New Star Wars trailer is a triumph

Yes, my fellow geeks, I have seen "it" — the new teaser-trailer for the next Star Wars prequel, "Revenge of the Sith," which comes out next May.

The two-minute theatrical advertisement is playing in front of "The Incredibles," a film that doesn't really need any such bells and whistles to get people to go. But it is a nice perk, since the trailer puts you in the right mood to see an exciting adventure.

However, it also puts the audience in the unenviable position of having expectations for the next film, and so far, George Lucas' prequels have been a huge letdown.

Still, those are a lot of wookiees. You really can't go wrong there.

By the way, I would say the "Star Wars" trailer is just about perfect if there weren't an even better one out there — the new teaser for "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," an adaptation of the late Douglas Adams' wonderfully tongue-in-cheek science-fiction best seller.

In the trailer, Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" plays while the camera pans across a CGI-animated depiction of Earth. And then it explodes with the tagline: "Don't panic." (One of the book's many memorable catch-phrases.) Along with a reminder that this film, too, is coming next May.

It's a very simple teaser. But it tells you everything you need to know. It's just about perfect.

And yes, that is my roundabout way of leading into a semi-regular feature of this column, reviews of some of the current crop of trailers and TV ads for upcoming movies, trailers I've rated for entertainment value, as well as how well they sell each movie:

• THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE (in theaters Nov. 19) — There have been three different spots for this cartoon adventure, which is based on the ultra-popular television series. And each succeeding trailer has been more funny than the last. *** 1/2

• LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (Dec. 17) — The look of this dark comedy is incredible (it appears that the filmmakers have taken the designs straight out of the "Lemony Snicket" books). But it also appears that the bad, way-over-the-top Jim Carrey may have been unleashed. ***

• OCEAN'S TWELVE (Dec. 8) — All right, so this all-star caper comedy looks like pretty much more of the same. But the first film was fun, if unspectacular, so maybe getting all these superstars together again isn't such a bad thing. ***