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I'm grateful for this Friday, because that's the day that The Men Who Stare at Goats comes out and I can stop seeing its trailer relentlessly attached to anything and everything I see (and given that I try to see most anything and everything out there, it's really only a 'me' problem, I suppose). One night, I had myself a triple feature and saw the preview not one, not two, but three times; as a pal put it, he had "more than a feeling" that I was getting sick of it.

Before that, it was a summer of Taking Woodstock time and time again, and it would already seem that Shutter Island's move to February will insure that I'll be sitting there, trying to piece the thing together for the next three months when not perfecting my New England Leo impersonation.

So, whether currently or in your own formative years, what trailers have you been just absolutely burnt out on? Did you and your friends quote along with them as they played? Were you actually ever turned off from seeing a film because you had it advertised to you too much? Come on, let it all out...

Two unrelated events got me grumbling about movie marketing this week -- the DVD release of Adventureland, and a screening of Bobcat Goldthwait's new film, World's Greatest Dad.

What these two films have in common, aside from being low-ish budget hybrid comedies, is that they've been sold to the public as something other than what they really are. It's not an uncommon marketing tactic by any means, and at some point we've all bought a movie ticket based on an ad, only to discover that we've been misled. But it seems that studios, when faced with the challenge of how to sell films that aren't easily described in two sentences, are increasingly willing to promote movies as something entirely different, just to get butts in seats on opening weekend.

Over at the blog PopMatters, writer Bill Gibron offered an excellent observation of the practice, noting that the theatrical marketing of Adventureland pimped it as a Superbad-style laugh fest, when in fact the movie's a much smaller, less raucous character study/coming-of-age flick. And the marketing backfired at the box office. "Fans coming in expecting more penis-laden laughs were legitimately let down by Adventureland's wistful, warm embrace," Gibron writes. "Instead of scatology, they got sentiment. [Greg] Motolla's motion picture tribute received good reviews but did mediocre business, moneywise."

Trailers have been part of the movie-going experience for almost a century, dating back to when they were shown after the feature (hence "trailers"), not before. Today, many people cite the coming attractions as one of their favorite things about going to the movies, and what's not to like? A trailer often has every single good thing about a movie, condensed into 2 1/2 minutes. That saves you a lot of time.

The scholars at IFC.com have compiled their list of the 50 greatest trailers of all time, presented in the very popular one-item-per-page format that all Internet users love. Great trailers aren't necessarily for great movies. In fact, a lot of these selections are for bad movies. It's the trailers that are good. And what constitutes "good"? IFC says, "Ultimately, we decided that the best trailers are those that most effectively combine art and commerce, and that sell and entertain with equal skill." Amen to that.

I'll be a spoiler and tell you their choices for the top five: Jerry Seinfeld's Comedian at #5, Miracle on 34th Street at #4, followed by Cloverfield, Psycho, and, in the top spot -- the best trailer of all time -- Alien. What do we make of the fact that the top three (in IFC's estimation) are for thrillers? And what did they leave off the list?

We've got the Alien trailer from YouTube after the jump, where no one can hear you scream.

Zack Snyder wouldn't confirm it last month when he talked to Collider, but Coming Soon has now scored confirmation about which trailers Warner Brothers Pictures is tacking on to the next Batman installment when it hits next week on July 18.

Wonderfully and most importantly, is Watchmen. I can only hope that it shows some action, and a good look at the heroes (including Doc Manhattan), rather than a teaser that lays on more anticipatory torment. The next in the list is, fittingly, Terminator Salvation, which will give us a taste of Bale in the future, before the trailers end and he slips into the batsuit. Finally, there's Ridley Scott's Body of Lies.

Does this affect your moviegoing plans in any way? When I bought my midnight screening tickets for The Dark Knight a week or two ago, my friend and I had a whole discussion about screens -- do we see Batman in IMAX with no Watchmen, or see it on a normal screen and finally delight in the first teaser. We opted to skip the IMAX experience this time, but what about you? Do these trailers change your plans at all? Will you now see the film on a certain screen, or check out the movie earlier to see Snyder's eagerly anticipated trailer?

Everybody has a list. And when you do what I do, you have to have more than one list. Nine out of ten times, when someone first meets me and finds out what I do for a living, they ask, "So then, what's your favorite movie?" And sometimes I chuck out a few titles, and other times I launch into this longer-than-it-should-be explanation on why one cannot have a favorite movie, or even five favorite movies. But what about 100 favorite movies? Could you name your 100 favorite movies?

Well, this dude did. In the video above, someone created a montage featuring clips from their 100 favorite movies, counting down from 100 all the way to numero uno. It's a bit schizophrenic to watch, but I've gone through it a couple times now, and there are some really fun moments in there, editing-wise. Of course you're not going to agree with all their choices (whichever ones you manage to decipher during the brief second they flash on screen), but it's a cool little tribute and, well, I'm sort of jealous. Because now when someone asks this person what their favorite movie is, they can send over this link and let the video speak for itself.

Question: What's a good amount of movies to have on a favorites list? Should everyone have a top 10, a top 20, a top 50? What number is too little and what number is too much?

What Silent Bob giveth, Silent Bob taketh away... or, at least, taketh down, which is why one can no longer give the Zack and Miri Make a Porno teaser a look-see until the MPAA gives it the once-over.

The online-only teaser, while filled with writer-director's Kevin Smith expectedly raunchy dialogue, does not actually feature any footage from the finished film, but according to Smith's recent News Askew post, that is a stipulation unseen by the Ratings Board, which must approve all marketing materials for any film.

"We're now officially submitting the teaser to the MPAA for rating," said Smith. "If they approve it, we'll put it back up." He does make a point of mentioning how a mere two years ago, he posted similarly crude internet-exclusive trailers for Clerks II with nary a complaint.

Until the MPAA hands down its formal red-band (or is it yellow-band?) decree, here's a link to our initial post on the teaser's arrival last week -- a post on which the teaser just so happens to still work...

[via /Film]

Prior to an hour ago, I had no idea what kind of behavior could get your film tossed out of Muskogee's Bare Bones International Independent Film and Music Festival ... but now I do. According to news sources out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the independent horror film A Beautiful Day was scheduled to play the festival, but the filmmakers have been asked to take their celluloid and go home. Why? Cuz the "little guys" thought they could borrow some of that viral marketing from the big boys, that's why...

Apparently the guys put together a very vague trailer for their film's festival screening -- and it was so damn vague it was mistaken for a possible terrorist threat! The trailer never lets on that it's a ... movie trailer, plus it had some creepy voice-over that went a little like this: "People of Muskogee. Open your eyes. April 25th is a day you'll come to remember." Yikes. Given the current state of affairs in American high schools, it's no surprise that school officials caught wind of the clip and brought it to the awareness of various authorities.

(Note: Above image was chosen totally at random. Yup. We'll go with that.)

It's beginning to look a lot like summer blockbuster season everywhere you go.

I've heard the words "calm before the storm" mentioned more times in the past week than I have all year. That's because it's almost April, which means the official start to the summer movie season is only one month away. One month! That's it! Are all of you as excited as we are? (Don't all stand up and cheer at the same time.) Anyway, pretty much all of the big summer flicks have released trailers by now (with the exception of The Mummy 3 ... and maybe something else that I'm forgetting -- it is Monday after all).

We've seen trailers for The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Speed Racer, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Incredible Hulk, WALL-E, Prince Caspian, Hellboy II, The X-Files, Wanted, The Happening, Hancock ... and so on. Of course, some films have been a little more aggressive than others -- like Iron Man (which comes out first), WALL-E (a few trailers, teasers and a very early viral campaign) and The Dark Knight (one teaser, one trailer and 50 billion viral sites). Indy's shoveled out a bunch of videos, as well as a trailer, and The Incredible Hulk has given us one trailer and a few images. One imagines all of these films will ramp up their marketing as their release dates draw closer.

But here's our question today: Which summer blockbuster trailer pumped you up most to see the film? Feel free to answer the poll below or write in your favorite in the comments section. (Me? I'm going with The Dark Knight.)

Yesterday, Eric D. Snider mentioned an interesting exercise by The New Republic's Christopher Orr. Annoyed at the recent glut of trailers that give away the entire film, he decided to write a review of 21 (which hits theaters today) based only on the trailer. Eric thought the "review" was actually pretty accurate, and I agree. I also agree that the trailer is egregiously inconsiderate of people who'd have liked to go into the movie unspoiled at least as to the third act. It's a shame.

But I'm sure you agree that it doesn't have to be that way. Trailers don't have to give away the game, and they don't have to be tacky and ham-fisted either. They're a marketing tool, of course, but trailers are also -- or can be -- an art form in their own right. Sometimes a trailer is such a skillful composition of images, sounds, words and music that it winds up having more of an effect on me than the movie I'm in the theater to see. (Often, too, the trailer turns out to be better than the movie it's advertising, which is always a disappointment.)

So while yesterday Eric asked you for examples of trailers that pissed you off because they revealed too much, I'd like to know which recent trailers you've loved. Not necessarily which ones you think advertised their movie in the optimal way, but which ones have been great in themselves -- scary, rousing, moving, beautiful. Take a look at some of my favorites and sound off after the jump.

The man known in most circles as Sly Stallone surprised the heck out of people last winter with Rocky Balboa -- the sixth and final installment in Stallone's 31 year-old boxing franchise. It was a slow film, sure, but it reflected Sly's age, as well as the physical and mental spot Rocky was in. Now, however, Stallone is going in a completely different direction with John Rambo -- the fourth and final installment in Stallone's 25 year-old action franchise. Co-written and directed by Stallone (first time he's helming a Rambo flick), the couple of teasers we've been shown so far clearly reveal that Sly is still a lean, mean fighting machine -- and for those who thought he might be holding back due to age or whatever, you'll need to check out this latest trailer (if you can call it that -- it's more like a montage of clips) in which John Rambo is violent as all hell.

And I love the way the film looks too -- there seems to be none of this Hollywood-style hiding of the blood; John Rambo makes no doubt about the fact that it will be a high-octane, balls-to-the-wall, R-rated action flick ... and I don't know about you, but we need one of those. In the film, Rambo is placed in charge of rescuing a group of Christian human rights missionaries after a group of brutal Burmese army men take them hostage. Aiding Rambo on his mission are five young mercenaries -- although I have a feeling our man won't need their help much. Also starring in the film are Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden and newcomer Maung Maung Khim, as the villainous Major Pa Tee Tint. John Rambo is due out this December.