With directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell’s ParaNorman opening in a couple weeks, we’ve been given some swag to send off to one lucky reader.  The 3D stop-motion picture centers on a young boy who can see the dead and must use this gift to lift a curse that threatens his small town.  ParaNorman features the voices of Kodi-Smit McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Goodman, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann, Jodelle Ferland and more.  The stop-motion animated flick opens August 17th.  Hit the jump to see how you can win some swag.

We previously brought you these six new clips from the upcoming 3D, stop-motion animated film, ParaNorman, but now we can give you a quick look at how the feature came together.  This behind-the-scenes featurette gives you an idea of the technology involved (3D printing of character molds), the meticulous nature of filming each individual scene and the sheer manpower involved with pulling off a feature of this complexity.

ParaNorman, directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell, and starring the vocal talents of Kodi Smit-McPhee, John Goodman, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann and Jeff Garlin, opens in 3D on August 17th.  Hit the jump to check out the behind-the-scenes time-lapse video.

The visually stunning ParaNorman opens in theaters August 17th, but we have six new clips to tease you with today.  If you missed Steve’s set visit to LAIKA studios, do yourself a favor and check it out.  The technology and man-power involved in the making of this 3D, stop-motion animated adventure comedy is astonishing.  The following clips highlight the film’s technical beauty and give glimpses of its characters, plot and humor.

ParaNorman, from directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell, features the voices of Kodi-Smit McPhee, Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman and Alex Borstein. Hit the jump to view the clips.

The stop-motion animated film ParaNorman already boasts cutting-edge visuals, but new viral newsletters serve to flesh out the story of the characters behind the puppets.  ParaNorman centers on the title character, voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee, a gifted but misunderstood young boy who has the power to speak to the ghostly residents of his hometown of Blithe Hollow.  We’ve already seen the gorgeous character and scene work in these images, TV spots, posters and trailers; Steve got an even closer look at the animation process during his set visit to LAIKA Studios.  Now, thanks to these viral newsletters, we get to see a little more background story on on the inhabitants of the cursed little town.

ParaNorman also features the voices of Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, and Alex Borstein.  The movie opens in 3D on August 17th.  Hit the jump to check out the newsletters.

Following on from the US trailer and poster out earlier this month, Focus Features have now released a new, longer international trailer for their stop-motion zombie horror, ParaNorman. When a small town is besieged by zombies, responsibility falls upon Norman, a local boy with the unique ability to speak to the dead, to save everyone from a centuries-old curse.

ParaNorman is Coraline writer Chris Butler‘s directorial debut, although Sam Fell (The Tale of Despereaux) is also co-directing. The film features the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, and Alex Borstein. The movie opens in 3D on August 17th. Hit the jump for the trailer.

The new US trailer for the stop-motion animated film ParaNorman has gone online. From Chris Butler (Coraline) and Sam Fell (The Tale of Despereaux) comes the story of Norman, a mysterious and misunderstood boy with the ability to see and talk to ghosts. This new trailer gives us a much better idea of what the plot of ParaNorman will actually be about. It also gives us a good look at some other characters in the film and the famous voices associated with them. While the previous trailer did a good job of piquing my interest, the new one actually made me look forward to the summer release. It hits on all the right notes of comedy and charisma.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster. The film features the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, and Alex Borstein. ParaNorman opens in 3D on August 17th.

An international trailer for the stop-motion animated film ParaNorman has gone online.  The movie centers on a young boy named Norman (voiced by Let Me In‘s Kodi Smit-McPhee) who is able to see ghosts but it’s no big deal.  It becomes a bigger deal when his small town comes under attack from the un-dead and he must save the day by stopping a centuries-old curse.  The US teaser trailer is one of my favorite trailers of the year, and the international version is also good, but it’s more focused on introducing Norman and the plot.  The movie still looks like a lot of fun and it will be one worth keeping an eye on in 2012.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also features the voices of Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, and Alex Borstein. ParaNorman opens in the US on August 17, 2012; it opens in the UK on September 14, 2012.

The first trailer for the stop-motion animated film ParaNorman has been released. The film comes from LAIKA, the animation studio that brought us Coraline, and centers on a boy whose ability to talk to the dead comes in handy when his town is ravaged by zombies, ghosts, witches, moronic grown-ups, and a centuries-old curse. We don’t get any dialogue from this teaser, as it’s just a montage of scenes with Donovan’s appropriately titled “Season of the Witch” playing over the scenes. The images here are pretty spectacular, as expected, and I like the design of the characters. The tag of the trailer really got me as well. I’m excited to see more from this peculiar little fella.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film features the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In), Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, and Alex Borstein. ParaNorman opens August 17th, 2012.

We have three bits of casting news to bring you way this afternoon. First up, writer/director Sergio Castellitto (perhaps best-known to American audiences for his role as Miraz in Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian) added a pair of A-list names to his latest project.  According to ScreenDaily, Penelope Cruz and Emile Hirsch have agreed to star in Venuto al Mondo aka Twice Born for our English-speaking readers.  The film, a drama based on a novel, tells the story of a single mother (probably played by Cruz) who brings her son to Saravejo, where his father died fighting in the Bosnian war years ago.  There’s no word yet on what role Hirsch will play, but expect it to be a major one.

Next, and on a more comedic note, Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Mary Lynn Rajskub, whose probably best-known for her role as Chloe on 24 have joined the growing cast of Safety Not Guaranteed, along with lesser-known actors Lynn Shelton, Karan Soni, and Jenica Bergere.  Safety not Guaranteed is based on a true story… well, a true classified ad and tells the story of three reporters investigating an ad seeking a partner for a time traveling mission.  According to the press release, one of the investigators(Aubrey Plaza) develops feelings for the “paranoid but compelling loner.”  Big Beach, the company behind Little Miss Sunshine is producing along with the Duplass Bros.

For our final piece of casting news, hit the jump to learn about Pam Grier, Michael Madsen, and Brigitte Nelson joining Skinny Dip.

Focus Features will reteam with Coraline animation studio LAIKA for two upcoming pictures.  Focus will distribute the first film under the deal, ParaNorman, on August 17, 2012.  The film will be only the second stop-motion animated film to be released in 3D.  Directed by Sam Fell (Flushed Away) and Chris Butler (storyboard supervisor on Coraline), ParaNorman is a comedy thriller about a local boy (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee) who can speak with the dead, which comes in handy when his town becomes under siege from zombies, ghosts, witches, moronic grown-up, and a centuries-old curse.  The voice cast also includes Casey Affleck, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Christopher Mintze-Plasse, Bernard Hill, Tempestt Bledsoe, Elaine Stritch, and Anna Kendrick.

The yet-to-be-named second picture will be released by Focus in 2014.  Hit the jump for the full press release.

Most TV shows are worn out by their seventh season.  Curb Your Enthusiasm isn’t one of them.  If anything, the show has become stronger.  I would argue that the show’s real turning point came in season four when Larry was hired to play Max Bialystock in The Producers.  Since then, Curb has found a way to keep an over-arching plotline that helps to balance season-long B-plot with the A-plot of Larry David’s continual comedy-of-manners and errors.  Season five had Larry looking for ways to avoid giving his kidney to Richard Lewis, and season six introduced The Blacks and a beautiful layer of racial humor to the show.  Larry also separated from his wife Cheryl (played by not-his-real-wife Cheryl Hines) over one of the best mismanagements of priorities of all-time.

With Toy Story 3 getting released next weekend, we’ve been given 5 clips and 18 high resolution images from the film.  Also, Matt was just at Pixar to do interviews with the voice cast and the filmmakers, so you can expect a lot more Toy Story 3 coverage next week.  Until then, check out the clips and images after the jump.

Larry David keeps finding great ways to change up Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Last year was the brilliant Seinfeld reunion and the year before that we had The Blacks.  Now, for the show’s eighth season, David is going back to his roots.  The New York Post reports [via Vulture] that the majority of season eight—which is set to air in 2011—will be shot in New York City.  Susie Essman, who plays Jeff Garlin’s obnoxious wife on the show, let it slip that she’s relieved they’re shooting in NYC because “Now I get to sleep in my own bed. Let [the rest of the cast] stay in hotels.”  Essman also revealed that while she and Garlin usually get to see the season’s outline ahead of time, they haven’t seen anything so far for this season.

Back in March, David mentioned that because of the Toyota recall, there might be a storyline involving his character’s beloved Prius.  David also said that it’s likely JB Smoove would be returning as fan-favorite character Leon.  If that’s still the case, it looks like Larry will have some great company on his trip to New York.

A new trailer for Toy Story 3 has been released and as you might expect from the company that only makes amazing movies (Pixar), the trailer makes me wish TS3 was in theaters this weekend.  Loaded with funny scenes and action, the trailer is a perfectly cut piece of awesome.

And unlike the first clips that have been released from Toy Story 3, this one starts to show what the movie is really about and how some of the new toys are not so friendly.  I promise you want to watch this trailer.  Also, I’ve posted 10 new high resolution images that show the new characters in greater detail.

Pixar will be unveiling a new trailer for Toy Story 3 tomorrow.  But if you can’t wait till then, 30 seconds of the trailer has already hit the net and it’s after the jump.  Featuring some of the new characters in the film, the spot is definitely worth watching.  Also, points to Disney/Pixar for finding a way to make us cover the movie twice.  After all, we’re posting the full trailer tomorrow as soon as it’s online.  Toy Story 3 gets released June 18 and the official website has been updated.

Hit the jump for the full synopsis and the 30 second clip: