Welcome to “Trailer Park,” our regular Friday feature where we collect the week’s new trailers all in one place and do a little “judging a book by its cover,” ranking them from worst to best and taking our best guess at what they may be hiding. This week, we’ve got eight new ones—everything from cancer comedies to Shakespearean dramas to, God help us, holiday fare. Check ‘em all out after the jump.
1. The 22 pieces of custom-made furniture Michael Jackson commissioned for his planned home in London during the This Is It tour (including a leopard-print chair trimmed with ostrich feathers) are going on the auction block. [via Salon]
2. Joaquin Phoenix will presumably be shaving off his crazy person beard to play Edgar Allen Poe in a film adaptation of The Beautiful Cigar Girl by Daniel Stashower. [via The Playlist]
3. The National Book Critics Circle awards were last night, and Hilary Mantel won the fiction award for her Tudor-era novel Wolf Hall which previously scored the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. [via WSJ]
4. Can a comedy that’s being shot by half a dozen different filmmakers turn out funny? With Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Gerard Butler, Elizabeth Banks, Johnny Knoxville, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse also involved, then perhaps. [via Wired]
5. Jay-Z‘s involvement with the controversial Atlantic Yards project has earned him some new enemies in brownstone Brooklyn. [via The Awl]
Coachella giveaway: We use Yahoo! Search to help find the top culture stories of the day. Now we’re giving you the chance to play editor, and you just might win a trip to Coachella.
Use Yahoo! Search to find an interesting link about Michael Jackson, and drop it below in the comments. Our favorite entry will receive a copy of Michael Jackson: This Is It, and more importantly, be entered to win a VIP trip for two to Coachella. Good luck!
How To Train Your Dragon tells the story of a young Viking named Hiccup who befriends a wounded dragon. Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson and Jonah Hill provide voice talent for the 3-D animated film, which opens next March.
Will it do for scary green dragons what Shrek did for scary green ogres? We’re sure that’s what DreamWorks is hoping, but from the trailer after the jump, it’s hard to tell. The thing that made Shrek a box office smash was the fact that it was a children’s story laced with adult humor. This one seems more action-based, which could be a misstep. We’re also thrown off by the fact that Ferrera is voicing the blonde love interest. It’s like Betty Suarez has turned into Amanda Tanen overnight.