The Screening Room

Oh, brother.

If you've been to see the latest Harry Potter film, you've probably already seen the trailer for Cowboys & Aliens, the upcoming Jon Favreau flick due out this summer. And if you were sitting in a theater similar to mine, you might have heard the same reaction from your fellow audience members: lots of laughs and a resounding "What the heck?"

Not an unwarranted response: the premise for the film is pretty much a western film under an alien invasion. It does, however, boast an impressive cast and crew line-up (it stars Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford and is produced by Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, for starters.)

Come summer, we shall see whether or not a great cast and crew can make a ridiculous plot an okay film. This reporter is betting otherwise.

Watch the trailer:

A new trailer for the two-part film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released last night. This new preview focuses only on Part One, which will be released on November 19 and covers roughly the first half of the epic novel.

Put on a sweater because this trailer gave me goosebumps:

What do you think of the new trailer? Are you excited for the film?

My friends showed this to me yesterday, and I literally couldn't stop laughing - even though I'm a fan of the original Twilight series, this trailer (and movie, I suppose) capture a lot of the ridiculousness of the franchise. And despite the fact that it's from the creators of such huge flops like Dance Flick and Date Movie, I think I might actually see this film for the pure, junky, mindless entertainment.

What are your thoughts?

Based on the cult D.C. Comics graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, Red looks fun. This new trailer debuted at Comic-Con.

What do you think? Does Bruce Willis still have it as an action star? Are we tired of these graphic-novels-turned-movies?

Along with Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren, Red opens in theaters Oct. 15.

Seth Rogen? A superhero? Say it ain't so!

Anyone who knows me knows I love Disney. So imagine, if you will, my excitement upon hearing about Tangled, the newest Disney animated flick due out this fall - and then seeing the teaser trailer that came out this weekend.

Tangled is tells the story of Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore) with a few added twists - instead of a prince, she meets a bandit named Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi, of Chuck fame) who tries to hide in her tower. The entire film is a beautiful mix of hand-drawn animation and CGI, which, if you see the trailer, works very well for the fairytale setting. To put it lightly, I'm tangled in excitement.

Aside from the censor fiasco, the Sunday MTV Movie Awards had its moments -- one of which being the premiere of the new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows teaser trailer. Moviefone has broken down the trailer and asked for fan reactions, so I ask you: what did you think? Does it make you more excited for the movie or not?

Haven't seen the trailer yet? Feast your eyes:

OMG what's in the box?!?!

Just what you've always wanted!
DallasNews.com/movies now has a handy-dandy little section in the right rail pulling in movie trailers and other film-related videos, including interviews and (new!) critic reviews. Pretty cool, eh? We're posting new trailers all the time, so check in often. Just look for this area:
And beginning this week with Iron Man 2, critic Chris Vognar will give you his quick take on new releases via video, letting you know if a film is worth your time. Which I think is super cool. Because you know you'd watch that on your phone while on the way to the theater or waiting in line to get tickets.

A new trailer's out for the upcoming Sex and the City 2 movie, and I don't know about you, but I'm still interested.

I must be honest though and confess that I've only seen about three episodes of SATC, and have yet to see the movie. Put away the knives! I've always planned on catching up. A friend of mine has the whole series on DVD, so whenever I find the time (got any handy?) I'll immerse myself. Hopefully before the new film's out this May.

Any thoughts on the new trailer? MTV.com's pointed out their five favorite looks in it. Are you not looking forward to it?

Every October I search the channels for a Nightmare on Elm Street movie because they give me chills every time. And there's nothing like being too scared to sleep because your mind won't stop wondering. So hearing a remake of the 1984 horror flick wasn't going to include a Robert Englund credit had me at a lost for words. I mean, seriously? You can't replace Freddy with a different Freddy and expect him to still be Freddy. Know what I'm saying?

BUT now I may be a bit more intrigued than willing to admit. This second trailer looks pretty good.

Hits theaters April 30, so we can likely expect it on DVD long before the build up to Halloween.
What do you think? Does this new Freddy Krueger film look worth it?

Fans and press were corralled into the Alamo Ritz Friday night for a "sneak peak" of Predators, the upcoming Predator sequel due out this summer. The event went kind of like this:

Released this morning, the full trailer for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which hits theaters June 30. Does it look super awesome like you've been imagining?

Let the craziness ensue.

Listen up, Twihards. The first trailer for Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse will be available tomorrow at 8 am. The 90 second trailer's contents are being kept under tight wraps until its debut. (You can also see it in theaters before this week's release of Remember Me, starring Robert Pattinson.) But here's a 10-second teaser of that trailer released today.

Man, I sure would like some minions. Or even just to be friends with some minions. This little guy in the Despicable Me trailer looks like he's having the time of his life.

Not much is out on this film's story (the section of the playful Web site is still coming soon), but IMDB.com offers this: "A trio of orphan girls cause the normally deplorable Gru to rethink his plan to steal the moon."

You wouldn't really get that from watching the three disjointed trailers Universal Pictures has released of the Steve Carell-voiced animated movie. But, eh, whatcha gonna do? It looks cute. And so, I'm in.

July 9 is marked as the release date. And just as every new computer-animated film, it's in 3-D.

Word went out today of the South by Southwest Film Festival's opening-night feature: Kick-Ass. I think the title speaks for itself.

"The movie tells the story of average teen Dave (Aaron Johnson), a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. His life is forever changed as he inspires a subculture of copy cats, is hunted by assorted violent and unpleasant characters, and meets up with a pair of crazed vigilantes, including Hit Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) and Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage), and another fledgling superhero, Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). But thanks to the scheming of a local mob boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), that new alliance will be put to the test."

The SXSW Film Festival is March 12-20 in Austin. Register here.

Anyone else super duper excited about this one? This extended trailer was released yesterday.

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland will be in theaters March 5.

It might be a bit of a stretch posting this on the movies blog, but I just gotta share this trailer for a 25-minute short that was six years in the making (by Alex Kobbs of Kobberz Studios) and is due out early next year.
Legos + Halo + stop motion = Awesomeness.

Are you tired of all the end-of-the-world movies yet? Well, doesn't matter. Because this is not another 2012 or The Day After Tomorrow. This Hughes brothers film goes all post-apocalyptic in a Fallout 3-like setting where men with machetes and big guns fight for The Book of Eli. Loner Eli (Denzel Washington) protects at all costs a book that holds the secrets that could save humanity, while the bad guys (led by Gary Oldman) try to take it. Lots of action. Lots of fun. And it's nice to finally see Mila Kunis in a tough-girl role, one that looks like might suit her.

Hits theaters Jan. 15. What do you think of it?

I was watching trailers on IMDB the other day and found Mary & Max. Gotta love the claymation, the charming music, and the innocent dialogue from familiar voices (Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Eric Bana). And ohmygod the Web site is just beautiful. Directed and written by Adam Elliot, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. You can now watch it on demand via cable. Thinking I might go home and check it out tonight. Time Warner Cable's IFC Theatre On Demand for the win!
Enjoy.