Don LaFontaine has passed

[Joe G]

What a drag!

Story

[Shawn]

It is depressing...but at the same time I'm hoping they'll just let movies speak for themselves now...

[Neal Pomea]

What a voice!

When did "Preview of coming attractions" become "movie trailers"? The term doesn't make sense to me since the previews don't trail the movies, they are shown before. I've seen the Wikipedia entry and it seems to have a British bent, even using the spelling "programme."

Edited September 3, 2008 by It Should be You

[sheldonm]

...sad; I always liked that guys voice....loved those Geico commercials where he heckles himself!

m

[catesta]

...sad; I always liked that guys voice....loved those Geico commercials where he heckles himself!

m

Yeah, same here. It was the first time I ever saw the face with the voice.

RIP

[BruceH]

What a voice!

When did "Preview of coming attractions" become "movie trailers"? The term doesn't make sense to me since the previews don't trail the movies, they are shown before.

I remember them being called "trailers" back in the 60's, when I was a little kid. What I heard was that it dates back to the days when movie theaters showed an A picture, a second (B) feature, cartoons, newsreels and whatnot, all in a continuous loop. So the previews could be considered as coming before or after. I don't know if that explanation is true, but I do know that the nature of moviegoing then spawned a well-worn phrase: "This is where we (or I) came in." Since people could buy a ticket and sit through this continuous loop of programming as long as they wanted, some just came in at some point during a movie (just to get out of the rain or the heat, perhaps) then sit through the rest of it, the trailers, newsreels, cartoons, the other feature, until they got to the point where they came in...then murmur the well known phrase, get up and leave.

[Jazzmoose]

A drag??? Jeez, you guys will mourn when Pauly Shore dies...

[Joe G]

I wouldn't say I'm in mourning. Rachel and I were just talking about him the day he died, without any knowledge of it. I mentioned his appearance a few years ago on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and how funny it was. So yeah, bit of a drag when you find out that someone who gave you something to chuckle about dies suddenly of a collapsed lung. Okay?

[Nate Dorward]

Hey, there's an art & craft to everything--ever look at Joe Dante's website "Trailers from Hell"?

There are links to a couple great YouTube videos here on Jim Emerson's Scanners:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2008/09...orld_where.html

In particular, check out the "5 Guys in a Limo" video (now I know what that guy who does the unctuous voiceovers for Disney ads looks like!).

[Jazzmoose]

I wouldn't say I'm in mourning. Rachel and I were just talking about him the day he died, without any knowledge of it. I mentioned his appearance a few years ago on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and how funny it was. So yeah, bit of a drag when you find out that someone who gave you something to chuckle about dies suddenly of a collapsed lung. Okay?

Sorry; didn't mean to sound so callous. It's just that I found his voice the most annoying thing about going to the movies. Well, after cell phones...

[Dan Gould]

That may be but I can only dream of booking a few movie trailers at $25,000 a pop, let alone the number he did once he became "the" trailer guy.

[7/4]

I wouldn't know who he was unless I saw those car insurance commercials...

.

[Joe G]

Sorry; didn't mean to sound so callous. It's just that I found his voice the most annoying thing about going to the movies. Well, after cell phones...

No biggie. -_-