And because this year was actually a shockingly great one
for movies—I saw 140-something movies this year, and I can confidently say that
I liked more than I disliked—that means movie trailers were great, too. We’ve
come a long way since the pre-YouTube trailers of the 1990s, with their
omnipresent narration and low resolution. Now every trailer gets analyzed
online, screengrabbed and gif-ed for Tumblr, and—more often than not—they all
have that Inception BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM noise. Practically every
action movie trailer this year had that noise. Can we stop that noise?
But other than the BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM-heavy deluge, there
were a lot of really great movie trailers this year. I’ve collected my favorite
seven below, as well as my three least favorites. These trailers either made us
excited for the full-length film, really tapped into the point of view of the
filmmakers, or just had a great score attached. Are your favorites on here?
Sound off in the comments!
BEST TRAILERS OF 2013
TO THE WONDER
I’ll be honest: I love me some Terrence Malick, I adored The Tree of Life, and yet To the Wonder was ultimately a letdown.
Too little dialogue; too much Ben Affleck; and this movie seemed to disappear
from theaters and public consciousness in a way few Malick movies do. But oh,
this trailer had me so excited for months. It’s pretentious but beautiful in
that patented Malick way, and every time I heard Javier Bardem say “You feel
your love has died—maybe it’s waiting to be transformed into something higher,”
I burst into tears. I often have TOO MANY emotions, and this trailer really
exemplified that. I think it really accurately captures everything people
love—and hate—about Malick, and if that’s not a great trailer, I don’t know
what is.
To The Wonder by Teaser-Trailer.com
James Franco purring “Let’s cause some trouble now.” Former
Disney teen queens wearing sweatpants with “DTF” on their butts. That utterly
annoying, undeniably catchy song from Skrillex. Was there a more titillating
fever dream of a trailer, or of a movie, this entire year? Nope. Director
Harmony Korine and Spring Breakers
get that distinct honor, and watching this trailer—even after I’ve seen the
movie three times already—still gives me giddy chills.
THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
Jeez, was Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines critically underrated this year. An
excellent performance from Ryan Gosling, a breakthrough role for Dane DeHaan,
the only time I’ve ever tolerated Eva Mendes—The Place Beyond the Pines had all that! There wasn’t a more
affecting tale of the relationships between fathers and sons this year than
this movie—“I’m still his father. I can give him stuff”—and I didn’t sob more
in a movie theater during all of 2013. The mirroring between Ryan Gosling’s and
Bradley Cooper’s characters is done really well in this trailer, and although
it’s not an intensely exciting trailer, it sticks with you. The movie will, too;
just see it.
The Place Beyond The Pines by Teaser-Trailer.com
THE GREAT GATSBY
Before The Great
Gatsby came out, buzz was that the movie was going to be a flop. Such a
huge budget for a literary adaptation? After Baz Luhrmann had a failure with
Australia? The negative hype was high. But oh man, did The Great Gatsby trailers work hard to turn that doubt around—and
when the movie ended up being a commercial success, I think you can point to
these trailers as helping that. The movie got a few different official trailers
and TV spots before its release, but out of all of them, I think the first is
the best. “My life—my life has got to be like this.”
The Great Gatsby by Teaser-Trailer.com
ONLY GOD FORGIVES
Yes, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives was basically just a masturbatory arthouse movie
with beautiful scenes, fantastic cinematography, and extremely little plot. But
try to tell me Ryan Gosling asking “Wanna fight?” didn’t get your blood
boiling. TRY TO TELL ME THAT. And you will be wrong.
Only God Forgives Trailer by Teaser-Trailer.com
MAN OF STEEL
Yes, one of my best movie memories of the entire year was sitting next to my PDC colleague Julian Lytle during Man of Steel, when, during a climactic moment, Julian exasperatedly uttered “Fuck this movie!” in the middle of a packed screening. And ultimately,
I concur! I found Man of Steel frustrating and badly plotted, which is
especially a bummer given how fantastically epic these trailers were. Oh my
god, All-American Kevin Costner suggesting that maybe his adopted son SHOULD
have let all his classmates die? Superman's red cape flapping in the wind? Um, Henry
Cavill SHIRTLESS and on FIRE? Yes, yes, yes. How sad that the movie was a no,
no, no.
Man of Steel by Teaser-Trailer.com
PACIFIC RIM
I personally blame U.S. moviegoers for ignoring Guillermo
del Toro’s Pacific Rim and thank the
rest of the world for picking up the slack. How could you watch this trailer
and then NOT want to see it? Amazingly detailed alien monsters? Idris Elba
thundering about “canceling the Apocalypse”? Charlie Hunnam’s and Rinko Kikuchi’s
extremely sexual sparring? And it made barely anything domestically? Thanks for nothing, America.
Pacific Rim Official Trailer by Teaser-Trailer.com
WORST TRAILERS OF 2013
OUT OF THE FURNACE
Want to know every single thing that happens in Out of the
Furnace? Then just watch its trailer! Seriously, it leaves nothing out. But if
we could move away from trailers that give away the entire movie, which
actually discourages audiences from paying to see a movie they think they’ve
already seen, that would be great.
Out of the Furnace by Teaser-Trailer.com
AMERICAN HUSTLE
American Hustle is a movie with performances that I loved
and a soundtrack I immediately wanted to buy, but its trailers
left a lot to be desired. The movie is loosely based on the Abscam scandal
that is practically impossible to understand, so the trailers chose to forgo
narrative and focus on the cast instead. But a trailer that JUST lists the cast
members’ names? That seems phenomenally lazy to me.
American Hustle by Teaser-Trailer.com
INSIDIOUS – CHAPTER 2
Because a fat old naked man whispering things in the dark is
not scary.
Insidious - Chapter 2 - starring Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson by Teaser-Trailer.com
