Check out these trailers for three upcoming comedy films. First up is a red band trailer for 21 Jump Street, a film based on the 1980s crime drama that starred a young Johnny Depp. The theatrical adaptation stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as young undercover cops investigating crimes at a high school. It hits theatres March 16, 2012.
Jump after the break to watch the trailers for Wanderlust and Project X. Continue reading Comedy trailer roundup: ’21 Jump Street’, ‘Wanderlust’, ‘Project X’
The show that won’t die just cast a big-name star. Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) is joining the FOX comedy Breaking In as a series regular. She will play the new boss at Contra Security, overseeing the missions played out by the ragtag team of break-in experts Cam, Cash, Josh, and Melanie. Where does season 1 Contra boss Oz (Christian Slater) factor into the shakeup at the top? That plot detail is still under wraps. The addition of Mullally is part of “significant creative changes” for the show heading into season 2, according to Deadline. The source reports that “the “mission of the week” concept where members of the Contra team go out of the office on a different assignment in every episode will be scaled back as Breaking In will segue into a more office-based comedy.” The show came so close to death (twice!), so a change in the way things will play out is expected. Creators Adam F. Goldnberg and Seth Gordon did a fine job introducing the characters during the series’ seven episode debut season; let’s hope the dynamic between all of them doesn’t change too much in round two. The entire cast is expected to return when Breaking In comes back to FOX this spring, even Odette Annable who is now a series regular over at the FOX medical drama House.
[Via Deadline]
If you watched the latest episode of Parks and Rec, then you know that the Pawnee gang survived the (nonexistent) apocalypse in “End of the World.” During the episode, April encouraged her hubby Andy to check things off his bucket list. Among the many absurd activities on the list (including making the “most awesome” grilled cheese sandwich) was visiting the Grand Canyon. Actors Aubrey Plaza and Chris Pratt and some crew members shot the quick scene on location in Arizona. While they were there, additional scenes were shot that never made it in the episode. These scenes were packaged into four separate webisodes and are available to watch online right now! The web series is called Parks and Recreation: Road Trip, and it follows April & Andy’s antics at the Grand Canyon. The first one, “Spider,” is embedded above; watch the others plus a behind the scenes clip at NBC.com.
Take 2. Due to the World Series airing on FOX last Friday, the next pivotal episode of Fringe–you know, the one where Peter Bishop comes back into existence and reunites with his partner Olivia and father Walter–was pushed to the following week. Well, I am excited to report that a week’s time has indeed past and the episode titled “Novation” will air tonight! Before watching tonight’s installment, take a moment to hear what Fringe showrunners J.H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner have to say about the return of the younger Bishop. “What are the consequences of Peter being back?” posits Pinkner. Tune in to find out.
Fringe airs Friday nights at 9PM on FOX. Bonus video after the break! Continue reading ‘Fringe’ showrunners discuss the return of Peter Bishop
Last November Kid Cudi hinted that a short film based on one of his songs was coming and yesterday on Halloween he released it on the ‘Net. The short film, directed by Transfomers star Shia LaBeouf, is titled Maniac and it is “inspired by” the song with the same name featured on Cudder’s sophomore album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. The extremely dark, gritty, and violent clip does not play the “Maniac” track behind it, nor does it refer to the lyrics in the song as it plays out like a short film and not a music video. The score that plays in the background is original music produced by Cudi and Wizard collaborator Dot Da Genius. In the nearly ten-minute short, a film crew follows two serial killers (played by Cudi and Chris Palko) documenting their exploits. As made explicit in the post title, this video is NSFW due to graphic violence and gore and in fact it is rated NC-17.
You have been warned. Mash play at your own risk. Happy Halloween!
Update: Cudder sat down with Complex and shared some insight into the making of the Maniac video. In it he talks about working with Shia LaBeouf, the character he played in the video, funding the film, and he explains why the characters speak in French. Read the choice quotes over at Complex.
Here’s the followup to last month’s red band teaser; it’s a traditional trailer for the upcoming fourth installment in the American Pie franchise, American Reunion. Jim, Michelle, Stiffler and company are all back to take part in their ten year high school reunion. Let the nostolgia flow above and anticipate a April 6, 2012 release.
Here’s a nice Halloween treat for us all: a teaser poster and trailer for the upcoming stop-motion animated feature ParaNorman. The movie is from Focus Features and LAIKA, the same partnership that produced 2009’s critically-acclaimed Coraline. ParaNorman is directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler; Butler imagined and penned the original story. The voice cast includes Kodi Smit-McPhee, Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Elaine Strich, Tempestt Bledsoe, Bernard Hill, and Alex Borstein. The trailer, embedded after the break, doesn’t reveal much of the plot as it includes zero dialogue, but this quick synopsis should suffice:
A misunderstood boy who can speak with the dead takes on ghosts, zombies and, worst of all, grown-ups, in order to save his town from a centuries-old curse. Norman Babcock is an outcast in his small New England town. When a horde of zombies is unleashed on the populace, Norman learns he must use his paranormal powers to make things right again. That’s not an easy task when you’re only eleven. And you’ve just been grounded.
The movie poster and teaser trailer make ParaNorman out to be a strange, dark, and visually stunning piece of work worthy of much anticipation. It releases wide August 17, 2012 in 3D. Continue reading Stop-motion animation studio LAIKA is back with ‘ParaNorman’ [trailer inside]
From Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment (the animation studio behind Despicable Me) comes a film adaptation of one of Dr. Seuss’ most popular children’s stories, The Lorax. Danny DeVito stars as the voice of the orange, furry Lorax and Zac Efron voices the protagonist Ted. Here’s a nice synopsis:
The 3D-CGI feature Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax is an adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ classic tale of a forest creature who shares the enduring power of hope. The animated adventure follows the journey of a boy as he searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world. Danny DeVito will lend his vocal talents to the iconic title character of the Lorax, while Ed Helms will voice the enigmatic Once-ler. Also bringing their talents to the film are global superstars Zac Efron as Ted, the idealistic young boy who searches for the Lorax, and Taylor Swift as Ashley, the girl of Ted’s dreams. Rob Riggle will play financial king O’Hare, and beloved actress Betty White will portray Ted’s wise Grammy Norma.
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax hits theatres in 3D on March 2, 2012.
Here’s a new trailer for the fourth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise subtitled Ghost Protocol. Star Tom Cruise comes off as even more badass than in the first trailer! I, for one, cannot wait to watch Cruise as Ethan Hunt scale the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. The action looks incredible. M:I 4 is out December 16.
Muppets Studio has put out so many parody trailers over the last year I think I finally lost count. In the lastest one embedded above, the Muppets gang says that this is the last one. I’ll believe it when the movie hits theatres November 23.
On Halloween afternoon, FX renewed Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s disturbingly brilliant new series American Horror Story for a second season. FX president John Landgraf celebrated the occasion with high praise. “It’s one thing to have the ambition and guts to reinvent a genre in a way that makes it captivatingly fresh for a broad audience — it’s something else entirely to have the craft to back that ambition up,” he said. “Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have hit the trifecta with Nip/Tuck, Glee and now American Horror Story, which will be scaring FX’s viewers to death for many years to come.” The show has been performing extremely well in the ratings for the cable network. It is averaging 4.2 million viewers per episode, with an impressive 2.9 million in the coveted adult 18-34 demo. In fact, according to FX, AHS is“tracking to become the highest-rated first season of any series ever on FX, certain to surpass Murphy’s award-winning hit drama Nip/Tuck in adults 18-49 and adults 18-34.” There has been much speculation about how Murphy and Falchuk plan to continue the series beyond the current season. Will the Harmons (Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, and Taissa Farmiga) make it to season 2, or will each season feature a new family moving into the haunted house? According to stars McDermott and Britton, no one knows yet. “It’s open-ended – we’re not quite sure about the next episode never mind next year,” McDermott told TVLine. “We’re just sort of like flying by the seat of our pants.” Britton added, “I don’t know that Brad and Ryan know, which I think is really fun.” A 13-episode second season will begin filming next year.
American Horror Story airs Wednesday nights at 10PM on FX.
Do you remember the sketch comedy series In Living Color that aired on FOX from 1990 to 1994? It was created by the second eldest Wayans brother Keenan Ivory Wayans and it featured a cast that was predominantly black including big stars like Wayans’ family members Damon, Shawn, and Marlon, Jamie Foxx, David Alan Grier, Jim Carrey and Jennifer Lopez was introduced to the world as one of the Fly Girls. Well news broke that the show is coming back to FOX as the network is celebrating its 25th anniversary later this year. Keenan Ivory Wayans is back as executive producer and this time he will play host, too. FOX has ordered two half-hour primetime specials that will air in midseason, and they picked up a series option. This means that if the sketch show performs well in the ratings, FOX can pick it up to series and allow Wayans to pump out additional episodes. (Re)introduce yourself to one of my favorite characters from In Living Color after the break, Homey D. Clown.
[Via Deadline] Continue reading ‘In Living Color’ reboot coming to FOX midseason 2012