Oscar season is always a little bitter-sweet. On the sweet side, you get a plethora of great movies that all get released at the same time in order to grab the attention of the Oscar voters. However, on the bitter side, you know that once the Oscar nominees are chosen, there’s going to be a long dry spell, when nothing but crap will be released for a good two or three months.

As with real life, it seems that the film industry has seasons of its own, and unfortunately Oscar season is always followed by a very long and frigid winter.

As I’ve noticed by the current slate of movies coming out in the next few weeks, that frigid winter has already begun. Watching the trailers for movies like Home of the Brave and Alpha Dog, I find myself daydreaming about death and I shiver at the thought of enduring another barren winter of ice-cold movies.

But then, unexpectedly, I see a ray of hope peaking through the clouds. Just the other day, as I sat there in the movie theater, waiting for the start of Blood Diamond (excellent, by the way), I was pleasantly surprised by the long string of really awesome movie trailers flashing before my eyes. Movies like Zodiac, David Fincher’s long awaited new movie about two reporters (Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo) who help a detective (Robert Downey Jr.) track down a serial killer. Even if the movie didn’t look as amazing as it does, I’d still see it just for those three actors alone. Or Wild Hogs, about four middle-aged friends (John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy), who decide to spice up their boring lives by buying motorcycles and setting out on a cross-country trip. I think I’m just intrigued by the combination of those four actors in a movie together. Or The Reaping, about a modern day recurrence of the Ten Plagues, starring Hilary Swank. How great of an idea is it to play out all ten plagues on the big screen, using modern movie making technology and no Charlton Heston?

And that’s when I realized that even in our darkest movie-watching moments, there is still hope. Somewhere, somehow, Hollywood still finds a way to crank out some good movies, and those movies always, miraculously, find their way to a theater near you. So don’t despair, my friends. This winter of bad movies is only temporary, and soon the flowers of better cinema will bloom once more.

That’s why, in the spirit of keeping that hope alive, I thought I’d share with you this Teaser for the long anticipated The Simpsons Movie. I’ll spare you the description or analysis on this one. If you’re not already excited about The Simpsons Movie, you might want to check your pulse. And needless to say, my advice is to SEE IT.

The Simpsons Movie is not yet rated and unfortunately doesn’t open until July 27. (Official Site)