I'm really interested in the movie _Sleepy Hollow_. I saw the teaser preview for the film back in early summer -- probably before The Mummy -- and was amazed at the imagery. Since then, there's been a few television ads I've tried to miss, but have seen anyway, and there's been a decent print advertising campaign here in New York City. However, I think -- because of the advertising -- the movie has been spoiled for me.

There's a bus ad that has headshots of several cast members, including one actor who is one of my favorite actors. Upon seeing that ad, I thought, cool, he's in the film. I'm definitaly going to see it now. However, it turns out that this actor is supposed to be a surprise for the end of the film -- he's not mentioned or seen (at least not his face) in the television commercials. He's not listed on the movie poster and believe me, an actor as well-known as this one would be headlining the whole thing. Or at least mentioned up there with Johnny Depp and Christine Ricci. It's obvious that they're trying to keep the identity of the Headless Horseman a secret. Why stick his face and name on the side of a bus?

No, I'm not going to tell you who this actor is. I don't want to ruin the film for you.

Man, it just irks me when the advertising for a movie spoils information about a movie. This first got me when I was waiting for _Terminator 2_. You had to be blind and deaf to not know that Arnie's Terminator character was a good guy. I mean, the movie poster next to the door to the theater read "This time he's back... for good." Result? No tension felt in the first part of the movie when he's searching for lil' Johnny. Looking at T2, you can tell that the audience is supposed to think "Oh, now there's two Terminators coming trying to kill John Conner." The advertising completely blew the reveal. The result: T2's advertising undercut the audience's emotions and expectations. Suddenly, the movie wasn't as good as it would have been if the advertising blitz didn't exist.

The other film that readily comes to mind when discussing this is any date movie, usually anything starring Meg Ryan. I mean, come on. We already know that Meg Ryan is going to fall in love with, oh, let's say Keanu Reeves just to make Sam nauseous. Why show us Meg and Keanu meeting, falling in love, hating each other, falling in love again, and the big wedding scene at the end of the movie in a five minute trailer? Why do I need to pay $9.25 ($18.50 with the wife) to see this movie? I just saw it! Gah!

Back to _Sleepy Hollow_. No, I don't think the movie has been ruined for me. Spoiled in some ways, yes, but not ruined. If the movie does manage to conceal that actor for the first two-thirds of the film then reveals him to the audience, I'll be royally cheesed. "Surprise! It's this guy!"

Remember watching either of the two Robin Hood movies that were out a while back (Kevin Costner's and Mel Brook's)? Everyone I know who saw both films thought that the surprise casting of King Richard was neat (both actors were uncredited). Do you remember that feeling? Now, suppose the advertising featured either one of those actors. That feeling would have been diminished.

I'll never get to know what it was like to watch _Psycho_. Everybody knows about Norman Bate's mother. Yet there was a whole generation of people who were genuinely surprised at the ending of that movie. Today, it's predictable. I was able to experience Luke Skywalker finding out who his father was in the theater. Today's kids already know who's the daddy. Kevin Costner's _No Way Out_ was fantastic when I first saw it. My parents? They read the "watch for the twist ending" blurb in the newspaper's TV listings and they started guessing what the twist was rather than sitting back and enjoying the movie.

Ah well.

-Faux "giving more clues to his age" Pas