I hate being late.

Well I should probably correct myself. I hate being late for things I don't want to miss out on. So yeah I don't mind being late to work or a class I really don't enjoy, but I hate being late to a party (and I don't mean fashionably late, I mean like, "Wow it started three hours ago, and everyone's already out the door," late) or worse, a movie.

A lot of people don't seem to care if they aren't walking into the theatre before the lights begin to dim and everyone quiets down, but I do. I insist on being there when the room goes dark, because that's when the best part of the movie begins.

The previews.

Previews are the best thing to happen to the movie going experience. They've become so essential to a movie that it has become possible for them to make or break one's experience at a theatre.

For some reason they only work at a theatre. Whenever I watch a DVD or a movie on television, I never want to see the previews. I want to skip right to the main menu (or channel) and start watching the movie. I think it has to do with the fact that in those situations I have control over what I can or can't watch.

However, when you're in the theatre, you're stuck there. I mean you could get up and leave, or close your eyes for that matter, but you're paying $10 to be there, so you might as well get your money's worth. Whatever spills forth on that giant screen, you're going to have to watch, so generally you pray that it's good.

That's why I believe the movie trailers are so important. They get you ready for the main event. They are the opening act.

For instance, if you're off to go see Casino Royale and they show you trailers for what look to be amazing action films like 300 or Smokin' Aces, you're going to be so revved up that by the time Bond kills his first victim you'll be out of your seat screaming in exhilaration.

Likewise, if they show those same trailers before a movie like Charlotte's Web, you'll be so hyped up that you may no longer be in the mood for the adorable story of Dakota Fanning and her pet pig ... however adorable that could possibly be.

However, I've begun to despise the trailers and previews that are being shown these days. Mostly, I hate the fact that some trailers give away too much. Whether it's too much of the plot line, giving away the whole ending, or feeding us the only funny lines in the movie, trailers have gotten to the point that sometimes they make it so its not necessary to see the movie at all.

Case in point; did anyone have any desire to see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning after realizing that it looked like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie from last year and most likely shared the same plot line/ending?

Or how about the trailer for Employee of the Month? Anyone in their right mind would conclude that the people behind this film had to preview the best parts just to get us to even contemplate seeing a movie that starred Jessica Simpson and Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite.

I hope Hollywood does everything in its power to fix this and give us some better previews. Because if previews go out the window, then what else do we have to look forward to?

...The movie?

— Eric Uthus

ericuthus@thedaily.washington.edu.