 Filmmaker Bradley Rust Gray caught my eye when he directed Zoe Kazan to a brilliant performance in his earlier film ‘The Exploding Girl’. Now, he’s back on the scene with what’s being described as a “lesbian werewolf movie”. It’s called ‘Jack and Diane’, stars Juno Temple, and played to mixed reviews at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Today we have the Trailer to share with you, and it can be seen after the jump in all its glory. I think it looks intriguing, if a bit odd just going by what’s in the trailer. Give it a look and make up your mind for yourself below and then let us know what you think…
Read more on Trailer for the indie werewolf flick ‘Jack and Diane’!…
 It may be hard to believe, but Christopher Nolan is now done with making films about Batman, and aside from his Godfather type role with the new Superman franchise, he’s done with costumed heroes in general (unless he’s got something up his sleeves that we’re unaware of currently). Nolan might actually be as melancholy about this as some of his fans are, because he’s penned a heartfelt farewell of sorts to Batman in the foreword of a new book about his trilogy. The book is called “The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy“, and after the jump you can see what he said in this farewell. I’ll admit, it’s pretty touching…but don’t take my word for it. See for yourself below.
Read more on Christopher Nolan wrote a farewell letter to Batman!…
 The Weinstein Company has been on fire for years now. Today, their foreign language effort The Intouchables, has become the highest grossing foreign language film in North America year-to-date. The film, which tells the story of an aristocrat that becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, received positive reviews from critics this year. The film is sitting comfortably at 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, is currently (as of today) sitting at #82 on IMDB for the top-rated films of all time, and received a favorable review from our own Joey Magidson earlier this year.
Read more on “The Intouchables” becomes this year’s highest grossing Foreign Language Film in North America!…
 The Toronto International Film Festival is often seen as the start of the Oscar season and judging by the lineup, we’re in for a doozy this year if the release from Variety is complete. Oscar contenders Argo, Anna Karenina, Cloud Atlas, and Hyde Park on Hudson will all be at the festival, as well as the Terrence Malick film To the Wonder and Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. Coolest of all might be that Rian Johnson’s Looper, a time travel sci-fi pic with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt, was chosen to open the festival. It was one of my three favorite things I saw while at Comic-Con so it’s quite a feat that it manages the opening night slot of such a respected festival.
UPDATED: Full list with gala and special screenings added!
Read more on Looper set to open the Toronto International Film Festival, Full Lineup released!…
 This is a weird story for me to cover. Obviously what happened in Aurora, Colorado is a tragedy, so any conversation that comes back to the movies can seem a bit silly. It’s what we do here though, so it really can’t be avoided to some degree. One of the questions coming out now is what to do with Ruben Fleischer’s film ‘Gangster Squad’, which is scheduled for release in September and features a scene where villains shoot at movie theater patrons from behind the screen (a glimpse at that can be seen in the image to the right…hopefully no one is offended, though if they are, I sincerely apologize). It could potentially be upsetting, so Warner Brothers is kind of between a rock and a hard place. They could keep the film intact and delay it until later this year or next, re-shoot the now controversial scene (though it’s supposedly a climactic scene), or some combination of the two. The Hollywood Reporter says here that the studio has writer Will Beal working on a new climax for the flick and they’re planning on some re-shoots before the September 7th release, which is now in flux as well. After the jump you can get my thoughts on this, but there’s really no right way to handle this. It’s all a matter of opinion, and you’ll get my humble one below…
Read more on Warner Brothers is planning to re-shoot scenes/delay ‘Gangster Squad’?…
 This week, we quite frankly are headed back to a dry season here at the column. There won’t be too many films being released on Blu-Ray and DVD (the studios are encouraging you to go see their summer blockbusters), so the pickings will be a bit slimmer than normal. In fact, the titles most would actually select this week as the top picks are ones I’ve yet to see, so I’m working with even less than most here. I’ll do my best regardless though, and in a few weeks when things pick up again, we’ll be that much more appreciative. In the meantime, movies did come out today, so let’s sift through them. For my PICK OF THE WEEK I was more or less reduced to going with a default choice. That being said, it’s hardly a bad flick, and in fact one that I liked more the second time around. Curious what it is? Well, the movie in question is:
Silent House
The first time I saw this horror movie, I was impressed with its unique filmmaking choice of presenting the film as one long take but let down by its ending. The second time though, I ignored the directorial choices and just watched it for entertainment and had a better time with it, so I feel comfortable giving it a recommendation this week. Elizabeth Olsen is a great horror movie heroine, the tension is nicely ratcheted up, and especially in a week like this, an interesting yet flawed film (and a remake at that, for what it’s worth) like this looks all the better for it. This fright flick is worth checking out, but just keep your expectations slightly in check here…
Read more on Joey’s DVD Picks of the Week (7/24/2012)…
 I always take a hearty interest in actors who decide to make their directorial debuts. I’m intrigued for many reasons, but one is that they usually tend to pick projects that tickle my fancy. That continues to be the case today, as The Playlist is reporting here that Russell Crowe is planning to make a biopic of the comedian Bill Hicks his first shot behind the camera. The late Bill Hicks is an interesting subject for a film (there’s already been a documentary), and I’m down to see if Crowe has any directing chops. After the jump you can see a bit of Hicks’ material, but count me in for this one!
Read more on Russell Crowe will make his directorial debut with a biopic of Bill Hicks?…
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Filmmaker Bradley Rust Gray caught my eye when he directed Zoe Kazan to a brilliant performance in his earlier film ‘The Exploding Girl’. Now, he’s back on the scene with what’s being described as a “lesbian werewolf movie”. It’s called ‘Jack and Diane’, stars Juno Temple, and played to mixed reviews at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Today we have the Trailer to share with you, and it can be seen after the jump in all its glory. I think it looks intriguing, if a bit odd just going by what’s in the trailer. Give it a look and make up your mind for yourself below and then let us know what you think…
