The Sweet Smell Of The Fall Movie Season Is In The Air With These 5 Trailers

There has been a lot of trailer drops in the last few days, and with the names involved with these films, it appears that we are finally coming to the end of the Summer movie season. Presented below is a ranked list of these trailers, and some musings for your enjoyment.

#1 – The Florida Project 

For some reason, despite having it locked and loaded for a while, I still have not gotten around to watching Tangerine. I now have a real reason to get to it quick, as I need to be in the know before The Florida Project, Sean Baker’s newest film, hits theatres on October 6. It really is no surprise that A24 is taking the top spot in this batch of trailers, because they consistently choose interesting projects that give a solid foundation to make a strong trailer out of. I mean, okay, the trailer does rely on critic quotes that are heaping glowing praise on the film, but there is nothing in this trailer that suggests that glowing praise isn’t completely warranted. The ice cream scene that starts the trailer, and the last bit with Willem Dafoe walking away, are perfect ways to get me hooked, and then have me wanting to see more. Also, this film looks absolutely gorgeous, and once you realize that it has the same cinematographer as Post Tenebras Lux, it makes a lot of sense (though I am not a fan of that film at all). This is another winning trailer for A24.

#2 –  The Meyerowits Stories (New and Selected)

Here’s a trailer that does a good job advertising the film so that it will appeal to broad audiences, though given whose directing the film, one has to imagine that the film itself is going to be less accessible than the Sandler films that have so far been released on Netflix. This trailer basically just has Sandler singing a funny song, which is a throwback to old school Sandler, and then has clips playing over it. Since the film is a Noah Baumbach film, you know it is going to have some moments that aren’t mainstream comedy moments, but that certainly isn’t a bad thing. The trailer does give a glimpse at some of these possible moments, with Dustin Hoffman smashing a pool cue, and etc, though I think most watching this will just be focused on the funny Sandler song. Overall, I think it is a good glimpse at the film, and certainly provides an accessible one minute and three seconds, that I genuinely hope represents the major tone of the film, though if it isn’t, that is certainly nor unexpected, and I wont be disappointed.

#3 – The Death of Stalin

I feel like I should have known that this was coming out, as I am a fan of Armando’s Iannucci’s The Thick of It and In The Loop, but this was a surprise to me, but a welcome one. The very idea of of this film, and the approach to the subject matter, is intriguing to me. I think they have cast this film very well, and Jason Isaacs in particular seems like he is having a blast. With comedy trailers, it basically comes down to whether or not you laugh, and since this is a Iannucci film, I of course did. There’s nothing necessarily amazing about this trailer, or the way it is put together, but it is selling exactly the film that I want this to be, so I am on board.

#4 – The Killing of a Sacred Deer 

Of director Yorgos Lanthimos’ films, I’ve only seen Dogtooth and The Lobster, and while both films have strong premises, I felt like neither film really delivered a strong third act, so I was underwhelmed by both, The Killing of a Sacred Deer appears to be another weird and uncomfortable film from Lanthimos, and I like what I am seeing from the trailer, though I do have my apprehensions going into the film, because of Lanthimos’ previous work. Also, while I was praising A24 earlier, I’ve got to give them a wrap on the knuckles for this trailer, simply because of the singing over its entirety. It works at the beginning of the trailer, but as things go on, I found it distracting from what was actually going on in the trailer. As well, A24 does seem to rely very heavily on critic quotes in their trailers, and it seems strange that they need to. Given the independent appeal of their films I wont fault them for using all the tricks to sell their films, but they really should just rely completely on the strengths of the editing of their trailers, which is consistently strong.

#5 – Molly’s Game

If you were to tell me that Aaron Sorkin was making his directorial debut, I’d be excited. But, now after actually seeing the trailer for his directorial debut, I am not excited at all. This trailer is following trailer making 101, by showing way too much, and trying to really appeal to the largest demographic possible. We literally see the entire plot of the movie unfolded in less than three minutes, and while the film should be being sold on the strength of Sorkin’s dialogue, it instead is being sold as yet another Wolf of Wall Street clone, which adds it to the constantly growing list of films trying to ride The Wolf of Wall Street‘s coat tails. Finally, it seems like Jessica Chastain is struggling with delivering the Sorkin dialogue, as all of the big Sorkin dialogue moments feel laughable, particularly the bit of narration featured in the trailer. Overall, Molly’s Game appears like it will be a weak effort from everyone involved