Geoff's Top 10 Trailers of 2014
2014 was one of my favorite years of moviegoing, played in no small part by attending my first Sundance. While I watched less films this year overall than I have in my four years of officially being part of the film community, I still watched more than my fair share of trailers. I know people that live for trailers; I also know people who refuse to watch them. Both groups have very valid reasons, with the former embracing the snippets of story and style to help determine their film choices amidst the world of ever-increasing ticket prices, and the latter wanting to enter the film experience full of surprise and intrigue. Listed over the next few pages are some of my personal favorite trailers of 2014. I hope you enjoy watching them as much as I did.
[Trailer] Whiplash
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Miles Teller is quickly becoming one of Hollywood's most promising and well-rounded actors. He's proven he can play the raunchy, sex comedy type in 21 & Over and That Awkward Moment; he can help bolster huge Hollywood franchises with Divergent (and will be starring as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in Fox's upcoming Fantastic Four reboot); he's also shown his emotional and dramatic range in one of last year's most underrated films (and one of my favorites of 2013), The Spectacular Now. It's the depth he's shown in The Spectacular Now that truly excites me, and all of his potential is captured in this first trailer for Whiplash.
Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, Whiplash premiered at Sundance earlier this year, winning both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for a Dramatic Film and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award thanks to the stellar performances by the aforementioned Teller and supporting actor J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man). Teller stars as an aspiring jazz drummer, Andrew Neyman, enrolling into a prestigious music school taught by a notoriously strict teacher, Terence Fletcher (Simmons). However, Fletcher's style of conducting takes its toll on Neyman's life. Much of the praise for Whiplash has centered on the chemistry between Simmons and Teller, and you can tell just how strongly they work off of one another in this short trailer.
Whiplash will be in theaters on October 10th.