Little Children, a little late
![[for my consideration]](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/fmc.gif)
Yesterday afternoon, I hauled my butt over to the Sunset 5 to catch Little Children. I’d been dying to see it ever since catching the brilliant trailer months ago. (The trailer was better than the movie, which is no slam on the film. The trailer really is that good.)
Today’s mail brought a screener copy of Little Children. Anticipating this will be a trend, I’d like to pre-announce the movies I plan to see soon, so that the studios can be ready with the DVD follow-up: Children of Men, The Good Shepherd, and the Alien Quadrilogy.1
Screeners to date:
- Little Children
- Babel
- World Trade Center
- United 93
- Notes on a Scandal
- Flags of Our Fathers
- Little Miss Sunshine
- Thank You for Smoking
- Okay, that last one’s not in theaters. But I’d like a copy, all the same. ↩
December 29th, 2006 at 2:15 pm
That Little Children trailer had me waiting in anticipation for a good few weeks. I thought the movie was pretty good but you’re right, that damn trailer is tight. The sound design with the train both in the trailer and in the movie kinda sent chills up my spine.
December 29th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
I was much looking forward it. The trailer is so thrilling. It leaves out just the right pieces. Alas the what does happen in between those cuts was much of an anticlimax. It may have been in an interview with Elvis Mitchell where Todd Field talks about the genesis of the story at great length. After which it all seemed to make so much more sense. Needless to say it would have been just that little bit more excitement without the explanation.
And the ending,…?
December 29th, 2006 at 5:13 pm
Haven’t seen the movie yet. The book was great.
If anyone would like to see a better copy of the trailer than the compressed YouTube version, all QuickTime sizes including HD and iPod are available from Apple Trailers: http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/littlechildren/
December 29th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
That trailer was amazing, but I havne’t seen the movie yet. Another good trailer to seek out is TRADE, with Kevin Kline. It doesn’t have the brutal artistry of the Little Children trailer, but it’s well done.
Happy holidays!
December 29th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
No spoilers for people who haven’t seen the movie…
In terms of movie versus trailer: The film I was hoping to see from the trailer is definitely there, but there’s a lot of stuff in the movie that has nothing to do with the affair. And because of that, I constantly had a sense of…”That’s great, terrific in fact, but let’s get back to Kate and Patrick.” The movie doesn’t have the same tension as the trailer because there’s a lot of stuff in-between.
I’ve been known to write trailers before writing the script, because the trailer helps you realize what the movie wants to be about.
December 30th, 2006 at 4:53 am
The BAFTAs precede the Oscars so the screeners come out sooner; the revelation for me so far has been Lodge Kerrigan’s Soderberg-supported indie KEANE, for a blistering central performance from Damian Lewis. It also has Abigail Breslin, the kid from LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE.
December 30th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
I had a similar experience this week. There was a trailer before “Children of Men” that consisted of a single shot of this weird, grungy human figure dragging a body through a vaguely post-apocalyptic desert. It was a really amazing, intriguing visual, and I remember thinking “I should probably see this, whatever it is”.
The card comes up: “The Hills Have Eyes 2″.
Just then, I hear the guy next to me mumble: “What a waste of a beautiful shot.”
Amen to that.
December 30th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
You had a guy next to you say “What a waste of a beautiful shot.”? That’s pretty awesome. I guess seeing movies in Hollywood is slightly different than in suburban Atlanta. Here it would be more like “OhmiGod I can’t wait to see that! The first one was like sooooo scary!”
I didn’t like that trailer for Little Children. Yeah, I said it. This may have to do with the fact that I have no interest in affair stories at all. I will say that it is creative to have what is essentially a suspense/thriller style trailer for an affair movie, because I assume that being in an affair probably FEELS like being in a suspense thriller. So it was a nice creative choice, I just didn’t dig it like you guys. To each his own, I suppose.
December 30th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
Your comment about you writing a trailer before the script; for some reason, sparked something in my head. So thanks for that unexpected advice. I also recently watched & bought Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, I loved it by the way. Well, I’ll leave you with that, enjoy the rest of your day.
January 1st, 2007 at 9:54 am
My pulse quickened a hair after the trains collide so the trailer did a damn fine job of instilling anticipation. I will see it.
January 2nd, 2007 at 6:59 am
Two things: first - wow we’ve gotten way more screeners than you have, and ours have a longer distance to travel!
Second - I saw Little Children last night and was a little disappointed, but possibly because I wasn’t as blown away as I thought I’d be. No spoilers, but there was one aspect of this movie that I found distracting and intrusive. Some really masterful performances though, and other great good stuff, and Jackie Earle Hayley was amazing.
January 2nd, 2007 at 10:52 am
So I just watched the trailer, and personally I don’t see what is impressive about a trailer that doesn’t at least give you a hint about what the story will be about… a bunch of random images and facial expressions doesn’t seem all that creative to me; just to play a little devil’s advocate here…
The trailers that really do it for me are the ones where there are a bunch of random images and facial expressions, but all clearly tied to a clear story concept, so all the eye-candy/moodiness is icing on an apparently grand idea.
It is possible that I am not smart enough to comprehend this trailer, though.
January 2nd, 2007 at 4:48 pm
The best trailer I’ve seen recently - defined as I must see this movie - is Grindhouse, back-to-back Tarantino/Rodriguez.
Blew me away!!!
Trailer available in multiple HD sizes at Yahoo! Movies in both Windows and QuickTime formats.
This has become my new reference standard for how to cut an action trailer.
January 5th, 2007 at 8:22 am
I agree with Stephen 100% about Damian Lewis in Keane. Blew me away. We got that screener really early so I’m amazed he didn’t make it through to the second round in the Bafta voting. Maybe no one watched it because it was Christmas and the so called ‘bigger’ movies were piling up and needed to be seen. I only got through half of mine. So natural selection came into play.
January 6th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Somehow I managed to see Little Children trailer before I ever saw the trailer. And I loved it, including all that “extra” stuff … Jackie Earle Hailey especially. Holy shit, it’s Moocher!
Also, I saw that Hills Have Eyes 2 trailer last night before Children of Men here in Santa Monica, and had the exact same experience as dbholden: someone behind me mumbling “What a waste of a great shot.”