No Movie Trailer Is Without Sin - CinemaSins Review 2015
Oscar Nominees for Best Picture
The Oscars are coming up this Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015. So, you don't have enough time left to binge
watch all eight of the Academy Award nominees for Best Picture before they open the envelope and
announce the winner.
However, you do have enough time to watch the movie trailers for these films. But to help you along,
we have the best YouTuber movie reviewers on board to give you a heads up on all eight Oscar
nominees for Best Picture 2015 (Whiplash, American Sniper, Birdman, Grand Budapest Hotel, The
Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Boyhood.)
ReelSEO is now even more focused on delivering strategic insights, critical data, tactical advice, and
trends in the digital video marketing business. So, we'd be remiss if we didn't also include discovery
data about the movie trailers for the eight Oscar nominees for Best Picture - and all the other videos
made by YouTubers that mention these trailers by name:
Audience
Demographics: Who's engaging with movie trailers and videos on YouTube that include reference(s)
to 2015 Oscar Best-Picture Nominations. (data via Tubular Labs)
The most surprising thing we found is that 96% of the audience for these trailers is male. We also
found that more than 81% of the audience is 18 to 34 years old. In other words, it appears that
millennial males are watching these movie trailers on YouTube before deciding whether to invite
their girlfriend or a bunch of their buddies to go see whichever one wins.

CinemaSins and Movie Trailers: No Oscar Nominee is Without Sin
We've also enlisted some old friends from CinemaSins to help you boost your status to actual
"YouTube guru" and enhance your reputation as an authentic "video marketing expert" in time for
your big Oscar party. Specifically, we contacted Chris Atkinson and Jeremy Scott, who were both
editors of ReelSEO before they took what they'd learned here and launched the CinemaSins channel
on YouTube in December of 2012. Today, their channel has more than 628 million views and over 3.8
million subscribers. They believe, "No movie is without sin. We exist mostly just to remind you of
that."
So, we pleaded for their help (and promised to shamelessly promote their CinemaSins t-shirts) and
they agreed to point out all the "sins" they could find in the movie trailers for all eight of the
Academy Award nominees for Best Picture. And then I asked Kent Libbey of Vinja Video, who is a
client of mine, to use Vinja's simple, cloud software to highlight the "Sins" within each movie trailer
so you can see them at the right time code. If this doesn't prep you for the neighborhood Oscar
party, then what the hell is wrong with you?
Everything Wrong With 2015 Oscar Nominated Best Pictures: EWW
To see the CinemaSins comments on each trailer, watch the playlist of videos immediately below.
To see the CinemaSins comments on each trailer, just CLICK on the movie trailer thumbnails below
to open up each video in a new window and then press play. You can also read the transcript for
each video by clicking the link at the end of this post. Enjoy!
1) Whiplash Movie Trailer
Andrew is a 19-year-old music conservatory student who is fiercely determined to
become a great jazz drummer. His teacher, Terence Fletcher, believes that students excel not
through praise and encouragement, but through relentless humiliation and fear.
2) American Sniper Movie Trailer
Chris Kyle is already skilled with a rifle before he joins the Navy SEALS and
departs for Iraq. As he becomes one of the most skilled snipers in U.S. military history, Kyle must
deal with the high levels of stress that are an unavoidable part of his harrowing work.
3) Birdman Movie Trailer
Riggan Thomson is best known to the public as Birdman, the superhero he once
played in a series of films. Thomson hopes to reestablish himself as a serious actor by mounting his
own dramatic production on Broadway, but his self-doubt is hindering the project.

4) Grand Budapest Hotel Movie Trailer
The owner of the Grand Budapest relates the history of the once-luxurious Alpine
hotel to a visiting writer. He describes his youth as the lobby boy and protégé of Monsieur Gustave,
the hotel's concierge, who ran the five-star establishment with panache and an iron fist.
5) The Imitation Game Movie Trailer
Alan Turing must hide his homosexuality or risk arrest by the country he is
fighting to save as World War II engulfs Europe. Turing leads a group of English mathematicians at
Bletchley Park, who work in secret on cracking the code of a captured German Enigma encryption
machine.
6) Selma Movie Trailer
Martin Luther King, Jr. chooses Selma as the starting point for the peaceful
protest marches that will focus the world's attention on the city. He is determined to fight the
injustice that African-Americans continue to face in southern states despite the Civil Rights Act of
1964.
7) The Theory of Everything Movie Trailer
Stephen Hawking is a brilliant Cambridge graduate student when he learns that
he has a progressive motor neuron disease. For Jane Wilde, Stephen's fellow student and future
wife, the prognosis represents not a certainty but a challenge.
8) Boyhood Movie Trailer
Mason experiences the joys and difficulties of childhood over the course of 12
years. The child of divorced parents, Mason learns to navigate through a world in which the
strengths and frailties of the adults around him have a profound impact on his own life.
Many thanks to Chris and Jeremy from CinemaSins for their comments, and to the team at
VinjaVideo for their technical expertise.
Do you agree with CinemaSins? Let us know in the comments below!
View The Full Video Transcript:

1) Whiplash:
Andrew is a 19-year-old music conservatory student who is fiercely determined to become a great
jazz drummer. His teacher, Terence Fletcher, believes that students excel not through praise and
encouragement, but through relentless humiliation and fear.
CinemaSins:
0:41 (throws something at Miles Teller)
Jonah Jameson is a dick......to probable future Spider-Man.
0:46 (slaps him/if you deliberately sabotage my band, I will gut you like a pig)
So...this is the true story of Van Halen then?
1:03 (Toronto Film Festival)
Trailer touts festival appearances...
...like this means something to the average person.
1:37 (Miles Teller is a revelation)
This reviewer uses the word "revelation" a lot...
... probably just in order to get into movie trailers.
1:44-48 (Extraordinary/Triumphant/Inspiring/etc)
Thousand-word movie reviews are condensed...
... into one-word pimp-flashes.
2) American Sniper:
Chris Kyle is already skilled with a rifle before he joins the Navy SEALS and departs for Iraq. As he
becomes one of the most skilled snipers in U.S. military history, Kyle must deal with the high levels
of stress that are an unavoidable part of his harrowing work.
Cinema Sins:
0:10 (Bradley Cooper)
Main guy from the Hangover...
...has officially had enough of Zach Galifianakis.
1:00
Tense sniper trailer ruins the mood...

...with weddings and children.
1:38 (American Sniper)
We needed to distinguish this sniper...
...as an "American" sniper because...
... just plain "Sniper" was taken...
...and Tom Berenger won't budge.
(no time code)
Bradley Cooper shoots little kids...
...and I'm okay with that...
...and I am not okay with that.
"Heartbeat sounds to build trailer tension" cliche.
Birdman:
Riggan Thomson is best known to the public as Birdman, the superhero he once played in a series of
films. Thomson hopes to reestablish himself as a serious actor by mounting his own dramatic
production on Broadway, but his self-doubt is hindering the project.
Cinema Sins:
0:10
Floating man wearing only underwear...
...invites you to watch a movie with him.
These are the things your mom warns you about.
0:21 (him looking in mirror)
Former celebrated actor who played Batman...
...plays a former celebrated actor who played Birdman...
... reminds you that this movie will likely play...
...n only half the theaters Batman did.
0:33 (Edward Norton)
Whoa, yet another reclamation project.

This movie was originally called...
..."Actors That People Under the Age of 25...
...Didn't Know Were Awesome Because...
... They Disappeared from Mainstream Movies...
...Due to Mysterious Circumstances."
But that didn't fit on the poster.
1:15 (Keaton looks outside, to a strange blue corridor)
Wow, this movie looks so creative...
...that people will buy tickets to Hunger Games...
...just to NOT watch this movie.
1:22 (Alejandro G. Inarritu)
This name is familiar to you but only because...
...you remember waking up from that coma trying...
...to pronounce it correctly after watching Babel.
1:39 (giant bird)
Right now, American audiences are fighting a battle...
...between "this is too weird for me" and...
..."but I do like giant birds destroying things."
Grand Budapest Hotel:
The owner of the Grand Budapest relates the history of the once-luxurious Alpine hotel to a visiting
writer. He describes his youth as the lobby boy and protégé of Monsieur Gustave, the hotel's
concierge, who ran the five-star establishment with panache and an iron fist.
Cinema Sins:
0:02 (first frames of the movie)
My "Wes Anderson did this movie" detector...
...immediately sounded the alarm and broke...
...within 2 seconds of watching this trailer.

0:49 (Wes Anderson credit)
I guess they have to give him credit in the trailer...
...but if you didn't know this was a Wes Anderson movie...
...within the first 2 frames this started playing...
...you probably aren't the audience for this movie.
1:46 (actors)
The screen time of some of the actors in this trailer...
...equals the amount of time they're in the movie.
(No time code)
The most Wes Anderson-y Wes Anderson film yet.
(No time code)
I know this seems like a confusing story...
...but trust me, the movie itself will be...
...100 times more confusing than this trailer.
The Imitation Game:
Alan Turing must hide his homosexuality or risk arrest by the country he is fighting to save as World
War II engulfs Europe. Turing leads a group of English mathematicians at Bletchley Park, who work
in secret on cracking the code of a captured German Enigma encryption machine.
Cinema Sins:
0:26 (everyone thinks that Enigma is unbreakable)
Sherlock Holmes AND Tywin Lanister in the same movie?!
Whoa, I think my nerdgasm just nerded all over the place.
0:38 (Based on a true story)
Based on a true story...which probably means...
...55% of it can be confirmed to be somewhat accurate!
1:21 (you're going to need all the help you can get and they are not going to help you unless they
like you)

But...EVERYONE loves Benedict Cumberbatch!
1:36 (if you fire him, you'll have to fire me, and me, etc.)
I guess the question of whether they begin to like him...
...got answered within 15 seconds of this trailer.
Spoiler alert!
1:44 (This Fall)
Just check your newspaper listings every day...
...from late September to late December.
2:20 (machine stops/gasps)
Man, we even find out that his machine works!
What's left as far as surprises?
Selma:
Martin Luther King, Jr. chooses Selma as the starting point for the peaceful protest marches that
will focus the world's attention on the city. He is determined to fight the injustice that African
Americans continue to face in southern states despite the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Cinema Sins:
0:10 (Selma, Alabama 1965)
Oh my God, what other things did white people do...
...in the 1960s that I haven't gotten mad about yet?
0:21 (Tom Wilkinson as Nixon)
Tom Wilkinson as Nixon? What's next?
Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher?
1:06 (Oprah sitting in congregation)
Hey, that's Oprah!
I wonder if she got a free car for sitting here today?
-Oh shit, this movie has Oprah in it? All bets... off.
-(holding Confederate flag yelling at black people)

That's racist.
-Somehow, I always knew Tim Roth was destined...
...to play a racist old southern lawmaker.
The Theory of Everything:
Stephen Hawking is a brilliant Cambridge graduate student when he learns that he has a
progressive motor neuron disease. For Jane Wilde, Stephen's fellow student and future wife, the
prognosis represents not a certainty but a challenge to overcome.
Cinema Sins:
0:10
I'm definitely going to have a hard time...
...distinguishing between this movie...
...and The Imitation Game...
...with all that British thrown at me all at once.
1:02 (life expectancy is 2 years)
This movie's trying to hit as many Oscar notes...
...as it can in the 2 1/2 minutes allotted.
1:31 (David Thewlis, who was in Harry Potter, talking to Hawking, who looks like Harry Potter in
this shot)
Trailer subliminally puts Harry Potter into your head...
... so that you'll be compelled to buy tickets.
(No time code)
Not going to lie, my inner geek is predisposed...
...to see Stephen Hawking as sin-free.
(No time code)
Geez, did he go his entire life without...
...a proper-fitting pair of eyeglasses?
(No time code)

I honestly can't remember the last bio-pic trailer...
...that actually made me want to see said bio-pic.
Boyhood:
Mason experiences the joys and difficulties of childhood over the course of 12 years. The child of
divorced parents, Mason learns to navigate through a world in which the strengths and frailties of
the adults around him have a profound impact on his own life.
Cinema Sins:
0:20 (filming them for the next 12 years)
Leave it to Richard Linklater to direct a movie...
...for 12 years that hardly anyone's going to watch.
0:38 (a masterpiece, etc.)
You know, the word "masterpiece"...
...is thrown around a lot these days.
Even when the movie is good, it loses its meaning.
0:42 (you ready to have some fun/Astros game)
Ethan Hawke asks his kids if they're ready for fun...
...and takes them to an Astros game.
1:04 (welcome to The Suck)
Random kid evokes memories of the movie Jarhead.
Don't remember the movie Jarhead?
Probably a bad sign for this movie.
(No time code)
"They made cinematic history."
Movie purporting to be good chooses to sell me...
...on something other than the film's quality.
(No time code)
(screaming kid in car, barrier pillow)

Kids.
(No time code)
"What do you wanna be Nathan?"
"What do you want to do?"
Deep questions.
http://www.reelseo.com/cinemasins-oscar-trailers/