Muggle Magic: Short and Sweet
By Cosmo Brown


A recent trend in Muggle movies is towards the epic – a movie that lasts for at least three hours. These epics have all been popular at the box office (a Muggle term for where one purchases tickets to see the movie), dating back to the early 20th century with films like The Birth of a Nation . Some of the most beloved movies are epics: Gone With the Wind , Ben-Hur , The Ten Commandments , Titanic , and the new sweetheart of the cinema, The Lord of the Rings .


But do these achingly long movies really need to be so... long? There's a lot that could be cut; filmmakers do it all the time. In fact, each of these movies (with the possible exception of The Birth of a Nation ) is available in a much easier – and more pleasing – version available to view. And there's no waiting for the story to get started, either; the whole tale is told in under four minutes.


Don't leave me in suspense!


What are these fast films? They're called trailers . When you go to the cinema, you can see several of these before the picture starts. Really, the fun of a trip to the cinema is the trailers; the rest is just extra baggage. (Even a movie as long as The Lord of the Rings is exciting in its trailer format.) Alternatively, you can view many of them in the comfort of your home.


There are several ways to do this, of course. One is to get a home movie viewer and movies; all DVDs come with at least one trailer on the disk. Then, of course, you could manage to see some through a television channel, but that requires more set-up. Perhaps the best way to view trailers is through the "Internet" using a "computer."


Pardon me, what was that?

A "computer" is a machine that Muggles use for a lot of purposes, really; one of the most popular is the "Internet" (which is a huge group of big computers that are all connected that others can access). With the right equipment and programs on your computer, you could be viewing trailers in no time.


There are several "sites" (more Muggle jargon for places in the Internet) that have trailers for free viewing. For modern films, someplace like Apple.com is a good starting point. For older movies (from the first part of the 20th century), there's no place better than Turner Classic Movies .


Cosmo's Trailer Picks

One of the best old-fashioned trailers out there is for The Thin Man (1934). It's fun; you get a sense of the mystery without getting to worried about the whodunit part. Plus, you've got an actor interacting with himself! No need to sit through the whole movie.


In the Good Old Summertime (1949) is a musical starring Judy Garland. This trailer is the perfect way to watch this movie. You get the full romance of the story; you get the songs, but just enough to recognize this as a musical. No never-ending musical numbers with a hoe down in this trailer. And be sure to enjoy the sparkly lettering.


A lot of people who saw the movie Moulin Rouge! (2001) will tell you that it has bizarre effects and frantic pacing; those people would be right. Two hours of that can give a person a migraine; three minutes is satisfying.


Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) is the latest trailer here, and it's a lot of fun. Who needs a full movie when you've got giant robots and the Hindenburg all in one trailer, one that lasts three minutes? Does life get any better than this? Honestly now, does it? Because I don't think it does