All Hallow's Eve is approaching once again, and my favorite part of the holiday is all the corresponding movies that turn up on television and in theaters. October is already over a week old, so it's time to get into a Halloween frame of mind.

The Unborn
When I last saw Odette Yustman she was one of several New Yorkers fleeing for her life from a large beastie with nasty pointy teeth in Cloverfield. The Unborn has her facing a different kind of evil, specifically the spirit of her twin brother who died in the womb, or perhaps it's an evil entity that hoped to enter the world through him (it's a little hard to tell). There are some nightmarish visuals on display here, and the crawling thing with its head twisted around both sticks with me and makes me wonder if it's an homage to the spider walk scene in The Exorcist. The often cool Gary Oldman also stars and the film is written and directed by David S. Goyer, so I think there's something good and creepy here.

Just Buried
Not a horror flim this one, but rather an extremely dark comedy. Jay Baruchel (who I will always remember as the Led Zeppelin loving nerd from Almost Famous) plays a young man named Oliver who has inherited a funeral home troubled by a fierce competitor and a lack of business. The plucky young female mortician in his employ insists he can't shut down the funeral parlor and the two embark upon a path to drum up business and squash the competition by causing a few untimely deaths. Could be a nice slice of morbid fun here. Check out Scott's review of the film.

The Uninvited
A young woman returns home from a stint at a mental hospital following her mother's untimely death, to find that her father has a new girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks). There's also a ghost who is apparently trying to tell our former mental patient heroine that the girlfriend killed the last family she lived with. This is a much darker role than I'm used to seeing Banks play, and she seems to handle it well. This is a remake of a South Korean film called A Tale of Two Sisters (Janghwa, Hongryeon) which was once recommended to me but has languished in my Netflix queue for several years. The trailer has some creepy moments and I'll probably check this one out. Here's Eric Snider's take on the trailer.

Let the Right One In
If you're going to attempt a vampire movie these days then you damn well better do something different with the idea, and it looks like the people behind this Swedish bloodsucker opus are clear on that concept. A bullied 12 year old boy finds both friendship and a tool for revenge in his new girlfriend who happens to be a vampire. Scott caught this one at Tribeca and penned a pretty strong recommendation, and the flick will be playing on October 24 in New York City. Sadly, the rest of us are going to have to wait for the eventual DVD release.

House
No, it's neither that 80s horror flick starring William Katt or that doctor show on the Fox Network. This House is a horror flick in which two couples find themselves trapped in a remote house and stalked by a lunatic calling himself the Tin Man. This one seems to meld classic slasher stuff with elements of slaughterfests like Hostel and Saw, none of which really appeals to me, and the cast isn't particularly interesting. I think I'll let this one slide.

New this week on AOL Moviefone:

• Paul Blart: Mall Cop - Kevin James plays a man who finally gets his dream job as a working in mall security. Check out the trailer right here:
  
  
  
• The International - Clive Owen plays an interpol agent targeting corruption in the world's largest banking institutions.
• Passengers -Anne Hathaway stars as a grief counselor who suspects foul play when the plane crash survivors she is working with begin to disappear.
• Valkyrie - Tom Hanks Cruise stars in this historical drama about a plot to assassinate Hitler.
• Fears of the Dark - Animated horror anthology. Here's the preview:
  
  
  
• Bedtime Stories - Adam Sandler is a Dad who finds the bedtime stories he's been telling his kids are becoming reality.
• Notorious - Biopic of rap star Notorious B.I.G.
• The Pleasure of Being Robbed - Indie film about a young woman and her elaborate acts of theft.
• I've Loved You So Long - A woman returns to her family after fifteen years in prison.
• Hank and Mike - Two recently fired Easter Bunnies find that changing careers is tougher than they thought.
• Talento De Barrio - A Puerto Rican youth must choose between a life of crime and musical supestardom.

Bonjour! Buenos dias! Whassup! It's diversity week here at the Trailer Park and we're looking at previews for films from our about different cultures.

Dragonball
I've seen only a a few episodes of the Japanese cartoon on which this live action film is based, but I'm not seeing a whole lot here that reminds me of the anime. Frankly it reminds me more of Mortal Combat Kombat. Like the original, this is a martial arts fantasy with prophecies, super powers, lots of action and a hero with preposterously spiked hair. Chow Yun Fat is in there to add some action movie cred, but will that be enough? From what I've read the anime fans are not thrilled with this one, and it's not doing a lot for me either. I don't think this one if for me.

Amexicano
Here's a charming looking indie about a friendship between and Italian American and an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Bruno (Carmine Famiglietti) is behind on his rent and reluctantly goes into the construction business, hiring Mexican day laborers to help him. When he hires Ignacio (Raúl Castillo) the two forge a bond despite the fact that Ignacio does not speak English. I'm looking forward to this one.

Chalk up another number one opener for Shia Labeouf as Eagle Eye took the top spot with Richard Gere's romantic drama Nights in Rodanthe sliding into second. Here's the top five:

1. Eagle Eye: $29 million
2. Nights in Rodanthe: $13.4 million
3. Lakeview Terrace: $6.9 million
4. Fireproof: $6.8 million
5. Burn After Reading: $6 million

We've got a whopping six new releases this week, so let's get started...


How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
What's It All About: Simon Pegg stars as a small time gossip journalist from England who joins the staff of a prestigious New York magazine and proceeds to piss off a lot of people.
Why It Might Do Well: Dude, it's Simon Pegg.
Why It Might Not Do Well: No zombies or cricket bats in sight.
Number of Theaters: 1,750
Prediction: $6 million

The first trailer for Will Smith's new flick has just arrived online, and it's called Seven Pounds ... and it was directed by Gabriele Muccino (The Pursuit of Happyness) ... and it definitely looks like one of them tear-jerkers. (For those obsessive, need-it-right-now folks, you can watch the trailer after the jump.) In the film, Smith plays a guy who's feeling guilty about mistakes he's made over the years, and so he decides to help change the lives of seven total strangers. In doing so, he winds up falling in love with one of the aforementioned strangers, played by Rosario Dawson. So here we have a movie about giving to others, it comes out December 19 (right in time for Christmas), and it stars our most precious A-list actor. Mmmm ... makes you just wanna wash it all down with a slice of apple pie.

Seven Pounds marks Big Willie's second trip to the multiplex this year, after first starring in the summer superhero action/adventure Hancock. A quick glance at his previous two films spots a similar pattern of action blockbuster and quiet drama -- and even though Smith will always guarantee you great numbers on opening weekend no matter the genre, one wonders which version of the man you all prefer? For ten bucks, would you rather spend it watching Will Smith kick ass on a $200 million budget, or would you prefer to spend the time with his gentler, Oscar-nominated side? Or, would you rather watch the man star in more straight-up comedies, a la Hitch?

How do you like your Will Smith?

Related: Fan Rant: Will Smith Needs to Play a Villain

A brand new trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has just arrived online via Apple (head there to view it in brilliant HD). Directed by David Fincher, Benjamin Button stars Brad Pitt as a man who's born old and slowly begins to age backwards. The film tells his life story -- one that follows him through a war and a love story with Cate Blanchett (the two also starred opposite one another in Babel). And in true extended trailer fashion, this one gives us a lot more meat -- snippets of scenes and dialogue from across the entire film. Visually, it looks stunning, and I wouldn't be surprised if this freakish flick hit the radar hard come Oscar time. Check out a few stills from the trailer up top and below, then head over to Apple to view the whole thing.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button hits theaters Christmas Day.

Whaddya think?

Halloween's still a month away, but these films all have some afterlife in them.



The Spirit
The second trailer for the highly anticipated adaptation of Will Eisner's classic graphic novel looks a lot like Robert Rodriguez's Sin City. That's not surprising, since comic book great Frank Miller not only co-directed that flick, he also wrote the book it was based on. The Spirit marks his solo directorial debut, and he's definitely got the film noir thing down. After a rookie cop is brutally murdered, he's resurrected as the title character (Gabriel Macht), a masked crime fighter dedicated to keeping the city streets safe. Of course he has to vanquish a supervillain (Samuel L. Jackson as the Octopus) and a couple of femme fatales, first. It's clearly got a dark vibe, but it doesn't take itself too seriously. There's a bunch of one-liners in the trailer. My favorite: "Somebody get me a tie ... and it sure as hell better be red!"

Cinematical has just received this cute and quirky exclusive trailer for The Pleasure of Being Robbed (watch it below), which marks the feature directorial debut of Joshua Safdie, and is a comedy that revolves around a kleptomaniac who touches the lives of everyone she steals from. Eleonore Hendricks stars as the attractive, fearless and stealthy thief, and also co-wrote along with Safdie. Pleasure first debuted back at the SXSW Film Festival before hopping across to Cannes where IFC eventually picked it up, and it's left a trail of great buzz all summer long. The Pleasure of Being Robbed will enjoy an exclusive theatrical run at the IFC Center in New York City beginning October 3, and will be available On Demand as part of IFC's Festival Direct (which I love, and have used multiple times) on October 22.

Bonus points go to the reader who can name the artist and song in the trailer. (And yes, this is for purely selfish reasons ...) Enjoy.

If there's a number in a film title you've got a sequel, right? Not necessarily, unless Oceans 1 through Oceans 10 came out on some obscure underground label I've never heard of. The trailers are getting all mathematical on our collective ass this week, and each of them (sort of) sports a number in the title.

Four Christmases
It happens every year. The first time I see a sign of the coming holiday season I cringe. I like Christmas fine once it gets here, but being forced to think about it in September is asking too much. Anyway, this is actually a TV spot, which is appropriate since it sounds like the plot was lifted from a sitcom. Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon are playing a couple who, thanks to a canceled flight to Fiji, are forced to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas Day. Pretty wacky, huh? This flimsy plot is being held up by an impressive cast which includes Mary Steenburgen, Robert Duval and Sissy Spacek ... but I doubt that will be enough. Note: Link above now pointing to new full-length trailer.

Terminator: Salvation
OK, there's actually no number in this title, but we're all mentally planting a "4" after the word Terminator. After Terminator 3 I really didn't care if the series lived or died. Without James Cameron at the helm and Linda Hamilton in the lead we were left with mindless action and none of the compelling elements from the first two films. This is only a teaser, but with Christian Bale taking over the role of John Connor, I'm thinking there may be hope. We get a glimpse of a post-apocalyptic future, and Connor tells us via narration that this is not the future his mother warned him about. Considering how bleak that future was portrayed in the previous films, it's chilling to imagine how it could get worse.

This week, the eyes have it. We're looking at films for which vision is key.

Knowing
Nicolas Cage has the only new film going into wide release this week with Bangkok Dangerous, but frankly this tale of prophetic doom better grabs my attention. Cage plays a school teacher who digs up a time capsule and finds several pages of hand written numbers. He finds dates within those numbers, each of which corresponds to a major disaster that has occurred since the capsule was buried. More importantly the numbers apparently list disasters which have yet to occur. I'd be a little more enthusiastic if Cage's record hadn't been so hit and miss lately. (Ghost Rider? Puh-leeze.) Still the premise sounds kind of cool, despite reminding me of the lackluster The Number 23, and there's a disaster in the trailer that's pretty chilling, especially if you've ever been to Logan Airport in Boston. The preview is pushing the fact that director Alex Proyas helmed I, Robot, but I'm more impressed that he was the man behind the excellent Dark City.

Milk
This one isn't so much about visions of the future as visions for the future. Gus Van Sant directs and Sean Penn stars in this true story about Harvey Milk, who in 1977 became the first openly gay man to hold public office in the United States. Penn is engaging in the role, and we see him struggle against bigotry and death threats to give a voice to the gay community. I wasn't familiar with Milk's story, but now I'm curious. Here's William's take on the trailer.

It's no secret that Hollywood is sequel crazy, but it's gotten to the point where it's hard to tell at a glance if a movie is a sequel or something new all together. Here are five trailers I had to closely scrutinize before I could determine whether or not sequalization was occurring.

Fast & Furious
Yup, this one's definitely a sequel, the fourth installment in the series launched by 2001's The Fast and the Furious. First off I give the whole franchise kudos for having the originality to give each of the films its own title and not just slapping on an escalating series of numbers. Furthermore, despite never having seen any of the others in the series, this trailer piqued my interest. Vin Diesel and co-star Michelle Rodriguez are seen here hijacking a tractor trailer hauling multiple tankers of gasoline, and the action is downright spectacular. Granted, the almost subliminal lesbian make out scene doesn't hurt either, but I could get behind seeing this. Here's what William had to say on the trailer.

Sukyaki Western Django
At first glance one might think this was a belated sequel to the 1966 spaghetti western Django. In reality this is an ultra violent homage to the genre with Takashi Miike at the helm and with Quentin Tarantino appearing in a supporting role. I've seen a few of Miike's film's, but the one I remember best is the bizarre and brutal Ichi the Killer, so I'm curious to see how he does with a Western. The preview is a frenetic barrage of action scenes with plot details being of secondary concern, but there's some wild stuff here, including bullets being deflected by samurai swords much in the way a Jedi would deflect a laser blast with his light sabre. The film is shot in English, though according to Jeffrey's review of the film, the mostly Japanese cast's unfamiliarity with the language is a drawback. Still, this looks pretty cool. Sukyaki Western Django goes into limited U.S. release this weekend, so I don't imagine it will be long before it's available on DVD.