American Sniper

Why Do Movie Trailers Suck?

movie trailers suck

We’ve all watched that trailer. It gives away the whole movie, including key plot twists. Sometimes you watch a trailer that isn’t even close to what you get in the real movie (we’re looking at you Frozen and Kangaroo Jack).

And sometimes, a movie trailer is just plain bad, even though the movie itself is quite good. Well this week on the Now Conspiring Podcast, Maria and I delve into what makes our trailers, well trailers. Is it money? Greed? Power? Greedy power? We discuss.

Later in the show, we quickly review Paddington, American Sniper, and Blackhat. And we also cover this week’s movie news, including our thoughts on the Oscars, the new Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer, and more.

Stick around for our Netflix Recommendation of the Week, and as always, we finish the show with new Movie Releases coming this weekend.

Question of the Week: 

Why do movie trailers suck? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to our show on iTunes for updates on every episode!

Links to cool things we mentioned:

My American Sniper review. 

How George Lucas almost directed Star Wars: Episode VII.

The second trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron (which Maria hates for some reason).

All of the Oscars nominees in one place! 

No Surprise: The Nominees For ‘Best Picture’ are Ridiculous

oscars 2015 best picture

The nominees for Best Picture aren’t very surprising, save for Gone Girl getting snubbed in favor of noticeably weaker films. But first, here they are:

  • American Sniper
  • Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • Boyhood
  • The Imitation Game
  • Selma
  • The Theory of Everything
  • Whiplash
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel  

One of the trends you’ll notice on this list is that it’s very biopic heavy. Four of them are direct biopics, while another two are indirectly centered around the actor being the movie’s gimmick (Birdman and Boyhood). Only two of these movies are just that: Movies.

These are all great films. The only one of these I didn’t enjoy was Birdman, mostly because it’s such an uneven film made that way because it wants awards.

The only thing about it that worked for me was Edward Norton, but everything else felt so condescending toward nothing. It was just two hours of people screaming at each other for no reason but to vent out frustrations I couldn’t care about.

I sort of understand the appeal of stories that make no sense. But for me, narrative has to have cohesion, or else I’m not going to appreciate the movie as a whole. So for that reason, I’m not on the Birdman bandwagon.

Whiplash is still my favorite film of the year, and I’m also excited to see Selma and Boyhood getting their due. But Imitation Game and American Sniper beating out Gone Girl and Wild seems like a huge “We hate Ben Affleck and Reese Witherspoon” message from the Academy, even though Rosamund Pike and Witherspoon got the obligatory Best Actress nods.

And no, Interstellar doesn’t deserve to be on this list, but I feel terrible for Matthew McConaughey’s snub for best actor.