A French poster and trailer for The Wolfman have come online and while I don’t understand a single word of the trailer (damn you French dubbing!), I think the poster may be my favorite thus far. Much like the previous poster featuring only Emily Blunt, they’re not trying to impress you with the scary image of a lupine-Benecio Del Toro, but provide a smirking nod to the horror in store for the viewer.  All you get with this new one is the top of a cane.  You could do far worse when it comes to a teaser poster.  And while I don’t understand what the characters are saying in the French trailer, I think it’s clear that this film will be visually impressive.  Check out both the trailer and the poster after the jump.  The Wolfman hits theaters in both the US and France on February 10, 2010.

Click over to Bloody-Disgusting to check out the French trailer.

For those just tuning in, here’s a brief synopsis:

Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro), a haunted nobleman, is lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes. Reunited with his estranged father (Anthony Hopkins), Talbot sets out to find his brother… and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself. Talbot’s childhood ended the night his mother died. After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother’s fiancée, Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt), tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. He learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline (Hugo Weaving) has come to investigate.

Head over to filmsactu.com [via Bloody-Digusting] to see a larger version of the poster.

Jeff Bridges is an actor who’s overdue for an Oscar.  He’s been nominated four times before (Best Supporting Actor for The Contender, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, and The Last Picture Show; Best Actor for Starman) and has a wealth of great performances in his filmography.  It looks like Bridges is adding another one to his filmography as he’s getting some serious Oscar-buzz for his performance as a hard-living country singer in Crazy Heart.

This is also good news for Fox Searchlight, which looked like they were going to be out of this year’s Oscar race after Amelia flopped.  Now a film which was on no one’s radar two months ago is being called The Wrestler of 2009.  You can get that sense from both the poster and trailer for the film but not in a “me too” kind of way.  I’m always up for Jeff Bridges being great and it looks like Crazy Heart isn’t going to disappoint.  Hit the jump to see the trailer, poster, and a brief synopsis.   Crazy Heart is slated to hit theaters in limited release on December 16^th.

Head over to Apple to see the trailer in HD.

Four-time Academy Award® nominee JEFF BRIDGES stars as the richly comic, semi-tragic romantic anti-hero Bad Blake in the debut feature film CRAZY HEART from writer-director Scott Cooper. Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who’s had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can’t help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (Golden Globe® Nominee MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. As he struggles down the road of redemption, Bad learns the hard way just how tough life can be on one man’s crazy heart.

I didn’t care for the first poster of the Alice in Wonderland triptych, I thought the second one was rather good, and now that the third one is online and the triptych is complete, all I can say is, “Huzzah?”  It was an interesting use of Facebook to bring fans into the marketing campaign while simultaneously getting them hooked on the film’s updates via the social networking site.  But as for the final product of these three posters, they don’t really sway me one way or the other.  And while I understand that they need Johnny Depp to sell the money, it gets on my nerves that he’s the only actor in this triptych twice, he holds the center poster, and only his name gets to be on a poster.  I don’t remember much about Alice in Wonderland so if the Mad Hatter is actually the main character, I retract my previous statements.

Hit the jump to see Depp’s poster and what all three look like when you put them together.  Alice in Wonderland hits theaters on March 5, 2010

Is the entire marketing campaign for Angelina Jolie’s upcoming spy-thriller Salt going to be based entirely around the question of “Who Is Salt?”  That’s the tagline they put in their trailer, are using for their website, and have now put on the film’s first poster.  Because that question sounds like one a person with a learning disability would ask.  I would think that the leap to get people to accept the title Salt would be tough enough but phrasing it in the context of a question does the movie no favors.  Who is Salt?  I don’t know.  Who is Pepper?  Who is Cinnamon?  Maybe it’s just the worst stripper name of all-time.  I don’t know and I think they should just use my tagline, “Angelina Jolie Looks Hot and Beats People Up.”

Hit the jump to see the poster.  Salt hits theaters on July 23, 2010.

Head over to JoBlo to see it massive.

When it comes to the first photos and synopsis from upcoming films, Collider has reaped great rewards from this year’s American Film Market (AFM).  For those who don’t know, AFM is where film buyers from around the world come once a year to buy movies and also pre-buy films in development.  Simply put, this is where a lot of money changes hands in the film industry and it’s where many decisions about what you and I get to see are made.  In an effort to try and raise a film’s profile or attract film buyers, many of the studios distribute full synopses and still images for their movies.

With that in mind, we have grabbed some of those synopses and images for Manolete (starring Adrien Brody and Penelope Cruz), Mona Lisa, Pearblossom, Small Town Saturday Night (starring Chris Pine), and The Long Good Friday.  Hit the jump to check it all out.  Please note that the synopses are copied down exactly as printed.  I have made no editorial changes.  Furthermore, some of these synopses are complete as describe the entire film.  For those wary of spoilers, read carefully.

And if you missed our previous coverage, click here, here and here.   You can see images from All Good Things starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst, Pirhana 3D starring Elisabeth Shue and Richard Dreyfuss, Shanghai starring John Cusack and Ken Watanbe, The Fighter starring Christian Bale, The American starring George Clooney, Eagle of the Ninth starring Channing Tatum, Greenberg starring Ben Stiller, and Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere starring Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning, and much more.

MANOLETE, directed by Menno Meyjes (Martian Child)

This extraordinary film tells the true story of Spain’s most famous bullfighter, Manuel ‘Manolete’ Rodriguez, whose original style and tragic death in the bullring at 30 years old turned him into a legend.

The Film centres around the bullfighter and his obsessive love for Lupe Sino - an actress and social beauty who becomes the love of Manolete’s life, despite fierce opposition and jealousy from those closest to him.  In Manolete’s world, it is considered bad luck to befriend a woman, let alone fall in love with one.

Lupe and Manolete couldn’t be more different from each other.  She is in love with life and he is in love with death.  Their love for each other is passionate, explosive, dangerous and ultimately tragic.  On the last day of Manolete’s life, after a bitter argument with Lupe, he enters the bullring for the last time filled with sadness and rage.  He has lost the will to fight.

Having shown Manolete how to live, Lupe ultimately also shows him how to die.

MONA LISA, directed by Larry Clark (Wassup Rockers)

GEORGE is a lowly misfit, rejected by his wife, struggling to inspire his adolescent daughter SHELLY and now, finding it difficult to make his way legitimately in the real world, works for the criminal MORTLOCK, for whom he kept quiet in prison.  Taking on odd jobs, but naïve to the nature of contemporary crime, George fails to recognise that Mortlock is the boss of an underground operation.

Although initially unsure, George meets and is won over by a sophisticated hooker called SIMONE, whom he chauffeurs from client to client.  At first she mocks his lack of manners and outdated appearance, then gradually warms to George and draws him into her confidence and though the thought of her pleasuring obese businessmen disgusts him, George gains sympathetic insight into Simone’s situation.

On their frequent drive-bys, Simone obsessively scans the street prostitutes, searching for someone.  Confiding in George, Simone reveals her quest to find MAY, a young hooker she befriended, but failed to save two years ago.  May still works for ANDERSON, a nasty pimp from Simone’s teenage years.  George is eager to help.  Charged by his mission, George pursues May through the Bronx underworld, a truly brutal place.  Attempting to save May from an awful fate puts him in the firing line, not only of Anderson, but his associate Mortlock.  Any respect George had for Mortlock evaporates; he is the linchpin behind this sickening operation.

After a violent confrontation with Anderson, George saves the traumatized May, reuniting her with Simone, but is dealt an emotional blow when Simone reveals her true feelings.  His passionate actions will never be reciprocated; Simone and May are lovers.  George’s pleas fail to move Simone.

Niagara Falls sets the final scene:  Simone’s game of deception brings about the wrather of Mortlock and Anderson.  Caught between Mortlock’s vengeance and Simone’s betrayal, George is spared a dilemma as Simone turns his gun on Mortlock and Anderson, killing them both, before finally turning the empty chamber upon George.  Broken, George heads home, leaving Simone with May and the carnage.

SMALL TOWN SATURDAY NIGHT, directed by Ryan Craig (MTV’s Taildaters)

Days before leaving for Nashville, Rhett Ryan (Chris Pine) discovers that the desire to follow his dream of becoming a singer-songwriter will get in the way of being with the woman he loves.  While Samantha does loves him, she starts to realize what’s best for her daughter and their future may not be what’s best for him.

PEARBLOSSOM, directed by Ron Carlson (Midgets vs. Mascots)

It’s New Year’s Eve, 1968: While driving on the Pearblossom Highway, two women (played by Sophie Monk of “The Hills Run Red” and “Date Movie”; and Anya Lahiri of the “Goal” series) find themselves face to face with the creator of the universe (played by Victoria’s Secret supermodel Angela Lindwall).  Laid to rest for 40 years, the women wake up on New Year’s Day as reborn creatures.  Now, they walk the earth fighting in the eternal battle of good and evil, not always certain which side they are on.  Also starring new horror/genre icons Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie’s “Halloween”), Patrick Renna (”Dark Ride”), and Charles Napier (”The Silence Of The Lambs”).

THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (Alien vs. Predator)

The Long Good Friday takes place over 72 hours.  A Good Friday weekend which should see the crowning achievement of career criminal Alex’s life, instead becomes his violent, terrifying downfall.

Alex is planning Miami’s first legal casino with the help of a corrupt congressman and bribed city councilor.  Already under construction on an artificial spit of land just off the mainland, it is to be the Las Vegas of the East Coast.  In order to finance this massive venture, Alex has struck a deal with the same Chinese Triads who transformed Macau into the gambling centre of the World.  This weekend the Chinese are visiting Miami to finalise their arrangement.

But the arrival of the Chinese coincides with a sudden explosion of gangland violence.  Alex’s nightclubs and restaurants are bombed.  His best friend is knifed to death in a pool at the chic Delano Hotel.  Even his Rolls Royce is car-bombed - right outside the Russian Orthodox Church where his mother is taking mass.

As Alex tries to deal with an increasingly vicious but unknown adversary, his wife Rebecca does the best to hide the truth from Mr. Wan - representative of the powerful 15K triad.  Soon, however, Alex and Rebecca realize they are fighting not just to protect a business deal - they are fighting for their lives.

For 10 years there has been peace in Miami, but now at the worst possible time, there is a violent, bloody, upheaval.  Someone is trying to take Alex down.  But who?

This mystery lies at the heart of The Long Good Friday.

With his gangland adversaries long since dead, Alex finds himself confronted with a brand new foe.  An enemy that fights not for money, but something more powerful - a belief.

Watching the trailer for Leap Year, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Who put Amy Adams in this Kate Hudson movie?”  Adams is far too talented for a role which requires her to be a neurotic straight woman desperate for marriage and then do adorable pratfalls along the way.  I don’t need to see this kind of movie again and I certainly don’t want to see Adams do a role she could do in her sleep.

Check out the trailer after the jump and try to imagine Kate Hudson doing this role.  It’s depressing.  You can also see the poster and read the brief synopsis.  They are slightly less depressing the trailer.

A woman (Amy Adams) heads to Ireland in order to force her boyfriend (Adam Scott) to accept her wedding proposal by scheduling it on leap day, the only time when he couldn’t refuse due to the country’s tradition in this Spyglass Entertainment romantic comedy. Shopgirl’s Anand Tucker directs from a script by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan. Matthew Goode co-stars as a handsome innkeeper who throws a wrench into the woman’s plans.

Kick-Ass and Alice in Wonderland both have new posters online today.  The one for Kick-Ass continues the theme of how Lionsgate is selling the film: This isn’t a superhero parody but just because it’s set in the real world, doesn’t mean it can’t have a comic book flavor.  It works for me, but I’m aching to get a red-band trailer so I can get a sense of whatever folks saw at Comic-Con that caused them to go insane.

The new poster for Alice in Wonderland is the second part of the triptych after the release of the first piece of on Monday.  I misunderstood the concept and thought Monday’s poster was stand alone because it looked awful.  Knowing that it was part of a set of three wasn’t any better but it at least explained why Alice (Mia Wasikowska) or The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) weren’t present in the design.  But now Part 2 has arrived.  It looks great and it would even if it weren’t part of a triptych.  Alice is centered in the frame, the trees are closing in on her, and you have The Mad Hatter deep in the background where he can’t steal the spotlight.  That’s my big fear: with a name as big as Johnny Depp, they’re going to make this The Mad Hatter in Wonderland.  Of course, we have yet to see part three and we won’t until the new poster has 9,000 likes on Facebook.  Hit the jump to see both of the new posters.

Not to be confused with Extreme Measure, Extraordinary Measures is the heartwarming tale of a father who risked it all to save his kids as opposed to Extreme Measures where Gene Hackman kills homeless people to cure paralysis.  Fraser plays a father whose kids are sick so he spends whatever he has to so a brilliant/eccentric scientist played by Harrison Ford can develop a cure before the kids die.  No harmless are harmed in the making of this cure.

The trailer and two posters for the film have arrived online and they’re both slightly confusing.  In the trailer, folks keep treating Fraser like he’s crazy to spend so much money and push this scientist to develop a cure for the rare illness.  Obviously, the far more sensible thing to do is let his kids perish.  It will hurt for the rest of his life but think of the savings!  As for the posters, one shows Fraser and Ford as a Venn Diagram while the other shows the two modeling the suits they just bought at the Men’s Wearhouse (and they like the way the look). Hit the jump to check out the trailer and the posters.  Extraordinary Measures hits theaters on January 22, 2010.

Earlier today, I was at the American Film Market in Santa Monica. If you’re not familiar with AFM, it’s the place where film buyers from around the world come once a year to buy movies and also pre-buy films in development. Simply put, this is where a lot of money changes hands in the film industry and it’s where many decisions about what you and I get to see are made. In an effort to try and raise a film’s profile or attract film buyers, many of the studios print up promo art for movies in development or nearing completion. Almost none of the artwork will ever see the light of day outside of AFM, but if you’re a film junkie like me, then getting to see all this stuff is Christmas. After the jump you can take a look at the first grouping of random promo posters and artwork from today. You can also see the first images from Rogues Gallery and The Experiment.

Now for the other bit of news: When I was walking around, I got to see even more awesome stuff. The first was the AFM only red band trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine! To say it looked painfully hilarious would be a huge understatement. The other thing I saw was a promo poster for Robert Rodriguez’s Machete featuring Lindsay Lohan in a nun’s outfit while being very friendly to a firearm. Read more on the trailer, poster, and a whole lot else after the jump:

The first thing to know is I could not take a picture of the promo poster for Machete because the Jessica Alba poster that got leaked last week caused a shitstorm of problems. The thing about promo posters is they’re put together so quickly that usually no one has approved anything and it’s not meant to be seen by anyone but film buyers. So when I was starring at the Lindsay Lohan Machete poster, they were almost ready to tackle me just for thinking about taking a picture.

So while I have no picture, allow me to paint one in your mind.

The image featured Lohan in a nun’s outfit standing next to a very long gun barrel that was aimed up in the air. The end of the barrel was very close to Lohan’s face and she was sticking her tongue out and licking the end of the barrel. If you don’t get what they’re inferring, then ask your parents. But the poster looked very cool and you know what? It worked, which is impressive when you consider Lindsey Lohan’s current star power. Really wish I could have snapped a photo of it.

The other slice of fried gold was the red band trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine. If you haven’t heard of the film, it stars John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke. It centers on a group of high school pals who reunite at an old ski lodge party spot they went to when they were teenagers. After a night of binge drinking, they wake up in the same spot but it’s the year 1986. It ends up the hot tub has magical time travel powers.

While you might think this premise sounds crazy, after watching the first footage from the film I’m almost ready to say this might be The Hangover of 2010. The trailer had me laughing out loud from beginning to end and it absolutely played like a 80’s movie except it knows it’s an 80’s movie. I also thought it was great that John Cusack is returning to his roots.

While I won’t spoil the jokes, I have to tell you one: When they wake up they wonder why everyone is dressed like it’s the 1980’s. They can’t figure out what’s going on and slowly they begin to realize something is up. Somehow, Craig Robinson realizes they might be in another time and he runs up to a random woman and asks what color is Michael Jackson. When she says black, he freaks out and starts to run away. Trust me, this movie is going to be huge.

With that, here are a ton of promo posters from AFM. Check back for a ton of other posters, images, and synopses.

I couldn’t get this promo poster for The Job in one shot so I took two pictures and put it together in photoshop

This is another poster I had to edit together using two pictures in photoshop

There’s a new poster for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is part of a series of three, also known as a triptych (know it for your SAT, kids).  The way this will work is that the poster after the jump has to get 7,500 likes on the Facebook page for “The Disloyal Subjects of the Mad Hatter” and then the next poster will be revealed and then I assume it will take even more likes to get the last poster.  I think on its own this poster is terrible and I don’t see how adding two more will somehow take away Helena Bonham Carter’s Sutherland-at-the-end-of-Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers look or that the “3″ at the bottom looks like an “8″ but people that’s just a silly font thing.

Check out the full poster after the jump because you need a reminder that Tim Burton is dark and whimsical.

If you still want to see this poster series finish out, then head over to the Facebook page and give this one a “Like”.

And for those just tuning in, here’s a brief synopsis (because there have to be people in this world who have never heard of “Alice in Wonderland”):

17-year-old Alice returns to Wonderland and encounters the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Red Queen, and the other absurd and amazing characters from Lewis Carroll’s books.

So, the White Rabbit (he’s always late for stuff), the Mad Hatter (played by Johnny Depp), and then there’s a hole that Alice falls down, and she drinks this potion that makes her tiny and you’ll just pick up[ the rest of the story along the way.  However, you may just want to read the book now rather than wait for the movie.

The US Poster for Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus has finally arrived and it’s…not bad.  I guess when you see a movie with Imaginarium in the title, you expect it to be more imaginative, like this poster.  It’s no big deal but it does continue the campaign to make Heath Ledger the focal point of the film.  I don’t want to say it’s getting borderline-crass but it as at the point where I’m expecting the tagline “Heath Ledger’s Last Film Ever!”

Still, it’s better than the first poster for Broken Lizard’s upcoming film The Slammin’ Salmon.  Granted, there’s never been a spectacular poster for a Broken Lizard film.  In fact, they all seem to look like the same folks who design the covers of direct-to-video comedies.  BL’s movies certainly have broad humor but I feel like it’s the little jokes which make them work so well.  I also feel that a poster which highlighted a little joke but one no one would understand without seeing the film movie could be more effective.  I think the average moviegoer would be intrigued if they saw a poster with a naked Kevin Heffernan, his hands in front of his junk, covered in a white powder and then just the quote: “The lice hate the sugar.”  I’m afraid folks are going to see this poster and just write off the film.  That’s unfortunate because I think they have a unique brand of comedy that adds something to mainstream movies.  But hit the jump for both posters and perhaps you’ll like them more than I do.

Click here to see the poster for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus embiggened.

For those just tuning in, here’s a brief synopsis:

Dr. Parnassus has the extraordinary gift of inspiring the imaginations of others. Helped by his traveling theatre troupe, including his sarcastic and cynical sidekick Percy and versatile young player Anton, Parnassus offers audience members the chance to transcend mundane reality by passing through a magical mirror into a fantastic universe of limitless imagination. However, Parnassus’ magic comes at a price. For centuries he’s been gambling with the devil, Mr. Nick who is coming to collect his prize — Parnassus’ precious daughter, Valentina on her upcoming 16th birthday. Oblivious to her rapidly approaching fate, Valentina falls for Tony, a charming outsider with motives of his own. In order to save his daughter and redeem himself, Parnassus makes one final bet with Mr. Nick, which sends Tony and Valentina and the entire theatre troupe on a ride of twists and turns, in and out of London and the Imaginarium’s spectacular landscape.

For those just tuning in, here’s a brief synopsis:

Cleon, a restaurant owner and former heavyweight boxing champion, pits his wait staff against each other in a brutal competition in order to pay-off a debt and save his restaurant.

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.

Click here to see the full-sized image.

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.]

The posters come courtesy of IGN.  That’s why their logo is stamped in the lower right-hand corner of each poster.

For those just tuning in, here’s a brief synopsis:

Dave Lizewski doesn’t have superpowers, isn’t particularly strong or smart, and isn’t extraordinary in any way… aside from his desire to be a hero. Donning a scuba suit, a ski mask, and a pair of clubs, Dave hits the underworld hard in his new persona of Kick-Ass. Though not as hard — at first anyway — as they hit him when he’s severely beaten and hospitalized as a result of his first street fight. No one said being a hero was going to be easy…

I’ve already made my feelings about “Green Zone” abundantly clear and it’s going to be difficult for me to put aside what I think the film should’ve been and trying to appreciate what director Paul Greengrass actually made.  The funny thing is that if I had no idea what the book was about, I would be pretty excited for what look like the 4^th Jason Bourne movie since “Supremacy” and “Ultimatum”, which Greengrass directed, are both fantastic films.

Still, when I look at the film’s first poster, it’s hard for me to choke down a tagline like “Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller Is Done Following Orders”.  Thankfully, the film doesn’t come out until March 12^th, 2010 so I still have some time to adjust.  Check out the poster and a brief synopsis after the jump.

Click here to see the poster embiggened.

On March 12, 2010, Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93) re-team for the electrifying thriller Green Zone.  In the film, Damon stars as Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, a rogue U.S. Army officer who must hunt through covert and faulty intelligence hidden on foreign soil before war escalates in an unstable region.

After deciding that “Yo, Give Us an Oscar” was a bad way to kick-start an awards marketing campaign for a film, studios went with what are known as “For Your Consideration” ads which usually appear in the print versions of “Variety” and “The Hollywood Reporter”.  I always find it interesting to see which films think they’re good enough for an Oscar and which ones are completely delusional.  However, the first one out the gate, “A Serious Man” is already a strong contender.  And while this ad may not have the words “For Your Consideration” stamped across the top, we’ll be seeing those ads soon enough.  Seriously.

Hit the jump to check out the ad and we’ll be bringing you more of the standouts as award season heats up.

AwardsDaily has the market cornered on collecting these and we’ll be sure to always credit them as we pick through the ads we think are best.

To celebrate the release of Pixar’s “Up” on DVD and Blu-ray on November 10^th, eight gorgeous retro-style posters for the film have been released.  Your wall space and my wall space crave them.  I’m assuming these posters were also done by Eric Tan (who did these retro-style posters for “Wall-E” as well as other movies which you can see on his site), since I know he did the one featuring Muntz’ evil pups.

While the one I want the most is not included in this set, I still want all eight of these.  Sadly, I have no idea where you and I can buy them.  You can check out the full set after the jump. [UPDATE! You can buy the posters here.  Also--they're signed.  I'm going to dig through my couch cushions to see if there's the $145 I need to get the Dug poster.] [2nd UPDATE! It's been brought to my attention that Eric Tan did "Journey into the Wild", Craig Foster Did "SAA: South American Air", Erik Evans did "Paradise Falls", and the other five are by Paul Conrad.  Only Eric Tan's posters (including ones not in this set) are available at Acme Archives Direct]

Just as a heads-up, if you’re not caught up with “Lost” through the end of Season 5, you may want to stop reading.

“Lost” is not in the habit of giving its followers a straight audience.  To paraphrase a good friend of mine, “It’s a little odd you have to use Wikipedia to understand the show.”  Most “Lost” viewers were unable to decipher the heiroglyphics on the poster for “Lost’s” final season, but now their has been revealed and they offer a very cool interpretation.  It’s even cooler when you notice a small detail at the top of the poster.  Hit the jump to move one step closer to the answers we’ve all been waiting for.

Popular Mechanics spoke with Dr. James Allen, Dr. James Allen, Wilbour Professor of Egyptology and Chair of Egyptology and Ancient Western Asian Studies at Brown University.  He’s the one who noted that the mysterious four-toed statue revealed at the end of the fifth season was not Anubis as many assumed which is probably why he’s the Wilbour Professor of Egyptology and Chair of Egyptology and Ancient Western Asian Studies at Brown University and we’re not.  He noticed that the statue is actually of Taweret, “the half-hippo, half-croc Egyptian goddess who protected mothers and infants.”

When asked about the hieroglyphics on the poster, he said they translated in to “Who is the guide?” or “Who is the leader?”  Well that’s vague but interesting.

But here’s where it gets REALLY interesting.  As someone pointed out to me, check out the poster below and look at the people at the top of the poster.  It looks like it’s every cast member who has ever been on the show.  Now look at the middle of the poster, right above the “F”.  There’s only one person in this line-up who has his back turned.  It’s Locke.

I’m not saying he’s the guide/leader but I’m already excited at what these two pieces of the puzzle could mean for “Lost’s” final season.

I hadn’t even heard of “Cracks” before today and after watching the trailer and reading the synopsis, I’m wondering when I’ll get the chance to see it.  Directed by Jordan Scott (the spawn of Ridley Scott who also produced the film alongside his brother Tony), “Cracks” looks like it has a nice “Picnic at Hanging Rock” vibe to it although the plot seems like a dark, twisted version of “Dead Poets Society”. The film also stars Eva Green being all sexy and mysterious.  I like all of these things.  The trailer leaves the details of the plot a bit fuzzy so I’ve also included a brief synopsis as well as the poster which also went online today.  Check out this “Hanging Rock”-”Dead Poets”-Sexy/Mysterious Eva Green-hybrid after the jump.

Click here to see a larger version of the poster.

For those just tuning in (like myself), here’s a brief synopsis:

Within the confines of a strict, all-girls English boarding school (circa 1930s), a clique students participate on the swim team not only to pass the time, but to be close to their swimming instructor, the enigmatic, yet charismatic, Miss G (Eva Green). While Miss G originally encourages their idolization and crack (crush) on her, the teachers attention is quickly focused on the arrival of an exotic and beautiful Spanish foreign pupil, Fiamma (María Valverde). As the new girl rebuffs her classmates, and further rejects Miss Gs interest, her teammates begin to grow jealous of Miss Gs fascination with Fiamma, and resent the latters distain of their instructor, accumulating in the inexplicable disappearance of Fiamma.

The first poster for director Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” has been released and it’s after the jump. The movie used to be called “The Human Factor”, so if the name sounds new…that’s because it is. The film stars Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman and it’s based on a true story from 1995. That year saw Nelson Mandela join forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team, Francois Pienaar, to help unite their country. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa’s underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match. While we’ve all seen a lot of sports movies…with this cast and Eastwood behind the wheel, I wouldn’t bet against it. “Invictus” gets a limited release on December 11^th.

The poster courtesy of Yahoo Movies.

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Director David Fincher is getting into the television game and making his debut with an adaptation of the BBC political-thriller miniseries, “House of Cards”.  Based on Michael Dobbs’ book of the same name, “Cards” will be re-adapted for U.S. audiences as a weekly one-hour drama. Fincher with executive producer along side his “Curious Case of Benjamin Button” screenwriter Eric Roth.  Hit the jump for more details on how Fincher and Roth plan to transform the series because U.S. audiences don’t know what a Prime Minister does.

Set at the end of Margaret Thatcher’s tenture as the British Prime Minister, the original version focused on a former Conservative Party chief of staff who follows a hungry politician who wants to be the new PM.  Actor Ian Richardson won a BAFTA for his performance and writer Andrew Davies won an Emmy.

According to THR, Fincher’s version moves the story to the U.S. but retains the focus on the issues of political ambition and blackmail.  So I guess where as a series like “The West Wing” showed what politics could be at its best, “House of Cards” shows politics at its worst (e.g. what it actually is).  It is a bit strange that during the Bush years of our government at its weakest and most deceptive we got “West Wing” and now we’re getting “House of Cards” with Hopey McChange in office.  Oddly enough, “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin wrote David Fincher’s upcoming film, “The Social Network”.

The project is expected to be shopped to networks soon and I would be surprised if Fincher didn’t direct the pilot himself as that seems to be a common pattern when a film director decides to produce a television show.