Articles by: Daniel McFadin

Five Incredible Movie Trailers with Mediocre Payoff

Five Incredible Movie Trailers with Mediocre Payoff

Whether you’re watching a movie at your local cinema or in the safe confines of your basement, yelling at your mother to get you an orange soda refill, one thing is for certain: you’re likely going to watch a trailer.

Trailers are the magical doorway into the wonder that is cinema. They give us something to wet our appetite and entice us into seeing the next big movie every weekend. But there are always those trailers that ruin everything for you, telegraphing the entire plot in it two minute frame time and taking away any interest you might have had in seeing the finished product.

The worst offender to the name of “trailer” are the ones that get you excited, pumped-up high-heaven for seeing a movie. Then you see that movie and you want to find whoever made the trailer and demand your money back from them personally.

Now I give you what I consider to be the five worst offenders in recent memory of amazing trailers….for bad movies.

1. Iron Man 2 (2010)

The third entry in Marvel Studios’ Avengers universe (the second for those who still don’t know The Incredible Hulk (2008) exists). After the surprise hit the original was in 2008, I was excited for this movie and the trailer didn’t help that fact.

When the chords from AC/DC’s “Shoot to Thrill” kick in after the government hearing scene, the trailer is a fun ride, all the way to the end with Iron Man and War Machine fighting back-to-back.

I love trailers that incorporate some sort of popular music and this trailer and the movie itself use AC/DC just right, which was evident from the first scene of the original movie. However, the threads of the movie begin to unravel when one of the biggest parts of the trailer, the scene with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts in the back of the transport plain with Stark quipping “You complete me,” before jumping out the back is missing in the movie. It would have been a lot more effective to me than Iron Man just running out like he does in the movie. Also, Pepper Potts kissing the helmet is kind of hot.

However, just like in the original, Iron Man 2 has all of the right pieces for a great film, but it falls apart with an anticlimactic finale and a terrible villain in Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash.

2. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

How much simpler a time 2007 was. Spider-Man was still respectable, Tobey McGuire still had a job, and people still loved Lost.

Like Iron Man 2, I was eagerly anticipating this movie, and like in 2010, it took until the second viewing to really figure out how I felt about the third installment of Sam Raimi’s Spidey saga.

The trailer works as a really good extended teaser. It doesn’t give too much away while setting up most of what happens during the film. While you see a good portion of Peter’s story with the Symbiote and Eddie Brock, there are no shots of Brock as Venom. You also see a good deal of the soap opera that is Peter and Mary Jane’s relationship, but there’s no sign of Gwen Stacy played by Bryce Dallas Clark.

But the major story element you don’t see is…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 15, 2012 0 comments Read More
How I Met Your Mother: The Long-Time (ish) Fan

How I Met Your Mother: The Long-Time (ish) Fan

Reader, sit back and make yourself comfortable. I’m going to tell you about a show. Not just any show, but what I consider one of the most well written comedies on television.

I’d be lying if I told you I’m a long time fan of How I Met Your Mother, the multi-camera sitcom that airs Monday nights on CBS at 7 p.m. I didn’t jump on the bandwagon until the show was well into its fourth season…or was it the fifth? I’m sorry, it’s been a few years, and I can’t keep track of all of these details.

How I Met Your Mother follows Ted Moseby (Josh Radnor); an architect living in New York City during his late 20’s when the series begins. Upon learning of the engagement of his best friend Marshall (Jason Segal) to his girlfriend Lily (Alyson Hannigan), Ted sets out to find “The One,” or the future mother of his children.

His quest has turned into a seven season odyssey with Marshall, Lily and his friends Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smolders) along for the ride, all while their misadventures are chronicled by the ever present narrator, Future Ted (Bob Saget).

Framed around Ted telling his children the story of how he met their mother in 2030, HIMYM is able to fit more in its 22 minute runtime than most comedies thanks to the use of flash backs, flash forwards and plenty of misdirection.

Why it Works

Character Development

To put it simply, the characters make the show. For me, you can’t have a long lasting show without having characters you can relate to some level. The main focus is Ted and his search for the love of his life.

Over the course of its seven-year run, all of the characters go on journeys with specific momentous events that change them. You follow Marshall and Lily from engagement, their first break-up in nine years, through marriage, moving into their first home and the big milestone of trying to start a family.

While many shows suffer after reaching a fifth season, let alone a sixth, few shows are able to get better with age and avoid getting long in the tooth. HIMYM is now halfway through its seventh season, with an eighth already guaranteed and the writers are still coming up great material, with portions of season seven devoted to re-visiting storylines and episodes from all the way back in season one.

But the best example of the shows longevity is in the character people most associate with the show, Barney Stinson.

From the beginning, Barney has been the alpha male of the show. A womanizing, scotch drinking, one-liner spouting and most importantly, suit wearing, man. For almost the entire first two seasons of the show, there was nothing redeemable about Barney. He’s just a bad example of a person. He just cares about his close friends and making every night as legendary as possible (which means sleeping with the hottest woman at the bar).

But with every passing season, his suit of denial and cowardice is chipped away at, until Barney is no longer a caricature, he’s a person. If the show had ended in season five, you’d never have the emotional pay off of Barney’s father issues and his fear of developing a real relationship.

However, even though the main focus of the series is Ted, I have to give the award for best over all series story to Marshall and Lily.

  Continuity

Where should I begin with this subject? The slap bet? The goat? Heck, I think I could write at least two paragraphs on Lily’s hair color. With a show in its seventh season, HIYM has been able to stock pile storylines and jokes the writers have been able to refer back to time and again.

With the flashback format of the show, continuity is a must, especially for an audience that is looking for any clues as to the identity of the mother. The show flashes back over the series seven year run and beyond, going all the way back to the college days of the Ted, Lily and Marshall, while also showing the childhoods of Barney and Robin (Robin Sparkles!!!).

If I had to compare the continuity of HIMYM to any other show, it would have to be the Lost, with its interlocking storylines and its similar use of flashbacks and flash forwards. Really, the only show on television right now that even compares to the complex storytelling of Lost is HIMYM. However, where Lost got it right is where HIMYM hasn’t: setting an end date, and that’s where my next section comes in.

 Where it Lacks

Putting it Off

The writing on How I Met Your Mother is great, but the only show that’s put off the series end game as long as it has is Smallville, which finally ended last year after a decade on the air.

The show is called How I Met Your Mother, and the most we’ve seen of her is her foot as she darted into a bathroom in the series 100th episode. With the story being told in 2030, 18 years from present day and the children being roughly 16 years old, that gives the show a two-year period where Ted needs to meet the mother and have two kids.

Having the show last this long has provided some great material, but there is no way it should proceed past an eight season. The mother should be introduced at the end of the 7th or the beginning of the 8th and then they get married for the finale. I think it would be unfair to the audience not to let us experience the early days of their eventual relationship.

As I said earlier, the writers have on many occasions subjected their audience and Ted on his kids, many fake outs regarding the identity of the mother. Some are clever, some are even hilarious (meet your mom the stripper). But by the end of the 6th season it’s just annoying. Get it over with.

Ted’s Women

With the lengthy run of the series Ted has dated many women, way too many in fact. After thinking it over and discussing it with my fellow Lazy Ass Librarian, I’ve come to the conclusion that Ted is just a poor man’s version of Barney, just without a suit and catchphrases.

Standing Still

Don’t get me wrong, I like Ted. He’s the reason I watch every Monday and why I’m sticking it out till the end. However, as I’ve thought about it, Ted hasn’t changed that much. His profession has changed three times, but as a character, I feel he hasn’t progressed nearly as much as Marshall, Lily, Robin, and definitely not as much as Barney.

As the show has gone on and the meeting of the mother has been put off, I think the character development of Ted has also been put off. He keeps saying he needs to grow up and be an adult…well, when is that going to happen? I know it’s a sitcom, but he’s in his mid 30’s now.

Also, I’ve seen every set of emotions come from Ted, but I don’t remember him ever having a good cry. He’s been mad, furious and down right sad. Every character on the show has shed a few tears, but I don’t recall Ted ever doing it.

Anyway, enough with the Ted bashing.

 Closing Thoughts

Because of Netflix and Christmas gifts, I recently finished a complete re-watch (not counting season 7) of How I Met Your Mother.  I rediscovered why I fell in love with the show and watching all 100 + episodes in quick succession allows you to see how the characters have evolved since it premiered in 2005.

It’s rare to find a show where the writers actually care as much about they characters as they do. Craig Thomas and Carter Bays know exactly what their doing when it comes to running a show (except for not ending it), and besides Dan Harmon of Community, I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather have controlling my favorite show.

Now go to your Netflix queue or the local video store and give How I Met Your Mother a shot, you’re missing out.

True story.

February 13, 2012 0 comments Read More
Review: Red Tails

Review: Red Tails

Starring: Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds

Director: Anthony Hemingway

 

Pros: Incredible dogfights, Terrence Howard’s performance and a solid final hour.

Cons: Terrible dialogue for secondary characters, bad pacing, emphasis on weak character traits.

Verdict: Rent

 

I <3 George Lucas.

I don’t, unfortunately, <3 the latest offering from Lucasfilm, Red Tails.

It seems right that a movie George Lucas has been struggling to get made for 20 years feels like it would be right at home among fare from the late 80’s, a feeling apparent right from the opening credits.

With a cast of relative unknown African American actors portraying the famous Tuskegee Airmen during the waning years of World War II, Red Tails gets off to a rough start that then stretches into a full hour.

Trying to cram every conceivable war and black historical movie cliché into its two hour runtime, Tails leaves more than one story line out to dry by the half way mark and only give others half the attention they deserve.

A new recruit to the squadron? Check. A love interest taming the movies version of Top Gun’s Maverick? Check. Ignorant White officers putting down misunderstood black officers until they earn their respect in combat?

 

Check!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though you’d never know from how it was promoted, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard are not the main characters and you never see George Lucas’ familiar flannel. Handling the majority of screen time is devoted to “Easy” (Nate Parker), “Lightning” (David Oyelowo) and their friendship.

Outside of the effects during dogfights done by the ever competent Industrial Light and Magic, the friendship between Easy and Lightning is the movies strongest element. Think of it as how effective Luke and Biggs’ friendship in A New Hope could have been if you had known who Biggs was before he became a flaming ball of porn stache.

Easy and Lightning are two sides of a coin, referred by some as echoes of Martin Luthor King Jr. (Easy) and Malcolm X (Lightning). They’re the heart and soul of the movie, though the hardships of the Tuskegee airmen as a whole are meant to capture our attention.

Honestly, this movie is about 10 years too late. We’ve seen about every racial underdog story you could imagine in the last 10 or so years, beginning with Denzel Washington’s Remember the Titans (2000), Radio (2003), The Blindside (2010) and last years newly Oscar nominated The Help.

The only difference with Red Tails is that it’s set in the 1940’s. Many of the scenes related to the snubbing of the black pilots feel straight out of the previous movies I mentioned and it doesn’t help that a good portion off the film’s dialogue feels robotic.

Most of the ear grating words come from faceless American bombers at the beginning and end of the film, but some of the main cast get a fair share of eye rolling stuff to say.

However, the presence of Terrence Howard as the Red Tails commanding officer is the biggest gift this movie can bestow upon the audience, with Howard really doing as much he can with what he’s given. For most of the first half of the film, Howard’s character is seen back in the United States dealing with the bigotry of the top military brass, before he joins the fighter group in Europe, when the film as well as the other cast members finally gets some steady footing.

The biggest head scratcher in the final hour involves Easy. Despite being the straight and narrow character for most of the film, Easy is given a drinking problem that other characters act as if it affects his performance in the sky. While having a supposed drinking problem would have been a nice touch to the character, nothing ever happens during the squadron’s patrols to make the audience believe he’s a danger to himself or his wingman.

I hate recommending movies solely on the special effects, since I’m the guy that refuses to watch Avatar, but out of all this movie has to offer, its strongest aspect are the dog fights.

There are times when the P 51 Mustangs and the German planes tumbling through the sky look like the real deal, and very few times when they look computer generated. The highlight of the combat sequences is when the Red Tails are defending American bombers from German strafing runs.

The best way to describe its style is if you crossed the dogfights from Top Gun and A New Hope with the documentary style shooting of Battlestar Galactica and a sprinkle of the sound design from the Star Wars prequels.

But when you get down to it, I’d rather watch any of those movies before sitting down for another showing of Red Tails. At times, I was yawning from boredom and predicting the plot 20 minutes ahead of time.

I’m glad Lucas was finally able to get this movie out into theaters after 20 years of development; I just wish I could say that those 20 years of work showed outside of the special effects.

 

Left over thoughts:

-If George Lucas were to ever conceivably remake the original Star Wars trilogy (not that I want that to happen) Nate Parker, who plays “Easy”, could make for a good Lando Calrissian (Ed. Note: Feel free to talk about how much you hate Daniel for writing this in the comments below).

-After sitting through trailers for Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds, Think Like a Man, the dreadful looking Three Stooges, and Eddie Murphy’s A Thousand Word’s, I never though I’d be so happy see the preview for The Phantom Menace in 3D.

-A very interesting prisoner of war storyline is just given two scenes in the final hour; and I believe it could actually make for a movie by itself.

January 27, 2012 2 comments Read More