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Michael Jackson's This is It – Opens October 28th

I'm always a little cautious to be anything even approaching enthusiastic when the concerned material is posthumous. In the case of Michael Jackson's This is It, which was cut together using countless hours of footage from rehearsals of what was to be the King of Pop's comeback music tour, the wildly overused "too soon?" phrase feels pretty appropriate. Honestly, the man died only a few months ago. It's not like we're talking about Tupac here, whose label has managed to release too many albums following his death – five! (with another due out next year) – so as to be almost comical.

Sony reportedly paid $60 million for the film rights. Given that this one is slated to run in theaters for just two weeks, here's hoping the studio knows what it got itself into.

The trailer, which premiered during the wily 2009 MTV Kanye West Music Awards, is what you'd expect from a movie documenting the day-to-day, behind-the-scenes escapades of a major comeback concert.

Grade: C

Transylmania – Opens December 4th

It was really only a matter of time. With Twilight, True Blood and The Vampire Diaries scoring a ridiculous amount of rabid fans and, likely, the upcoming Vampire's Assistant joining suit, it's fitting our obsession with bloodsuckers would already be immortalized by a vampire spoof movie. Even better, this one looks like it quite literally sucks, which is exactly what these movies tend to do time and time again. (Unless, of course, they have Airplane in the title).

As if the fact that this one apparently has no cohesive storyline to speak of wasn't enough – I've watched a trailer a few times now, and, well, just gave up – Transylmania is actually a theatrical sequel to the direct-to-DVD> release, National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2.

Need I say more? Didn't think so.

Grade: F

A Nightmare on Elm Street – Opens April 30th, 2010

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, New Line Cinema production chief Toby Emmerich said the reason his studio was rebooting the Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise was because the movies "are profoundly disturbing on a deep, human level because they're about our dreams" and that the idea of "dreams being invaded was something that would translate to any country and any culture." Toby, come on. It's a cash grab and you know it (even if the production values appear to be significantly better than other chapters in the franchise). Just once – once! – I'd like a movie exec to outright admit: "Shoot. You got me. In this economy, we're really just strapped for cash."

Of the big three horror icons – Freddy, Jason, Michael – I've found I've always been a loyalist of the latter monster. (Chiefly because I've probably seen more of his movies than of the other two combined). So, personal bias is admittedly present when I say that I wasn't nearly as into A Nightmare on Elm Street's reboot trailer as I was for Halloween's (or even Friday the 13th's, for that matter). Perhaps there's a little reboot fatigue in there too, considering that Freddy is the third and final of the villains to go through the remake treatment.

Even so, it's worth noting that the franchise doesn't look like it misses a beat from the absence of Robert Englund, who up to the release of this movie has always played the disfigured dream stalker. Jackie Earle Haley fills in just fine.

Grade: C+

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