LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE TRAILERS

Who doesn't love trailers?

No, not the hunks of steel where you drink Bud Light cans and groove to Hank Williams 8-tracks in, but the stuff that you see tacked in front of the movies.

The previews, or, as their known in La-La Land, film trailers... Quite simply, it's the material that gets millions of butts into the theaters. Sometimes I think I can watch hours upon hours of kick-booty previews instead of their crappy, overblown full-length counterparts. If there was a movie trailer channel, I would watch it all day long.

Perhaps this is a comment of where we are in today's world, but it seems like we want everything quick and wrapped up succinctly in two minutes. Who wants to sit through 120+ minutes of the latest "Pirates" epic when we can watch all the best action, hear a loop of the score and get all the best jokes in a breezy 120 seconds?

A great trailer will make me want to chuck it all, hop a flight to the coast and sell my life away to make movies. It's the zone where I wanna buy an old Underwood typewriter, sit in a sweaty flophouse and churn out a pulpy tale of lust and revenge. -- Yes, all from an awesome trailer.

In the past, my favorite trailers have always been those that "tease" the film, perhaps showing one great scene or better yet, showing a montage of action over dramatic music.

Check out these great examples of what I mean:





OK... So The 8th Annual Golden Trailer Awards , hosted by "Curb Your Enthusiasm" potty-mouth Susie Essman went down last Thursday at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in the Big Apple and they dished out this year's trailer awards to various genres of film.

Here are this year's winners:

Summer 2007 Blockbuster - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The Golden Fleece (for "Best False Advertising") - Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

Best Action - 300

Best Comedy - Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Best Thriller - The Descent

Trashiest Trailer - Black Sheep

Best Animated/Family - The Simpsons Movie

Best Drama - The Departed

Best Documentary - This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Most Original - Bee Movie

Best Voice-Over - Grindhouse

Best Independent - The Science of Sleep

Best Romance - In the Land of Women

Best Music - Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man

Best of Show - 300

The awards were founded in 1999 by Evelyn and Monica Brady. The winners were picked by a jury of media and ad execs that include Ron Berger, president and CEO of EURO RSCG Worldwide; film critic Marc Bernardin; Alan Brody, president and founder, iBreakfast; Michael Flaherty, co-founder and president, Walden Media; filmmakers Harris Goldberg and Jim Sheridan; Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News; Chris McGurk, CEO of Overture Films; Jack Myers, president of Media Village and Martin Pazzani, president and CEO of Elias Arts.

To see any of the trailers online, there are a plethora of sites that host them. Otherwose, YouTube is the way to go.