Just last week, Jurassic Park 4 director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) tweeted a picture of the first film’s setting, Isla Nublar.  However, the dinosaur embryos may be going into cold storage for a little bit.  AICN recently picked up some tweets from some members of the crew.  Concept Artist Dean Sherriff tweeted “JP4 on hold” while Digital Assets Manager Todd Smoyer was a bit more harsh by tweeting “Hollywood makes and crushes dreams.  Goodbye JP4″.  Despite Smoyer’s depressing tweet, Jurassic Park 4 is reportedly still underway, and the hold is to make the production even bigger.

Hit the jump for more. [Update: Universal Pictures has confirmed that JP4 has been put on hold indefinitely.  Read the studio's statement after the jump, along with news regarding which actors had met for the lead roles.]

How do you deal cinematically with cancer? That’s the question of Jonathan Levine’s 50/50, which was based on the experiences of its writer Will Reiser. It’s a tough subject matter because cancer touches so many lives and rarely offers happy endings. But 50/50 manages to be charming, and more about friendship and family in crisis than just pain. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars with Seth Rogen, Bryce Dallas Howard and Anna Kendrick in this warm dramedy. Our review of 50/50 on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

With the fall film season now in full swing, I’m 100% ashamed to admit that I’ve yet to see two of my most anticipated fall films: Moneyball and 50/50. Now, I have every intention of ending this charade at some point this weekend but, for now, I hope you’ll give me a pass. If I’ve still yet to check them out when we meet here next week, I’ll understand if you choose to revoke my “mildly credible film blogger” credentials. In the meantime…

…In this week’s “Top 5″ installment, you can find all of our Fantastic Fest 2011 coverage. After that, interviews abound with the cast of Jonathan Levine’s dramedy 50/50, the cast, creators, and real-life inspiration for Machine Gun Preacher, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance director Brian Taylor, and Thor/The Avengers‘ Tom Hiddleston. Check out a brief recap and link to each after the jump.

It’s important to have a sense of humor in all things.  Being able to laugh at misfortune doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re diminishing a tragedy’s importance or ignoring the feelings created by hardship.  Laughter isn’t the best medicine (that would be the polio vaccine) but it’s damn useful and Jonathan Levine’s 50/50 manages to find humor in cancer by bringing together great performances and a gentle approach that manages to skillfully balance foul-mouthed dialogue alongside honest drama.

The dramedy 50/50, directed by Jonathan Levine (The Wackness), is one of my favorite films of 2011.  Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Anjelica Huston, the film is based on screenwriter Will Reiser’s real-life battle with cancer and focuses on the twists, turns, shock, sadness, and comedic relief that he experienced along the way.  You can watch the trailer here and here’s Phil’s review.

While at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, I was able to speak with Dallas Howard about how she got involved in 50/50, the research she does for her roles, and was she surprised by the success of The Help.  In addition, I asked Twilight fans meet her what do they always want to talk about and I got an update on a movie she wants to direct called The Originals.  She says it’s like a Bill Chill for her generation.  Hit the jump to watch.

Movies that take place during the Civil Rights era have become their own genre and one that sometimes diminishes the characters and their stories by making everyone into a hero, a villain, or a martyr.  The Help tries to expand those roles by showing that not all southern white people in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi are vile racists, not all black people are born courageous activists, and that while the battle lines were clearly defined as right and wrong, some people had to do some soul-searching to find where they stood.  The movie stumbles when it forgets to shade its characters and by being too faithful to the book at the expense of effectively translating the story to the screen.  But despite these missteps, The Help manages to deliver some powerful emotional moments due in large part to yet another tremendous performance from Viola Davis.

In the drama The Help, set in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960′s and adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name, actress Bryce Dallas Howard plays the film’s bitchy antagonist Hilly Holbrook. A villain who believes in her own self-righteousness and who has no idea that she is doing anything wrong, Hilly has the charisma needed for other women to follow her, but is also ice-cold and viciously cruel, if you cross her. Convinced she is justified, even though she is deeply misguided, Hilly’s actions cause Aibileen (Viola Davis) to go to Skeeter (Emma Stone) to share her stories about being a maid for wealthy white families for a secret writing project that the aspiring journalist is working on. While that unlikely friendship puts them all at risk, it also changes their lives in extraordinary ways that none of them ever could have imagined.

At the film’s press day, Bryce Dallas Howard talked about how much she wanted to be a part of such a fantastic project, how daunting it was to live up to the expectations of the fans of the book, making the character into a real woman instead of a two-dimensional villain, the fun and freedom of playing a bitch, and the honor she felt in working with Sissy Spacek, Viola Davis and Allison Janney. She also talked about taking on a dramedy with 50/50, in which she plays Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s girlfriend, and the experience she had producing the Gus Van Sant film Restless, due out in September. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

Disney has sent over eight clips from writer/director Tate Taylor’s The Help, based on the bestselling book by Kathryn Stockett.  Set in Mississippi during the civil rights movement of the early 1960s, The Help is about “a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives—and a small Mississippi town—upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families.” The film stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Ocatvia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Lowell, Anna Camp, Ahna O Reilly, and Allison Janney.

I’ve spoken to a few people that have seen it and everyone has been raving.  Almost all say it’ll be a contender during Award season.  Hit the jump for the clips, and look for interviews with the cast week of release.

The international trailer for writer/director Tate Taylor’s The Help is now available online. While the first half of the cut is very similar to the trailer released back in April, the last minute devotes more time to highlighting the interview process that Emma Stone’s character takes on while writing about the lives of African-American maids in Jackson, Mississippi during the civil rights movement. While I consider Stone a great young talent, I’m mostly looking forward to checking out The Help because it looks to be genuinely interested in showcasing a segment of the African-American plight during a tumultuous time in American history as opposed to simply pointing out how helpful white people can be to those poor, helpless black folk (I’m looking at you, The Blind Side). Here’s to hoping that turns out to be the case.

In addition to Stone, The Help also stars Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek, and Octavia Spencer. The film hits theaters later this summer on August 12th. Hit the jump to check out both the trailer and a couple of new images from the pic .

Summit Entertainment has released the first trailer for the dramedy 50/50.  Screenwriter Will Reiser based the story on his own battle with cancer. The trailer is fantastic and does a great job of balancing some funny jokes with the gravity of a guy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) dealing with cancer.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and the first images along with Steve’s thoughts on the film.  50/50 is directed by Jonathan Levine (The Wackness), also stars Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Angelica Huston, and Phillip Baker Hall star.  It opens September 30th.

Disney has released the first trailer for The Help, based on the bestselling book by Kathryn Stockett.  Set in Mississippi during the civil rights movement of the early 1960s, The Help tells the story of three women: recent college graduate Skeeter (Emma Stone), wise black maid Aibileen (Viola Davis), and Aibileen’s sassy best friend Minny (Ocatvia Spencer).  The threesome “come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk.”  Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Lowell, Anna Camp, Ahna O Reilly, and Allison Janney also star.  Tate Taylor wrote and directed the adaptation.

The Help opens August 12.  Watch the trailer after the jump.

Following in the footsteps of your dad is not such a bad idea when your father is Ron Howard. Bryce Dallas Howard, who burst onto the scene in M. Night Shyamalan’s ultra polarizing The Village, will be stepping behind the camera soon for her first feature. Showbiz411 caught up with the actress during the busy Oscar weekend and got the first details of the film. Titled The Originals, Bryce will be looking to cast stars her own age and described it as, “a Breakfast Club for my generation.” Hit the jump for whom she has in mind to star and more details on the film.

DreamWorks has provided us with the first images along with the official synopsis for the upcoming 1960s drama The Help.  The film, which is based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, was directed by Tate Taylor and stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Sissy Spacek, Allison Janney, Octavia Spencer, and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Hit the jump to check out nine high-resolution images from the film plus the official synopsis.  The Help is set to open on August 12, 2011.

One of the great unanswered metaphysical questions is “What happens to us after we die?”  It’s a question that can provoke rich, thoughtful, and emotional responses.  As evidenced by Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter, it can also provoke a response that’s plodding, vapid, and distant.  Rather than explore the notion of an afterlife through a strong, single narrative, Hereafter takes three unconnected and underdeveloped stories and then clumsily puts them together at the end as the lead characters attempt to come to grips with the great beyond.  The story of a journalist (Cecile de France) coping with her own near-death experience lacks conflict and the tale about a twin (Frankie and George McLaren) dealing with the death of his brother is undone by a weak performance. The plotline about a psychic (Matt Damon) who feels cursed by his ability to communicate with the dead is the only story that feels like it could stand as its own movie, but it’s underserved since it loses screen time to the weaker narratives.

With Clint Eastwood’s latest Hereafter opening in limited release this weekend and everywhere on October 22, we’ve been given 4 clips.  Hereafter stars Matt Damon, Cecile de France, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jay Mohr, and Frankie/George McLaren and it tells the story of three people who are haunted by mortality in different ways.  Hit the jump for the official synopsis and the clips: