Humor District

The first trailer release for The Dark Knight Rises. I see they’re also naming it Batman 3, which is a little weird. Get exited! Watch it below.

Plot:
Bane spreads chaos in Gotham in order to lure and weaken Batman, and break him.

Also interesting to note, Christian Bale has stated that he would not play Batman if Robin was in any of these 3 films. Christopher Nolan agreed not to include Robin as it would undermine the dark tone of his series.

The Hangover 2 teaser trailer is out as well as the first poster. From what we understand the wolfpack reunites in Thailand for Stu’s wedding this time. Where to put it lightly, shit hits the fan.

Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms and Justin Bartha are all back, as well as Mike Tyson and Ken Jeong. Liam Neeson also appears in a role that was supposedly intended for Mel Gibson who got dropped from the project after the cast complained.
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Keith David has to be one of the best voice actors of all time. He has a very distinctive voice that you might remember as belonging to Goliath in Gargoyles or Spawn in the HBO animated series. He has also done many live action roles, but we all know it is his voice that sets him apart. His latest role is doing the narration for a short animated film inspired by the upcoming Zack Snyder movie Sucker Punch. The short film is pretty awesome in its own right, but it is Keith David’s voiceover work that brings the whole thing together. Like pretty much everything associated with Zack Snyder, this animated short is pretty damn awesome.

The surprising thing about this video is that it has some more meat to it than simply showing some humans killing some orcs. It actually broaches the subjects of faith, religion, and hope. Sure, it doesn’t take the most subtle approach to these topics, but I do like the fact that it was more than a hack-them-up piece. We already know that Zack Snyder can do those very well. The fact that the people behind this short put in the extra effort to add a little bit more depth to an animated short promoting Sucker Punch makes me think that perhaps a little extra attention was paid to the actual movie as well, giving it a little something extra that could make it a truly enjoyable film. Worst case scenario is that Sucker Punch is responsible for giving us a very entertaining two minutes today.

You would think that Cameron Diaz would make for an excellent teacher. It would be hard not to pay attention to her in class. Columbia Pictures, the same studio behind Billy Bob Thorton’s Bad Santa, has decided to go a different route with Bad Teacher. Basically, Cameron Diaz will be playing a teacher who simply doesn’t give a shit. The arrival of new teacher Justin Timberlake makes Cameron Diaz to be a somewhat less bad teacher in a roundabout way. Sure, she still curses and displays behavior that children should not see, but at least she tries to teach them, all so she can get a bonus and afford a boob job. In case you haven’t caught on, this is not going to be a family friendly movie. Judging by the red band trailer, it will be an entertaining one.

Cameron Diaz is an established actress, and it will be amusing to see her talk about boob jobs and swear more than a one eyed carpenter. Justin Timberlake has also proven himself to be a surprisingly capable actor, his boy band days are long behind him. However, I really expect Jason Segel to steal the show in Bad Teacher. He is the one with the most comedic experience, and has been awesome in just about everything he has been in. Overall, I think Bad Teacher will be an amusing movie, but it will be Segel’s lines that are repeated to friends. Look for Bad Teacher in theaters on June 24th.

The first teaser trailer for the J. J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg movie Super 8 did not reveal much. Sure, it was awesome to see a truck get hit by a train and explode, and then something forcing its way out of the train, but it didn’t reveal much about the actual plot. Now we have finally gotten a longer glimpse into what Super 8 is really about. Check out the trailer below for the longest look yet of Super 8.

Alright, let’s get this summed up nice and tidy. We have a small town sheriff, a group of precocious children, an escaped something, and a military presence trying to cover everything up. Super 8 looks like it has all the components needed to be a very good movie. Just the fact that both J. J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg are both involved in this project is a promising sign. This trailer still leaves a lot of questions unanswered, which is perfect from a marketing standpoint. It is obvious that the kids will be playing a big part in this movie, but it is unclear what kind of mischief they will get into. It will also be interesting to see the interaction between the small town cop and the military, especially since the cop’s son is one of the aforementioned precocious children. Perhaps the biggest mystery of all is what this thing that escaped from the train and is causing such an uproar is. The fact that it is never seen during the trailer is reminiscent of the hidden nature of the monster in Cloverfield, another movie J. J. Abrams worked on. Super 8 seems a lot less likely than Cloverfield to cause motion sickness, though.

James Gunn might not be a name you are familiar with, but he has done some good work in the film industry. He wrote screenplays for Scooby Doo movies and Dawn of the Dead, and he also directed the hilarious, but under appreciated, Slither. You might also know him from his amusing internet shorts, PG Porn. His next project is the upcoming movie Super. Super is definitely an indie film, but it has some big names attached, such as Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Live Tyler, and Kevin Bacon. Basically all you need to know about this movie before watching this trailer is Dwight from The Office dresses like a superhero and fights Kevin Bacon and Nathan Fillion is some sort of long hair Jesus superhero. Best. Movie. Ever.

After watching the trailer, this movie seems to have a lot of similarities to another semi superhero indie movie, namely Defendor with Woody Harrelson. Both movies have a guy of seemingly below average intelligence and a lack of social skills putting on poorly made costumes and fighting crime with questionable weapons. They also both feature quirky young female sidekicks, Ellen Page in Super and Kat Dennings in Defendor. The good part about these similarities is that Defendor was actually a very entertaining and well done movie. Hopefully Super will take this oddball wanting to be a superhero thing in a different direction than Defendor did though. Judging by the trailer, and the all star cast, Super will be one hell of a fun movie to watch in between the blockbuster superhero movies with their Ryan Reynolds, and big budgets, and fancy schmancy special effects.

As you might have guessed from the title of this article, a new red band trailer has been released for the upcoming alien comedy Paul. You may also have deduced that this trailer is fairly tame, at least compared to most red band trailers that are released. The point of a red band trailer is to show the raunchy hijinks and foul language that may make up a movie that you couldn’t otherwise show. A lot of red band trailers, such as the one for Your Highness, feature F-Bombs flying frequently, masturbation jokes, and Natalie Portman’s ass. It is easy to understand why that kind of movie would need a red band trailer. I’m not saying Paul doesn’t need a red band trailer, I’m just saying they could have come up with a better one than they did.

The thing is, it feels like this red band trailer was made just to include one joke about a government agent grabbing an alien’s balls. Don’t get me wrong, that scene is quite amusing and the language involved couldn’t be shown on a regular trailer, but that’s about the only part of the trailer that merits red band status. The only other borderline part is showing Kristen Wiig smoking a joint with the alien. It feels like the few other F-Bombs dropped in the trailer were dropped in simply because it was a red band trailer, the jokes really aren’t comprised of cursing. It is still a very entertaining trailer, and I will definitely be seeing Paul when it comes out. Simon Pegg, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, and Nick Frost are all hilarious, I was just surprised how tame the red band trailer was. Don’t worry though, the actual movie will probably contain far more alien genitals and swears than your grandpa can shake his cane at.

A new phenomenon has hit the internet, one where people make trailers of popular movies, but replace the characters with old time actors. There have been some fine examples of these “premakes”, with trailers made for Up, Ghostbusters, The Empire Strikes Back, and many more. These videos can evoke a sense of nostalgia for recently released movies while allowing us to see a kind of “what if?” version of movies that have become a big part of popular culture. I will admit that I am not personally familiar with many of the old timey actors who are now in starring roles in some of my favorite movies, so I can’t really say how well they would actually fit these roles in the trailers. What I can say is that they create an entirely new feel for timeless classics, adding a little bit more timelessness to them. Check out a great example below with the Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back 1950′s version and see some more great premakes here.

It seems that every single year around Christmas we are inundated with cutesy family friendly films. While many of these movies can be quite entertaining, sometimes we need something a little more grown up and serious. Well let me tell you, shit doesn’t get much more serious than the Dark Ages. That was back when the average life expectancy was the ripe old age of 30, peasants worked their hands to the bone in return for what can only be described as meager compensation, and there was this thing called the bubonic plague. The bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, took out over 30% of the population in Europe. So, yeah, all those feel good depictions of knights rescuing damsels in distress don’t really match up to the truth of history. Christopher Smith’s upcoming movie Black Death doesn’t pull any punches in its portrayal of those bleak times. Now I’m not saying that it is historically accurate, I don’t know how many villages actually made deals with demons in exchange for protection from the plague, but Black Death is definitely not a feel good movie. It will have death, most likely in some brutal and cringe inducing ways, and that offers a nice change from all this “everything is great” holiday nonsense. Hopefully Sean Bean will have a higher kill tally in Black Death than he did as Boromir in The Lord of the Rings. I donated to Toys for Tots, now I just want to see something from Santa’s naughty list. Check out the trailer for Black Death below.

Simon Pegg has cemented himself as one of the best funny men in Hollywood. He is not only hilarious as an actor, but has had success as a writer as well. It seems that Simon Pegg is at his best when he works with writer Edgar Wright and writer/actor Nick Frost. The next Simon Pegg movie, Paul, is actually written by Pegg and Nick Frost, so it already sounds like it will be hilarious. The plot of two nerds finding a smart ass alien voiced by Seth Rogen seems to confirm that assessment. When you watch this trailer, it is confirmed without a doubt.

Yes, Paul looks like it will be great. Now let’s take a look back at some other great moments in Simon Pegg’s career.

Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead was Simon Pegg’s breakout role. It was an extremely well written movie that perfectly blended humor, zombies, and even some romance. The bromance between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is what brought Shaun of the Dead together. They were both great, and Nick Frost delivered some big laughs as the dimwitted friend. Simon Pegg proved to the world that he was a funny man for the first time and launched his now successful career of making us laugh.

Hot Fuzz

Nick Frost is very good at playing the dimwitted friend, and he ramped it up a notch from Shaun in the Dead in Hot Fuzz. That is to say Nick Frost’s character Danny Butterman is extremely dimwitted, and it leads to some great comedic moments. Simon Pegg is also great as the gruff no nonsense cop, and the two team up to make one of the best buddy cop movies that pokes fun at buddy cop movies of all time. While there are some definite satirical overtones in Hot Fuzz, it also has some pretty awesome action scenes and showed that Simon Pegg can go from the straight man to funny all on his own with ease.

Run, Fatboy, Run

Run, Fatboy, Run was the first big role Simon Pegg had that didn’t involve him working with Edgar Wright and Nick Frost. While it had already been proven that Simon Pegg fit in perfectly with that creative team, it was his role in Run, Fatboy, Run that showed he could be funny all on his own. It also showed that Simon Pegg could write a hilarious movie with somebody other than Edgar Wright, and this time it was with Michael Ian Black.

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

How to Lose Friends & Alienate people was not Simon Pegg’s best movie, but it was an important one in his career. This movie came out when Megan Fox was at the peak of her popularity, but Simon Pegg’s performance was not overshadowed by her at all. This could be due to Megan Fox’s actual acting talent, but it proved that Simon Pegg was officially a star in his own right.

Star Trek

Simon Pegg didn’t have the biggest role in Star Trek, but he fit in seamlessly and brought new life to a fan favorite character. He had some great comedic moments as Scotty, and was very believable as an unorthodox genius. More importantly, he showed that he could be part of an amazing cast in what was the definition of a successful blockbuster movie. Only time will tell, but the smart money is on Simon Pegg starring in many more great movies in the future.