Coming Attractions Trailer Night: Summer 2016
Jason Bourne Trailer Brings Thrills and Chills to a Hot Summer of Movies!
By Cheryl L. Dixon, DC Film Society Member
Jason Bourne was selected as the best overall Film Trailer of the over 30 trailers in six categories shown at “Coming Attractions Trailer Night’s” Summer Edition program on June 1, 2016. Trailers covered mostly soon-to-be-released summer movies, including the blockbusters, sequels, remakes, and indie faves. A cozy group of enthusiastic filmlovers cast their votes, both informally (applause) and formally (ballot), at Landmark’s E Street Cinema. Film Critics and Hosts Tim Gordon and Travis Hopson led the always-spirited discussion on the trailers and gave the audience the full buzz on the effectiveness of the trailers themselves and a peek at the movies they represent.
The categories, the winners of each category, and general commentary follow. Whether by applause vote or official ballot, attendees are never shy about expressing their opinions. And they know that their vote counts. Audience feedback is handed over to the Studios and just might impact the course of future trailers and how they are used to more effectively market the films they represent. By now, many of the films associated with the trailers have been released, but remember that attendees at this event saw the trailers first! If you liked what you saw in the trailers, go see the movies! And if you missed the trailers, but like what you’re reading here, go see the movies!!
Here’s a summary of the winning films in each of the six categories and further discussion:
For the Kids
Finding Dory
The BFG
Lego Batman - WINNER!
Ice Age: Collision Course
Pete’s Dragon
It was Travis’ debut with our trailer program and he reminded the audience that he once sat in the audience as a program attendee when Joe Barber and Bill Henry were co-hosts. Tim and Travis assured new attendees that at the end of the day they would be feeling very sated and full of swag. Tim began with general commentary about some of the movies based on these trailers that he had already seen. He asked whether anyone was excited about movies that they had already seen like Captain America and what movies were on the must-see list. Travis said that he was hyped about Suicide Squad and Jason Bourne. Tim confessed that he was cautiously optimistic and declared that the trailers are there to make us excited for the movies. Both thought that there even might be an early Oscar contender hidden amidst these trailers. We think that Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins might be worthy of yet another nomination.
The Lego Batman Movie handily won in this category for this animated feature on Batman inspired by his appearance, no doubt, in The Lego Movie. Ralph Fiennes, Rosario Dawson, and Michael Cera provide the voices.
Commentary: As the category clearly states, these trailers are for the kids or for the kid within the adult, a.k.a. the “inner child.” It’s been 13 years since Finding Nemo, but now Disney/Pixar brings us Finding Dory about the adorable blue fish with short-term memory loss trying to find her parents. Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks are amongst the voice actors. Director Steven Spielberg gives us BFG set in the land of giants in a mostly-animated adventure feature about the friendship between a little girl named Sophie and her Big Friendly Giant. This is based on a children’s book by Roald Dahl. Great expectations for anything Spielberg touches, but Travis says this one got mediocre buzz. Ice Age returns with its latest installment with the greatest chillogy of all time, it’s the end of the ice age and the beginning of a new age when a series of unforeseen events are triggered by one character’s pursuit of an acorn. Disney’s Pete’s Dragon’s got Robert Redford and Bryce Dallas Howard in a story featuring a boy surviving in the forest for six years through the guidance and protection of a dragon. Tim and Travis responded to an audience query about the original version, which they affirmed was a lighthearted musical; this version is much darker.
Blockbusters
Star Trek Beyond
Warcraft
Suicide Squad - WINNER!
Ghostbusters
Independence Day: Resurgence
Suicide Squad. I confess I didn’t get it, but that doesn’t matter. The people voted this trailer as the best of this category. DC Comics crew’s got Viola Davis in charge, and a stellar cast including Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Jared Leto, all as “bad people, who will do some good.” Our co-hosts aptly described characters in the trailer as “the best of the best playing the worst of the worst.”
Commentary: There’s plenty to satisfy the sci-fi fan in Star Trek Beyond. Kirk, Spock, Uhura, et al. as in Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana, et al. return as part of the Enterprise crew of the younger generation of beloved sci-fi characters, who get a third outing in this youthful franchise. Directed this time by Justin Lin, J.J. Abrams now is the Producer. Watch for spectacular special effects enhanced in 3-D, and a chilling villainess: “Fear of death is what keeps us alive.” R.I.P. Anton Yelchin. More action, adventure, and excitement in Warcraft, looking a lot like characters in The Lord of the Rings. Lots of fighting as war is coming and the need to unite against the enemy. Paula Patton and Dominic Cooper are included amongst the cast. Who ya gonna call? The all-female team (Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, and Leslie Jones) of Ghostbusters will answer. Watch for almost all of the cast from the original movie of 30 years ago to mysteriously appear. Speaking of remakes, which Tim and Travis assert are here to stay, entertaining new generations with the successful formula, there’s Disaster-Meister Director Roland Emmerich’s “Independence Day: Resurgence,” 20 years later with a reappearance from several characters from the original film, including Bill Pullman, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch, Brent Spiner, and Jeff Goldblum, but Will Smith is not seen in the trailer! Audience comments included the fact that the movie could only afford to have his photo in it! Special effects to the max… Liam Hemsworth joins the crew kickin’ alien butt! Watch out for the landmarks!
Fancy a Laugh?
War Dogs
Sausage Party - WINNER!
Bad Moms
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Central Intelligence
Sausage Party. Food, glorious food! A clever animated feature giving food a voice. The movie answers the question of what really happens when the sausage leaves the supermarket. Kristen Wiig, James Franco, and Salma Hayek are amongst the voice credits. This one got wild applause and laughter. Expect naughty jokes: A hero will rise!
Commentary: War Dogs, about the incredibly true story of two men, played by Miles Teller and Jonah Hill, who get a multi-million dollar contract to be gunrunners in Afghanistan. It’s a dramedy…. Watch as they drive through the triangle of death and live to tell the tale! Kristen Bell Jada Pinkett Smith, Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, and Christina Applegate play moms, most of whom decide to stop trying so hard to be perfect in the comedy Bad Moms. It’s time to party! Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates looks a lot like Wedding Crashers. Two wild and crazy guys, who need wedding dates, post an online ad and get more than they can handle from the two women they select. Zac Efron, Adam DeVine, Aubrey Plaza, and Anna Kendrick are cast. Kevin Hart and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson team in Central Intelligence. Hart and Johnson portray two high school buddies, the coolest guy and the biggest nerd, who reunite years later and work on a top-secret mission. Lots of chuckles. How can you lose with a comedy with such innuendoes like having a movie with a “little” Hart and “big” Johnson?
Adult World
The Founder
Florence Foster Jenkins
Tulip Fever
Café Society
Southside with You - WINNER!
Aw shucks! Southside with You is the sweetest date movie ever! It’s about the first date of future POTUS Barack Obama and future FLOTUS Michelle Obama. Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter assume these huge roles. A Sundance Film selection, the trailer says, the movie is executive-produced by John Legend.
Commentary: Michael Keaton stars as the founder of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc, in what else?: The Founder. Learn about everything you ever wanted to about those famous golden arches. Meryl Streep stars in Florence Foster Jenkins, the incredibly true story of a society woman, who couldn’t sing, but somehow manages to perform Opera at Carnegie Hall. “Every voice deserves to be heard” is the tagline. A period film and a lesson in courage. Alicia Vikander, Judi Dench, and Christoph Waltz star in Tulip Fever, a tale based on a novel about an artist falling in love with his married subject and a costume-drama, period piece set in Amsterdam. “Deception can be murder” is the tagline. Café Society is a Woody Allen film about Hollywood in its 1930s heyday and the nightclub scene in NYC where Café Society was an actual nightclub. Steve Carell, Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, and Blake Lively round out the cast.
Fight Club
TMNT: Out of the Shadows
Jason Bourne - WINNER! BEST TRAILER OVERALL!
Ben-Hur
Free State of Jones
Hands of Stone
Matt Damon is back in Jason Bourne. This time he remembers who he is. Plenty of the usual action, adventure, car chase, and fighting scenes, plus a stellar cast joins Damon: Alicia Vikander, Tommy Lee Jones, Julia Stiles, and Vincent Cassel. Wildly applauded!
Commentary: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back at their warrior best fighting a new nemesis in TMNT: Out of the Shadows. Cowabunga, dude! Megan Fox, Will Arnett, and Tyler Perry are amongst the cast. The real question is how much better can they improve upon the chariot race in Ben-Hur as Jack Huston assumes the title role in the story of wrongly enslaved Jewish nobleman seeking vengeance against his friend, who betrayed him? Show it in 3-D? Charlton Heston starred in the Oscar-winning best picture version of this movie in 1959 and maybe its critics pondered the same question vis-à-vis the chariot race depicted in the 1925 movie version featuring Ramon Novarro. Talk about remakes! Free State of Jones, is based on a true story of a Civil War Confederate soldier turned deserter, who becomes an outlaw. Matthew McConaughey portrays the rebellious soldier/leader and Gugu Mbatha-Raw is his love interest. Another boxing movie, Hands of Stone, features the Roberto Duran story. Edgar Ramirez, Usher Raymond, Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin star.
Summer Sleepers or Summer Flops
Captain Fantastic
The Legend of Tarzan
Our Kind of Traitor - WINNER!
The Conjuring 2
Swiss Army Man
Our Kind of Traitor features a top notch cast: Ewan McGregor, Naomie Harris, Stellan Skarsgard, and Damian Lewis all in an action adventure, Russian organized crime and British Secret Service story.
Commentary: Viggo Mortensen, Kathryn Hahn, and Frank Langella are in Captain Fantastic in what looks like a commune family forced to deal with the real world. Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Christoph Waltz, Djimon Hounsou, and the hardest working man in show business Samuel L. Jackson star in yet another version of Tarzan in The Legend of Tarzan. You know the story…. Investigators of the paranormal Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) get their second outing in the horror movie, The Conjuring 2, watch out for ghosts, frightening nuns, and other things that go bump in the night. The trailer very effectively captured the scary movie to chilling effect. It’s a case of demonic possession in London right from their files. In Swiss Army Man, Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe are in an imaginative friendship tale between two men stranded in the wilderness. The trouble is one’s dead. Strange. Tim and Travis say that folks are divided about the movie. Either they love it or they hate it.
BONUS TRAILERS
Of course, the evening would be incomplete without the bonus trailers. We saw, Doctor Strange, another installment in the Marvel superhero franchise featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, and Tilda Swinton. Cumberbatch plays an enlightened surgeon influenced by the Ancient One. The trailer features one of the most mind-bending skylines since Inception. This is HUGE: J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. See Colin Farrell and Eddie Redmayne with witches and wizards in NYC, circa 1920s. This is also HUGE: Lucasfilm Ltd.’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It’s about hope and rebellion. The trailer features Felicity Jones and Forest Whitaker. Action, adventure, excitement…. These trailers weren’t included in the audience voting….
And so, our very sated movie-going audience enjoyed a full evening of trailer film surprises and promotional giveaways and prizes just for showing up. Plus there were raffle prizes. Always nice to add a free DVD to one’s collection, and there were lots of t-shirts, books, movie posters and other assorted movie memorabilia to please any discerning movie fan. See you at our next trailer program, and at the movies!
Thanks to all of the DC Film Society Directors, Coordinating Committee Members, and Volunteers for putting together this twice-annual educational program. And thanks to our uber co-hosts,Tim Gordon and Travis Hopson, for providing their commentary, sharing their opinions and tolerating ours, Allied THA, Landmark Theatres, DC Shorts, Women in Film & Video, and Filmfest DC.
