If you need an example of how smart marketing can turn around naysayers on a film, look no further than Joe Johnston’s “The Wolfman”.  After the bad buzz generated by the switch in directors from Mark Romanek (”One Hour Photo”) to Joe Johnston (”Hidalgo”) coupled with constant kicks in the release date (the film was first intended to open on November 12, 2008) “The Wolfman” will finally hit theaters on February 12, 2009.  Coupled with its most recent and most awesome trailer, “The Wolfman” is back on people’s radars and it’s looking to compete next Valentine’s Day.

The new poster for the film shows just how ballsy the marketing for this film is willing to go.  The Wolfman isn’t even in the poster but it’s obvious that Emily Blunt’s character is freaking out and with good reason.  She’s in a movie called “The Wolfman.”  I think the marketing will payoff as couples could go see this instead of the weekend’s rom-com anthology “Valentine’s Day” (or they might choose the gay Sundance sensation, “I Love You, Phillip Morris” starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor).  Hit the jump to see the poster and strongly consider putting it on your wall.

Stephen Frears is probably one of the most successful directors that most Americans have never heard of because his movies tend to be highly British.  However, he does enjoy some solid success when he comes over to this side of the Atlantic with the popular films “The Grifters” and “High Fidelity”.  The latter film, adapted from Nick Hornby’s book, was a box office flop but has developed a strong cult following over the years.  Now it looks like he may reunite with the film’s screenwriter D.V. DeVincentis for another adaptation.  This time they’re going for geeky gamblers rather than music nerds.  Hit the jump for details.

“Star Trek” director J.J. Abrams is once again using his producing magic to get another TV series off the ground.  Yes, I know that “What About Brian” and “Six Degrees” were both cancelled, but he’s had some success with the last two projects he helped launch, “Lost” and “Fringe”.  Now he’s going to try to give NBC a dramatic hit they sorely need in their line-up with “Undercovers”.  Hit the jump for details.

Part of what makes Criterion Collection films so valuable, aside from the company’s commitment to the best transfers and special features, is that some times a title will go out of print which makes the film more valuable, both in price and in lording your copy over people that didn’t get one.

“The Third Man” was one of the first Blu-ray titles released when Criterion began their foray into the format on December 18, 2008.  Now “The Third Man” is the first title of the Blu-ray line to go out of print which means the only ones left are those that have already been shipped to retailers.  If you want to get one, now’s the time as the price will most likely rise among eBay and Amazon sellers in the coming months.  I just picked up my copy online from Barnes & Noble for $34.55 (including shipping) which, after searching online, was the best deal I could find.  [Thanks to Blu-ray.com for the heads-up]

It’s been almost two years since their last short film (if you don’t count “Mystery Team Adventures” from a few months ago), but Derrick Comedy is still going strong as they’ve released their new short-form hilarity, “Boy Band”, while continuing to push for their excellent movie “Mystery Team” to come to your city.  If you forgot why you loved Derrick (and I don’t understand why; they have a website with all their videos), this will quickly refresh your memory.  Once again, the group knows how to make you laugh and feel dirty at the same time (…and you can just take a bath…).

Now the important part: you need your city to get “Mystery Team”.  Unlike “Paranormal Activity” which just made people think they got the film released, you actually have to demand that “Mystery Team” come to your town and get all your friends to demand it as well.  It’s a hilarious film and you’re missing out if you don’t catch it.  The best I can do is ask our Atlanta readers to please CLICK HERE and Demand It for our city.  You’re just going to have to trust me on this one.  Hit the jump to watch “Boy Band”, learn more about “Mystery Team’s” quest to reach more theaters, and if you’re one of the glorious cities that will have a chance to see the film this holiday season.  It will just be our little secret.

I would exactly call Bradley Cooper and Shia LaBeouf interchangeable but that’s what has happened.  Back in April of 2008, LaBeouf came on board to star in Neil Burger’s (”The Illusionist”) mystery-thriller, “Dark Fields”.  Then LaBeouf realized he could go out and play with anyone he wanted so he decided to exchange “Dark Fields” for Oliver Stone’s unnecessary sequel, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”.  Over a year later, Bradley Cooper steps in to fill the void because he’s LaBeouf’s long-lost twin.  Hit the jump for details.

Men, if you find yourself forced into watching “Twilight” or “New Moon”, don’t panic.  There is a way to survive.  Be on the lookout for Ashley Greene, who plays some vampire lady, I wasn’t really paying attention because her character is not the point.  The point is Ashley Greene is jaw-droppingly attractive and every time the camera looks at her the suffering momentarily ends.  She is the life-saver which you must cling to for dear life.  At the end of it all, you will thank the gods and the casting director for putting her in that franchise.

Today we have news that she’ll be starring in Dark Castle’s upcoming horror movie “The Apparition”, which means you won’t spend time between scenes praying she’ll show up.  You just get to gaze upon her and let your adulation creep out others around you.  Hit the jump to go Greene.

Posters which need to be grouped together to achieve their full effect kind of bug me.  Look at these, the first four posters to promote Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass”, arguably the biggest breakout of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.  I’m glad that the marketing campaign for the film has begun but will theaters devote this kind of space to four posters which leave out the actor’s names in favor of the character and their alter-ego?  I hope so because this movie needs to be on folks’ radar and I’m not sure if a poster saying “Mindy Macready Is Hit-Girl” with a purple-haired gal standing in front of “-A” will turn heads.  On second though, it might.  Just forget everything I said.  However, if you do see all four posters together in a theater and they’re out of order, please send us a photo.

Check out all four posters after the jump.  “Kick-Ass” is slated to hit theaters on April 16, 2010. [UPDATE: The official website is now online.  You'll see at the bottom  of the site that the trailer is set to debut online next Sunday at midnight.]

In the movie “Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire”, an obese black girl growing up in 80s Harlem is beaten and verbally abused by her selfish mother.  The girl is pregnant with her second child after being raped again by her father.  Still hopeful for a better life, the girl enrolls in a program that teaches wayward young women to get their G.E.D.  Through the help of a saintly teacher and the support of her classmates, the girl finds confidence and love.  The movie co-stars comedienne Mo’Nique, pop sensation Mariah Carey, and cross-genre musician Lenny Kravitz.

“Precious” is not a Hallmark movie.  It is one of the best films of the year.

Don’t worry.  It’s okay to laugh.  You don’t need laughs that cut off your ability to breathe nor do you need laughs that are tinged with that magical mixture of horror and schadenfreude.  Sometimes it’s okay to laugh at jokes which you may not remember but come from care-free, silly humor that doesn’t condescend or rely heavily on slapstick.  “The Men Who Stare at Goats” is a fun, enjoyable film that may not cut deep with satire or delve deeply into its bizarre premise, but one which will keep you happy for 93 minutes and leave you smiling.

When it was announced that Robert Zemeckis was directing an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” starring Jim Carrey and made with 3D motion-capture, my response was viciously negative.  Zemeckis had left behind movies like “Back to the Future” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”, movies with characters and charming stories, in favor of 3D motion-captured films featuring CG characters who resembled the voice actor except they were trapped deep within the uncanny valley (the place where CG facsimiles of people look like very expensive animatronics).  Throwing Jim Carrey into the mix to have him constantly mug for the camera made the idea of a 3D motion-captured film even more unappealing.  And “A Christmas Carol”?  How many times do we need to see this story?  Seeing it in 3D with Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge was an argument not to make the movie.  (Hit the jump to find out why all these perceived flaws are actually the film’s greatest strengths.)

I’m usually the snarky one, but the following statement is all Entertainment Weekly: “A remake of ‘Yogi Bear’ seems to be an incredibly unnecessary project but with these inspired casting choices perhaps a good movie will prevail.” I couldn’t agree more except for the part about inspired casting choices because I never spent time thinking, “Gosh, who would be good in a movie I don’t think should exist.”  But it looks like Anna Faris, Dan Aykroyd, and Justin Timberlake will take a trip to Jellystone Park to tell the tale of a bear wearing a hat and a bowtie who steals pick-a-nik baskets.  Hit the jump for details.

I don’t know anything about “Micronauts” and I’ll have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life.  I turned away from my studies of toy lines from the 70s and now I’m stuck in a dead-end job writing about movies.  The news that J.J. Abrams may produce a movie based on the tiny toys is a cruel reminder of my ignorance about 4-inch high action figures.

In an Wall Street Journal article today about the lucrative business of toy-based movies, there was a brief mention about Abrams being in talks to produce a film based on “Micronauts”, which Hasbro has just acquired.  Oddly enough, “Micronauts”, unlike other properties, does not have its own narrative.  They’re just tiny toys based on the sci-fi/action genre.  Although the toy line ended in 1980, a Marvel Comics began a series about “Micronauts” in a 1979.  There’s a whole article about the comic and its characters which you can read at Wikipedia.  I merely glanced at it for I do not deserve to learn the secrets of the “Micronauts”.  I gave up that dream a long time ago.

For future reference, if you’re clearly being punk’d by one of Sacha Baron Cohen’s characters (or really anyone that’s trying to put you into an uncomfortable situation on camera), just play into it.  The whole point of the comedy is having a person realize that they’re not in on the joke and thus they become the butt of it.

Disgraced baseball player Pete Rose was able to realize the prank Cohen’s ultra-gay alter-ego “Bruno” played so easily on the not-very-bright/somewhat-insane Paula Abdul.  The premise is whether or not a celebrity would have an interview while sitting on Mexican laborers.  It’s not as funny when A) no one thinks the subject is stupid; and B) when the subject isn’t stupid and realizes this is a prank.  That’s probably why this is a deleted scene on the upcoming “Bruno” DVD which hits stores on November 17^th.  You can watch it after the jump and wonder why Cohen just doesn’t mention the whole gambling-on-baseball thing.

Writer-Director-Demigod Guillermo del Toro knows how much to reveal about “The Hobbit” and how much to withhold.  He’s been pretty tight-lipped but that’s partially been due to the long pre-production and it’s unwise to release information which will probably shift over the following year.  The pre-production for “The Hobbit” will continue as Del Toro doesn’t begin shooting its back-to-back films until late spring 2010 to make a release date of late 2011.  However, he did release some details of his work schedule, his relationship with Peter Jackson, and most interesting, the task of designing the big bad of “The Hobbit”, Smaug.  Hit the jump for details.

To put it kindly, I wasn’t exactly wowed when the trailer for Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers” hit back in July.  Now the second trailer is online and my interest in this movie is diminished almost to the point of indifference.  This new trailer, the one closer to the film’s release date of December 4^th, is only a minute long and relies on Mr. Movie Voice to explain the plot.  It makes the movie looks like nothing but big emotional moments with no characters in between.  I’m hoping that the elements of Sheridan, Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, and Jake Gyllenhaal combine to make a better film than I’m seeing from the trailers.  Check out the trailer after the jump.  It will only take a minute.