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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.]

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.

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.

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]