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Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? The Legend Of The Mighty Soap Trailer When I was a kid I watched HBO relentlessly. Whenever there wasn't reairings of Fraggle Rock, Braingames, Heartbeeps,...

'When it's perfectly Ok to talk during a film'

Is it all right to talk during a film? Of course not! My personal rule is that, as the lights dim, the audience is allowed to conclude any discussions quickly in the faintest whisper. Then silence. But it's complicated. We'd all agree that it's Ok to respond to what is happening on the screen by crying or laughing. Angie Errigo, of Empire magazine, was sitting next to me once during a horror film. At one scary moment, she actually shouted: "Oh, No!" Angie is in a noble tradition. The New Yorker's legendary Pauline Kael would often get carried away during thrillers, crying out, "Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!" at increasing volume.

In press screenings, wisecracks are always acceptable. One film, I remember, was produced by a Us company with a classy, British-sounding name: Hyde Park Entertainment. When their logo flashed up – bafflingly featuring London's Tower Bridge,...