Well it was just announced earlier this week that The Coen Brothers’ next film A Serious Man would be premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, and now the first trailer has arrived online. The Coens rarely seem to do two movies in a row that are similar since their interests and talents span a wide variety of genres. In this case, A Serious Man actually does feel a little bit like their last film Burn After Reading in that it’s something of a dark comedy. But from this trailer it’s still hard to fully grasp what exactly to expect from this film.

I like the fact that it’s a bit mysterious though, and I love how most of it is set to the soundtrack of the main character (played by Michael Stuhlbarg) having his head repeatedly slammed against a blackboard. Unlike Burn After Reading, there certainly aren’t many big names in this film (the only one I recognize off the bat is Richard Kind). The story is set in 1967. Larry Gopnik is a professor at a midwestern university and finds out that his wife is leaving him. After that, the rest of his life starts to fall apart as well. Check out the trailer after the jump or watch it in HD over at Apple.com. A Serious Man hits theatres on October 2nd.

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Every year the Toronto After Dark Film Festival gets a little bit bigger and a little bit more variety in its line-up, and while last year’s screening of Let The Right One In is still going to be hard to top, I think the 2009 programme is looking a lot more well-rounded.

The full schedule is now online, with new additions that include Norwegian Nazi zombie flick Dead Snow, Warlords starring Jet Li, Kim Ki-Duk’s Rough Cut, and an opening night gala for the blaxploitation parody Black Dynamite, which is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Toronto After Dark runs from Aug. 14th to the 21st; for more info visit the official website. Check out the full schedule after the jump.

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It’s already been a big month for announcements regarding video game to movie adaptations, but if you thought the flood was going to stop after Comic Con, think again. Sony has announced that they are in the early stages of bringing the recent Playstation 3 game inFAMOUS to the big screen, after picking up a pitch by screenwriter Sheldon Turner (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Up in the Air). The deal is for seven figures, and former Marvel head honcho Avi Arad is among the producers on the project.

The game, which just came out back in May, focuses on protagonist Cole MacGrath, a bike messenger who is caught in an explosion that grants him electrical powers. He can choose either a good or evil path as he attempts to fight the chaos that the city has fallen under. Sheldon Turner had this to say about the game:

“What excited me most about the game was it was the first of which I’ve come across that had a big idea and a character arc… It is, I believe, the future of gaming. The game, while big and fun, is at its core a love ballad to the underachiever, which is what our hero, Cole McGrath, is.”

The first game with a big idea and a character arc? Hmm… I’m not so sure about that, although I have yet to play the game. Anyway, like so many of the other movies based on games in development, it could still be a while before this actually heads into production (if ever). Are you interested in an inFAMOUS movie?

Treknobabble is a continuing series of columns written by uber-Trekkie Reed Farrington about Star Trek and how it has influenced his life.

When I was in grade school, a friend of mine and I co-created a school newsletter comic strip called “Dogs in Space.” I believe the main inspiration was the popularity of the Planet of the Apes movies. I’m not even sure we were aware that dogs like Laika were used in early space flight testing by the Russians. Neither of us owned a dog. I think we simply needed another animal besides apes. Dogs were easy to draw and easily recognizable by their snouts and floppy ears. I suppose we could have called the comic strip “Planet of the Dogs,” but I think even at our young age, we didn’t want to make blatantly obvious what the source of our inspiration was.

Anyway, this Treknobabble isn’t about that comic strip. And it’s not about the 80’s film with Michael Hutchence. It wasn’t even originally supposed to be about the dogs that were used in the Russian space program, but after a bit of research, I thought I should devote a paragraph or two to these special examples of “man’s best friend.” Instead, I wanted to write about the connection between Star Trek and another of my favorite things, Charles Schulz’s Peanuts and especially Snoopy. And I’ll also be writing about Porthos, the real-life beagle that appeared in the Star Trek series, Enterprise.

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I still have yet to see last year’s CG adaptation of the Dr. Seuss story Horton Hears a Who!, but the reviews were surprisingly solid (78% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it ended up being the 10th highest grossing movie of the year. It’s no surprise then that another Dr. Seuss book is about to get the CG treatment… in 3-D of course! Variety reports that Horton Hears a Who! writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio are now in the process of bringing The Lorax to the big screen.

While Horton was set up at Fox and produced by Blue Sky Studios, The Lorax has landed a deal with Universal and Illumination Entertainment (the same folks behind Despicable Me and Ricky Gervais’ Flanimals). Despicable Me director Chris Renaud will be co-directing the film with first-time helmers Paul and Daurio. The story is an environmental fable about a greedy creature known as a Once-ler who is chopping down Truffula Trees and meets some resistance from The Lorax. The movie is scheduled for release on March 2, 2012, which also happens to be the birthday of the late Dr. Seuss! Check out some clips below from the 1972 animated version of the story.

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After fans spoke out last month and voiced their disappointment with the choice of 300 for Empire Fan Favourites, the good folks at Empire Theatres in St. Catharines have responded by securing a print of Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness for this upcoming weekend. What’s more, it will be playing two nights instead of just one! Also note the earlier start time.

Here are the details:

Empire Fan Favourites: Army of Darkness
Fri. July 31st and Sat. Aug. 1st
11:30 pm start
Empire Theatres, Pen Centre, St. Catharines
Admission: $6.99
+ Regular Drink and Popcorn: $9.99

You can order tickets online here and here. For more info about future Fan Favourites screenings, join the Facebook Group, or contact Empire Theatres at 905-682-8843. Next month’s selection is still TBD.

Disney and Pixar have released a new trailer into the wild for their upcoming Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3-D double feature. It’s not a collection of clips from the original movies, but rather a cute little promo with Woody, Buzz, Jessie and Rex peering through 3-D glasses. You don’t get quite get the full effect watching it in 2-D on the web, but nonetheless, I think it gets the point across.

I kind of wish it did show some clips from the original movies just to see how they’re planning to enhance those movies with 3-D, but I guess it’s kind of irrelevant anyway. What do you think… will this be worth checking out? Hey, it’s two movies for the price of one — how can you beat that? The double feature will be in theatres for two weeks only, starting on October 2nd. Check out the trailer after the jump.

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After Stephen Chow relinquished the role of Kato in Seth Rogen’s upcoming Green Hornet movie earlier this month, the search to find a replacement immediately kicked into high gear. And although it’s only been a couple of weeks since the announcement, it looks like Sony may have already found their man. According to Korean movie news site HanCinema, Korean actor Kwon Sang-woo had a successful audition and is currently in final negotiations for the role.

Kwon Sang-woo is currently unknown to North American audiences, having starred in such films overseas as Once Upon a Time in High School and Destiny. Apparently he has martial arts experience and his English, while not perfect, was good enough to impress Seth Rogen. As Twitch points out, this would be the third Korean star to make their Hollywood breakthrough this year after Rain in Ninja Assassin and Lee Byeong-Heon in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. While I have no opinion on Kwon Sang-woo as of yet, I’m just impressed that they are giving someone a chance outside of the usual suspects. I thought for sure Jet Li was going to be getting a phone call even though he’d clearly be too old for the part. Is anyone out there familiar with Kwon’s previous work? Do you think he will make a good Kato?

Some shiny new posters were unveiled this past weekend at Comic Con, and we’ve collected all the goods right here for you to gawk at. Among them, the very first one-sheet for Jonah Hex starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox, a teaser poster for the remake/reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and three clever yet visually unremarkable posters for Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods.

I promise, no annoying full motion posters this time. Like what you see? Check out the rest of them after the jump.

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Another batch of special presentations were announced for the Toronto International Film Festival today, including some of the highest profile movies yet. Additions include Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut Whip It starring Ellen Page, The Coen Brothers’s latest A Serious Man, Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, and Michael Moore’s bail out documentary Capitalism: A Love Story (like anyone didn’t see that coming).

In other news, it was announced this week that Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox will be premiering at the London Film Festival, which means it won’t be playing at TIFF. Boo. Check out the full list of new TIFF titles below.

• Dorian Gray (Dir. Oliver Parker, United Kingdom)
• The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (Dir. Rebecca Miller, USA)
• Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Dir. Werner Herzog, USA)
• Capitalism: A Love Story (Dir. Michael Moore, USA)
• Harry Brown (Dir. Daniel Barber, United Kingdom)
• Perrier’s Bounty (Dir. Ian Fitzgibbon, Ireland/United Kingdom)
• A Serious Man (Dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, USA)
• Triage (Dir. Danis Tanovic, Ireland/Spain)
• Whip It (Dir. Drew Barrymore, USA)
• Women Without Men (Dir. Shirin Neshat, Germany/France/Austria)

With Hollywood suddenly finding itself in the midst of a wave of adaptations of classic children’s books (Where The Wild Things Are, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Alice in Wonderland), Paramount has decided to bring back one book that was already a proven success on the big screen back in the early ’80s. Robert C. O’Brien’s Newbery Medal-winning book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH provided the source material for the animated film The Secret of NIMH, which was released back in 1982 to moderate commercial success and huge critical praise. I remember loving this movie when I was younger, perhaps because it was a bit darker than a lot of the other animated films of the time (it was produced by an independent studio of ex-Disney employees).

According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Neil Burger (The Illusionist, The Lucky Ones) is in talks to write a new screenplay based on the book, with Cary Granat (Spy Kids, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Scary Movie) on board as a producer. The somewhat depressing part of this news is that they will likely turn it into a live action/CG hybrid “in the manner of Alvin & the Chipmunks“. While I can appreciate that they are doing something a little different with the material, I can’t help but turn up my nose every time I hear someone mention Alvin & the Chipmunks as a point of reference for a new film. What do you think, is it time for a new generation to experience The Secret of NIMH or does the original still hold up today? If you want to revisit it, you’re in luck because the entire movie is now available for free on Hulu!

If you live life a quarter mile at a time you might want to pick up Fast & Furious on DVD or Blu-ray today, but if you don’t, well there isn’t much else to choose from. Dragonball: Evolution and Miss March are in stores this week along with the animated Green Lantern: First Flight movie and a couple of Magnet imports, Big Man Japan and Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America. Meanwhile, sci-fi junkies are probably eager to revisit the final season of Battlestar Galactica and possibly give Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse another chance on DVD, but if you ask me the week’s only essential release is This is Spinal Tap on Blu-ray.

• Fast & Furious (DVD, Blu-ray)
• Dragonball: Evolution (DVD, Blu-ray)
• Miss March (DVD, Blu-ray)
• Big Man Japan
• Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America
• Green Lantern: First Flight (DVD, Blu-ray)
• Bart Got a Room
• The Green Hornet
• The Green Hornet Strikes Again
• Repulsion: Criterion Collection (DVD, Blu-ray)
• An American Affair
• Torso
• Acolytes
• Generation Rx
• Battlestar Galactica 4.5 (DVD, Blu-ray)
• Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (DVD, Blu-ray)
• Dollhouse: Season 1 (DVD, Blu-ray)
• Knight Rider (2008): Season 1
• Life on Mars (UK): Series 1
• Spectacular Spider-Man: The Complete First Season
• Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (DVD, Blu-ray)
• Torchwood: Children of Earth (DVD, Blu-ray)
• Voltron: Fleet of Doom
• Transformers: The Complete Series Box Set
• This is Spinal Tap (Blu-ray)
• Bad Boy Bubby (Blu-ray)
• 12 Monkeys (Blu-ray)
• The Fast and the Furious (Blu-ray)
• 2 Fast 2 Furious (Blu-ray)
• The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (Blu-ray)
• The Inglorious Bastards (Blu-ray)
• A River Runs Through It (Blu-ray)