Monday, February 7, 2011

Person of the Week

   
 A Super Pick

      
      The 2011 Super Bowl is a momentous occasion, not merely for the two combatants on the field, but for the millions of people who tune into the yearly mega spectacle. Though, in lieu of last night's contest, I must digress for a moment. I am not a fan of either team, but I still must graciously extend a meek congratulatory message to the victorious Green Bay Packers. I absolutely detest the Pittsburgh Steelers, not for any tangibly logical reason, but because they represent an embarrassment of riches. Their fanbase has already gluttonously enjoyed six Super Bowl championships. I am a lowly Detroit Lions fan. Consequently, I cannot stand for such an excess of winning. The cheese heads are pretty bad too, but they represent the NFC North. Therefore, my abhorrence to them is minimized ever so slightly by their geographical closeness to the Lions franchise. So...thank you Green Bay Packers! Now that I got that little rant off my chest, I can get back to my post.


   Arguably, the most buzzed about qualities of the Super Bowl are the obsessively watched commercial breaks. Companies dole out millions of dollars for a 30-second TV spot. In fact, a 30-second bit cost $3 million dollars. With over 50 unique commercials airing during this year's Super Bowl, the need for quality content is imperative. If a company wants to impart an indelible and resonant message with the audience, the company must creatively appeal to said audience. As a movie lover, I get giddy for the latest and greatest movie trailers. Did the creative forces that be satiate my appetite for unique and thought-provoking film trailers? Yes. 
      My interest in the sporting event is minimized by the slew of new Movie Trailers; some of which are airing for the first time to a global audience. With all of this cinematic promulgation, I am bound to witness something inventive and compelling. Therefore, my "Person of the Week" award goes to the latest array of Super Bowl Movie Trailers.
      I have compiled the official list of 2011's Super Bowl Movie Trailers. I am not trying to sound reductive, but the big game provides a massive hype-orientated opportunity for studios to lavishly promote their newest film vehicles. Consequently, the viewing audience is subjected to a wide smattering of new film trailers, not all good. However, some cool trailers did occupy the enormously expensive TV advertising spots. So, which blockbuster commercial looked the most promising?
      At the risk of influencing your vote, my favorite trailer of the night was Super 8 . You can read my brief thoughts below.

Super Bowl Movie Trailers

Captain America: The First Avenger (World Premiere)

      Reactions for this trailer are divisive. We get a glimpse at Chris Evans's transformation from soldier Steve Rogers to engineered superhero. The trailer was a little disjointed, and as expected given the enormity of advertising costs, too short. In my estimation, the trailer was a rather plain-Jane, Milli Vanilli encapsulation of the legendary comic book hero.





Cowboys & Aliens

      I am very excited about this movie. With a star-studded cast (Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Sam Rockwell, Paul Dano, and Olivia Wilde), and Jon Favreau set to direct, this sci-fi story has all the ingredients of a worthwhile, Summer blockbuster brand of entertainment. 




Thor

      Ah yes, another Superhero film—my beleaguered attempt to feign enthusiasm. 



Super 8 (World Premiere)

      This notoriously abstruse film—director J.J. Abrams is intentionally concealing much of the plot detail—finally showed us a teeny bit more footage. The real kicker is the big revelation is still unknown. The extra-terrestrially focused plot is still a big mystery. Personally, I love when trailers do not flagrantly give away loads of plot-centric information or images. Such a surreptitious scenario only adds to my growing anticipation. With Steven Spielberg attached to this film as a Producer, let's just say my anticipation is peaked.




Battle: Los Angeles

      Guilt-free entertainment. Seems like the perfect film for a theater setting. Perhaps, if your romantic interest is not opposed to supremely destructive and apocalyptic violence, it could be a good date movie.



Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon

      Many of Michael Bay's signature explosions fill the screen. No real surprise here. Is Bay an interminably destructive force for filmmaking? His movies are often entertaining, despite an overt reliance upon carnage and destruction. Perhaps, filmgoers shall just modify their lexicon, and include new cinematic adjectives; Bay-splosion and Bay-struction. 
      The scene where Optimus Prime is frantically pacing through the city streets did look awesome. Let's just hope that Michael Bay can constrain his ADD style directing, and focus on producing a coherent narrative. 



Fast Five
      "Can you smell what the Rock is cooking."




Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

      I loved the earlier installments of the POTC franchise, but it is becoming increasingly stale. Can Depp conjure up the magic of the Curse of the Black Pearl (Dead Man's Chest was okay and At World's End was vastly underwhelming)? Though I will be rooting for Captain Jack Sparrow, the broad consensus is not too optimistic.




Limitless

      Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro. Did I mention that Bobby D is starring in this movie. I'm not missing it.



Here is the remaining list of Movie Trailers that aired during the 2011 Super Bowl:

12 comments:

  1. You definitely beat me to the punch with this one, I was going to do something similar. Great minds! But the movie trailers were definitely the best part--overall I thought the Superbowl commercials this year were kind of bland. But I do love your Matrix grid--Justin Bieber is definitely the scariest alien of the year.

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  2. Indeed. Great minds do think alike!

    Yeah the majority of the commercials were fairly lackluster. Some were too generic, others were too long (the Eminem commercial wasn't terrible, but it seemed like a short film). For most advertisers, creativity is a hard skill to channel.

    Haha. Yes, Justin Bieber is the indisputable Alien Champ. I saw this schematic and knew it was perfect for my post.

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  3. Don't hate me now, but I am a Bears fan. My hatred of the green and gold is in my DNA. I took solace in watching the trailers and commercials between bouts of crying into my Goose Island Winter Ale. :)

    I don't know if I want to see anything beyond DeNiro, Battlefield LA and Aliens v Cowboys. Chris Evans alone is enough to ensure I stay far far away from Captain America. POTC is blissfully Keira free, which means it should actually be good, so maybe. The others all look like Netflix slots. I have to do Transformers, though, since they rained down destruction here in Chi Town.

    And oh hell to the yeah, Bieber is the scariest alien ever. I'd love to see Predator vs. Bieber.

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  4. Many quality stuff shown! However I think (mainly because never shown) Captain america trailer should have been done better. This just didn't do it for me.

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  5. Melissa-Haha great comments!

    I do not dislike the Bears. Ditka. Ditka. Ditka. Those SNL skits were great. My mom is a big Bears fan. She always likes to remind me that her only ever sports bet came on the eve of the 1986 Bears Super Bowl win.

    Glad you're with me on De Niro and AVC. Battle: LA is the perfect type of movie to see in the theater. So I'll be there for that too.

    I'm hoping that these blockbusters will be worth watching, but as an experienced moviegoer with a refined taste, I know many of them will be overwhelmingly bad. Captain America looks like it fits that bill to the tee.

    Bieber fever makes me sick.

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  6. Doo,

    Thanks for commenting. Captain America is not looking too good. That trailer did not help erase my skepticism. And who is Joe Johnston? Apparently, he is the director.

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  7. I enjoyed THE PRIEST teaser the most, since it's one of my most anticipated films this year :) I just love trashy sf operas :)
    TRANSFORMERS III teaser was probably the only one which really delivered what was expected, even though it's a film I'd never watch myself.
    THE EAGLE teaser was much better than the real trailer since it had dynamic which the trailer didn't have.

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  8. PS how dares this Melissa girl above attack my Chrissy Evans??? :)))))))

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  9. Dezmond,

    I'm not too familiar with The Priest, but that trailer was pretty cool. Movies based off of graphic novels also typically fare well.

    Consensus on the Transformers trailer was mostly positive. I am slightly optimistic of a return to a form (meaning something resembling the awesomeness of Transformers 1).

    Haha Dez. You'll have to bring that up with her. Evans can come across as an arrogant snob in many of his roles (Fantastic 4, Scott Pilgrim, etc), although, I liked him in Danny Boyle's Sunshine

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  10. I am looking forward for Pirates- I loved all the three:)

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  11. Thinkingcap,

    Thanks for the comment! I am hoping this next Pirates installment is enjoyable. I really love the characters and the environments.

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