AFM* fun continues with the first images and full synopses for All Good Things starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst, Pirhana 3D starring Elisabeth Shue and Richard Dreyfuss, Shanghai starring John Cusack and Ken Watanbe, and The Fighter starring Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, and Amy Adams.  These are all films that should be on your radar because there’s a good chance that these films will be getting some major marketing when they hit theaters.

I write and read about films every day and with the exception of The Fighter, these films weren’t really on my radar.  After reading the synopses and seeing some shots from these movies, I’ll definitely be on the lookout for further news about them.  Hit the jump to check out debut photos and what you need to know about these upcoming flicks.

He spent all that time training in the mountains with Liam Neeson and what does Batman have to show for it?  Just a larynx full of gravel, apparently.  CollegeHumor released a video today showing that Batman’s ability to disappear while other people are talking still needs some work.  The sketch also features one of the best one-liners I’ve heard in a while.  I won’t spoil it here but hopefully you’ll laugh as hard as I did when you hear it.  You can check it out after the jump.

Also, the guy playing Batman in the sketch could double for Christian Bale in the movies.  The similarity in their performances is just uncanny.

I’m not sure what’s harder to believe: David O. Russell hasn’t gone ballistic on the set of “The Fighter”, that the movie is being made, or that there’s a photo of Christian Bale smiling.  Plenty of new photos from “The Fighter”, co-starring Mark Wahlberg, have popped up online and they show, well, fighting but also some family moments between Dicky Eklund (Bale) and his half-brother “Irish” Micky Ward (Wahlberg).  Hit the jump to see rare photos of the Smiling Bale and Mark Wahlberg’s post-punched face plus a short behind-the-scenes video.

Who would have thought that “Batman: Arkham Asylum, the latest Batman videogame in series which has fallen notoriously short on its trips to home consoles, would come up as one of the best-reviewed and best-selling games of 2009 when it made its next-gen debut on XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3?  Well, I did.  I watched all the trailers, knew that the story was by Paul Dini, that Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy were coming back as The Joker and Batman, respectively, and that this would be the first adaptation to actually take advantage of Batman’s abilities beyond his fighting skills and the darkness of the character’s attitude which sets him apart from all the other big-name superheroes.

“Batman: Arkham Asylum” is better than every Batman adaptation including “The Dark Knight”.  Hit the jump to find out why before your brain explodes.

The producing duo behind “Terminator Salvation” aren’t in the best financial situation. In August, Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek filed for Chapter 11. Now, a U.S. Bankruptcy judge has freed up some money that will allow the duo’s company, Halcyon Co. to continue developing future “Terminator” movies during its ongoing lawsuit with its lenders. The Los Angeles judge freed up $2.1 million in tax rebates the company is owed. More on this exhausting legal nightmare after the jump.

Opening today is director Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies”. The film is set during the Depression-era’s great crime wave and it’s the story of the government’s attempt to stop legendary criminals John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd. This operation transformed the FBI into the first federal police force. By now you’ve seen the trailers and commercials, so you know the cast is filled with famous faces like Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum and David Wenham.

Anyway, to help promote the film, our partners at Omelete sent me to cover the international press day and I was able to participate in a small press conference with Christian Bale. During the interview, Christian talked about making “Public Enemies”, the research he did to prepare to play Melvin Purvis, what he’s working on now, and people tried to get him to compare all the different director’s he’s worked with to one another. If you’re a fan of this great actor, you’ll love the interview. The transcript and audio is after the jump:

Opening today is director Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies”. The film is set during the Depression-era’s great crime wave and it’s the story of the government’s attempt to stop legendary criminals John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd. This operation transformed the FBI into the first federal police force. By now you’ve seen the trailers and commercials, so you know the cast is filled with famous faces like Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum and David Wenham.

Anyway, to help promote the film, our partners at Omelete sent me to cover the international press day and I was able to participate in a small press conference with Johnny Depp. During the interview, Johnny talked about making “Public Enemies”, all his upcoming films like “Alice in Wonderland” and “Dark Shadows”, and a lot more. Since he doesn’t do a lot of press, if you’re a fan, you’ll love the interview. Read or listen to it after the jump:

Director Michael Mann marches to the beat of his own drummer and I dig him for that.  He’s practically an indie director operating in mainstream Hollywood and gets to play with a lot of money and yet his films tend to lack commercial appeal once you strip away the stars and the premise.  Regardless of what you think of “Ali” or “Miami Vice”, were those films what you expected?  With “Public Enemies”, Mann has pulled yet another switcheroo, pulling in viewers with a tantalizing promise of “Heat” with 1930s gangsters and instead providing a cool and cerebral take on self-reflexive celebrity that may be intellectually rewarding but delivers few thrills.

As David O. Russell’s “The Fighter” moves through pre-production, Variety is reporting that the film may have picked up the lovely and talented Amy Adams to join Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg.  According to Variety, Adams would play a gritty bartender from Massachusetts who ends up dating Wahlberg’s character, “Irish” Mickey Ward.  The story follows Ward’s rise to the world’s lightweight championship with the help of his half-brother, played by Bale.  To read Bale’s comments on the filming and his current physical training for the role, click here.

I’m always happy for any Adams’ casting.  She’s undoubtedly one of the best actresses working today and while I have nothing against Wahlberg or Bale, they’re going to have to hold their own when they share the screen with her.  Adams will next be seen with Meryl Streep in “Julie and Julia”, which, fuck all y’all, I’m looking forward to.

Universal has sent over eight movie clips from director Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” and they’re all after the jump. While I saw the film the other night I’m still under embargo, so I can’t tell you what I think….

But I don’t think I’m breaking anything when I say the HD cinematography is either going to work for you…or it won’t. For me, some of the gun battles looked amazing. But I’m still not sold on HD.

Anyway, if you don’t know the story of “Public Enemies”…Set during the Depression-era’s great crime wave, the story of the government’s attempt to stop legendary criminals John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd. This operation transformed the FBI into the first federal police force from the powerless agency it once was.

The film stars Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum and David Wenham and it’s in theaters July 1^st. Watch the clips after the jump:

This common misconception that actors don’t work hard should be hushed after watching “The Machinist.”  According to most reports, Christian Bale went from about 180 pounds to just fewer than 120 for this role, which was never seen by that many people.  The quality of the film aside, for someone to put that much work into something is downright astounding.  Never mind the fact that he began shooting “Batman Begins” shortly after.  Though the film isn’t fantastic by any means, it has a “Fight Club” feel in the sense that it demands repeated viewings.  Anyone who has seen the film will agree that is definitely a mind trip and a nice change of pace from the usual Hollywood fare released on a regular basis.

While “Terminator Salvation” may want to come down on the side of humanity, it’s as soulless as its robotic antagonists and puts all of energies into its thrilling set pieces and puts as little attention as possible towards its characters.  While director McG has shown himself as a skilled director when it comes to designing his action sequences, he still has a lot to learn about what makes a film compelling and his film remains ambivalent in trying to forge its own direction while still remaining faithful to James Cameron’s first two films in the series.

The film opens in 2003 where death row inmate Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) signs his body away to a dying scientist (Helena Bonham Carter) and her research for Cyberdyne Industries.  Oddly, even without WB’s over-zealous marketing attempts (which gave away just about everything there was to give), the film spoils what would have been a remarkable reveal: that Marcus Wright comes back in 2018 as a Terminator, or, a hybrid but definitely not 100%-human.  It would take time to set up Marcus’ motivations and keep his secret secret (not skipping him like a stone across a river during a set piece would help).  There’s no time for that in “Terminator Salvation”.

Once in 2018 we meet up with John Connor (Christian Bale) who is not the leader of the resistance but definitely one of its higher-ups as he sends out radio messages to the masses from his secret bunker (which oddly can’t be picked up by the machines but they can zero in on rock music in about five seconds) but we’re told (via prologue titles) that some see him as humanity’s salvation while others view him as a false prophet.  We never get to see that division.  We also never get to see if Connor, a man who’s been at war before he was even born, has doubts, frustrations, passions, or anything outside of being a soldier.  He hugs his wife Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard) from time to time.  The film needed to make John Connor into a fully-realized character rather than further typecast Bale as “grim, unsmiling gentleman who occasionally screams at someone so you know he has a pulse.”  But there’s no time for that in “Terminator Salvation”.

If there was any debate about James Cameron’s casting of Sam Worthington as the lead in his upcoming sci-fi epic “Avatar”, “Terminator Salvation” will stop the chatter. That’s because Sam absolutely holds his own against Christian Bale in the film, and I have to say, I left rather impressed with this relative newcomer.

And I’m not alone.

Because after shooting “Avatar” and “Terminator Salvation”, Sam has been working non-stop and he’s currently shooting the remake of “Clash of the Titans” - another big budget action film. So if you enjoy his work this weekend when the film comes out, you’re about to see a lot more of him.

But enough of my intro. Below you’ll find a transcript of my recent roundtable interview with Sam. During our time we talked about not only making “Terminator”, but all the other projects he’s involved with. And while some actors are guarded with their answers, Sam is refreshingly honest, and I loved the way he didn’t pussyfoot around certain things.

As always, you can either read a transcript after the jump or click here to listen to the audio.

“Terminator Salvation” opens this weekend, but you can see some clips now by clicking here.

Opening this Friday is director McG’s “Terminator Salvation”. By now you’ve all seen the commercials and trailers, so I’m going to keep this intro brief. Also, if you’re reading Collider, you know who Christian Bale is, so I don’t think I need to remind too many people what movies he stared in.

Anyway, Warner Bros. recently held a press day for “Terminator Salvation” and I got to participate in a roundtable interview with Christian. During our twenty minutes he talked about making “Terminator Salvation”, “Public Enemies”, and how he’s training for his next possible film.

If you’re a fan of this great actor, you’ll really enjoy hearing what he had to say. As always, you can either read the transcript after the jump, or listen to the audio by clicking here.

Again, “Terminator Salvation” blasts into theaters this weekend. But you can see some clips now by clicking here.

We have some new character banners for Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” [via IMPAwards] just in case you forgot what Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, and Marion Cotillard look like in 1930s attire. They look nice.  Maybe it will be a fashion comeback.

Check out the new posters after the jump.  “Public Enemies” hits theatres on July 1st.

Opening on May 21^st is director McG’s “Terminator Salvation”. If you follow me on Twitter, you know I saw the movie yesterday. Saying that, WB. has all of us under embargo from writing any thoughts on the film, so I apologize for not being able to say X XXXXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXXX XXXX XXX XXX XXXXXX XX XXXXXX.

Anyway, I just did the press junket today so I’ll soon be posting tons of interviews with the cast. Until then, take a look at 10 clips from the movie after the jump!

And for the two people that didn’t know they were making a new “Terminator” movie, I’ve also included the synopsis: