You know it’s the end of the year when there are more new releases per week than any one person could reasonably care about. Or maybe I should just speak for myself.  The first full weekend of November featured four new wide releases all boasting some major star power: “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” with Jim Carrey (times four), “The Box” with Cameron Diaz, “The Fourth Kind” with Milla Jovovich and “The Men Who Stare at Goats” with George Clooney.  And though no one film can be said to be a total washout this weekend, the A-listers fell short compared to the stunningly successful debut of Lee Daniels’ “Precious”. The indie sensation opened in just 18 theatres, taking in an estimated $100,000 per screen to make it the most-lucrative limited release of all-time.

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.)

With director Robert Zemeckis’ (”Beowulf”, “The Polar Express”) animated version of “A Christmas Carol” opening on November 6th, Walt Disney has provided us with six clips from the film.  While I normally love to check out the clips that we’re provided, the movie is being released in “Disney 3D” and that’s the way I want to see the footage for the first time.  However, since I know a lot of you want to check out the footage right now, the clips are after the jump.  Again, if you’re planning on seeing “A Christmas Carol” in a theater, make sure you see it in 3D!

I like Sean Penn, I really do.  He’s an intense and indisputably fantastic actor (we’ll forget the misfires like “I Am Sam” and “All the King’s Men”).  And while it was a bit of a bummer to see him drop out of playing Larry in The Farrelly Brothers’ adaptation of “The Three Stooges”, I think they’ve gone up a step in their replacement casting of Paul Giamatti.  Hit the jump to learn more and find out about the continuing saga of finding a new Curly.

The first trailer for Robert Zemeckis’s “A Christmas Carol” has leaked its way onto YouTube and until Disney pulls it, you can watch the trailer after the jump. The only thing to know before watching is, the trailer is in Italian and it was recorded with a video camera inside a movie theater. So…it’s not really the best way to watch the footage for the first time. Saying that, you can still get a good look at what Zemeckis is going for and if you enjoyed “Beowulf” and “The Polar Express”, it looks like he’s doing more of the same. I’d imagine with this trailer leaking, we’ll get the official one any day now. Until then, take a look after the jump:

One of the best films I saw at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was “I Love You Phillip Morris”. As I said after I saw it, not only is the film laugh out loud funny, but by the end, you might even have tears in your eyes. Trust me, while the film takes tons of random turns, each road traveled eventually gets you back to the heart of the film…. Steven Russell’s (Jim Carrey) love of Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor).

Anyhow, while America has to wait till February 12, 2010 to see this brilliant film, with only two months till the movie plays in France, EuropaCorp Distribution has released the first official trailer and it’s after the jump. It’ll give you a great feel for the movie. Take a look:

I can’t wait for “I Love You Phillip Morris” and I’m so happy the film finally nabbed distribution and is due out next year.  It got a highly positive reaction at Sundance and America needs to have its feelings towards homosexual relationships questioned for as long as homosexuals lack equal rights in this country.  Of course, none of that is conveyed by this painfully bland poster [via IMPAwards] so my deepest hope is that if folks see this art, they’ll be tricked into thinking “Oh!  Another wacky comedy with that delightful Jim Carrey fellow.  I shall pay to see that.”  And then they’re treated to scenes of Carrey butt-fucking a guy.  That’s what I want.

If this poster has one tiny bit of creativity, it’s in the production credits at the bottom.  You’ll notice that after the title, there are the words “This really happened.  It really did.”  That’s kind of neat.  Hopefully this poster signals that we’ll be getting a trailer some time in the near future.

Hit the jump to check out the full poster and synopsis.  “I Love You Phillip Morris” hits theatres on February 12, 2010.

I am probably going to end up liking this new poster for “A Christmas Carol” more than I like the movie.  What a great image of a weird candle-person’s flame providing a flicker of a character’s face.  That appears to have more depth and resonance than a needless, 3D motion-capture movie with Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge in the five-billionth adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.  I guarantee you that other than his visual wizardry, Zemeckis has nothing new to offer this story and while it will be visually impressive, it will ultimately leave you wondering “What’s the point?”

Hit the jump to check out the new poster from dvd-forum.at.  “A Christmas Carol” hits theatres on November 6th.

Since Walt Disney premiered some footage from “A Christmas Carol” at Cannes yesterday, the company has finally started to release some promotional stuff and the first image and footage is below. If you’ve been curious what Jim Carrey would look like as Ebenezer Scrooge, you’re about to get your first look.

While some have not been impressed with Robert Zemeckis’ motion capture movies, I think they’re very cool to see in IMAX, but they’re not the same when you take the experience home.

Will “A Christmas Carol” be the first movie that works as a conventional movie as well as something in IMAX 3-D? We’ll know this Christmas.

Anyway, here’s the first image and the footage.

There was a bit of a deluge in the world of movie posters today.  Today we have the official one-sheet [via Yahoo!] for Robert Zemeckis’ unnecessary motion-capture adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” starring Jim Carrey as a man who mugs for the camera and makes silly voices.  The plot description may officially list his name as “Ebenezer Scrooge” but I’m sure if Dickens’ saw the character, he wouldn’t recognize the resemblance to what he wrote (of course, this would be after the shock to the system of absorbing 130 years of history, technology, etc.).

Check out the poster after the jump.

One of the standout films from this year’s Sundance Film Festival was writer/director’s Glenn Ficarra & John Requa “I Love You Phillip Morris”. While the pressure was on for these new director’s as they had Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Rodrigo Santoro and Leslie Mann involved, I can tell you the film absolutely delivered on both ends of the spectrum. Not only is the film laugh out loud funny, but by the end, you might even have tears in your eyes. Trust me, while the film takes tons of random turns, each road traveled eventually gets you back to the heart of the film…. Steven Russell’s (Jim Carrey) love of Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor).

Anyway, after the Festival ended, anyone who saw the movie assumed it would land distribution. It was that good. But I’d heard rumblings that many thought the film was too gay, and that it wouldn’t play for certain audiences.

Thankfully, someone believes in the film, as it has finally landed domestic distribution (Consolidated Pictures Group), and it’s going to be in theaters next Valentine’s Day. Finally, if you’d like to see my exclusive interview with writer/diretor’s Glenn Ficarra and John Requa - click here. They were great to talk with.