The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Last week, I wrote a post about the trailer for the upcoming Captain America sequel. I decided that I really enjoy dissecting trailers and everything they hold, so this week, I'm doing it again with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. This time, though, I won't be focusing on the dialogue. That's because, well, there really isn't any.

The Dialogue
There's a million different ways a person can edit together a trailer. One of the biggest decisions the editor has to make is which dialogue they are going to feature in the preview to their film. Many editors choose to use very many of the most climactic, the funniest, or the most inspirational quotes to draw in movie-goers. The editor(s) for this trailer, however, decided to take the completely opposite route.

He/she/they chose to use absolutely zero lines of dialogue throughout the entire trailer; that is, until the last five seconds when Ben Stiller asks a man if there are any car available to rent and the man replies "Yeah. We have a blue one and a red one." These five seconds could either serve to emphasize the fact that the film is indeed comical at times, or could serve to represent some sort of change in Stiller's character (the majority of the film appears to be bluish, so choosing the red car could mean that Stiller eventually goes for change or wishes to stand out--it's a long shot, I know).

Either way, the lack of dialogue in the trailer leaves a lot to viewers' interpretation. Yes, this is a remake of a 1947 film, but who knows how closely the writers will stick to the original? Any character or voiceover telling me what's happening, I'm sitting there wondering why the pictures on the walls are moving. I'm wondering who the girl is who Stiller keeps looking at. I can make whatever assumptions I want, but the fact that I'm so intrigued to find the answers to my questions that I'll go see the movie in theaters means the editors did their job.

The Coloring
Wow. How about that coloring?! Everything's blue! I honestly don't know what to say about it besides the fact that it is simply stunning.

I mean, seriously! Hot damn!

Since IMDb is telling me that the film is an Adventure/Comedy/Drama, I'm not quite sure what kind of response the coloring is supposed to draw from viewers. With a drama, it would make a whole lot of sense. The blue adds a bit of bleakness and sadness to the overall emotion of any film. How the blue is intended to interact with the adventure and comedy of the film is beyond me. Maybe I'm looking too far into it? It's possible, but I'd like an answer, nonetheless.

The Storyline
Here's another thing about this trailer I know very little about, but intrigues me, nonetheless: the storyline. It doesn't give anything away! I have personally never seen the original Walter Mitty, so I have absolutely no foundation of understanding when watching this trailer. I've tried my absolute best to avoid asking others about it, too. Since this trailer has intrigued me so much, I want to go into the theater with nothing but my own expectations. Here's what I've deduced from the trailer: man is bored with life, man is bored with job, man likes girl at job, man imagines going on adventures, man eventually goes on adventures. I could be wrong, and I hope that I am. I'd really like to be surprised with some kind of surreal, unexpected plot that just shocks everyone.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has an incredibly enticing trailer. Its cinematic beauty manages to give away very little with the extreme lack of dialogue, and I can't wait to see what I've been waiting for when it comes out this Christmas.

Blues Clues: Blast From The Past

Blues Clues was a very big part of my childhood along with Little Bear, Franklin, and various other shows. I remember eating my PB&J while watching Blues Clues with all of my cousins, anticipating my favorite part of the show…MAIL TIME! I have always remembered Steve as the man in the green striped shirt. 

However, out of the blue Steve was replaced with a different man wearing an orange shirt named Joe. I was very upset along with a lot of other children. No one cared for Joe as much as they cared for Steve. We all, at least my cousins and I, were left wondering why Steve left in the first place. 

The long-running show’s rumor mill started to swirl. The rumors claimed Steve committed suicide, died  from a drug overdose, or was run over by a car. As a child I didn’t think to be skeptical, so I believed he died amongst many other Blues Clues watchers. So until this week I have always thought Steve with the green striped shirt was gone forever. I am happy to have found out that he is not dead. In case anyone else didn’t know Steve Burns is very much alive! He just decided it was time for his Blues Clues era to come to an end.

In an interview he gave a more detailed explanation for his departure from the show: "I took this about as far as I could, I guess... It was a really difficult decision, too, because on one hand, if I wanted to, I could do this for a really long time. The show is extraordinarily popular in several countries. I could be like Fred Rogers, which I consider a very noble profession. But I thought, 'Well, is this really what I came to New York to do? Why not quit right when I'm at my peak.' ... I hope I'll be remembered for that show for the rest of my life. That will always be a part of my identity, and I'm totally cool with that."

So for all those 1990’s Blues Clues babies I hope you can finally sleep at night knowing Steve Burns is doing just fine!