Trailer Park: Pinball Edition

Careening from one future release to another like a pinball bouncing from flipper to bumper amidst a cacophony of bells and seizure inducing lights, this week we're moving between trailers via slight but noteworthy connections. Welcome to the Pinball Edition.

The Pefect Holiday
Dear God, it's starting already. The Christmas marketing, I mean. Halloween isn't even cold in its grave, and the stores already have their Christmas displays up without the benefit of a suitable mourning period. As Christmas movies go, this one looks fairly inoffensive. Gabrielle Union plays a mother of three whose youngest asks a department store Santa to find the right guy for her mom. That Santa, who is also an office supply salesman and struggling song writer thinks he might be just the man for the job, and romantic holiday hijinks ensue. Charlie Murphy plays Union's ex and Morris Chestnut plays the Kris Kringle turned Romeo. No Oscar potential here, but I'm betting this one does what it sets out to do. Check out the poster here.

And speaking of Christmas...
What Would Jesus Buy
The idea of Christmas being an over-commercialized holiday has not only been beaten to death, but its carcass has been taken to the taxidermist then propped up on the front porch for all to see (as you can see, I'm having a little trouble getting out of the Halloween spirit). The Peanuts gang was lamenting over this when A Charlie Brown Christmas came out over forty years ago, so it's hardly a fresh idea. This documentary tells the story of Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse. The trailer throws out some figures about how much we all spent last Christmas and the level of consumer debt in America. Personally, I think moaning about the commercialization of Christmas is almost as annoying as the actual commercialization itself. I'll be skipping this one, but you can check out the trailer right here:

And speaking of money...
Mad Money
I intensely disliked Ocean's 11, so heist movies don't hold much appeal for me. Still, this one looks like it might be interesting based on the cast. Three employees of the Federal Reserve plot to make off with a pile of cash that's destined to be shredded. Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, and Katie Holmes (whose acting talent has gotten a lot of undeserved bashing in recent years) star as three unique women who conspire to get rich quick. Ted Danson's in there too, who with this and The Amateurs which I mentioned last week seems to be getting come interesting supporting parts lately. I won't be stampeding to see this one, but it looks like a pleasent enough way to kill ninety minutes.

And all this talk of Benjamins reminds me of another face on U.S. currency...
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Nicholas Cage returns as Ben Gates in this sequel to 2004's National Treasure. Missing pages from John Wilkes Booth's diary lead Gates on another globe trotting adventure searching for the truth behind the conspiracy that lead to the Lincoln assassination. I haven't seen the original, though I've heard good things about it, particularly from two young nephews who I suspect are going to be dying to see this one. If you liked the first movie, you'll probably get more of the same here. Here's Erik's take on the trailer.

And speaking of assassination...
Wanted
Remember when movies based on comics were usually super hero flicks? That's not the case any more as can be proven by the likes of Sin City, 30 Days of Night and this film based on a graphic novel about an underground network of assassins. Angelina Jolie stars as The Fox (definitely not a stretch) who recruits a young man into the fold, informing him that the father he never knew was one of the world's greatest assassins. Morgan Freeman shows some pretty cool handiwork with a firearm, demonstrating how to make a bullet follow a curved path. There's plenty of action on display here, and this looks like it could be cool. Here's what Christopher Campbell thought of the trailer.

And here are AOL Moviefone's new trailers for this week:

• Kung Fu Panda - A computer animated comedy starring Jack Black as a kung fu loving panda who is chosen to fulfill a great destiny. Check out the trailer right here:
  
  
• The Diving Bell and The Butterfly - Based on a true story about a Jean-Dominique Bauby's experiences following a stroke.
  
• Starting Out In the Evening - A graduate student believes she can revive the career of a once legendary novelist.
  
• The Mist - Trailer No. 2 - Second trailer for the film based on the Stephen King creep-fest about a small town engulfed by a mysterious and deadly mist.
  
• What Would Jesus Buy?' - Documentary on the commercialization of Christmas.