Movie trailers: Why do they have to ruin it?

<b>Filmgoers enemy No. 1</b>

Two more reasons why TV commercials and trailers represent the greatest threat to the quality of the moviegoing experience:

Ÿ TV commercials and trailers spoil the big reveal in Walt Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks" in which Walt Disney (played by Tom Hanks) figures out why author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) is so overprotective of her "Mary Poppins" character. Granted, this doesn't rank with the Rosebud mystery or Luke and Leia's relationship. But did we really need to have this small discovery ruined in the trailer?

Ÿ Meanwhile, the marketing department at the Weinstein Company has released trailers that make Tracy Letts' savagely insightful domestic drama "August: Osage County" look like a frothy comic romp. By cherry-picking the few light moments in an otherwise blunt and emotionally brutal battlefield, the trailers completely misrepresent "August" as a vaguely whimsical look at a nutty family gathering, which, incidentally, begins with a patriarchal suicide.

I appreciate how difficult it must be to sell Letts' sharply observed examination of frayed family ties to a mass audience. But not since Columbia Pictures' 1991 "My Girl" - a coming-of-age story about divorce and young death advertised as a wacky riot - has there been a motion picture this grossly misrepresented to the public.

<b>Film notes:</b>

Ÿ The Chicago Serbian Film Fest runs Friday through Sunday, Dec. 6-8, at the Muvico 18 Theaters, 9701 Bryn Mawr Ave., Rosemont. Among the offerings will be "The Path Strewn With Roses," "Circles" and "Falsifier." Zoran Golubovich, one of the fest organizers, lives in Lombard. Go to serbianfilmfest.com or muvico.com/Rosemont.

Ÿ DVD and VHS movie sales aren't normally mentioned in this column, but here's an exception: Chicago's not-for-profit movie organization Facets Multimedia will hold a massive One Day Blowout! (their PR description) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, in the Facets lobby at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago. DVDs go for as low as $1.99; VHS tapes 10 cents. Proceeds support kids programs. Go to facets.org.

Ÿ Thanks to all of our Daily Herald premium subscribers for selling out my presentation of "Lighting in the Movies," which takes place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, at Littman Bros. Lighting in Schaumburg. Stay tuned for future premium subscriber events.

<b>Jimmy's wonderful life</b>

Join me and film historian Raymond Benson as Dann & Raymond's Movie Club presents "It's a Wonderful Life: The Films of Jimmy Stewart" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 500 N. Dunton Ave., Arlington Heights. Featuring clips from "Harvey," "Philadelphia Story," "Destry Rides Again," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" and "The Spirit of St. Louis." Just because it's December, we'll throw in "It's a Wonderful Life," too. Free admission. Go to ahml.info.

Ÿ <i>Daily Herald Film Critic Dann Gire's column runs Fridays in Time out!</i>