It’s not enough that Alex Ross Perry makes great films. He is also been giving us some amazing marketing materials – posters and trailers so good that we don’t have to universally hate the world of movie promotion any more. In a time when nearly all official one-sheet and DVD cover art is generic, Photoshopped faces and nearly all theatrical ads and TV spots are a clutter of best-of clips and the same overbearing sound effects, it’s a treat to see something like the Queen of Earth trailer above with it’s ‘70s-inspired voiceover. Sure, throwbacks aren’t really technically any more original than the conventional crap we see everyday now, but it still stands out and honors a time when more movies were as great as Perry’s.
The latest from the filmmaker behind The Color Wheel and Listen Up, Philip stars Elisabeth Moss (whom we’re excited to see more and more of post-Mad Men and with production of season 2 of Top of the Lake in the news this week) and rising talent Katherine Waterston as old friends sharing the latter’s lake house. What ensues, I’ve dared not spoil for myself before seeing it, but I gather the film itself will feel like an old fashioned psychological thriller, as befits such a trailer.
It’s worth noting that Perry is now working on Disney’s live-action Winnie the Pooh movie, because if you weren’t already aware or haven’t really thought about what that means, that trailer and this fact are enough to blow your mind clean away. All I know is, after the distinct marketing materials released for his other movies, we better see something just as special for his entry into the mainstream. And then hopefully he can influence others from within the broader circle.
For now, there’s this: in addition to the tremendous new trailer, here’s a poster for Queen of Earth that’s unlike any you’ll see for another movie this year:
Queen of Earth opens in theaters on August 26th.