Trailers are incredibly easy to satirise. The hyperbolic voiceover, the manipulative use of Coldplay songs and the apparent belief that the makers think you genuinely haven't seen it all before; it's almost comfortably predictable.
It makes a lot of sense then that they'd receive such a ribbing from the very types that make them in the first place. This week, Ben Stiller announced that he would be bringing together his famous friends for The Fake Trailer Project, a collection of pretty self-explanatory digital shorts.
We're understandably excited. Here are 10 pre-existing reasons why:
Teresa: The Making Of A Saint
Arguably the best part of How To Lose Friends And Alienate People, this spoof trailer saw Megan Fox's character take the lead in a film depicting the life of Mother Teresa. Gloriously miscast, she sexualises and Americanises the clean-living saint in the NC-17 version we're promised here. We'd love for this to actually exist, just to see the reaction in the Daily Mail.
Don't
Included in the full Grindhouse experience, Edgar Wright's tease of a 70s British horror film was arguably the funniest moment. Pulling in pretty much every genre theme imaginable (from zombies to evil children), it was a bittersweet look at a Hammer film we'll never see. Plus it deserves some sort of award for the amount of times the title is repeated.
The Fatties: Fart 2
Now, who wouldn't want to see a film with that title? As part of Tropic Thunder, this Jack Black comedy promised obesity, burps and flatulence. Taking on multiple roles, the trailer gave us everything we'd expect to see in an Eddie Murphy movie, but at a mercifully short 56 seconds.
Medellin
In the Hollywood-set show Entourage, Vincent Chase's career received a nasty speed-bump with this bloated melodrama that saw him miscast as Pablo Escobar. The trailer gives you an idea of how bad the finished film would be, from the clichéd voiceover to his unconvincing fatsuit. In the show, it limped straight onto DVD. In the real world, we've thankfully been spared it on any format.
Amistad II
In the Scream spoof Scary Movie, we were given this faux-trailer for what appears to be Titanic but after a cruel twist at the end, is revealed to be a sequel to Steven Spielberg's slavery drama. It also features a brief appearance from the third Wayans brother, director Keenan Ivory Wayans. Hardly a Hitchcock cameo though...
Don' you GO Rounin' ROUN to RE RO
This Saturday Night Live skit had guest host Russell Brand and the show's regulars star in a spoof of British gangster films that, despite ridiculing our apparently impossible to understand accents, is still painfully funny. The film which was described as "extremely British" by critics, tells a story we've all seen before with dialogue we can barely comprehend.
don you go rounin roun to re ro from Chitharanjan Das on Vimeo.
Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown
Another gem from Tropic Thunder here which sees Ben Stiller's action star Tugg Speedman take on his sixth Scorcher movie, where he saves the world yet again, while managing to hold two babies. In an alternate world, Ben Stiller would actually be an action star, as proved in this still hilarious Mission: Impossible parody.
When Harry Met Sally 2
Ever thought that the classic romantic comedy needed a sequel? With Helen Mirren, Mike Tyson and vampires? Well, weird niche audience, your our luck is in. This Funny or Die skit gave us all the follow-up that most of us didn't ever actually want. It's a strange fake trailer, made just for the fun of it, but entertaining nonetheless.
The Night The Reindeer Died
One of the many, many amazing things about Scrooged was this spoof trailer (at the start of this clip) for one of the inappropriate TV movies that Bill Murray's heartless character had scheduled in for Christmas. The high-action story of terrorists attacking Santa's workshop, only to be saved by Lee Majors (obvs), would have resulted in dead reindeer and sad kids. Oh and happy us.
Hamlet
Ah, poor Last Action Hero. In 1993, audiences just weren't ready for a self-referential pastiche of Arnie movies. They were far too busy getting all dizzy over those digital dinosaurs. Which is why jokes such as the spoof 'Arnie does Hamlet' trailer fell flat on their face. It's a shame as we always thought Shakespeare could have done with some better one-liners.
(Image 2: Rex Features)
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