extremely deep voice that did all the preview voiceovers in the late-1990s? I don't recall hearing him lately.
  • OK, just as I hit the Post button I realized I could try to find it with Wikipedia. I did -- it's Don LaFontaine.
  • By the way, there was just a New York Times article on the guy who edited this fake Shining trailor. He's now getting calls from Hollywood studios. Read about it here. As for the movie trailer guy--have you seen Three Men & A Limo?
  • I saw it this morning thanks to a link elsewhere and was absolutely floored. I would have been rolling on the floor laughing, except I was too busy having my mind blown by the creativity and skill it displayed. Only qualm: The "I'm your new step-father" line which was clearly cut in from a different source. I'm not sure why it's there since it wouldn't really be needed. It just sells the sap a little better. But 99% of people watching it probably wouldn't notice.
  • I love how they used "Solisbury Hill", which for some reason ends up in about 1 out of 5 movie previews. OK I'm exaggerating, but it's used a lot.
  • You posted the Titanic link as the West Side Story, but the site's too slow for me to figure out which is the real one.
  • *whistles to self, hopes no one else notices...* WSS
  • and yeah, that site has been dragging....
  • Three Men & a Limo, that thing is hilarious.
  • InnocentBystander, I think (from memory) that the black guy says that line, right at the very end. I've totally forgotten his name. He says "foster father", not stepfather.
  • Googling turned up About Schmidt, where Jack says "I'm your new foster father". I can picture that now, where he's writing to Ndugu the first time.
  • Ah, right. My bad. That's cheating then!
  • Sorry I couldn't help it; it was bugging me. I had to know!
  • Nah, googling != cheating. I meant the trailer-maker cheated by bringing in lines from elsewhere.
  • Ohh. Yeah, but it was funny though.
  • I just learned about this Friday, we watched it as inspiration for a weekend film contest. I was going to post it, but natually, something so silly had to be already seen by the monkeyfilter crew. BTW, according to the NYTimes article, the sound and dialogue could be modified, but the visuals couldn't--though I can see how taking the foster father line from another source is bending the spirit of the rules.
  • Marvelous.