There are few films I'm currently more excited about than Super 8. J.J. Abrams' ode to '70s-era Spielberg, James Horner's Cocoon soundtrack, and Coach Taylor seems -- to these tired eyes -- to be the one "must-see-now-please" film of the summer. Take your Thors and Captain Americas and cowboys and aliens; give me the mystery of Abrams and his lens flare. This excitement is why you can expect me to ignore every future trailer for Super 8 from here on out. And it's why you probably should as well.
Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your time on the Internet, but doesn't watching another trailer for Super 8 seem counter-intuitive at this point? We've already seen the dynamite teaser -- in my case, some 50 times -- and the pitch-perfect Super Bowl spot. Anything more feels like it might be overkill. "There will be a trailer out pretty soon," Abrams told MTV at the Vanity Fair Oscars party on Sunday. "You'll get more of a flavor of what you're in for this spring." Thanks, J.J., but I think we're all cool. The flavor has been shown, and it's already delicious. What more do we need?
Plenty, if we're to believe Hollywood marketing departments. Nowadays, it's de rigueur to deliver multiple trailers, TV spots, viral websites and posters. Just look at how Sony has handled Battle: Los Angeles -- there seems to be a new trailer or poster every single day. And every single day, my interest in seeing the film gets smaller and smaller.
Here's the thing: Super 8 is an obvious throwback -- to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if executive producer Steven Spielberg's old school-looking eyeglasses at the Oscars on Sunday night were part of the Super 8 campaign. Why don't we treat the way we accept promotion for the film as a throwback, too? It's on us, filmgoers. We can pretend this summer spectacle like exists in a world without Twitter and Google Reader, and just see the thing when it comes out; or we can saturate ourselves in trailers, viral sites and screencaps in an effort to solve the mystery before we even buy a ticket. It might sound hard, but if you feel yourself falling off the wagon, there's always the Super Bowl trailer to watch again and again. You'll be fine.
Like Aubrey Plaza, I want to know What's in dat box, J.J.; I'm just hoping we can all wait to find out. The guess here is that Super 8 will be more enjoyable if we do.