Okay, I normally don’t mind trailers… I don’t seek them out, but generally the kinds of trailers that give away the whole film are for stupid comedies I’m not likely to go see or that won’t suffer from plot spoilers.
But the new Prometheus trailer before MIB3 was ridiculously spoiler-packed. It gave away major plot points, significant movie events, which characters are going to be affected by very bad things, and more. I went from Prometheus being my most-anticipated film of the rest of 2012 to feeling like I know what’s going to happen, and putting it on my “boycott because it has Charlize Theron in it and, she ruined most of the last season of Arrested Development” list.*
So I know Tom manages to completely avoid trailers, and there are others here who do it as well. It’s easy to skip past them on TV, but how do you deal with them at theaters? Do you call the theaters to find out when the movie really starts? Even that doesn’t seem workable for a popular film, since you’ll be stuck with horrible seats if the theater’s crowded.
Tom, do you just close your eyes? Have a friend who doesn’t mind spoilers grab seats for you? Avoiding theater previews seems difficult.
PS: F*CK whoever put together the most recent Prometheus trailer.
Yep, I close my eyes and put my fingers in my ears. Since trailers are often ridiculously loud, I usually have to wiggle my fingers. I’ve been told I look like an angry autistic child, but I’m pretty sure I don’t rock back and forth, so I don’t believe this.
It’s awkward, but it makes a big difference in terms of how you watch and enjoy movies.
I used to just show up 10 minutes late to every movie I saw, which was possible at the little theater I frequented. (I was occasionally the only patron, & often there were less than 20 people in the theater.)
But the most assaultingly advertised movies’ trailers would still get to me, so for the past couple years I’ve been closing my eyes & plugging my ears. It helps that I have a bit of tinnitus.
I’ve avoided the Dark Knight Rises trailers even through The Avengers!
I usually show up 15-20 minutes “late”, unless I know it’s going to be busy. In that case I just listen to a podcast and play games until the movie starts. God I hate modern trailers.
I stare at the ground. I can’t remember when I last did this (I think it might have been for each Matrix sequel, of all things?) but for movies where they’re intent on trailing the cool action scenes, you don’t really need to worry about hearing them.
I guess if I wanted to avoid hearing one as well then I’d whack on my iPod for the duration.
And people turning up once the trailers have started is just so annoying! :)
The last time I went to a movie in the first week it was in theaters was The Two Towers, and that was more to hang out with my buddies who went than for the movie itself. There is no movie that I cannot wait two weeks to see, by which time the crowds are gone and I can show up 10-15 minutes late without worrying about a good seat.
You have to also hum and wiggle your fingers. And no, I’m not kidding. Much like you have to change the frequency or modulation or something of your phasers when you’re attacking a Borg shield, you have vary your pitch and tune while you’re humming or the dialogue will start to sneak through. I find Ode to Joy and the Imperial Death March work best as they let me get the resonating bones in my skull vibrating to good effect. The good thing about trailers being so ridiculously loud nowadays is that you can hum at a decent volume without disturbing the folks around you. At least until that inevitable moment in every trailer where there’s that needle-scratch sound effect and it goes silent for a second. Learning to surf past that safely is strictly for professionals, though.
This is why I love trailers like the early one for Fincher’s Dragon Tattoo movie, because it’s all pounding music, or the teaser for Battle LA, which had that awesome music in it. For those you can just close your eyes and enjoy the music.
Yep. I walked out on the new Star Trek movie because of the obnoxious kids running up and down the aisles. Got my money back too. Haven’t been to a theater since and I don’t miss it.
If I’m seated in a sufficiently accessible place, I usually step outside for the trailers. I have had little success with plugging my ears, but I haven’t gone so far as to actually bring earplugs or headphones like other people mention. A lot of the employees at the movie theater I frequent now know me as “that guy who doesn’t watch trailers” because I am usually pacing the hallway multiple times per week and have to explain why I don’t need help with something.
You have no idea how much better I feel knowing that others close their eyes, put their fingers in their ears (and wiggle them around) and hum things loudly at different pitches to muffle out dialogue.
I watched Prometheus tonight and when I got back home I watched the trailer for it which I’d managed to avoid (using the technique above) a couple of weeks ago when I went to see The Avengers. Thank fuck as well because it really does spoil a lot.
My girlfriend also works at the cinema so she tells me how long trailers are supposed to go on for but after watching The Raid earlier in the week where the projectionists started the picture early, causing us to miss god knows how many minutes of the film, that knowledge isn’t something I can really rely on.
