I tried something new at SXSW this year. I went blind. No, I didn’t lose my sight (although that would make all my movie reviews very unique). I went in blind to every movie I saw, which from Friday to Wednesday was a grand total of 23. Let me explain: Usually, when I get to SXSW the first thing I do is look at film listings so I can search trailers to get a jist of what movies I might want to see. This helps get my schedule ready so I can surgically jump from venue to venue seeing as many movies as I can. Like a mother-fucking movie seeing James Bond.  However, this year I stuck with just reading the text synopsis and looked at the single photo that came along with it.

Here’s an example of what SXSW puts out for each movie:

A small synopsis, director, writer, some cast, a photo and that’s it. Nothing about the score or soundtrack, no spoilers and nothing really to prepare you for what you’re about to see. Which is a good thing.

I have been taking more chances this trip, largely because i’m trailer free. Trailers, for me, are the judge-a-book-by-it’s-cover-type shit and I won’t have it. In the past, if I saw even the smallest thing in a trailer I didn’t like, I would immediately write that movie off. which isn’t fair. Trailers can be misleading, ruin story elements and make a film feel totally not what it actually is. So I got rid of them.

I know it’s almost impossible to avoid mainstream trailers, for two reasons. One, they are fucking awesome, especially for a trailer from a film franchise you love. And B, they are literally everywhere: before YouTube videos, TV commercials, movie theaters, billboards… fuckin’ Spotify! A MUSIC streaming app has movie trailers, think about that. I know the process it would take to avoid trailers, so I guess what i’m saying is take a chance on new movies and try seeing movies without having any predispositions before doing so. Head to your nearest art house or indy theater and see something. Hell, pop open Netflix and search for something there!

Avoid trailers……except when we post them on here. Always watch the trailers we post. ALWAYS.

-Matt