Babylon Releases Naughty and Nice Trailers

By Kofi Outlaw

The new movie Babylon has decided to release two different kinds of trailers before the Christmas holiday – one naughty, and one nice. As you can see below, The "Nice Trailer" for Babylon frames the film as the collective efforts of the main cast (and all their collaborators) to push the film industry out of the Silent Film Era and into a bold new enduring future. Brad Pitt's character is framed as the classic movie star dreaming of something bigger and better in his career, while Margot Robbie is framed as the sassy and beautiful newcomer who signals that new era's arrival.

The "Naughty Trailer" for Babylon puts Tobey Maguire's creepy character at the forefront of a trailer that takes is into the wild debauchery of Hollywood and moviemaking, and certainly frames the various characters played by PItt, Robbie, and others (Diego Calva, Li Jun Li, Lukas Haas) as much more morally-compromised individuals than the "Nice Trailer" made them out to be. 

Paramount Picutres dropped both trailers with the matching caption of "Things are about to get WILD. Here's the NAUGHTY new trailer for #BabylonMovie. Or keep it classy with the NICE trailer."

To be fair, the beauty of both these trailers is that the are insightful into what Babylon is and what it offers as a movie – but both are also only a snippet of a much more complex story by director Damien Chazelle (Whiplash, La La Land). It's actually a funny way to echo a lot of the themes of the film itself (as we reviewed on our ComicBook Nation show), which ruminates on the enduring beauty, power, and longeviity of cinematic art – and the often ugly, messy, and soul-sucking process of creating it. 

Read the official synopsis for Babylon: "A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood."

ComicBook Nation show host Kofi Outlaw posted the following reaction to Babylon after seeing it: 

Watching #BabylonMovie is a wild ride through old Hollywood – the glamor, the terribleness, and the hideousness of it all.

Beyond that raucous spectacle, it is deep rumination on the cost/benefit (literal & figurative) of creating art in the midst of a demented world.

Though Damien Chazelle at times goes over the top with zany manic energy (albeit with purpose) the scale of the production and presentation are totally theater-worthy. The cast is awesome from mains to cameos, newcomers and veterans alike.

Babylon will be released in theaters this week. 

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