The first trailer is online for writer/director Jonathan Kasdan’s The First Time.  The romantic comedy centers on a burgeoning romance between two high school teens.  Unlike other films of this ilk, Kasdan’s take seems to be incredibly honest at capturing the awkwardness of the titular event.  While the leads are unrealistically attractive, the chemistry is absolutely electric between the two of them.  It’s looking like Sony made a good decision in picking the John Hughes-esque film up from Sundance.

The First Time stars Brittany Robertson, Dylan O’Brien, Craig Roberts, James Frecheville and Victoria Justice. Be sure to check out Steve’s interview with Kasdan here.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer.

A few months out from the festival, acquisitions of films that premiered at Sundance 2012 haven’t let up. Sony Pictures Worldwide announced today that they’ve acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to Jonathan Kasdan’s (In the Land of Women) The First Time. The film takes place over the course of one weekend and follows two high school students who fall in love. Though the logline may sound trite, the film picked up considerable notice at Sundance and drew comparisons to John Hughes’ filmography. Kasdan wrote and directed the pic, which stars Dylan O’Brien, Britt Robertson, Victoria Justice, and Craig Roberts.

Hit the jump to read the full press release, and if you missed it check out Steve’s interview with Kasdan in which the filmmaker discusses the influence of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise, injecting his personal experiences into the film, and more.

One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was writer-director Jonathan Kasdan‘s (In the Land of Women) The First Time.  The film stars Brittany Robertson, Dylan O’Brien, Craig Roberts, James Frecheville and Victoria Justice.  Like Richard Linklater‘s Before Sunrise (one of my favorite films), The First Time is about watching two people fall in love, except instead of taking place over one night in Vienna, The First Time takes place over a weekend and it’s about two High School students.  While I’ve seen many High School celluloid love stories crash and burn before the end credits, Kasdan pulled me in with believable dialogue, realistic situations, and he reminded me what it feels like to be seventeen and unsure of everything.  While I saw a lot of films at this year’s Sundance, The First Time was one of my favorites.

Shortly after the Festival ended, I sat down with Kasdan for an extended interview.  We talked about Sundance, the influence of Before Sunrise, how he used his own personal experiences in the script, casting, getting financing, the contrast between making studio movies versus smaller films, improv vs. sticking to the script, future projects, the irony of “discovering” talent such as Kristen Stewart before they are “box office gold,” and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories for you this morning to wash that Oscar snub taste out of your mouth. First up, Movie Hole reports that Liam Hemsworth has officially signed on to star in the time travel romantic drama Timeless. We previously reported that Hemsworth was in talks to star in the pic, but now it looks like things are definitely a go. Hemsworth plays a man whose wife leaves him a fortune after her death. Haunted by her memory, the man uses the money to build a time travel machine in order to see her one last time.

Phillip Noyce (Salt) is onboard to direct, and filming is expected to get underway in July. I’m incredibly interested to see how Hemsworth’s career shakes out. He has potential, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in the highly anticipated adaption of The Hunger Games, which opens in March. The actor is currently filming The Expendables 2. Hit the jump for casting news regarding the indie I Am My Family Secret.

Another awards ceremony, another The Artist triumph. Michel Hazanavicius’ silent film continues its near sweep of awards season as it took home the Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor prize from the London Film Critics Circle Awards. Surprisingly, the other film to tie The Artist with three awards was the Iranian drama A Separation. The foreign film has been riding a wave of immense positive word of mouth, and the London Film Critics awarded the pic with Foreign Language Film of the Year, Best Screenwriter, and Best Actress.

Nearly shut out of the awards was Britain’s own Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The espionage drama failed to pick up any major prizes and was sent home with a win for Best Production Design. Elsewhere, We Need to Talk About Kevin was named Best British Film, Anna Paquin shared the Best Actress prize with Meryl Streep for her work in Margaret (quickly becoming the little engine that could), and Michael Fassbender won British Actor of the Year for his stellar work in Shame and A Dangerous Method. Full list of winners after the jump, which includes the critics’ top 10 films of 2011.

Today, the 2012 Sundance Film Festival announced their In-Competition line-up, and that means we’re about to get a boatload of new images from upcoming films.  After the jump you’ll find synopses and the first images from The End of Love (starring Mark Webber, Michael Cera, and Amanda Seyfried), Filly Brown (starring Gina Rodriguez, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Edward James Olmos), The First Time (starring Dylan O’Brien, Brittany Robertson, and Craig Roberts), and The Surrogate (starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, and William H. Macy).

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19 – 29th.

For his directorial debut, Richard Ayoade chose to adapt the coming-of-age novel, Submarine by Joe Dunthorne. With his deft application of French New Wave techniques, a spot-on performance by Craig Roberts and original music by Alex Turner, the front man for “The Arctic Monkeys,” Ayoade has given us an endearingly quirky film. Submarine follows 15-year-old Oliver Tate (Roberts) as he makes plans to lose his virginity to his new girlfriend while helping his parents rekindle their romance and attempting not to be dragged underwater by the overwhelming realities of growing up. You can read Matt Goldberg’s review here and see all our previous coverage here. Hit the jump for my review of the Submarine Blu-ray.

Comes a Bright Day has all the ingredients to be a great product of the UK independent film system.  First of all, it’s a crime drama with a dark sense of humor—”an offbeat, coming-of age love-story set during the armed robbery of London’s most exclusive jewelers.”  The cast is led by up-and-comers Craig Roberts (Submarine) and Imogen Poots (Fright Night), surrounded by veteran actors Kevin McKidd (Grey’s Anatomy) and Timothy Spall (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and fresh face Anthony Welsh.  And the official website is packed with material to spread the word about the film, including images, featurettes, and a production blog.

Director Simon Aboud is in post-production right now on his feature debut, with an eye toward premiering at Sundance or Berlin in 2012.  Hit the jump to see a ton of new images plus a few videos from the set of Comes a Bright Day.

The Weinstein Company has released a new poster for Richard Ayoade’s delightful coming-of-age film Submarine.  The story centers on young Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) as he deals with trying to get a girlfriend and coping with his parents’ loveless marriage.  The new poster is almost identical to the one TWC previously released but this time it wants you to make sure that Ben Stiller is presenting it and that some critics liked it.  TWC has also released a tongue-in-cheek “anti-bullying” guide even though bullying really only factors into the first act of the film.

Hit the jump to check out the poster, click here to read my review of the film from Sundance, and click here to see the website.  The film also stars Yasmin Page, Noah Taylor, Paddy Considine, and Sally Hawkins.  Submarine opens June 3rd.

The domestic trailer for Richard Ayoade’s Submarine has gone online.  It’s not a bad trailer, but it could do a better job of playing up the film’s humor and warmth.  But instead of conveying the movie’s charm, the trailer makes us patiently await the criticism from advocacy groups deriding the use of a character saying that another character looks “mentally retarded”.  The faults of this latest trailer aside, I enjoyed the film when I saw it at Sundance and I strongly encourage you to check it out.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Submarine stars Craig Roberts, Paddy Considine, Noah Taylor, Sally Hawkins, and Yasmin Paige.  The film opens June 3rd.

The first trailer for Submarine has gone online.  I caught the film at Sundance and thought it was delightful debut for writer-director Richard Ayoade.  While the trailer presents the film as slightly twee and reminiscent of Wes Anderson, it still does a good job of selling the film’s humor without spoiling too many of the jokes.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Submarine stars Paddy Considine, Noah Taylor, Sally Hawkins, Craig Roberts, and Yasmin Paige.  The film opens in the UK on March 18th.  There’s currently no release date set for the U.S. but The Weinstein Company will handle North American distribution.

Richard Ayoade’s Submarine is like an indie version of last year’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.  Both movies are coming-of-age stories that center on a lead character who views his world through the lens of his interests.  But whereas Scott sees the world in shades of videogames and pop culture, Submarine’s eccentric protagonist, 15-year-old Oliver Tate, brings a French New Wave and erudite nature to his world view.  The film wisely grounds its lead character by having him grapple with simple but relatable problems: he doesn’t know how to be a good boyfriend and his parents’ marriage is disintegrating due in part to his mom’s old flame moving in next door.  Ayoade brings an enchanting and delightful visual style to his debut feature and compliments it with an impressive score and strong performances.  While Submarine may not break any new ground or leave your head spinning, it’s a grand announcement that Ayoade is a director you’ll need to keep on your radar.