Blog Archives
Get Ready to Play in a World in Pure Imagination
Friday is finally here.
The only thing missing is a flashback. And with a certain low-budget, independent film now in theaters, it seems fitting to feature a movie trailer about a story that takes place in the future, yet is simultaneously defined by the past.
Ready Player One is now playing in movie theaters.
P.S. Steven Spielberg has done it again!
There’s a Nice Way to Make a Movie Trailer, Karen
Is there a better “Flashback Friday” than the ’70s retro trailer for the 2016 buddy cop movie The Nice Guys?
I don’t think so.
The marketing campaign for The Nice Guys a couple years back was as fantastic and fun as the film being promoted. And it was covered extensively by Jimmy’s Daily Planet. The film’s trailers (retro, animated, traditional) and interviews with Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling (individual and joint) were simply incredible. The strategy for making and promoting this entertaining flashback to ’70s-style cinema in the form of a hilariously self-aware and brutally clever buddy-cop bromance didn’t receive the accolades it should have at the moment.
Just this writer’s opinion.
The good news is, in the YouTube era, we can reminisce with relative ease.
And that’s nice, guys.
P.S. Bonus points to anyone who caught the admittedly subtle movie-line reference in this blog post’s title to a line from a recently acclaimed film by one of the aforementioned actors.
2049 is…2017?
Whatever the industry, teaser trailers for movies have changed the game of advertising and marketing.
Exhibit 1,234 (a random number, but it’s a fun number to write and see written) is the teaser trailer for Blade Runner 2049, which is the long-awaited sequel to the 1982 science-fiction film that’s helped define the genre. This trailer release was covered on Jimmy’s Daily Planet back on December 19, 2016 when Warner Bros. Pictures debuted the film’s first look. However, after watching this same trailer dozens and dozens of times (on my computer, phone and Apple TV), something finally clicked. And that is that movie trailers, like Blade Runner 2049, are the modern equivalent of the “Mad Men” era of print ads.
Teaser trailers tell a story with just enough details to inform the viewer, yet not enough information to satisfy one brief look into the movie/the product. The point of this blog post is to consider that the companies or organizations that can successfully tap into and transfer the captivating storytelling power of a teaser trailer into their marketing and/or advertising business plan for their clients will win the day.
And the next day…and the next day…and, you get it.
Even if you haven’t seen Blade Runner or even if you aren’t a science fiction fan, watch this teaser trailer and try to say you aren’t at least slightly intrigued about what happens next in this futuristic world.
Ryan Gosling’s character was right: “Things were simpler then.”
And things are also more exciting now.
The Ghost of Busters Past
There was a time when people didn’t have Ghostbusters in their lives.
And they had no idea who to call.
For today’s history lesson, June 8, 1984 was the day when the science-fiction comedy starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis and Ernie Hudson changed the real movie world by saving a fictional one with proton packs, sharp wit and the courage to cross streams. With a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (that’s pretty good), Ghostbusters is uniquely beloved by fans and critics alike. This is important to note because part of the intense backlash against the new all-female reboot this summer is not a reaction to an all-female cast, but more to do with the caricature nature of the new cast and their characters. The original film and its superb cast was smart, clever and never tried hard to be funny.
They were naturally funny, endearing and (ironically) real.
As odd as it sounds, the 1984 classic doesn’t appear like actors playing parts, but instead felt like a genuine group of misfit friends chasing and capturing ghosts throughout NYC in the coolest ways imaginable within the parameters of a major motion picture. The film has an escapism quality that transcends far beyond the cinema and culture of the mid-1980s.
Thus far, the reboot isn’t generating that same reaction.
For the record, this is how you make a Ghostbusters trailer that kicks some–
History thanks you (in more ways than one), Ghostbusters.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 