Teens put trailers to the test

Every year, when the summer movie season arrives, I find myself wondering: Are the films becoming more stupid or am I just getting older?

As it turns out, I’m getting so old I don’t even know what “stupid” means anymore. When the young movie-going tribe gathers to talk about summer films, “stupid” is used as a term of affection. “When we say ‘stupid,’ we’re not insulting the movie -- stupid can be a good thing,” explains Stephanie, a 15-year-old member of my annual Summer Movie Posse. “It’s funny to see people do something dumb or embarrassing.”

Now in its fourth year, the Summer Movie Posse is an informal focus group of neighborhood teenagers, assembled by my 17-year-old pal, Gabe, to watch trailers for the most hotly anticipated youth-oriented films. (For privacy purposes, Posse members are only identified by first name.)

This year’s group of eight teens, ranging in age from 13 to 17, is hardly a broad-based sampling, being largely Westside private-school kids. But they are incredibly media-savvy, hotly opinionated and the absolute target audience for Hollywood summer films. As frequent moviegoers -- they see nearly a movie a week during the summer -- they offer an invaluable opportunity to understand how the film industry’s key demographic group decides what movies to see each summer.

Their tastes aren’t so different from kids anywhere else. Last year, their favorite trailer was “Bruce Almighty,” which went on to be a huge hit, while their lowest-scoring trailer was the dud “Alex & Emma.” In fact, nearly all of last year’s top trailer picks went on to success while the least-favorite trailers ended up as flops.

When it comes to the zeitgeist, they don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Four years ago, they were more excited about seeing hip-hop musicians, even in minor roles, than virtually any movie star. This summer, the hip-hop factor barely registered; the actors that got the biggest reaction were Will Ferrell and “Punk’d” veteran Dax Shepard. They’re also adept at reading between the lines. Even though the MPAA treats drug references in trailers with the draconian vigilance of the Malaysian government, the Posse instantly grasped that the teen stars of “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” were stoned -- and probably stoned for the entire movie, a huge selling point, especially for the boys on hand.

It’s amazing how little Hollywood understands the cultural attitudes of young moviegoers. 20th Century Fox has been engaged in a desperate effort to keep its thriller, “The Day After Tomorrow,” from being portrayed as a movie about global warming. The studio has kept environmental groups at arm’s length, refusing to let them host a premiere or even meet with the film’s director, Roland Emmerich. The studio would prefer “Tomorrow” be perceived as a mindless popcorn movie, as if global warming was as controversial an issue as abortion or terrorism. Of course, the film’s trailer was a Posse favorite. Asked why, they all said: because it was about global warming! As Hall, 16, put it: “It’s a lot more original to see a movie about global warming than just another ‘dumb-hero saves-the-day-again’ movie.”

Judging from the group’s reaction, young white teens’ fascination with lowbrow black comedy -- what Spike Lee calls minstrel humor -- may be on the wane. In the past, comedies with the Wayans brothers, Eddie Griffin or Chris Rock have been big favorites. But this year, “White Chicks,” which stars the Wayanses posing as rich white girls, and “Soul Plane,” a black ensemble comedy about a chaotic airplane trip, sparked heated debate over the film’s “ghetto-style” humor and whether it was demeaning to African Americans. Both trailers ended up getting low scores. On the other hand, they didn’t think much of Brad Pitt in “Troy” either.

Here are some highlights from our discussion:

“Soul Plane”

Tyler, 17: “It looks so stereotypical that it seems almost racist because it displays black culture in such an unintelligent way. Plus there’s no story, so you might as well go watch stand-up instead of seeing the movie.”

Stephanie: “I disagree. I mean, it’s called ‘Soul Plane.’ It may not be a brilliant idea, but it’s just about black people having fun on a plane.”

Hall: “However you look at it, it’s stereotyping. It portrays black people as being stupid.”

Rory, 13: “At school now, everyone is trying to be ghetto. I guess that’s why they made the movie -- they figure it’ll appeal to everyone who acts that way.”

“Spider-Man 2”

Gabe F.: “I liked the special effects. Although it’s weird seeing the guy who played Diego Rivera in ‘Frida’ in an action movie with a machine on his back.”

Tyler: “As a fan of the comic book, it’s great to see the Octopus [Doc Ock] in the movie. And I really liked the psychological aspect of seeing Spider-Man in his alter-ego role.”

Noah, 17: “I know the music is trying to make us feel Spider-Man’s anguish, but it’s way too much, like this is a drama that’s going for an Oscar or something.”

“Troy”

Hall: “It looks expensive, but it doesn’t really feel true to the real historical story, which bothered me a lot. And Helen doesn’t seem like an evil seductress at all. She comes across like a dumb, Jessica Simpson-type Valley Girl.”

Tatiana, 13: “Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt are such pretty boys -- they don’t belong in this kind of movie. I’d rather see someone more rugged, like Russell Crowe.”

Gabe D., 13: “Come on, Orlando Bloom may be pretty, but he’s not a pretty boy, like Josh Hartnett.”

Stephanie: “Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom wouldn’t be the worst thing to see for two hours. I’m not sure I want to see it, but that definitely helps.”

Gabe D.: “At least Brad Pitt isn’t eating in every scene like he is in ‘Ocean’s 11.’ ”

“Van Helsing”

Tatiana: “It felt too much like ‘The Mummy Returns,’ except with Dracula instead of the Pharaoh.”

Hall: “The trailer could’ve been better. Hugh Jackman didn’t really create a character; I just saw him, not Van Helsing. And where were the bad guys? I didn’t even see Frankenstein.”

Rory: “It felt like it was written by a 7-year-old who’s read too many comic books.”

“Anchorman”

Gabe D.: “It has so many great touches, like seeing a guy who’s an anchorman asleep with braces and a teddy bear, like he was 8 years old, which is cool, especially since Will Ferrell, in real life, is really smart.”

Stephanie: “I liked seeing the woman get a strong role. She really goes for the anchoring position, but in a positive way.”

Tyler: “TV news is so terrible that it’s great to see a really good parody of it.”

“King Arthur”

Tyler: “I really liked the way the director made it a darker, grittier film than all of the Disney ‘King Arthur’ movies. It feels a lot more like ‘Gladiator.’ ”

Gabe F.: “I liked seeing the close-ups of the actors and seeing who the characters are. I’d forgotten all about Merlin. You only see him for two seconds, but you know he’s gonna kick some [butt].”

“The Village”

Rory: “I hate scary movies, but this looks more mysterious than scary. It really makes you want to know who’s in the forest and how they got there.”

Tyler: “It looks too much like a repeat of ‘Signs,’ so it could be really good or bad. There’s not gonna be any middle ground.”

Gabe F.: “Night Shyamalan does cool, scary stuff, but this looked almost as cheesy as scary.”

“Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle”

Noah: “It reminds me of ‘Slacker,’ which isn’t very good, because I really didn’t like ‘Slacker.’ ”

Gabe F.: “It’s a great portrayal of a stoner. I love the scene where the guys stop walking halfway down the hallway because they’ve totally forgotten what they were supposed to be doing.”

Tatiana: “I dunno, to me it’s not even an intelligent stupid teen comedy.”

Gabe F.: “It’s not so dumb. I love how they introduce [John Cho] as ‘the Asian Guy,’ because that’s just what I was thinking -- Oh yeah, that’s the Asian guy from ‘American Pie.’ ”

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Rating the trailers

Here’s how the Summer Movie Posse rated 14 of the trailers for the summer’s most anticipated films. Each viewer gave the trailer a score of 1 to 10, with the highest possible score being 80.

*--* 1. “Anchorman” 67 2. “Without a Paddle” 64 3. “DodgeBall” 63 4. “The Day After Tomorrow” 62 5. “Troy” 61 6. “King Arthur” 54 “Spider-Man 2” 54 7. “Shrek 2” 53 8. “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” 52 9. “The Village” 51 10. “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” 47 11. “Van Helsing” 46 12. “Soul Plane” 39 13. “White Chicks” 36

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