Confession time: I love Justin Timberlake. Not his music career, mind you -- though who doesn't love a little "Rock Your Body" every once in a while -- but his acting one. You can grumble that he jumped the shark with endless appearances on SNL and his performance as himself -- er, Sean Parker in The Social Network, but for my money, Timberlake constantly hits it out of the park. He even makes something as disposable as Bad Teacher look moderately watchable in a "Let's wait to see it on a Wednesday night on HBO2!" sort of way. All of which is a long way around saying that his presence in Friends with Benefits is key to making this summer rom-com look positively charming.
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The trailer for Tom Hanks's latest directorial effort Larry Crowne has emerged, featuring the actor as a nice, average guy thrust into midlife uncertainty by a job layoff, scooter purchase, and new young friends made in a community college class taught by a sexy, jaded woman with whom he eventually falls in love. What? It could happen.
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If three is a trend, say hello to the latest indie trend: Kids helping adults find their way in life. Things kicked off on this front in happythankyoumoreplease, where Josh Radnor's character was pushed into some semblance of adulthood following his encounter with an African-American orphan on the subway; on Friday, a high school wrestling coach (Paul Giamatti) will see how much he can learn from young runaway when Win Win opens; and later this year, two sorta-grave robbers (Jason Ritter and Jake Sandvig) get their maturity tested by an abandoned kid in A Bag of Hammers. What hath The Blind Side wrought?
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Remember the Tarzan adaptation that director Stephen Sommers had his eye on before he went and pinched off G.I. Joe? All right, me neither. But DeWet Du Toit -- a.k.a The Man Who Would Be Tarzan -- sure as hell still remembers, and now he's got the video to prove it.
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The Russian X-Men: First Class trailer has more of everything -- More special effects, more banter (in Russian), more heroes and... more footage of what look like concentration camps. Actually, the way the epic, melodramatic music plays over this footage, you'd swear the studio was begging for Oscar nominations and not a vote of confidence from hipsters and comic book geeks. Watch your back, Super 8!
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While speaking with Vulture on Monday night, Alec Baldwin revealed that he will be hiring a vocal coach to prepare for his role in Rock of Ages, Adam Shankman's adaptation of the Broadway musical which will require the actor to sing alongside Tom Cruise and Mary J. Blige. This revelation was surprising, both because the 30 Rock star seems capable of excelling at everything -- and because he has already appeared multiple times on Broadway. But that was before Movieline stumbled upon the following video of Baldwin singing at Carnegie Hall.
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Movieline's own Jen Yamato saw Bridesmaids at SXSW and declared it a magnificent crowd-pleaser and the best R-rated comedy since The Hangover. I believe her! But I can't believe the tone set by the new Bridesmaids trailer, which undersells the movie's intelligence and goes for cheap romcom laughs. Rage!
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Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, director Rodman Flender's look at the talk show host's "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television" comedy tour in the days following his departure from NBC, picked up a distribution deal after debuting at SXSW, despite a title that sounds like a Sam Kinison stand-up special. Phew. We'd look forward to a Conan doc with or without proper teasers, but the first released clip of the film is both funny and revealing.
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We all know that some stories are never truly told until you've seen them animated in the sophisticated style of Taiwanese "news" organization NMA. Perhaps it goes without saying, but the tale of Jake Gyllenhaal's bathroom run-in with a camera-wielding fan last weekend at SXSW is one of those stories.
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I get that once you've put yourself through the ringer and taken on some of the most challenging, memorable roles of the last 30 years, that maybe you want to just relax and get paid. That's fine! I'm sure Harvey Keitel knew exactly what he was getting into when he signed up to do Little Fockers. That said, could he have possibly been paid that much to star in what appears to be South Korea's answer to Mr. Bean?
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While it doesn't have the sweet summer tentpole release date, a number of strong early reviews from SXSW suggest that Source Code could become the Dark Horse contender for that Inception Exception at this year's Oscars. Or maybe we should coin a different term for movies simply grabbing for the same "intelligent, mind-bending thriller" street-cred? Anyway, Summit has unveiled the first five minutes of the film, which begin with confusion and end with fireworks. The way director Duncan Jones draws attention to each detail in the scene suggests that you might want to take notes now. Surely the grumpy passenger, the drink spilled on Jake Gyllenhaal's shoes and whatever the passenger dropped on the floor all play key roles later in the film... right?
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Since we now have confirmation that U.S. audiences will have a chance to see the uncut version of A Serbian Film (AKA: The movie that sparks child pornography charges and police raids), it seems like as good of a time as any to check out the restricted trailer for the film. But what's that? Jason Statham just crashed a motorcycle through three windows and brought a Red Band trailer for his new vigilante cop movie Blitz as well! But which trailer makes better use of this marketing gimmick and crams in more explicit content? Let's break it down. Obviously, NSFW content lies ahead.
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Yep, the Sucker Punch trailer is cute when remixed with clips of classic Disney princesses. Mulan is really a kickass woman. But this mash-up mostly just reminds me of how many Disney ladies didn't kick ass. Alice? Esmerelda? Million-watt smiles, disappointing pugilists. Click ahead to watch.
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Sometime last year, Spike Jonze shot a 30-minute film with Arcade Fire called Scenes From the Suburbs in honor of the Canadian indie band's third album, The Suburbs. Today, the first trailer from said project (which was written by Jonze, Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler and Butler's bandmate/brother Will) surfaced on the Internet, complete with so much suburban teenage ennui and narrator nostalgia that it ends up feeling like a modern-day version of the viewer-beloved 90's movie The Sandlot. Let's investigate.
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When you've got a great title like Hobo with a Shotgun, why stop with just a movie? The team behind the Rutger Hauer-exploitation-throwback, which is now making the rounds at SXSW, have unleashed an old-school, side-scrolling video game where iPhone and iPad owners can blast their way through street punks and fascist cops as the titular hero. To my knowledge, there are no keys to find or puzzles to solve. It's maybe not quite as inspired as that Human Centipede video game, but it looks like more fun. Check out the trailer after the jump for a taste of the gameplay.
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