(From syracusenewtimes.com)
I really liked the trailer for “Inherent Vice.”
It was fast, funny and loose. I saw the movie adapted from the 2009 novel by Thomas Pynchon for today’s installment of my weekly Film Review blog on the Syracuse New Times site.
You can read my review of the movie directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Joaquin Phoenix by clicking the link below.
http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/inherent-vice/
It soon became apparent that the movie in front of my dear wife Karen and I in this Saturday matinee in the Regal chain in the Syracuse mega shopping, dining and entertainment complex Destiny USA was not much like the trailer.
I’ve gone through several sore issues with trailers here previously. Too many, too revealing are two of the my complaints about these teasers, as you can see from the story attached to that link and the ensuing comments.
Add misleading to today’s winter crock pot.
Have you ever started to watch a movie and thought, hey, is this the movie I chose, and if so, what was the title? Do you go online to check out trailers before you pick your movie viewing, and if so, what are your favorite sites? Do you watch movie trailers for entertainment purposes on its own right, and if so, what are some of your favorites, and why?
Mark Bialczak 
I wanted to see that movie – so definitely reading your review. Saw the discussion on “Gone Girl” – I read the book – the first like 5 chapters or so & was struggling to get through it. Then one day just skipped ahead a few chapters (which I never do) & it got real interesting real quick. Then I couldn’t put it down. Dd you review “Gone Girl,” too? I am so behind on reading your blog – fixing to blog stalk you tomorrow 🙂
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Yes, I did review “Gone Girl,” Sadie.” Please blog stalk me, my friend. You’re always welcome. Hey, I even have a Movie Reviews tag to make that one easy for you.
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🙂 Found it last night (with several othets) I’ve got open to read today! Looking forward to it!!!
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I appreciate your wise eyes and comments, Sadie. Thank you.
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I hate it when that happens! 😦 But at least you’re getting paid to watch the movie. Yes, I definitely watch the trailers before I invest in the movie (invest both my money and my time). I generally just look on the movie theater’s website for the trailer, but occasionally, I see it on Hulu first. I like them when they’re extra long and give you a bit more than the commercial gives, such as with the coming “Boy Next Door.” 🙂
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That “Boy Next Door” is not on my list, and I have seen the trailer(s) in the theater, Rachel. That actor is supposed to be in high school? Too unbelievable to me.
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You know I stayed for “Gone Girl” and gave it a negative review, but I definitely think Rosamund Pike showed outstanding acting in it. I also felt Neil Patrick Harris’ part was heart-wrenching. I didn’t feel he was as bad as he got, Mark!
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Yeah, got got bad, that’s for sure, Robin. Wow. And Rosamund Pike acted great in her dastardly role. What a dark movie “Gone Girl” was.
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I have walked out of movies, but unfortunately sometimes I keep hoping for some redeeming factor to shine through. Usually the movies don’t improve once the downward spiral starts, Mark.
I am so sorry you and Karen didn’t really like this one and thanks so much for saving my hard-earned money and my time, too! Hugs for your good reviews, I trust most of the time!! We cannot always agree, so you will see that we still have a lot more in common than we do differences.
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We would be boring each other to tears if we always agreed, Robin.
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I went to see Gone Girl after reading four chapters of the novel first. I watched the trailer, but had no idea what I was up against as I sat through the movie. The trailer did a good job of convincing me to watch the movie. Overall, I could watch movie trailers for hours, I bet.
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Most trailers entertain, Aud. Even stinky stinkers serve up 90 seconds of interesting material. If not, what a red light. I bet you could watch trailers for hours, couldn’t you? “Gone Girl” was better or worse or just different than the trailer for you? Wondering.
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I would say..worse. I didn’t handle the movie well…the end was too much for me, but I don’t watch blood well. The mind game was nice, which I got from watching the trailer.
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They did some godawful things in that movie, Aud. Wrenching.
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Truly.
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I love watching trailers at movie theaters. I usually don’t assume they tell me anything useful about the movie, though. Too often, I’ve seen bad trailers for good movies and vice versa. For example, “Guardians of the Galaxy” had a trailer that didn’t interest me at all, but I loved the movie. Thanks for this post and for your review, Mark. I’m not sure about “Inherent Vice.” My guess is that Michael will want to see it and I shall go along for the ride.
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If you put yourself in that 1971 California mindset, Ann, anything went, you’ll be able to not hate the ride with Michael. My prediction. I almost bought the Blu-Ray for ‘Guardians’ yesterday, by the way, but decided to wait for a lesser rental fee.
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I have gone to a movie because of the trailer. I go, expecting the movie to be better than the trailer, to discover the trailer was as good as the movie got. This usually happens with comedies. If a trailer makes me laugh, than I usually want to see the movie. For other types of movies I rely on people’s opinions. And my number one Movie Reviewer. 😉
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Thank you, Colleen. Here’s a stumper maybe you can help me out on. Why do they call it a trailer when it comes out AHEAD of the movie?
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Maybe because they made it AFTER the movie????
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Good point! Smart friend, Colleen. 🙂
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🙂 Sometimes I’m a thinker. 🙂
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I’ve had that disappointing experience too of liking the trailer better than the movie. Also had trailers that didn’t nearly do the film justice. And lately — this may just reflect how out of step with mainstream tastes I am — I see a lot of trailers that leave me scratching my head and asking, “Was that supposed to make me want to see that?… Because yuk… You’d have to PAY ME.”
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In that last case, Leigh, the trailer is doing you an extreme favor!
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I’ve seen several movie trailers that make me want to see the movie. Then I spend a couple of boring hours watching the worst movie of my life, waiting to see those scenes, and if they are even in the movie they go by so quickly they can’t be seen or noticed. At least I don’t pay for a ticket to the movie, just the dollar for renting it.. Still, if I had saved all of those $$$, I could buy a movie studio and make my own movies by now.
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Yeah, that’s a lot of dollars, Angie. You’d make a great movie, too, I’m sure.
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What a let-down! I call that false advertising!
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It’s really tricky, PJ.
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back in my ad days, i had to sit through many, many trailers and assess the audience’s reaction to them. they really did, and continue to run the gamut. my biggest beef with them is with the comedies, where all of funny moments, many not even left in the final cut, are seen in the trailer. generally this means the movie will not be too great. i’ve wanted to see this film and may not put it at the top of the list, but am interested in the period portrayed and the actors in the film.
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It’s an interesting film. Just not the film in the trailer, Beth.
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Herein lies the value of a like-minded movie reviewer: You’ve saved me the trouble of discovering this trailer farce myself. So thank you for that. Curious what DWKaren thought. ?? I don’t pay too much attention to trailers. Don’t watch enough tv to catch any. And by the time the movies are out from the trailers shown before a movie, I have forgotten what it was I wanted to see. Overall, trailers don’t have much value–just a lot of razzmatazz, designed to bring people in. Off to see what you thought of the movie now!
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DWK had a similar opinion to what I said over on the other site, this time, Liz. Thanks for dashing over there. 🙂
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Perhaps the most talented one was the director, bc the trailers shown nightly do show a zippy, fast-paced, colorful farce. The music is upbeat, the dialogue witty. But I’ve seen the self-proclaimed Mr. Never-Make-Another-Movie-Again too many times on talk shows, always ALWAYS incapable of banter, squirming uncomfortably next to his host, to ever expect anything BUT a drug trip. It’s amazing they were able to reign Joaquin in enough to film this at all. Perhaps it’s all a ruse, but it’s enough to keep me at bay.
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It’s so hard to tell acting from personality, Kerbey, on the talk shows.
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It’s like being in an Andy Kaufman world.
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That’s so extreme, Kerbey.
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Yes, I used to do a lot of market research groups when I was younger for extra cash and I remember once they showed us two movie trailers (can’t remember much about the movie, although I know it starred Heath Ledger but never got very popular). Anyway, they were totally different and the whole point of the focus group was to ask us which one we preferred and what we got from the movie based on the trailers. It really struck me how they could portray the same movie so differently based on a trailer. Anyway, thanks for the review. The movie seems like it could be interesting.
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The whole topic of trailers is interesting, Marissa. Going to a new movie a week, I can see how they change the trailer to a movie EVERY week for a month leading up to its release for some films.
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I’m sure no one knows better than you!
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Oh, there are critics out there who watch way more movies and trailers than I do, Marissa. 😮
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I’m sure there are. Still, you are way ahead of me!!
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Chalk that up to the kids around here being adult and out. 🙂
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I love the movie trailers. But there is nothing worse than that sinking feeling in the theater that you saw the best part of the movie during the trailer a few weeks before.
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Yes, that is extremely horrible, Barbara. The they-spent-it-all-in-90-seconds feeling.
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Eh, as soon as I heard Paul Thomas Anderson directed it I knew to leave the movie well enough alone. I’ve never been a fan of his meandering style, and from your review it sounds like Inherent Vice is no different. Movie trailers should provide a decent feel for whatever the movie is about, but like other advertising it also has the purpose of persuading people to watch something.
Recently I had the same feeling when I went to see the last Hobbit movie. The trailer went one way, but when I got to the theater I saw a badly mauled story.
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OK, mark the latest ‘Hobbit’ down as another misrepresentation. Thanks for the warning here, Sirius.
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Well, it’s a misrepresentation insofar as the trailer implied that it was a good movie.
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Understood.
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