I didn’t really understand what Season of the Witch was about beyond being a test case for the credulity of a Nicolas Cage hairpiece.  Now that the first full trailer for the film has appeared online, it looks like 3:10 to Yuma but instead of a posse being besieged by bandits while trying to take an outlaw to a train station, this movie is about a band of warriors besieged by the forces of hell while trying to take a witch to an abbey.  But if you ignore the Rob Zombie music, the dull color palette, and failed attempts at creepy imagery, you still have Ron Perlman kicking ass and getting billed alongside Nicolas Cage and that’s why you should check out this trailer after the jump.

Season of the Witch hits theaters on March 19, 2010.

When I first heard director Werner Herzog and Nicolas Cage were going to make a remake/re-imagining /reboot of Abel Ferrara’s insane 1992 film Bad Lieutenant, I’ll admit I wasn’t excited.  For some reason I thought they’d fuck it up or the movie would be another Nicolas Cage performance where he was just going through the motions

I couldn’t have been more wrong.   The fact is, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is a great movie featuring one of Nicolas Cage’s best performances.  He’s absolutely fearless; it’s like he stepped back in time to when he was an up-and-coming actor with nothing to lose.  If you want to see a great performance, you need not go any further Nicolas Cage’s latest role.

So when I sat down to talk with director Werner Herzog, we discussed how he got involved, working with Cage, how he shot a lot of the movie using just a few takes, what he has coming up, and with this being Werner Herzog, he said some quotes that must be heard.  It’s a great interview with a filmmaker I truly admire.  Watch it after the jump:

Remember when you thought Nicolas Cage was one of the best actors in the business.  When he made films like Leaving Las Vegas, Raising Arizona, Vampire’s Kiss, and Face/Off (and I don’t want to hear he wasn’t great in Face/Off, cause he was).  Well, I’m happy to report the amazing Nicolas Cage is back and he can be seen in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which opens in limited release this weekend.  While I was one of the people that wondered if Cage and Werner Herzog could do justice to the Bad Lieutenant name, I really shouldn’t have been worried, as Bad Lieutenant is an awesome movie and something that you should go see in a crowded theater this weekend.  Also, Cage hasn’t been this good in years.

So to help promote the film, I recently attended a press conference with Cage.  He talked about his character, making the film, and a lot more.  You can either read what he had to say or listen to the audio after the jump:

A movie that people are raving about is director Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass.  I spoke to a few people that saw a test screening last week at the Arclight in Hollywood and they weren’t just raving about the movie…they were practically losing their minds over the film.  If their reaction is any indication of how good the movie is, Lionsgate is going to be very happy they bought the film for domestic distribution.

Anyway, the first trailer has been released and it’s decent.  The thing about Kick-Ass is it’s very violent and very R rated.  It’s just hard to sell how cool this film is when you have to work in a PG  environment.  Saying that, I’d imagine as the release gets closer, we’re going to get a red band trailer or something that lets people know this is not a kids superhero movie.  Either way, the trailer is worth checking out.  Take a look after the jump:

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.]

“Mad Men” is paying big dividends for the lovely and talented January Jones.  On Sunday she came signed on to “Unknown White Male” and will co-star with Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger.  Two days later, Variety reports she has another major role as she joins Nicolas “Not the Bees” Cage for the upcoming thriller, “Hungry Rabbit Jumps”.  Directed by Roger Donaldson (”The Bank Job”), the movie “centers on a man (Cage) who becomes entangled with an underground vigilante organization after his wife (Jones) is the victim of a brutal crime.”  It will be Jones’ job to keep Cage from masticating every piece of scenery he can find.  Shooting is set to begin this January while shooting for “Unknown White Male” is scheduled to begin shooting at the end of January.  “Mad Men” will return for a fourth season but no word yet on when it will start shooting or when it will premiere.

Hit the jump to enjoy pictures of January Jones being sexy.

Nicolas Cage has had a long and layered career of trying to hide the fact that he’s really bald.  Unfortunately, his quest for a convincing hairpiece is like a trial by fire for any wig-master.  But no mortal could pass the test of giving Cage the medieval locks he’s sporting for his upcoming horror flick, “Season of the Witch”.  Someone gave to Locks of Hate and that’s what he’s wearing on his head.  Then they had some left over and put a hat on it for another upcoming Cage movie, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”.

You can judge the fake hair by watching the teaser trailer after the jump but the verdict is guilty and the sentence is death.  I don’t really have much to say about the teaser since it’s less than 30 seconds long and says “Halloween Is for Amateurs” and “See You Next Spring”, because when I think of horror, I think of the time when flowers are coming into bloom.

One of my most anticipated films for the rest of the year is “Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans”.  It’s Werner Herzog directing Nicolas Cage and it looks just as insane as I was hoping it would.  You might have seen the unofficial trailer which popped up a couple of months ago, but we now the official theatrical trailer has been released.  While this trailer doesn’t make the film look as weird and as insane as the unofficial one, I think this one does a better job of selling the film.  You can watch the trailer after the jump.

With this being a slow news day, I was waiting for almost any story to enter my inbox. But thanks to a reader named Max, who pointed me to the Nu Image website, I’m sharing some early promo artwork for Nicolas Cage’s “Drive Angry”, David Schwimmer’s “Trust”, and Marcus Nispel’s “Conan”. But before you think these posters are final, or this means the projects are definitely happening, let me say this is most likely artwork being used as a placeholder on their website. Also, on David Schwimmer’s IMDB page, there is no mention of “Trust”, and when I spoke to Clive Owen at TIFF, he said nothing about it. So who knows if that project is moving forward. Add to that, while “Conan” has been talked about forever as Marcus Nispel’s next project, news has been quiet, and this poster says 2009. So saying all that, I still think the posters are worth looking at. Hit the jump for synopsis’ and the posters.

Opening on October 23^rd is Imagi Studios “Astro Boy”. The film is based on the legendary manga character created by Osamu Tezuka and in the film, Astro Boy is a young robot with incredible powers created by a scientist named Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage). Powered by positive “blue” energy, Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) is endowed with super strength, x-ray vision, unbelievable speed and the ability to fly. Embarking on a journey in search of acceptance, Astro Boy encounters many other colorful characters along the way. Through his adventures, he learns the joys and emotions of being human, and gains the strength to embrace his destiny. Ultimately learning his friends and family are in danger, Astro Boy marshals his awesome super powers and returns to Metro City in a valiant effort to save everything he cares about and to understand what it means to be a hero. To help promote the film, we’ve been provided with 11 clips and you can watch them after the jump:

While many, myself included, were let down with director Mark Steven Johnson’s “Ghost Rider” movie, the film made almost $240 million at the worldwide box office, almost doubling its production budget. So it’s no surprise Sony would want to make a sequel. Also, the superhero genre shows no signs of slowing down, and since Sony owns the rights to “Ghost Rider” as long as they keep making movies, it’s in their best interest to keep the franchise alive. And that’s what they’re going to do, as the studio is in early talks to have David Goyer create the story for the sequel and supervise whoever is going to actually write the script. More after the jump:

I’ll have my commentary after the jump.  You want to see the full photo now.  It’s hilarious.

Summit Entertainment & Imagi Studios have released a new three and a half minute clip from “Astro Boy” called ‘Escape from Metro City’ and six new images from the film. The clip is from the beginning of the movie, right after Astro Boy learns he’s a robot and not a real boy. Watch the clip and see the images after the jump:

One of the more interesting things that happened this past week in movie news was the news that Nicolas Cage had dropped out of playing the villain in “The Green Hornet” even though filming had already begun. http://www.collider.com/2009/09/08/nicolas-cage-flies-away-from-the-green-hornet/ The actor was then replaced a couple of days later by “Inglourious Basterds’”‘ Christoph Waltz http://www.collider.com/2009/09/14/inglourious-basterds-christoph-waltz-is-playing-the-villain-in-the-green-hornet/ and the internet was happy.  It was being rumored that Cage had dropped out because of money issues but the actor has now cleared up everything.  To find out why Cage dropped out just click on the jump.

Talk about trading up.  Last week we reported that Nicolas Cage had dropped out of “The Green Hornet” and it wasn’t the worst news in the world but it did open the door to who would replace him.  Well those who dared to dream big and outside the box just got their wish.  Christoph Waltz, who plays the terrifying and unforgettable Hans Landa in Quentin Taranatino’s “Inglourious Basterds”, and if there’s any justice will be the owner of a Best Supporting Actor Oscar by the time “Green Hornet” hits theaters next December.  Cut the tension and hit the jump.

Jerry Bruckheimer and Nicolas Cage made a special appearance today at D23 and showed off trailers for two of next years big summer films, “Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time”, and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. I’ve been curious about “Prince of Persia” for a while now since I’ve played and loved the game.  I’ve been hoping that it would finally be the “one”.  By this I mean that it would finally by the first video game movie that actually turned out to be good.

Meanwhile, I’ve just been curious about “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” because it’s based off of the iconic Fantasia segment and features Nicolas Cage as the sorcerer and Jay Baruchel as his apprentice.  It’s been a big “why?” to me since it was first announced, but I’m definitely interested in seeing how it turns out. You can now get a full trailer breakdown for both films when you click on the jump.