A taste of the theatre from the comfort of your computer chair

Man watches movie trailers on YouTube, never intends to see movie

By Isabelle Orr, Entertainment Editor

Thinking about seeing a movie? Don’t! Try watching movie trailers on YouTube instead.

“It’s a great way to spend three or four hours alone on a Saturday night,” said Julian Sommers, trailer fanatic.

Thanks to YouTube’s autoplay function, users can watch an endless stream of new movie trailers—enough in a row to equal the time of watching an entire movie!

Cinephiles like Zachary Anderson find watching YouTube trailer compilations an easy way to source new films to watch.

“Sometimes I’ll like a trailer enough to write down the name of the movie,” Anderson explained to Other Press reporters. “From there I crumple it into a ball, put it into my pocket, and never look at it again. It’s just comforting to have in case I ever go to a movie, which I won’t because I could never afford it.”

Couples like Jim and Stella Moore find watching movie trailers a fun date idea.

“We can never find a movie we agree on,” Jim told Other Press reporters. “She likes foreign films and I only like movies where football is primarily featured. That’s why watching 16 or 17 trailers is a good alternative—there’s something in it for both of us!”

“I like how watching trailers means we don’t have to talk to fill the silence,” said Stella. “We’ve been together for so long that there’s nothing much left to say. It’s a nice way to hold both of your attentions so you don’t have to make any eye contact.”

“I honestly hate Stella. The only thing keeping our fraying relationship together is watching new Guardians of the Galaxy clips every evening. If I didn’t see Chris Pratt’s charming face every night, I swear to God I would walk out the front door and leave her,” Jim said.

However, the hobby is not without danger. Frederick Proddington, ER doctor at Vancouver General Hospital, has seen his fair share of cases related to trailer binging.

“Several people have gotten so deep into a YouTube hole that they’ve forgotten to eat or drink for days on end,” Proddington explained. “One day you sit down and start ‘Julia Roberts trailers 1989-2019’ and you could be there for weeks. I encourage everyone who watches clips to have a good support system, or at least a CamelBak hydration pack and some adult diapers on hand.”

What about seeing the actual films themselves?

“I honestly don’t know if I have the attention span to watch a feature-length movie,” Sommers told press. “Real movies can be up to two hours long. Who has that kind of time? No, I like to spend my evenings sitting at home, in front of my computer, in my adult diaper. Now that’s an evening well spent!”