Superbowl Movie Trailers...

I love the Interweb age. It used to be that if you wanted to see the ads that ran during the Superbowl, you had to actually, you know, watch the Superbowl. As I have explained, I'm most assuredly not a sports guy. My obsessions are comics, movies, TV, and robophobia, I don't have time to get invested in sports. I'm barely involved in my real life as it is.

Except baseball. Baseball's cool.

Anyway, now that we live in an instant gratification society combined with the most advanced information sharing technology in the history of mankind, I no longer have to slog through a three hour sporting event to see cool commercials. There were a boatload of cool movie spots during the game, and I have compiled the best ones for your enjoyment. All except Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Why? because Transformers fucking sucks. The first one was awful and the second one (which I only saw a few weeks ago because I was able to see it for free) was abysmally, diabolically bad. If things keep progressing the way they have been, this one should induce seizures and vomiting. So, this is the last time I'm going to mention it.

Anyway, here are the best of the movie spots:


4 - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides




Yeah, this one I'm not sure about. I mean the first film was great, and Johnny Depp was amazing in it. Odd, charming and delightful. A really cool performance that you just knew was going to be iconic. The second and third ones seemed rushed to capitalize on the popularity of the first one; the stories grew less and less involving, though there will still flashes of greatness, notably by Depp and Geoffrey rush. Now comes number 4, and it really seems like they may be going through the motions. Still, Depp could save it.

3 - Thor



Thor was always going to be the riskiest of Marvel's properties. He's one of the few big name characters they have that doesn't fit in to the whole sci-fi, urban, modern vibe they have going on. It seemed to be the one that could most easily tip headlong into rampant silliness. Marvel seemed to recognize this, and wisely hired Kenneth Branagh to direct, a man skilled in Shakespeare and outrageous costumes. Best of all, he's skilled in connecting those qualities with modern sensibilities. Still, the initial trailers looked a little uneven, but this one, even though it's the shortest one, communicates how the movie is going to feel, and how big the scope of the adventure will be.


2 - Super 8



JJ Abrams has always had a similar vibe to early Spielberg. He's a big concept guy, who can inject an authentic sense of mystery and thrills into a project, whether it's for TV or film. His Mission Impossible III was probably the best one of that series, and his Star Trek was incredible. His TV projects, from Felicity to Alias to Lost to Fringe, proved he was a deft hand at creating bold and original concepts. But he hadn't really done that for one of his own films yet. Super 8 is the first one that looks like it's entirely his. And yet it looks like the type of film Spielberg used to make in the 1970s and 80s. It looks intriguing, and this spot is a vast improvement from the ho-hum earlier teaser.

1 - Captain America: The First Avenger




This one was definitely the biggest mystery. Cap is not a very well-known property,frankly, and the idea of a patriotic superhero really could have rubbed people the wrong way if done badly. But this little spot successfully brings across the serious tone, without ditching any of the kicky retro feel. The skinny Steve Rogers looks great, and the transformation stuff seems to work. Nice to see the Red Skull pop up and, all in all, it looks like this summer may belong to Marvel.