
A new trailer for Pixar’s upcoming film Brave has been released. The pic is the studio’s first fairy tale and revolves around a young princess (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) in the Scottish Highlands who defies an age-old custom, inadvertently unleashing chaos and fury in the kingdom. The tone of the trailer is a bit scattershot. On the one hand, there are grand statements about changing your fate and wanting freedom. On the other hand, there’s a guy in a kilt mooning his fellow Scot. Tone aside, the visuals look fantastic. Overall, the trailer is alright, but I think Brave still has the potential to be a great movie.
Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film also features the voices of Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters. Brave opens in 3D on June 22, 2012.

A new synopsis for Pixar’s Brave has gone online. We already knew the film was set in the mystical Scottish Highlands and revolved around a young princess (voiced my Kelly Macdonald) who defies a sacred custom of the land, inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom, and then makes an ill-fated wish in order to set things right. The new synopsis adds a bit more color to the previous synopsis although it doesn’t add much in the way of new plot details. However, it’s looking like that for everyone who was unimpressed with Cars 2 (i.e. everyone), Brave will be the terrific experience we’ve come to expect from Pixar.
Hit the jump to check out the synopsis. Click here, here, and here for our Brave interviews at D23. The film also stars Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters. Brave opens in 3D on June 22, 2012.

At this weekend’s D23 (essentially Disney’s Comic-Con), I got to speak with Kevin McKidd and Kelly Macdonald about Pixar’s Brave. In the upcoming animated film arriving June 22nd, 2012, Macdonald plays an unruly daughter and an accomplished archer who defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom. McKidd plays one of the kingdom’s three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin.
During the interview, they talked about being at D23, who they play in Brave and what it’s about, how Brave is the first Pixar movie with a female protagonist and what that means, how the movie has changed during the recording process, and I also got in a question about the second season of Boardwalk Empire. Hit the jump to watch.

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.

After watching the trailer for The Bunraku, I’m more than a little confused. Its visual style conjures imagery of Dick Tracy and Kung Fu Hustle, but it’s as if these films took place in the world of Beetle Juice. Not to mention there’s some guy unloading serious kick-assery while wearing what seems to be the sorting hat from Harry Potter. The story is as follows: a drifter (Josh Hartnett) teams up with a young samurai (Gackt) and a bartender (Woody Harrelson) who plot revenge against a ruthless leader (Ron Perlman), a dangerous man leading an army of criminals headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins. The film also stars Demi Moore and Kevin McKidd.
All in all, the trailer makes the movie look a bit ridiculous but unique enough to leave an impression. Hit the jump to check it out along with an extended synopsis of the film.

One thing I love about the way Pixar markets their original films is that the trailers show very little footage from the actual movie itself. You’re able to go in almost completely fresh, without feeling like you’ve already seen 2/3’s of the movie. The next original film to be released from Pixar will be Brave next summer, and now The Pixar Blog confirms that the first teaser trailer for the film will be attached to Pixar’s Cars 2 when it hits theaters next month.
The studio’s first fairy tale (and their first film with a female protagonist), Brave centers on Princess Merida, a skilled archer who accidentally sets evil upon the Scottish highlands when she is granted an ill-fated wish. The phenomenal voice cast includes Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters. Judging by the gorgeous concept art that Pixar released in March, we’re in for quite a treat. Brave is slated for a June 22nd, 2012 release, while Cars 2 hits theaters June 24th.

I’m already looking past Cars 2 and on to Pixar’s next film Brave. That’s partially because Cars 2 looks awful and partially because Brave will feature the studio’s first female protagonist. It was also going to be the studio’s first film with a female director (Brenda Chapman), but there was a bit of controversy last October when Chapman was replaced by Mark Andrews, who previously directed the Pixar short One Man Band.
Behind-the-scenes drama aside, Brave looks like it could be a great film. The film is set in Scotland and centers on a tomboyish princess who accidentally unleashes evil on her kingdom and must save the day. The princess was to be voiced by Reese Witherspoon but scheduling conflicts forced her to drop out. She’ll be replaced by they actually scottish Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire). Hit the jump for more details on the film plus a first look at the concept art. Brave is set to hit theaters in 3D on June 22, 2012. [Updated: Disney has provided some high-resolution images of the concept, which you can check out after the jump]

In the last 24 hours, many people here at the Toronto International Film Festival got to check out writer/director Guy Moshe’s Bunraku. Starring Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore, Kevin McKidd and Ron Perlman, this was one of those films on my radar since we ran the images that showcased the hyper stylized sets and costumes.
Going in, I figured the film was either going to be incredibly cool, or a train wreck of epic proportions. It was neither. Instead, I walked out thinking Moshe aimed really high with Bunraku and while some of it was pretty cool, a lot of it had some problems – the biggest of which was the two hour running time. I think if he had cut it down to 90 minutes, the film would be a lot stronger. Saying all this, I respect that he made something unique and different and think everyone (included all the actors) gave it their all. For a lot more, hit the jump:

What I love about this time of year are all the movies getting ready to unspool for the first time. Over the next few weeks, the Toronto Film Festival, Telluride, the Venice Film Festival, and even Fantastic Fest will premiere tons of movies – with many of them under the radar (for now). That’s because every year plays out the same way…as a few movies will come out of nowhere to win some of the biggest Awards at each of the Festivals and then they’ll get released around the world. That’s why everyone gets so excited for this time of year, because over the next few weeks, the world’s leading film critics will get to see almost all the big releases for the rest of the year and everyone wants to be the first one predicting what will win an Oscar and what film was a huge disappointment.
So why this long winded intro? Because one of the many films off my radar was writer/director Guy Moshe’s Bunraku. While I knew the film from the times I’d seen the title listed on Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore, Josh Hartnett, Kevin McKidd and Ron Perlman’s IMDb profiles, I didn’t know anything about it. However, we just got the first images from the film and the synopsis and now I’m very curious. Hit the jump for more:

20th Century Fox has just released 8 movie clips from director Chris Columbus’ Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. The film stars Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Kevin McKidd, Joe Pantoliano, Uma Thurman and Melina Kanakaredes. Here’s the synopsis:
Trouble-prone Percy Jackson is having problems in high school – but that’s the least of his challenges. It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus seem to have walked out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology texts and into his life. Percy has learned that his real father is Poseidon, god of the sea, which means Percy is a demigod – half human, half god. At the same time, the powerful gods on Olympus are feuding, which could launch a war enveloping our entire planet.
While I saw a screening the other day, I’m under embargo, so I can’t say what I thought of the film. But the clips do a good job of letting you know what you’re in for. Make sure to watch the Uma Thurman as Medusa clip…

20th Century Fox has just released a number of new images from director Chris Columbus’ Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. The film stars Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Kevin McKidd, Joe Pantoliano, Uma Thurman and Melina Kanakaredes. Here’s the synopsis:
Trouble-prone Percy Jackson is having problems in high school – but that’s the least of his challenges. It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus seem to have walked out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology texts and into his life. Percy has learned that his real father is Poseidon, god of the sea, which means Percy is a demigod – half human, half god. At the same time, the powerful gods on Olympus are feuding, which could launch a war enveloping our entire planet.
Hi the jump to check out the new images and look for new movie clips tomorrow:
Russell Crowe in Early Talks to Star in DRACULA Re-Imagining, HARKER
Hasbro Picks up the STAR TREK License; Toys to Be Released in 2013 to Coincide with STAR TREK 2
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