Movie Trailers Done Well

I love movie trailers.  It follows, then, that I would appreciate movie trailers that are well made.  My definition of a well made movie trailer is:

-One that does not give away the ending of the movie. 

-One that does not assassinate the plot or any key story lines before I've even seen the film.

-One that does not set up unrealistic or misleading expectations. (To this day I am convinced this is why M. Night Shyamalan's The Village did poorly at the box office.  The movie is brilliant, but poor advertising made audiences expect a horror/thriller flick, and were therefore confused and annoyed when they got a love story.  Never mind that it's the greatest love story since Romeo and Juliet.) 

-One that does all the above and still manages to show why this movie is different from every other movie ever made (read: why I should see this rom com instead of the 83460879074 other rom coms being released this year.  Without revealing the ending.)

I think this is actually harder than it sounds.  Movie trailer creators have to cram an entire movie's themes, energy, mood, and conflict into a couple of minutes, maximum.  And yet, some really pull it off.  Great movie trailers are their own stand-alone versions of entertainment, not just advertisements.  Which is why I like them.   

So what movie trailers rock?  Well, the brand new Hunger Games trailer sure does:

And, just for fun, here are some of my other favorite movie trailers.  Enjoy.

(What?  you thought I'd get through an entire post without referencing Harry Potter?  Pssshhh.)

Picture Book Recommendations

November 2011 has officially been declared picture book month.  I think this is great.  Picture books are often overlooked in favor of their more "mature" counterparts, but they shouldn't be forgotten.  None of us literary omnivores would be who we are today without picture books.  They definitely hold a place on any bookshelf.  To commemorate this oft-overlooked category, I bring you my top ten favorite picture books of all time.  Enjoy.

10. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.  Because what kid doesn't need to know that they're loved even when they're grumpy?

9. The Legend of Lightning Larry by Aaron Shepard.  Read it with a glass of lemonade.

8. The Mask of the Dancing Princess by Judith Gwyn Brown.  Gypsies, dancing, royalty... what more could a little girl ask for?  (Plus, the illustrations are pretty incredible, especially since kids books usually have more cartoony-type images.)

7. The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base.  If you have not read this book, DROP EVERYTHING AND READ IT RIGHT NOW.  Interactive reading at its finest.

6. Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard.  Funny and thoughtful for kids and adults.

5. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson.  This book actually doesn't have a single word in it.  Still, it's one of my favorites.

4. Where's Waldo? by Martin Handford.  Again, no words.  Again, fabulous fun.

3. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  Because of the incredible imagination this kind of book endorses.

2. The Monster at the End of This Book by Grover Jon Stone.  I'm pretty sure our childhood copy had pages falling out by the time we were through with this book, we read it so many times. 

1. It's a Tie! The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka.  These are my all time favorites from growing up.  I plan on owning everything ever written by Jon Scieszka and/or illustrated by Lane Smith, they're that good.  Don't believe me?  Read it yourself.  I dare you to not fall in love with these books. 

This walk down memory lane has got me feeling suddenly nostalgic.  I sense a re-reading of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's Magic or Sideways Stories From Wayside School coming on.

What were your favorite picture books when you were a kid?