The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

I wasn’t too thrilled when they announced they were “re-imagining” the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, and the spots I had seen so far hadn’t done much to change my mind.  But I’ll admit it, this latest trailer is pretty damn cool.

I’m a little miffed that they’re aping some of the scenes from the original movie (the claw in the bathtub among them), but that’s not a huge deal.  If Michael Bay and director Samuel Bayer actually go for a straight horror movie rather than a campy remake, this could be good.  I’ll even give Jackie Earle Haley a chance as Freddy Krueger, although Robert Englund pretty much owns the character.

In fact, it does not.  At least that’s what I can gather from this teaser trailer for the sequel to Wall Street, subtitled Money Never Sleeps.

Other things I can gather from the trailer:

• Being in Federal Pound-Me-in-the-Ass prison for more than two decades does not slow the aging process.  Poor Michael Douglas.
• For some inexplicable reason, Gordon Gekko brought that giant mobile phone to prison.  I can’t imagine the screenwriters threw that in there for a cheap laugh, right?
• Casting must have taken place during a holiday, which is the only way I can figure Shia LaBeouf being picked as a co-lead.
• Then again, no Daryl Hannah is a step in the right direction.
  

Money Never Sleeps was directed (but not written) by Oliver Stone, so expect an extremely subtle undercurrent of criticism levied against our nation’s vaunted banking industry.  That and smaller cell phones.

Well too bad, because we’re getting another one.  Feast your eyes on the trailer for Will Forte’s MacGruber, due out in April:

I’m a fan of the recurring “MacGruber” sketches on SNL, but those are 3-minute bites.  I don’t have high hopes for a full-length movie, although it has some things going in its favor.  Forte is one of the funnier current SNL cast members, as is co-star Kristen Wiig.  And hey, good to see Val Kilmer’s still getting work!  Even if he does look more bloated than the national debt.

The trailer for the upcoming season of The Venture Bros, which was shown at the recent San Diego Comic-Con, is up on the Adult Swim website.  But I’ll save you the trouble and just post it here.

Not sure how much more of Sgt. Hatred I can take, but other than that this is pure win.  J.G. Thirwell’s music continues to be a vital part of the Venture experience, and the animation is at least as good as last season’s.  I caught a nice Raiders of the Lost Ark reference, and had to look up LARP.  Oh and I laughed a bunch of times.

Yeah, this is shaping up to be a kickass season.

I’m usually part of the chorus railing against Hollywood for dusting off old ideas for movies rather than inventing new ones.  Still, my inner (and outer) geek is pretty jazzed about this teaser trailer for the upcoming Tron movie (which is currently called Tron Legacy but was previously known as Tron 2.0 and the much cheesier TR2N), slated for a 2010 release.

I’m not even all that concerned over how the “legacy” of Tron is handled.  Let’s face it, the original was lots of fun but wasn’t exactly rich in character development or plot complexities.  It survives because of the initial wow factor (and maybe the Journey soundtrack).  I just don’t know if the new one will be able to pack the same punch in a post-Matrix world.  Still, it’s got Jeff Bridges so how bad can it be?

Of course you can.  At least you’ll have to, since the movie’s release is inexplicably being pushed back until July 2009.  Thanks a lot, ignoramus studio executives!

Oh yeah, the trailer.  It looks even darker than the previous movies, which of course is to be expected, but the touch of humor at the end is most welcome.  What’s not welcome is the continuing de-evolution of Rupert Grint (aka Ron Weasley), whose face looks like it continues to suffer the ravages of the full moon.

Oh. My. God. July cannot get here soon enough.