The Vacation Read: Which do you prefer, anticipation or total spoilers?
We wrap up our week away with a look at how we prefer to learn about films
By the time 'The Phantom Menace' arrived in theaters in 1999, I felt like I'd already seen every frame of the film.
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Wow… has it been a week already? I'm probably curled into a fetal position right now, weeping about the fact that I'm already done with my vacation. A week sounds like it's going to be a long time, but then when it actually happens, it's over as soon as it starts.
Today, I want to wrap up this week of conversations by talking about anticipation. I think modern movie marketing is so pumped up and aggressive that much of the joy of waiting for a film to be released has been diminished. For me, unfortunately, the process has been completely distorted because of the way we cover trailers and set visits and editing room visits and early cuts and more. By the time a film comes out these days, I feel like I've already had the experience, and it's harder and harder for me to have anything approaching a "normal" experience.
I grew up loving the anticipation. The wait between the release of "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back" may have only been three years, but it felt like forever, and every single day of those three years, I was manic for information about what was coming. I spent that time in a constant fog of daydreaming about what might happen, what could happen, what should happen. I loved it.
As I got older, though, I stopped wanting the anticipation in the same way. In fact, I went the opposite direction. I wanted to know as much as possible as early as possible. Even before there was an Ain't It Cool News or even an Internet, I was obsessive about finding scripts for films and reading them. I would hunt down every available image, every rumor. When the Internet finally arrived, it felt like it had been created for me. All of my wants could be satisfied with the click of a mouse.
These days, I find I'm somewhere in the middle. My job still involves knowing an awful lot about a movie before it comes out, and I just accept that as par for the course. The trade-off is that I try to know absolutely nothing about a TV show before I watch it. I enjoy the week to week kick of serialized storytelling. I like not knowing anything about where a show is headed. I like not even watching the "Next time…" previews that many shows feature. I've given up worrying about whether or not other people are going to spoil something for me, because part of the price of being even remotely connected to other people is that their timetable is rarely in synch with yours, and you WILL be spoiled for things. Just a fact. I can do my best to avoid them, though, and I enjoy those moments like when I saw the end of "Breaking Bad" season four and had no idea what was coming.
My question for you is simple: what do you like? Do you want the months of speculation and anticipation and waiting? Do you try to learn everything you can as early as possible? Or is it all just noise that exists separately from the film itself? I don't think any one answer is right or wrong… it seems to be a very personal line that each person has to define. But I'm curious why you've come to the decision you have and what examples you have for times it's been handled right or times it's been handled wrong.
I look forward to reading your responses to this and all the other topics this week, and I'm thanking you in advance for participating, even if you don't normally participate. If you guys don't respond, this is going to be a very slow week here on the blog. I'm counting on you, and I hope that by the time I return next Monday, I'll know a lot more about you, and that I can use your answers to help make Motion/Captured even better.
With that, we conclude our vacation programming, and I'll be back on Monday morning, bright and early, and ready to check out what you guys have written in response to each of these columns and to share all sorts of good stuff that's been percolating the entire time I've been gone.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupMonty Jack
September 1, 2012 at 3:27PM EST Reply to CommentI remember seeing The Grey earlier this year, and going in not having seen a single frame of footage. I knew what the film was about of course, had seen a handful of still images, and yet had not read a single reviee or watched the trailer or even so much as a TV spot. It wasn't something I did deliberately, it just sort of happened. But Liam Neeson lost in the wilderness and being pursued by wolves? My inner Jack London-loving kid just reacts instinctively to "wilderness survival" movies, so I bought my ticket and sat down, and got to experience that most rare of modern-day film experiences...an awesome movie where I had NOTHING spoiled for me beforehand. Not an image, not a line. Reading reviews of it afterwards, I kept coming across complaints that the film didn't actually climax with Neeson fighting a wolf hand-to-paw like in the misleadingly-edited trailer, and I had to be thankful that I didn't fall into the trap of assembling the film inside my head before I had ever actually seen it. I wish I could have the willpower to deliberately avoid trailers and spoiler discussions for every movie, but that's kind of impossible where every movie has a dozen trailers attached to it (with a literally captive audience, unless you're going to close your eyes and clamp your hands over your ears while going LALALALALALALA to drown them out) and spoilers are often thrown around even in message board discussions that aren't specifically about the film in question (a pox on ANYONE who does this).
That Werewolf Guy
September 1, 2012 at 4:30PM EST Reply to CommentI like having access to spoilers, but I want to decide when to encounter them. These days a million short clips are released on the internet, before a new tentpole movie hits theatres. That's okay, because I can decide if I want to watch them and when. Same goes for news stories with an appropriate spoiler warning. Sometimes I just want to be spoiled, sometimes not. It all depends on the nature of the movie.
It's cool to be able to read all kind of tidbits about an highly anticipated project, but when news sites ruin surprise cameos in their headlines (Zombie Bill Murray anyone?) or trailers give away the ending or at least moments that were supposed to be suprising story twists, it's just pissing me off.
That's all. I really think the answer is that simple. Make every kind of info available, but don't shove it in our face without asking.
Florida Fan
September 1, 2012 at 6:41PM EST Reply to CommentI do enjoy previews and internet info for the movies, especially those that I can't wait to see (i.e. The Hobbit). I find it even easier to access info on TV shows that I obsess over (like Person of Interest) with pics and videos on Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook. It gets me through the wait for season premieres, even it's only bits and pieces.
The Real Kevin J
September 1, 2012 at 8:41PM EST Reply to Comment'Shaun of the Dead' came out in theaters on my birthday. I remember seeing an article about on Ain't It Cool, and the reviewer was very careful not to spoil anything, only saying he loved Spaced (which I also heard was amazing but hadn't seen), and that if you loved this or that movie, you'll love this one. So, I went to the theater on a whim. No trailers, no commercials, none of that stuff. I was blown away; the experience of watching 'Shaun of the Dead' clean was transcendent. I've been a fan of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright ever since.
A counter-point to that: Episode I. That movie was probably the reason I got into movie-news websites in the first place, hunting down any tidbit of info I could find. Entertainment Tonight and Showbiz Today with Martin Grove just weren't cutting it anymore; this was something new. I was getting the juice I always wanted, but was always out of reach until little trivia tidbits at the end of a complimentary Blockbuster Video magazine. So, with each sketch of a battle droid or video of Nick Gillard training Ray Park and Ewan McGregor, I was salivating. Hyping the movie up to Biblical proportions.
My parents took me to Best Buy as soon as the soundtrack was released. John Williams was and still is my all-time favorite composer, and there was no way I was missing out on his latest STAR WARS score. I opened the plastic wrapping and looked at the back of the case, and there they were, in an alomst Faustian twist, the penultimate and ante-penultimate track titles: Qui-Gon's Noble End, and The High Council Meeting And Qui-Gon's Funeral.
It was a damn punch to the face. Never mind the movie was a letdown so bad, that it tarnished the saga and invalidated Years of Web-Fueled Anticipation. The fact that the one shock moment Episode I had been carelessly ruined for the soundtrack fans was a sign of things to come; that the Star Wars universe, and movies in general, was strictly a commodity and nothing more. Since then, I've always been wary of trailers, TV spots, and early reviews. That is, unless I don't care that much about the film anyway. Sometimes, I just gotsta know (The Dark Knight Rises) and in others, I'll stay as pure as possible (Pacific Rim).
Anticipation had ruined some of the most important viewing experiences of my life, leading only to deflation. The Matrix Reloaded. Crystal Skull. Superman Returns. Spoilers on the other hand had either warned me of inferior material or provided a summation of mediocre material that saved me ten bucks. Neither do I prefer. I love the websites still: Hitfix, Badass, AICN. But if I truly want to see something, I run for the hills and keep my eyes and ears shut until opening day. Not always achievable, but when it happens, there's nothing sweeter.
murphy
September 2, 2012 at 2:03AM EST Reply to CommentThis is a pretty tough question. I think almost anybody would say that they don't want to be spoiled on a movie, that they are excited to have a movie surprise them completely. Films like "The Sixth Sense" that have a completely misleading marketing strategy (I swear there were TV spots that showed car crashes and all manner of action scenes) can blindside a viewer and defeat all expectations. Some movies can be better, fuller experiences for their ability to surprise you.
But anticipation is also a double-edged sword. Like that short of breath feeling you get when you are about to ask out a girl that you have a huge crush on, the unrelenting hype for a highly anticipated tentpole can be almost painful to endure. When I was 14, the summer of 1996 was all about "Independence Day." The first trailers started showing up more than seven months before the movie came out and they were some of the best trailers ever constructed. The posters were evocative and unbelievably fucking cool. I was so unbelievaby primed to see that flick that I thought I might snap. That was one of my first experiences of not only wanting, but desperately needing, to know everything and anything about a movie. I studied the look of the toys, read the novelization, had endless conversations with my best friend about what spoilers may have been revealed from the most recent trailer. I watched Entertainment Tonight for God's sake. While that level of anitcipation is certainly fun, it can be insanely frustrating.
Anymore, try as I might, I just don't have the patience to allow myself to remain unspoiled. There are very few instances when I find it preferable. I went in to "Prometheus" this summer knowing little about it and enjoyed it on a straight visual level. It may have helped that I was really drunk. I went in to "The Dark Knight Rises" knowing almost nothing and was horribly disappointed that I had guessed almost every plot point from two trailers. I've found that in most cases, the more you know doesn't really effect the level of enjoyment a movie can provide and the more hype there is, the greater the potential disappointment.
So...I guess I gravitate to those that prefer spoilers. Anticipation is a young man's game.
dyikini
September 2, 2012 at 5:41AM EST Reply to CommentI am just accepting of the way things are today - I LOVE trailers. Sometimes more than the film itself.
The first Phantom Menace trailer had me running in circles on the floor. I've been waiting for the Cloud Atlas trailer for months after hearing it would be a film soon.
I also love casting news, particularly for some of the more established characters. We all come to these sites for our fix of movie news and the insights writers like you drip out to us.
I do think it sometimes dampens the film experience in the end. But when it all boils down to it, a film is only as good as it is when it plays in front of you. Some spoilers and information will ruin a twist or a key emotional part of the movie - when you're expecting it in the lead up, it's going to lose it's impact.
Anyway, it's just part and parcel with today's landscape. Even if you actively avoid any news on a film, chances are some of it will find you.
I do love being genuinely unspoiled - and I think everyone who visits these sites whether they realise it or not, would absolutely LOVE to be genuinely surprised - we all just can't help ourselves however!
What would be perfect, is if a film could be made with complete secrecy and just thrust upon us with no word. Imagine if the next Superman released a trailer, not too revealing and then BOOM! one week later it's in cinemas. Or for example, Star Wars VI (purely for example)... better yet, imagine if following Return of the King, Jackson and Co revealed hey, we actually made the Hobbit too and released it soon after ROTK's run.
I mention larger films because it's ridiculous to think an unestablished property would make any money with out the marketing lead up. But imagine if they made a practice of dropping these major films on us with no warning.
I dunno, ridiculous and silly scenario, very far from a real world possibility but I think everyone would love that kind of surprise once in a while!
Mark Your comments regarding trailers is spot on. Some trailers are truly works of art. It's a shame that often they are much better than the films themselves. Prometheus was a good example of this. Stunning trailer. So-so movie. I worry the same might be true of Cloud Atlas. I could watch that trailer all day, being a huge fan of the book. The final product may or may not live up to those expectations. But for right now, the Cloud Atlas Trailer moves mountains.
September 4, 2012 at 1:40PM ESTPaul S
September 2, 2012 at 5:51AM EST Reply to CommentI used to like trailers / hype etc, but these days I prefer subtle stuff, not too many spoilers.
Having seen some Hitchcock movies recently, I like the way he used to present his trailers - his black humour ..made you curious and wanted to find out more.
Prettok
September 2, 2012 at 10:54AM EST Reply to CommentDepends on the film. I went to see 'the Village' with a group of friends. They were all flabbergasted at the stupid big twist and hated the movie. It overode everything else about the film for them. I knew about the twist in advance however. I was prepared for the absurdity and was able to enjoy the movie because I could concentrate on other aspects like the music, design and acting. I also was anticipating when they would make the big reveal.
It all comes down to surprise versus suspense. Which is more important for each film. It wa a question Hitchcock struggled with when he made 'Vertigo'. Should he let the audience in on Kim Novak's secret or keep it as a surprise when Jimmy Stewart finds out? Viewers still debate whether he made the right choice.
JoeK
September 2, 2012 at 11:09AM EST Reply to CommentI really dislike being spoiled and I find most pro-spoiler arguments disingenuous. Yes something can still be compelling if you know how it plays out beforehand but pretending the experience is the same or equal or even superior to an unspoiled one is pretty selfish and disingenuous. Worse is that many pro-spoiler arguments originate from people that enjoy privileged access or are otherwise disengaged from traditional anticipation to begin with. That said, spoilers are the oxygen of the internet (and all the media that now must copy it) so avoidance mostly requires discipline and predictive powers acquired by being burned. I personally find it a little easier to manage now or myself than in early internet days.
That aside I find trailers themselves to generally be the most worst offenders. Ebert wrote last year about them:
"Trailers also do their best to spoil secrets and sight gags for you. One executive told me: “We want them to feel like they’re seeing the whole movie, except that it’s longer.” This model can also be found in the aisles of supermarkets, where you’re offered a bite of cheese on a toothpick. After you eat it, you know everything there is to know about that cheese except what it would be like to eat a pound of it."
Many teasers are still understated and built on tone, mood or style but by the time a release trailer rolls out you get what is described above. I've also found that many trailers suffer from debuting online. Scale and cinematic effect(s) in particular are almost completely negated by online/desktop/mobile viewing and more than one movie has suffered needless prerelease mehs from the online community in recent years as a result.
I'm a huge fan and I love teasing out stuff that enhances my anticipation of something. There is a nuance to it that is just wildly different from the old days. In some ways I don't mind and even appreciate that (having grown up in the one-sided vacuum days) but it can and does swing too far the other way far too often. I would say for a while that fandom was driving the overindulgence but I put it more in the lap of marketing at the moment, which is why I love it when something is rolled out skillfully, with affection, enthusiasm AND restraint.
JoeK An aside to the above: There was a list online last week of "The Most Disappointing Movies that were Highly Anticipated" and I found it telling how many were released post-advent of the internet. I personally found the list bloated by about 50%. I wouldn't pin all of that on spoiler-fed reaction but certainly on some brand of speculative presumption/discussion generated almost exclusively online.
September 2, 2012 at 11:17AM ESTMegalodon
September 2, 2012 at 12:19PM EST Reply to CommentI'll take the middle ground on this one. Early reviews or summaries aside, trailers are the first impression of a film, and we all know how important those are. They can be works of art, some of them, tiny windows into a new world. But they work best (IMO) when they find that sweet spot between completely laying out the entire movie's plot and being so vague and brief that have no sense of what to expect at all. A good trailer should sell only the key elements to get their audience interested: the genre, the mood, the setting perhaps, and show just enough of the actors or the action to sell you on the characters or the story. And this is all common sense, really.
And a good music accompaniment in a trailer can go a long way towards that, even make or break that first impression. As I cited under your music article, the movie 9 had a great, great trailer, and the movie never lived up to it, but it certainly got my butt in that theater seat. And conversely, the new Man of Steel trailer completely lost me by poaching music from LotR. In that case, the music had a mood already attached to it, and that mood was "mournful on an epic and yet deeply personal scale". Is the new Superman flick supposed to be a tragedy?
I will admit, sometimes I do seek out spoilers, but usually it's when a film is expected to be a big deal, but I have no connection to it or expectations of my own, like Prometheus. In that case, I'm happy to wait until the movie's out, then read some reviews, and THEN decide whether to spend money on it. (I didn't, for Prometheus.) I expect that's what I'll do for Man of Steel. I've never seen a good Superman movie, so I'll have to hear a lot of people saying it's good before I shell out.
Cody B
September 2, 2012 at 12:37PM EST Reply to CommentI try to strike a balance between the months of speculation and trying to learn everything as possible. There are certain things that I try and seek out at all cost but there are other things, like scripts, that I wouldn't go near.
Let's use Pacific Rim as an example of what I will and won't do before a movies release. When Pacific Rim played at Comic-Con I went absolutely crazy scouring the internet looking for someone who put up a bootleg version of the trailer. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful. I LOVE trailers and cannot wait until the studios release them online. That's the kind of footage that I seek out before a movie is released. Not clips (I just wait for the movie), or BTS videos (I just wait for the Blu-Ray), or TV Spots.
TV Spots are interesting. The only time I'm dying to see a TV spot is usually at the Super Bowl and that's usually because it's the first time they are showing anything. Other than that though, TV Spots just recycle the same footage over and over and as we closer to the release date they add more and more footage, spoiling more and more of the movie.
What I really want is to just see that first footage. After that? Let the long wait begin. So for the Avengers I followed all the rumors, news stories, etc all the way up until the first trailer got released. After that, I was on Avengers blackout (Except for when the other trailer were released because come on, its The Avengers!).
But with The Avengers, there was a time I handled the whole thing wrong. I spoiled something and I completely regret it to this day. Someone had posted a review of The Avengers and I wasn't going to read. But of course I did. There was nothing spoilerish in the review... until the end. Now, the review warned me that there was a MAJOR END CREDITS SPOILER coming up. and for a few days I stayed away. But eventually I came back and saw what it was: Thanos. It was still a mind blowing surprise, but I just imagine how much cooler it would have been to see it for the first time at the Midnight show.
Other than that though coverage of a movie hasn't really spoiled anything. I'm pretty smart on deciding what I want to watch now and what I want to just ignore until the movie actually opens.
Latauro
September 2, 2012 at 10:39PM EST Reply to CommentAnticipation. It's not even close.
I genuinely don't understand the pro-spoiler camp. I don't understand what's gained by being presented with a piece of information devoid of its emotional, narrative context.
What I remember when I think back to the big film moments of my life are the surprises. Not the Shyamalan-esque twists necessarily, but the revelations that form the basis of storytelling.
When I know something in advance and I'm simply waiting for it to occur, it has almost no impact on me.
I love seeing films at film festivals, and part of that is that I never know what I'm going to expect. Those films tend to have a bigger impact, not least because the narrative turns are always surprising. There are no expectations created from endless trailers, posters, web articles revealing every last detail...
Anticipation every time.
jonathancottrell
September 3, 2012 at 12:16AM EST Reply to CommentI think it's impressive what filmmakers like Terrence Malick, Christopher Nolan, even JJ Abrams do, keeping much of their films and footage under wraps until the big release. It's a difficult feat these days.
I wish more was kept disguised, at least. I watch some trailers and feel like I've seen the entire film. I often times avoid those films in theatres and only catch them when they hit DVD, usually. When everything feels laid out in a three-act structure via trailers, I find it difficult to even want to watch those films.
I prefer marketing campaigns that are more cloak and dagger. Super 8, The Dark Knight Rises, Tree of Life are fairly mainstream films that come to mind. But it's hard. I understand the difficulty filmmakers go through trying to compete. I just wish more took aim to surprise and through off audiences a bit. Make a trailer or a featurette that makes you wonder what they're trying to do with the film.
I feel like news sites like HitFix and AICN and others aren't as much to blame--that's why we visit. We expect to learn something interesting. But for the average movie-going public, I wouldn't mind a little bit more anticipation.
Intellectual Ninja
September 3, 2012 at 12:27AM EST Reply to CommentI wish I could delay my gratification.
But I can't.
I need to know. I mean NEED to know. It's like a sickness.
It really is like a sickness. I need to know EVERYTHING. Every detail. And you know what? It doesn't ruin the experience for me at all.
I like knowing. I like being one of the few in the theater who knows.
When I watched The Lord of the Rings in the theatre, of course, I knew everything, because by the time Fellowship came in 2001, I'd already read it 15 times or so since I was 11.
Listening to all those people gasp when Gandalf fell, or cheered when Gandalf came back, or yell when Gollum hit Sam on the head and bit off Frodo's finger... I knew it all, and I LOVED experiencing everyone else's reaction.
When I go into a theater and I know Miranda Tate is Talia, or I know Loki "kills" Agent Coulsen (still not convinced he's dead, or if he is, he's coming back as Vision)... I love knowing that.
It's weird. Reading about it... I love the written word so much more than anything. I've loved to read since I was four. And when I read something, I imagine it in my mind, and I love seeing it play out on the screen, to see if it's as I imagined, better than I imagined, or worse, even.
It's also why I have such visceral reactions when things go horribly wrong from my point of view in a film such as Green Lantern.
GL is my FAVORITE hero. His only "power" is being the human most worthy to possess the most powerful force in the Universe.
Think about that for a second. Hal Jordan is DEFINED by this. Hal has character you cut out of granite. He NEVER quits. He NEVER ruins away. In fact, when he fails in Emerald Twilight, it's because he tries TOO MUCH and TOO HARD.
And Greg Berlanti SHIT all over that. Berlanti shit all over Hal's character in his abortion of the film.
Berlanti pretended to be a fan of GL, to understand what made Hal, Hal... but he was a fucking liar. He made Hal into a pilot-version of Dawson Leery. A punk. A punk who runs away when the going gets tough.
Instead of having the drama come from Hal having to OVERCOME his situation on Oa, to OVERCOME the species-hate he experiences, to OVERCOME the drill instructors like Kilowog and Sinestro, GAINING their true respect by taking their abuse and NEVER giving up (think how Mayo takes Foley's shit, and then they fight, and then they have respect in An Officer and a Gentleman)... instead of the drama coming from that... Berlanti has Hal run away like a pussy.
And I hate Berlanti for that. Because when you KNOW how something is supposed to be, when you KNOW a character so intimately like that, from reading them for over two decades, well, it's like if Peter Jackson had Frodo head back home after the Council of Elrond.
Anyway... sorry, got ADHD sidetracked.
But yeah, totally love spoiling myself.
Wires
September 3, 2012 at 5:25AM EST Reply to CommentI always feel in a constant flux of wanting to know more about a film I'm excited about and trying to stay spoiler free, the main reason I'm here is because your tastes are the closest I have found of any critic's to my own, so I get a good idea of which films are worth my cash.
Some of the spiraling marketing campaigns for films are really making it difficult to keep any mystery about a film, I've lost count of the number of trailers that come out and pretty much show the whole film, a good example would be the Prince of Persia trailer.
On the other hand a trailer that gives you a concise introduction to the protagonists and the plot but leaves you wanting more, can instantly get you excited and committed to a film, Taken's trailer being a superb example of this.
Perhaps film marketing has just reached a saturation point and the 'less is more' approach can actually make more of an impact than five trailers, actor interviews and 'behind the scenes makings of' when the film is still months away than now seems to be the norm.
A difficult balance to achieve me thinks.
Adam.Sexton
September 3, 2012 at 5:39AM EST Reply to CommentArticles that feature updates on casting, crew, location shooting, set visits or advance reviews are permitted as long as they indicate that spoiler details are involved. Then the decision is up to me whether or not to read. It's a good system and it has worked so far.
Adam.Sexton Trailers that don't abide by this rule are infuriating but I'd like to believe that they don't always indicate the nature of the film that they represent. Trailers are usually the best way to get me worked up for a film.
September 3, 2012 at 5:42AM ESTadsjohns
September 3, 2012 at 9:20AM EST Reply to CommentThe marketplace can ruin films if you're not careful though for the more discerning cinema goer it's great to be able to pick and choose what you see.
Dark Knight Rises is a classic example. I watched the first, dialogue free trailer many months before release and that was it for me. Sold.
It was tough avoiding marketing too because for once I had to wait to see a film I was longing to see for almost a month after it came out (having bought tickets to the real IMAX in Waterloo, London).
The wait was more than worth it though and it was wonderful seeing the film in all its unspoiled glory.....
Marc Deering
September 3, 2012 at 10:34AM EST Reply to Commentwhat do you like?
I like being surprised. Everything is spoiled lately and it gets really annoying after awhile. Waaayyy to many trailers for big movies that you KNOW you’re going to see but they keep adding footage and ruining the FUN of going to a movie and being surprised and excited and overjoyed to see soemthing
Do you want the months of speculation and anticipation and waiting?
Being a grown-up with many things to do day-in day-out I can suppress that urge to constantly check things. Yes, I can wait.
Do you try to learn everything you can as early as possible?
NO.
Or is it all just noise that exists separately from the film itself?
It’s not noise, it’s marketing people doing their jobs to keep whetting the public’s appetite for “more”. Again, being an adult, I know what goes into all this so I can separate the noise and what’s real.
I miss NOT knowing what was going to happen before going into a movie and being surprised and having FUN.
Stormshadow4life
September 4, 2012 at 9:23AM EST Reply to CommentI know this won't add much to the discussion....but I despise spoilers. That's about it.
Mark
September 4, 2012 at 1:30PM EST Reply to CommentThis is an easy one. I prefer the anticipation. I find that when I absorb as much info as possible about a release it diminishes the experience of discovery. There are times when holding something back from the audience truly pays off.
The best example of this occurred with Jurassic Park. If the Internet had existed back then, people would have been unhappy that there were no dinosaurs in the marketing spots or trailers leading up to the release. In this day and age it would be viewed as "suspect" or that the creators had something to be ashamed of. I went into that film already primed for adventure. I had read the book. I was a dinosaur nut. But I was not prepared for seeing lifelike dinosaurs for the first time.
The audience literally gasped when the Brachiosaur made its appearance. And I was experiencing the same sort of shock and awe as the characters. "You have a T-Rex???" Sam Neil asks, in utter shock. I AM GOING TO SEE A FRIGGIN' TREX, I thought to myself in those moments. Spielberg did not disappoint.
JP was one of the last great films that I remember being completely and utterly floored by precisely because I had seen so little to prepare me for it. I miss those days.
Affentod
September 6, 2012 at 8:44PM EST Reply to CommentAs a movie lover, I crave to be surprised. It's not always easy. It's impossible to go clean into something like The Dark Knight Rises. As impossible as having a solid idea what you'll be experiencing at a festival watching 20 movies in a week.
For me in regards to spoilers there are different levels of awareness that I think I can categorize.
A) Large Tentpole Movies
A few years ago I stopped watching internet trailers with very few exceptions. I've loved them, I collected them, but after a few years, I strongly felt that they took away some of my enjoyment. So I stopped. Completely. The more I want to see a movie, the more I'll avoid to see anything. I haven't seen any hobbit trailers or teasers or whatever might be out there apart from the first few production diaries. And I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
On the other hand, the Lord of the Rings trilogy was what got me hooked to the internet in the first place in 97/98. I started digging through newsgroups, discovered AICN, read and watched anything I could get my hands on. I enjoyed that immensely as well. Neither way is right or wrong, it's just a choice you have to make and go with it.
It certainly helps that most tentpole movies are comic book adaptations. I knew that Bane was in TDKR, but having no clue who that was it didn't matter. With movies I'm unsure about, I tend to read the first paragraph and last one or two sentences of reviews on either M/C or AICN. Once the movie comes out in my neck of the woods (a backwater place called Europe), seasons have passed and all that I remember is whether I wanted to see it or not.
B) Festival Movies
That's pretty obvious, a lot of surprises here. But again, most of the stuff shown around here was already covered on the major American sites, which would fall more into category A.
C) Must-see indie movies
Now, these are the smaller movies that sites like M/C or AICN pride themselves in giving them a helping hand. More recent example: Bellflower. When you flipped for it, I knew I had to see it. I read roughly half the review (which is as far as I allow myself to go!). With these little pearls I can hardly contain myself. I don't know what it is about these movies. It might be the way you guys are selling them, with all the trust you built over time. I'm so grateful for international trade and being able to import this stuff. Bellflower came out in Germany as DTV 5 months after the US blu release...
D) Interesting movies from all ages
This is where I get most of my pleasure of being surprised from. I read a lot about movies, always trying to discover new stuff. (Un)fortunately, I don't have the time to consume that many movies. So whenever I read about something that sounds interesting, I'll dig into the respective review or list or photo gallery or whatever until I have a good grasp whether it interests me or not. If yes, I add it to an IMDB list (and now to the great watchlist feature). There's like a bazillion titles on there. From time to time I mirror the list to my Amazon UK and US accounts ("save for later"), and check back with the sites once a month or so. If I see something drop radically in price, I buy it. Most of the times I don't know anything about the movie or why I added it. I know it's on the list for a reason. So once I see any of these movies, chances are I will be surprised. The best experiences are when I don't even know about the genre. Gambit is a good example of this. You've talked about that movie several years ago, it was on the list and I watched it 3-4 years later. I didn't know the genre, who recommended it or why. That's bliss for me.
E) Classics
These are the hardest to watch. Like anybody else, I do have quite a few blind spots. You just have various degrees of baggage. It sometimes feel like you know the movie without having seen it, and oftentimes you're right. That's why I usually just go with movies that I know less about. I want to be surprised, like I was surprised by the pure joy of watching Timothy Levitch in The Cruise earlier tonight.