According to Hofmann: Trailer trashed
Now that everyone has a bit of extra time on their hands, many have turned to extracurricular activities like home renovation projects, dedicating extra romance with their significant other and binge drinking with only the bravest souls willing to do all three things at once.
But watching movies and television programs on streaming services has really been on the uptick lately, but an issue that me and others I know have is what to watch.
It鈥檚 kind of a strange problem, but since we鈥檙e bombarded with hundreds, if not thousands, of choices, it鈥檚 difficult to determine which piece of entertainment moves to the top of our interest watchlist and is worthy of our extra time.
So, I鈥檝e been spending most of my time watching trailers of movies and shows to find which movie and/or show to watch. Kind of insane when you think about it, but entertainment has nothing to do with thinking, which is why you鈥檙e reading this column.
However, in the course of this experiment, I noticed that the same songs seem to pop up in certain genres of trailers.
Let鈥檚 take a look鈥�
n 鈥淏aba O鈥橰eilly鈥�, a.k.a. the song that starts with 鈥淥ut here in the fields, I fought for my meals鈥︹�� by The Who
This is one of my favorite kick-butt songs so it鈥檚 fittingly used for the beginning of trailers where, let鈥檚 say, a crew of workers are gearing up to begin the construction of the Panama Canal when the men, lead by foreman Dwayne 鈥淭he Rock鈥� Johnson, stumble across a burial ground that unleashes zombies.
n 鈥淩aise Your Glass,鈥� by Pink
OMG! A girls-night-out movie trailer where shenanigans will ensue and a multitude of inappropriateness will take place. This song normally takes place near the end of the trailer as the ladies are all united and dancing or juggling bowling pins (I don鈥檛 know how women celebrate) following a unsettling encounter with a Samoan pimp played by Dwayne 鈥淭he Rock鈥� Johnson, who tries to recruit them as ladies of the night.
n 鈥淕imme Shelter鈥� by The Rolling Stones
This is your gangster, growing-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks movie trailer or something involving a heist in the 60s or 70s. The song is normally played while a character鈥損erhaps Dwayne 鈥淭he Rock鈥� Johnson as a drug mule鈥搃s running through an airport to escape from something or looking for a bathroom so something can escape from him.
n 鈥淏ad to the Bone鈥� by George Thorogood
This early 80s song is not a great departure from other Thorogood鈥檚 ditties about being a drunk, someone you don鈥檛 want to mess with and doesn鈥檛 pay his local school taxes, but, like many things, it has aged to become tame and used mostly for irony.
For example, if Dwayne 鈥淭he Rock鈥� Johnson plays a hard-boiled cop tasked to go undercover as a school marm, 鈥淏ad to the Bone鈥� would play at the point in the trailer when he steps out of the changing booth in his knitted dress and wig.
n 鈥淪olsbury Hill鈥� by Peter Gabriel
I think this song can fit into every Cameron Crow movie trailer or any movie trailer where a character goes into self-discovery mode. It鈥檚 normally played in the trailer when the main character, like Dwayne 鈥淭he Rock鈥� Johnson,鈥� is traveling inside a car or plane or on a motorcycle sidecar with an umbrella, looking off into the distant horizon of his destiny鈥r searching for a bathroom.
n 鈥淵ou Make My Dreams鈥� by Haulin鈥� Oats鈥揑 mean by Hall & Oates
Think of a buddy comedy where two guys鈥揇wayne 鈥淭he Rock鈥� Johnson playing identical twins that never met鈥搕eam up for a task and realize that they are indeed more like brothers than coworkers or rival circus performers or synchronized swimmers.
n 鈥淲ho Let the Dogs Out鈥� by Baha Men
This song is reserved for a comedy trailer, normally revealing a specific character鈥檚 introduction to the movie when it answers the question who, indeed, let the dogs out. And that character is non other than Danny DeVito. Dwayne 鈥淭he Rock鈥� Johnson passed on the project.
Now there鈥檙e so many more songs I can put into this list, but I simply can鈥檛 because this week鈥檚 column is really cutting into my movie-trailer-watching time.
There鈥檚 this one movie trailer on Amazon Prime called 鈥淪kyscraper.鈥� I don鈥檛 know much about it other than it鈥檚 like 鈥淒ie Hard,鈥� but in a skyscraper and stars some WWE star, whose name escapes me at the moment.
According to Hofmann is written by staff reporter Mark Hofmann of Rostraver Township. He co-hosts the 鈥淟ocally Yours鈥� radio show on WMBS 590 AM every Friday. His book, 鈥淪tupid Brain,鈥� is available on Amazon.com.