Trailer Hitch
By BOP Staff
April 18, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com

Good boy! Now don't eat my brains.

What to Expect When You’re Expecting

Felix Quinonez: Wow...this doesn't even look like a real movie to me. I guess I'm not the target audience for this and I have to admit I was pretty sure it was going to be terrible before I even watched the trailer so maybe I'm being a bit harsh on it. But at parts it looks like a parody of those He's Not That Into/Valentine's/New Year's day movies. I also think it's kind of telling that during about 90% of the trailer the music seems to be the selling point. The dialogue is just in the background. So, yeah...I think it looks really bad.

David Mumpower: What I especially like about this trailer is that it eventually ends. I also respect the ability to make a minute and 51 seconds feel like three days. Imagine if they could translate for sexual purposes. This is like a prequel to Grown Ups in some regards so I am sure What to Expect When You’re Expecting will earn a lot of money. I also believe (in the face of all reason) that this could prove to be a funny movie because there are very, very funny people in the cast. Chris Rock, Elizabeth Banks and Rob Huebel (watch Childrens Hospital) all crack me up on a consistent basis, and yet this trailer causes me to long for a lobotomy. Felix is correct to mention the comparisons to Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Day, titles that focused on casting much, much, Oh.So.Much more than dialogue, storylines or characters. This trailer feels wrong, like yet another unwanted Daddy Day Care sequel (or the original, for that matter).

Bruce Hall: What the....is this a joke? Is this another Jimmy Kimmel fake trailer, what with all the obvious gags and stupid, unrealistic multi-camera sitcom humor? And why, Chris Rock? Why? WHY?!?

There is no God. Kill me now.

Kim Hollis: I don't even know what to say about this. If you look at the poster and most of the marketing material, this seems like a standard chick flick. But the trailer is clearly trying to target men. I don't think it's going to work - but I suppose that it could become a good compromise choice. I think this movie suffers from too many stars, even if some of them are bigger than others. It gets confusing, especially since we only see some of them for a moment. The *only* reason I think it has a chance is because there are some extremely funny people in the film (i.e. Chris Rock and Thomas Lennon). I just don't know if they can overcome what looks like terrible material.

Frankenweenie

Max Braden: The Nightmare Before Christmas meets Pet Sematary. I find this kind of animation kind of...uh, lifeless... and I think all black & white doesn't help it. For me, anyway.

Edwin Davies: I really, really like the original live-action short that Burton made of Frankenweenie back in the ‘80s. It was weird and creepy and sad, and I think that it's a film that more people should check out to see just what a unique talent he was back before he got lost in a fog of CGI (the whole film is up on YouTube in case anyone does want to watch it). This makes the new version look pretty soulless. Maybe they can't get all the emotional beats across in the trailer, but it all seems a bit arch, and the black-and-white makes it all seem a little cold. I wasn't a huge fan of The Corpse Bride for much of the same reasons, and I think that a lot of the charm of The Nightmare Before Christmas came from Henry Selick, who as a director has a verve to his animation that Burton doesn't, which is something that comes across in the trailer.


Felix Quinonez: I think this looks great. I love how the story is introduced. It starts out a bit sad and then the mom says what she thinks is just a throwaway line to make her son feel better but it becomes the MacGuffin. I love that it's in black and white. It reminds me of Frankenstein, which the movie is obviously trying to do, and it looks like it will have some funny, quirky characters. I'm sold.

Bruce Hall: I agree, it seems a little lifeless. Imagine if Henry Selick had filmed Coraline in black and white? Man, that would have sucked the heart out of that whole picture. You could argue that comparison is apples and oranges, but I'm not so sure. The whole Frankenstein parallel is of course obvious, and this no doubt accounts for the lack of color. I feel as though that shouldn't be a big deal, but it's a kid's movie. I'm not sure how many tots will go for this, what with the subject matter being so inherently morbid. The temptation of every successful director to "pay tribute" to the OG Universal monster pictures has become more than a little self serving, don't you think?

Then again, it's Tim Burton. If anybody can put a smirk on morbid, he can. If anyone has a shot at making a vanity project pop despite itself, he does.

David Mumpower: I have never drunk the kool-aid on Tim Burton like a lot of people here. For me, his Planets of the Apes/Mars Attacks!/Alice in Wonderland disasters occur as often as his grand slams like Big Fish and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. What he has in mass quantities is imagination. What he lacks far too often are boundaries. Frankenweenie and our discussion topic in the last column, Dark Shadows, are both examples of how fine the line is between genius and abject failure with his projects. I have no idea if either of these movies will be any good yet I can say with certainty that I enjoy the Dark Shadows trailer quite a bit more. Edwin mentions that The Corpse Bride did little for him and I concur with this assessment. This is exactly why Frankenweenie concerns me. Frankenweenie offers innumerable surface level similarities to that thoroughly mediocre movie. And while the trailer starts off in an engaging manner, it tails off a lot after the premise is defined. I am dubious that there is enough of a hook to sustain momentum for an entire movie despite the fact that I looooooove the idea. When a two minute trailer feels a minute too long, that’s a problem.

Kim Hollis: In the past few years, there have been a couple of really fine animated films that sweetly and earnestly illustrate the special friendships we can have with our pets. Bolt and then How to Train Your Dragon both had some wonderful, emotionally resonating moments (particularly the latter film). I feel like Frankenweenie *should* be that same sort of film, but there's just a little something missing here. I don't mind the black and white and I do like the Bride of Frankenstein poodle (very cute), but I agree with the notion that this trailer is lacking something in much the same way that The Corpse Bride did. That was a great-looking film that just didn't move me. I liked the original Frankenweenie short quite a bit, though, so it's possible that they're just saving the best stuff for the movie.