This looks more like a video game than a movie.

A new trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has shown up at the official site. I saw this play before Iron Man on Thursday and its much better than the original teaser, which I thought was pretty damn good.

Alan Ball's first film since American Beauty (he directs this one also) and his follow up to Six Feet Under, the trailer for Towelhead.

Comedian Demetri Martin (who I only know from his appearance in an episode of Flight of the Conchords, which he was funny in) is in negotiations for the starring role in Ang Lee’s next project, Taking Woodstock.

Martin is best known for his "Trendspotting" segment on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.

Martin will star as Elliot Tiber, an in-the-closet gay man(Lee had luck the last time his central character was gay) working at his parents' motel in the Catskills, who inadvertently sets in motion the generation-defining concert in the summer of 1969.

Maggie Gyllenhaal will replace Toni Collette in Sam Mendes' upcoming untitled relationship comedy.

Gyllenhaal will play a bohemian college professor who is an old friend of the character played by John Krasinski.

Collette dropped out of the film due to scheduling delays on the shoot, which recently got under way in Connecticut.

Since Roger Ebert has been out sick his website has been reaching back into his archives to provide random stories written in any number of years. This week they have posted a list of his ten favorite films of all time, written on April 1, 1991. I always find these lists fascinating, it is as follows (posted alphabetically), head over to the story to read why he chose these films.

Casablanca
Citizen Kane
Floating Weeds
Gates of Heaven
La Dolce Vita
Notorious
Raging Bull
The Third Man
28 Up
2001: A Space Odyssey

Iron Man

In terms of superhero movies, this one is just a step below Batman Begins and Spider-Man 2, which I consider to be the crown jewels of the genre. It is a completely respectable B picture with a wonderful central performance by Robert Downey Jr. In fact, his performance was so engaging that I found myself a little bored anytime he was off the screen and cared little for the subplot showing the main villains rise to power.

It really is the cast that makes this movie, even when the action slows down (and to be honest, there isn't a whole lot of action) the actors shine while muttering the most ridiculous of technical gobbledygook. It's good to see on the big screen with the speakers on high, which is what every summer movie should strive for.

On a side note, be sure to stay until the end of the closing credits to see a set up for possibly another superhero film. It's not much but it actually stirred my blood up a bit and the actor who makes the cameo fits with the character perfectly.

Moviehole has a plot and cast breakdown for Clint Eastwood's next, Gran Torino. The official synopsis:

Walt Kowalski is a widower, a grumpy, tough-minded, borderline-hateful, unhappy man who can’t get along with either his kids or his neighbors, a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in cherry condition. Drawn against his will into the lives of the Hmong family that lives next door to him, Walt grows increasingly fond of TAO and his sister SUE, and takes steps to protect them from the gangs that foul his neighborhood with their strutting presence…

The Incredible Hulk could be a quality film but if the Hulk doesn't look convincing, the movie just won't work. That is what it all boils down to. I am still unconvinced after Apple has posted a second trailer for the film.

Ang Lee's Hulk never felt real but that film was so bat shit crazy that I was able to overlook it and just go along with the strange, wild ride. This appears to be a more straight forward superhero movie and, I just don't know. It also seems a little weird to see Edward Norton doing his best Bourne imitation in the first part of the trailer.

Ian McKellen on whether or not he would be returning as Gandalf in The Hobbit:

"Yes, it's true," McKellen told Empire Online at the UK Speed Racer premiere. "I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it's not a part that you turn down, I loved playing Gandalf."

Vulture has up an article and interview with the one of the most unlikeliest stars of the Tribeca Film Festival, Bobby Valentine.

Valentine is the first manager of the Texas Rangers that I ever took notice of. Not for any specific reason that I can remember, probably because I could remember his last name.

A few new stills from the Coen Brother's upcoming Burn After Reading have shown up online (via First Showing).

Jonah Hill is in early negotiations to costar opposite Shia LaBeouf in. Hill will provide the comic relief as a sidekick to LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky. The rumor is that he'll play Sam's college roommate.

This is from a Mark Stein article over at ESPN about the ouster of the Mavs in the first round, once again. The story basically sums up that a change is coming and ends with this Jerry Stackhouse quote. I am also making a promise right now to post any quote or article that mentions the original Baby Jordan, Harold Miner.

"We've had a great run with this group," Stackhouse said. "But when you lose in the first round two years in a row, you expect some changes. We're all hired to be fired at some point, from the greatest [Michael Jordan] to Harold Miner. They all see the end.

"We'll wait and see what the boss [wants to] do. No matter what happens or what changes are made, it's been a great situation for me the last four years. It's been a great situation for Avery for the last four years, [for Jason Terry] coming out of Atlanta. For the last four years, it's been a great situation for everybody that's involved. So if this is the end or whatever, you can't do nothing but say we had our chance. Had our opportunity."

The second, somewhat better than the previous, trailer for this years possible Sundance breakout hit, The Wackness.

The film stars Sir Ben Kingsley as a therapist who buys weed from his teenage patient (Josh Peck) who eventually falls in love with his daughter (Olivia Thirlby) and it appears that there's a heavy hip-hop soundtrack to this one.
The Wackness

Steven Soderbergh will direct The Girlfriend Experience, a feature that focuses on the world of prostitution from the vantage point of a $10,000-a-night call girl.

Brian Koppelman and David Levien will write; they also wrote Ocean's 13 for the director.

Rather than go for star power, Soderbergh may set an adult film actress to play the lead role. This will be in the same style as Soderbergh's Bubble, using non-pros.

The title refers to a phenomenon in which wealthy men pay not just for the quality of a sexual encounter but also for a woman who will play the role of a perfect girlfriend. The arrangement apparently involves more intimacy than the usual prostitution relationship.

Mel Gibson has committed to star in "Edge of Darkness," marking his first starring role in a feature film since he headlined "Signs" and "We Were Soldiers" in 2002.

Martin Campbell (who last directed the wonderful Casino Royale) will direct the feature adaptation of the six-hour 1985 BBC miniseries, which Campbell also helmed.

William Monahan wrote the script, and Graham King is producing, both worked on The Departed.

Gibson will play a straitlaced police investigator whose activist daughter is killed. He plunges into the case and uncovers systemic corruption that led to his daughter's death.

When movie posters go bad.

Jason Batemen is teaming with Mike Judge for the comedy Extract, which Judge will direct from his own script. The story is about a flower extract plant owner (Bateman) who runs into a string of bad luck, including his wife's affair with a gigolo. I have hope for Judge, as I am currently sitting here watching a King of the Hill episode, but I just hope that this is better than Idiocracy. That was a film I had a hard time making it all the way through.

Based on that incidient of the Fort Worth woman striking the homeless man with her car and leaving him to die stuck in her windshield. As you can see, Mena Suvari is a dead ringer for Chante Mallard.

Warner Brothers has released the official music video for the newly revamped version of the "Go Speed Racer Go" theme. It's performed by some band called Ali Dee and the Deekompressors. All I can say is, what the hell is this?

Ewan McGregor is in negotiations to joing the cast of Angels and Demons, a prequel to one of the most boring big budget movies I have seen, The Da Vinci Code. He would take on the role of Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca, the Pope's closest aide, who helps Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) with his investigation.

It's finally official: Guillermo Del Toro, the acclaimed writer/director of Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, has come aboard The Hobbit, a two-film epic he will direct over the next four years. The long-awaited news was announced today by New Line's new head, Toby Emmerich, and MGM's new head, Mary Parent. Del Toro will move to New Zealand for the next four years to work with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and his Wingnut and WETA production teams. (Jackson and his partner, Fran Walsh, will executive produce both movies.) Del Toro will direct the two films back-to-back, with the first movie telling the story of J.R.R. Tolkien's original book and the sequel dealing with the 60-year period between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I'm usually not one to gloat but this is something I am so excited about that I had to mention it. AICN recently had a contest where you had to write in and say why you were the perfect person to see Pineapple Express on May 3, over three months before it's released date. I'm not sure how it happened but luckily my letter was one of the 50 or so chosen, so I will be attending this event. While that is enough excitement for me, the thing that pushes this screening over the edge in terms of me getting worked up is that also in attendance that night will be Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, and (for my second time to see him) David Gordon Green. Next weekend can not get here fast enough.

Anna Faris and Ray Liotta have joined Seth Rogen in the Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures comedy Observe and Report. Michael Pena (Crash, Lions for Lambs) and Jesse Plemons (NBC's Friday Night Lights) round out the cast, and Jody Hill (The Foot Fist Way) is directing from his own screenplay. The story is about a deluded, self-important head of mall security (Rogen) who battles the local cops in a turf war. Faris plays a girl working at a store in the mall, whom Rogen's character lusts after; Pena plays Rogen's best friend; Plemons is a security guard who works under Rogen; and Liotta plays Rogen's nemesis, a detective in the local PD. Production starts this week.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

In the Judd Apatow universe if Superbad is a 10 and Walk Hard is a 1 (it's not a 1 but for the terms of this argument lets say it is) then this film is somewhere between a 7 and an 8.

UPDATE: Ah, I thought of another one of these last night while I was sleeping.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a lot like Jason Segel. It's a little long and messy but damn it if it doesn't charm you in all the right places.

Emily at the La Quinta from Colby Allen on Vimeo.