NATO’s trailer guidelines & best previews of all time

It’s a feeling familiar to many moviegoers: You’re stalled in traffic; there are train delays on the subway; you thought you had arrived at the theatre right on time, only to find yourself stuck at the end of a line snaking its way out and away from the building’s entrance. You’re going to be late for your movie, there’s no doubt about it, but happily, your anxiety is checked by the recollection of common cinema practice. Movies never start on time. They always begin 10 minutes later than listed, at least. And why? Because it’s standard form for a host of pre-show previews to play before each feature.  And so you breathe easy, knowing there’s a nice, long buffer of movie trailers between you and the opening scene of your film.

It remains to be seen whether or not the new set of voluntary guidelines released by the National Association of Theatre Owners today will dramatically affect this common 10-minute lag-time, between when a film is listed to begin and when it does begin, but one thing is likely: The trailers themselves will be shorter. NATO has asked that all movie trailers run no longer than two minutes, a full 30 seconds shorter than today’s norm. They’re also asking distributors not to release a trailer more than five months ahead of a film’s premiere. These new guidelines, however, do allow for two exemptions per year, per distributor. They’re scheduled to go into effect next fall.

Does this mean theatre audiences will be treated to many more short trailers before their film begins, or will a movie scheduled for 8PM now in fact start closer to 8:05 instead of 8:10PM? Most importantly for trailer fans, what effect will the time restriction (should distributors choose to adhere to it) have on the caliber of preview itself?

Perhaps it will result in the creation of trailers that skew towards the kind of quality work that makes up today’s list, inspired by NATO’s announcement, of the best movie trailers of all time. It’s true, most of the below previews do not run much longer than two minutes. Other similarities include an ingenious use of music (Jefferson Airplane providing the aural relief at the end of the anxious A Serious Man trailer; the fervid interest The Social Network’s trailer stoked in a capella, and preferably foreign, covers of Radiohead; Arcade Fire reaching the masses via the Where the Wild Things Are preview; and of course, everything auditory about the Pulp Fiction trailer) and, in most instances, a tendency to tease and hint at rather than explain an entire premise. (Remember the Cloverfield phenomenon?)

Admittedly, our list trends towards more recent films, with a certain emphasis on horror and indies, so if you have any suggestions for older works or genres not included, feel free to sound off in the comments below!

The Social Network
 

Where the Wild Things Are
 

Pulp Fiction
 

The Exorcist
 

Citizen Kane
 

A Serious Man
 

Cloverfield
 

The Shining
 

The Blair Witch Project
 

Little Children
 

Alien
 

‘Ride Along’ finishes first

Exceeding what were already high expectations, Ride Along not only earned the No. 1 spot at the box office this past weekend, but managed to set a new January record. The comedy grossed $41.6 million over the three-day holiday, or $48.1 million for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in total. The film’s weekend opening bests that of previous January record-holder Cloverfield, which bowed to $40.1 million in 2008. With a strong “A” CinemaScore rating, Ride Along will likely hold well over the coming weeks. An ultimate return of over $100 million isn’t out of the question.

Well-regarded Lone Survivor was the weekend’s No. 2 earner, easing just 42% to rake in $22.1 million. As of this morning, the war drama’s domestic cume stands at a great $77.2 million.

“Great” could also describe The Nut Job’s opening weekend performance. The animated comedy feature grossed a stronger-than-expected $19.4 million for the three days. While that figure is roughly on track with those predictions made on Friday (pundits did say the film would open to less than $20 million) the real surprise lay in The Nut Job’s ability to beat its direct family-friendly competition. Frozen is still doing banner business – especially when you consider the film has been screening for eight weeks now – but the musical failed to out-earn upstart Job. Still, with its $11.9 million haul, a drop-off of only 20% from the previous week, Frozen yet enjoyed a fiscally friendly weekend.

Frozen’s take places it at No. 5, with the weekend’s No. 4 slot going to the rather disappointing Jack Ryan reboot, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. The fourth attempt at adapting the Tom Clancy-penned series, Recruit earned $15.4 million. Along with its soft opening, the film’s troubles were compounded by its older-skewing audience. Eighty-five percent of Jack Ryan viewers were over the age of 25, meaning the filmmakers’ decision to cast young, 33-year-old Chris Pine in the lead role, an attempt to lure a young fan base – one that would hopefully grow with the series – failed to pay off. The franchise’s future remains murky, though one can assume executives aren’t chomping at the bit to finance a sequel.

However, those behind the Jack Ryan production can rest easy knowing they were not involved in Devil’s Due, the weekend’s bomb. The horror flick earned $8.4 million, making it the seventh film from distributor 20^th Century Fox to open below $15 million, an unenviable streak that extends back to Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.

American Hustle, on the other hand, continues its hot streak. The film saw an uptick of 19% from last weekend with its $9.9. million gross, which places it at the top of the pack, at least in terms of earning potential, of this year’s Oscar nominees. Other awards contenders August: Osage County and The Wolf of Wall Street earned $7.4 and $7.1 million, respectively, with the latter crossing the $90 million mark on Monday.

Gravity earned $1.87 from its first weekend in re-release. 12 Years a Slave benefitted as well from a second run: The harrowing Steve McQueen drama has now grossed over $40 million.

‘Lone Survivor’ stands tall at no. 1

Looks like audiences agree with Lone Survivor’s marketing team, which has been heralding the Afghanistan combat drama as the best war film since Saving Private Ryan.  It certainly made one of the strongest debuts among its genre cohorts, pulling in higher opening-weekend numbers than both Zero Dark Thirty ($24.4 million) and Black Hawk Down ($28.6 million). Survivor’s weekend haul of $38.5 million also far exceeded Universal’s conservative estimates – the studio had the movie tracking somewhere in the high teens – and, most impressively, has earned the film the title of second-most impressive January bow. The only other movie to have had a stronger January opening was Cloverfield, which grossed $40.1 million in 2008.

Many pundits are attributing the film’s success to a savvy promotional campaign that highlights the real-life heroism of its protagonist SEALs, while downplaying the fraught political implications that still surround the American invasion abroad. Whatever the initial appeal, critics and audiences alike are standing firm behind the movie, which has earned a rare A+ CinemaScore rating. The Mark Wahlberg-starrer should continue to hold strong in the weeks ahead.

It was an older crowd that helped lead Lone Survivor to victory over the weekend (the film’s demographic breakdown was 57% over the age of 30, as well as 57% male), while younger, and one would assume many repeat, viewers were (still) lining up for Frozen. The animated box-office behemoth has earned $317.7 million to date, and can now boast a Golden Globe win for the year’s Best Animated Feature to boot.

It’s unlikely the aforementioned honor will surprise anyone who’s leant an attentive ear to industry buzz of late, but the continued ascent of Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street might. After getting off to an OK start at the box office, the comedy/drama has steadily risen among the weekend’s rankings. Likely benefitting from continued controversy surrounding its debauched subjects, Wolf earned $9 this weekend to bump its overall gross to $78.6 million. Star Leonardo DiCaprio’s Golden Globe win last night may give the movie an additional boost this coming weekend. Estimates surrounding the film’s eventual total cume continue to expand: As of this morning, general consensus has Wolf topping out at well over $100 million by the time it leaves theatres.

David O. Russell’s crowd-pleaser American Hustle has already reached that milestone, officially crossing the $100-million mark as of yesterday. Another big Golden Globe winner (stars Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence both took home statuettes last night, and the film as a whole won for Best Musical or Comedy), Hustle grossed $8.6 million this weekend. The film tied with The Legend of Hercules for fourth place. That amounts to another strong showing for Hustle, but an underwhelming debut for the latest sword-and-sandal epic. Hopefully, The Rock’s take on the oft-adapted Greek legend will fare better this summer.

In fifth place, August: Osage County reaped $7.3 million from 905 locations. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones performed as expected, slipping roughly 66% to earn $6.3 million. It remains on track to become the franchise’s least successful offering yet.

Unfortunately for specialty enthusiasts, two critically favored films also underperformed. Her earned $5.4 million, which, while in itself not a terrible figure, is nonetheless fairly weak considering the number of theatres in which the film screened (1,729). And although Inside Llewyn Davis seemed to connect with coastal audiences, averaging about $100,000 per theatre when it opened in NY and LA, it struggled to find a wider viewership. From 729 locations, Davis grossed just over $1 million. Let’s see if the continued onward march of awards season can do anything for these two struggling originals.

Upcoming Release: 'Let the Right One In'

By Sarah Sluis

The Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In, about two twelve-year-old neighbors, one of them a
vampire, recalls the 1970s wave of prestige horror movies.  Largely based on novels, films like Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, and The Silence of the Lambs focused on the shadings of good and evil, curiously examining their characters' motives and thoughts.  Yes, there were moments of violence and fear, but the films drew energy from the atmosphere of horror, the bleak sense of doom that never receded.

In a 1982 Sweden during winter, where the sun sets in mid-afternoon, blond, bowl-cut Oskar endures relentless tormenting from a group of boys, his somber introversion both caused by and the cause of his teasing.  He finds friendship in Eli, a dark-circled, mature companion he meets perched on a jungle gym.  As her pale complexion suggests, she is a vampire.

In the context of this friendship, an exploration of their characters unfolds.  I spent much of the film
tenuously moving Oskar and Eli's characters
back and forth from the "good" to "bad" categories.  Eli hates killing
people, but she also wants to live--she "needs" to kill people.  Oskar wants friendship, but as he grows closer to Eli he changes from a potential victim to an accomplice.  The film likes to throw little wrenches into the machinery we have constructed for the character.  We accept that Eli needs to kill to live, but later we see another vampire choose to die rather than live a life with her "infection." Suddenly, we must examine Eli's survival as a choice, and possibly a selfish
one.

The film accomplishes much with the details.  The dried traces of
blood on Eli's lips manage to convey both innocence and alluring
dshabille, bringing to mind smeared lipstick or a young child who does
not yet know how to wipe her mouth properly.  There's also a pleasure in learning the "rules" the vampire must follow.  Eli has a special set of skills, taboos, and enemies (watch out for hissing cats), and these are presented to us more as artifacts or curiosities than foreshadowing.

FJI wrote a review of the film here that prompted my own viewing.  The film opens in limited, NY/LA release this Friday, October 24th.  In true Hollywood style, Cloverfield director Matt Reeves has already announced plans to remake the film, but I can't imagine native dialogue improving my viewing experience.  The English language is not needed to experience the dazed, creeped-out sensation I felt after the screening, nor the attitude of smug satisfaction I will feel having seen "the real deal" once the remake releases.