I will say this for Nine’s new trailer: it’s gutsy as hell.  This flick is one of the hardest sells of the year because unlike director Rob Marshall’s previous film musical, Chicago, Nine is not an easy to digest fame-at-any-cost story.  The source material is Frederico Fellini’s 8 ½, the story of a famous film director (Daniel Day Lewis) who comes to a crisis both in his creative life and in his personal life as he tries to cope with his numerous female relationships.  But like the previous trailer, this new one tells you none of that and just gives you a spectacular musical number featuring Kate Hudson and montage of all the main characters in the movie.

Whether you loved or hated Chicago (I fall into the former category), there’s no denying Marshall’s talent for capturing complex musical numbers as he manages to make them both stagy and cinematic.  The film has a hell of an Oscar-pedigree because in addition to Marshall and Day Lewis the cast includes six more Oscar-winners: Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, and Sofia Loren.  Nine may have a good shot at this year’s Academy Award but you can see the new trailer after the jump and decide if that’s enough to draw in audiences when it opens on December 18^th (the same release date as Avatar).

A new featurette, which is really more of a behind-the-scenes montage, has been released for Rob Marshall’s movie musical “Nine,” based on Frederico Fellini’s “8 1/2.”  The musical follows famed fictional director Guido Contini (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) and the various people–wife, mistress, agent, etc–in his life.  Between this featurette and the film’s trailer, I’d say “Nine” is looking sharp. My favorite movie musical of all time is Marshall’s “Chicago,” which really got it right, so I’m jazzed, if you will, to see him returning to the genre…and we can just overlook “Memoirs of a Geisha.” In addition to Day-Lewis, the cast includes Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, and the incomparable Judi Dench, so there’s something in there for everyone. Watch the featurette after the jump.

I know you’re excited about Christopher Nolan’s upcoming movie, “Inception” because you saw the trailer, and now you’re hooked.  Also, that “Dark Knight” movie probably didn’t hurt.  But “Inception” is a project with its plot so under wraps that it feels weird to see set photos.  It’s far weirder to see the actual filming as some LA citizens did today and taped.  As far as I can tell from these brief clips of hand-held footage, “Inception” does not have positive commentary on commuting by car in Los Angeles as we see men shooting at cars and cars chasing each other.  Oh, and a train rolls through a city street.  And I’m talking about a tram or a monorail car.  It’s a real, cargo-hauling train.  You should just hit the jump now.  Trust me.

The teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s next film, “Inception”, is now online.  There were reports that the trailer would be attached to some prints of “Inglorious Basterds” but from what I’ve heard most people were not treated to one of these selected prints over the weekend.  That doesn’t matter now though since you can now watch the full teaser trailer after the jump.

For a film directed by one of the most talented young directors in Hollywood, with one of the highest grossing pictures of all time under his belt, and sporting an incredibly talented cast, not very much is known about Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”. What we do know is that it’s a “scifi action film set within the architecture of the mind,” and that it’s cast includes the considerable skills of Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, and Michael Caine, just to name a few. You may also recall the recent set photos that found their way online. Now we can add a list of character names for a few of the actors to the short list of info. Hit the jump to learn more.

Currently playing in theaters 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 Marion Cotillard. While Marion doesn’t have a huge part, she absolutely holds her own against Johnny Depp, as she plays his love interest Billie Frechette. After the jump is what she had to say about the movie and a lot more. Take a look:

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:

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:

Holy Crap Batman!  How happy did director Christopher Nolan make Warner Brothers in 2008?  So happy that they are apparently throwing shit loads of money at him to make that little “in-between Batmans” movie of his: “Inception”.  According to the Calgary Sun (think of it as a knock-off of The Sun - Britain’s tabloid of choice) quotes a source as saying that the film is budgeted at $200 million.  I’m not sure if that is in real money or the Canada-kind, but either way - that is holy crap money.

“It’s not just some CBC mini-series… It’s pretty substantial. These guys are going to spend more money before lunchtime than most (networks) will spend on a series. It’s as big a movie as has ever been shot here,” explains the ubiquitous tabloid ’source’ on the benefits of a Calgary-based “Inception” shoot.

So, OK - the source for this story has “Sun” in its title so we have to take the info with a grain of salt.  But just to put the number $200 million in perspective for you - “The Dark Knight”, with all of its cash-intensive action sequences, only cost $185 million.  Aside from the fact that its cast - featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Michael Caine and Marion Cotillard - is pretty impressive, we still don’t know much about “Inception”.  Until today it was just a “contemporary actioner set in the architecture of the mind”.  But if that price tag is correct I think we can assume that the architecture of that mind is going to look awesome in IMAX.

While I think Rob Marshall’s “Chicago” is a criminally over-hated film (I genuinely like it and have no problem with it being 2002’s Best Picture winner), it’s a ridiculously easy film to sell compared to what The Weinstein Company has to pull off with the adaptation of “Nine” which in turn is based of Frederico Fellini’s “8 1/2″ which is an autobiographical tale of a film director struggling with his new project and looking back on his life through the lens of the women who have impacted his story.  Also, please do not confuse this film with “District 9″ which is about aliens imprisoned in South Africa or “9″ which is about a group of rag dolls adventuring through a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

The trailer looks good and the Weinstein’s are definitely priming it for some Oscar contention but they will definitely have a fight on their hands because even if turns out as critically acclaimed, you still have to get audiences to turn out for it.  I wonder if a cast comprised of Daniel Day Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Sophia Loren, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson, and Martina Stella is enough.

Check out the trailer after the jump.  “Nine” hits theatres on November 25th.

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.