Even though we’re nearly three months removed from Halloween, I want to use this week’s opening paragraph to throw some support behind director Michael Stephenson‘s touching documentary, The American Scream. I recently caught the film via Netflix where it’s available to “Watch Instantly” and I was impressed to say the least. Stephenson’s previous entry, the indelible Best Worst Movie, quickly became one of my all-time favorite docs for the unexpected emotional punch it packed in following the lives of those impacted by Troll 2. Scream delivered on a similar level with its themes of family, community, and the pursuit of one’s passion (in this case, home haunting). If you haven’t seen it already, I recommend either checking it out on Netflix or picking up a copy for yourself from the film’s website.

All recommendations aside, much to the surprise of no one, this week’s Top 5 is headlined by the announcement that J.J. Abrams will direct/produce Star Wars: Episode VII with accompaniment by our Bullet to the Head set visit, Warm Bodies video interviews with Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer and more, a G.I. Joe: Retaliation set visit preview and interviews with director Jon M. Chu and more, and all of our coverage out of Sundance 2013 to date. A brief recap and link to each is hidden in plain view after the jump.

This time last week I was two movies into the triple feature I teased the last time we met. While I can’t say I was overly impressed by Gangster Squad, both Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained made their respective cases as qualified Best Picture nominees. Of the two, Zero Dark‘s unrelenting final act not only made it my top pick of the day but also provided some of the most sustained tension I can remember experiencing in a movie theater. Having now seen it for myself, I must say that I wholeheartedly agree with those who have voiced their disbelief at Kathryn Bigelow‘s Best Director Oscar snub.

Zero Dark Thirty praise aside, on tap in this week’s Top 5 are The Last Stand interviews with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Johnny Knoxville, and more, a live-action remake of Toy Story, a new trailer for Primer writer/director/star/almost literally everything else Shane Carruth‘s Upstream Color, Mama interviews with Guillermo del Toro and more, and all of our Sundance 2013 coverage to date. For your reading pleasure, a recap and link to each awaits after the jump.

What’s the best course of action should you ever find yourself a boring married person who’s hesitant to cash in “movie favors” due to the fear that your return favor will come in the form of the next four Katherine Heigl movies? Align yourself with like-minded boring married people and schedule yourself a significant-other-free triple feature. This advice comes directly from my own playbook and is the reason why this week’s Top 5 is arriving a little earlier than usual; so that I can make time to check out Gangster Squad, Zero Dark Thirty, and Django Unchained all in one glorious day. While you likely didn’t come here for relationship advice, as an added bonus to an already robust palette of content, I’m confident that you’re getting your time’s worth and then some.

All creative thinking pertaining to movies and how we can watch them while in a relationship aside, this week saw the announcement of the 2013 Oscar nominations, a little Evil Dead remake set visit coverage, Gangster Squad interviews with Ruben Fleischer and more, a healthy portion of posters and images from Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers, and developing news regarding Christopher Nolan potentially taking on Interstellar as his next directorial effort. All of the above resides in brief recap and link form after the jump.

Welcome to 2013, folks. If you’re reading this it means that you survived the Mayan Apocalypse, the first Dick Clark-less New Year’s Rockin’ Eve celebration in like four decades, likely some sort of mandatory holiday time with your extended family, and incessant political jabber about some sort of “fiscal cliff”, all in a matter of about two weeks. Congratulations on a job well done. In spite of all these accomplishments, though, odds are you still haven’t spent any part of 2013 hanging out with Arnold Schwarzenegger and his tank. So, to this point, our Dave Trumbore still wins 2013.

All tank envy aside, let’s keep our heads up and focus on the first Top 5 installment of the new year. This week’s recap includes Brendan’s editorial plea for giving 48fps the old college try, Justice League rumors, Matt’s Warm Bodies set visit and ensuing zombie transformation, news of Jay-Z being brought on to score Baz Luhrmann‘s The Great Gatsby, and the results of our first ever readers poll that asked for your top movies of 2012. Brief recaps and links to all of the above are dying for your attention after the jump.

In this, the final Saturday of 2012, it’s time to extract five topics from a year’s worth of Top 5‘s for our second annual “End of the Year Edition”. Given that this is a year-end list that exists on the Internet, I’m fully prepared for obligatory statements regarding my choices and how they prove my own ineptitude. That said, in an attempt to preempt such backlash, I’d like to welcome any and all readers to respectfully disagree with me in the comments section. Let’s keep it classy and enjoy a highlight reel of some of the best 2012 had to offer after the jump.

I’ll be honest, I did very little preparation for this week’s Top 5. With the all-encompassing destruction of the Mayan Apocalypse staring us in the face, I kind of figured what’s the point? No one’s going to care about movie news when Smoke from Mortal Kombat III’s fatality proves prophetic and Earth explodes, right? Alas, as is so often the case, the Mayans failed us and I was forced to pull things together at the last minute.

In this, our first post-Mayan calendar installment, we have This Is 40 interviews with Judd Apatow, Leslie Mann, and Paul Rudd, a new teaser trailer and images for Star Trek Into Darkness, the first trailer for Michael Bay‘s Pain and Gain, the scoop on Damon Lindelof‘s lack of involvement in the Prometheus sequel and new info on 1952, and the first red-band clip and poster from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg‘s This Is the End. Brief recaps and links to each are waiting after the jump.

I offered a similar sentiment following the tragedy at Aurora, CO back in July and I’ll do the same today: the event that unfolded yesterday in Newtown, CT is inexcusable and genuinely heartbreaking, even from a distance. The optimist in me wants to believe that any negative situation can be used to educate and improve the world we live in going forward. In this case, I’m hopeful but unsure that’s possible. On behalf of everyone here at Collider, I want to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who were lost yesterday.

As petty as it may seem, I feel fortunate to be able to offer a bit of diversion to your day with this week’s Top 5. Included in a trailer-heavy rotation this week is a new cut from Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel, The Hobbit interviews with Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis and more, the first trailer for Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim, Andre’s coverage from his Gangster Squad set visit, and the first look at Will Smith and Jaden Smith gallivanting across the human unfriendly Mother Earth found in M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth. A brief recap and link to each will greet you after the jump.

As lame as it may sound, I used this weekend’s Friday night to take in my second viewing of The Dark Knight Rises. Moreover, while the last thing a picture that made over $1 billion at the worldwide box office needs is a voice in its corner, I have to say that I enjoyed TDKR more the second-time around. While some aspects still bothered me (the final mix on Bane’s voice, why Jim Gordon would carry around in his coat pocket a confession written on giant-sized paper that he knows will have dire consequences, etc.), I found other elements to be better than I remembered (scenes between Bruce Wayne and Alfred, the brutality of Bane and Batman’s first fight, etc.). While it’s not without its problems, I stand by my belief that TDKR was the best superhero movie of the summer and a fitting end to a historic trilogy.

Random Batman thoughts aside, on tap this week is the first teaser trailer and poster for director J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness, a plethora of The Hobbit coverage including Dave’s review of An Unexpected Journey, a new poster for Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel, first reactions to Django Unchained, and what could very well be one of the final Top 5 entries for the oft and aforementioned The Dark Knight Rises. A brief recap and link to each awaits should you choose to pursue it after the jump.

You may have noticed a lack of Top 5 around these parts last weekend. Given the holiday weekend with friends and family, a slow news week in general, and my own recovery from Black Friday shopping at a local Wal-Mart (Note to past self: the kid next to you in line is going to unexpectedly throw-up so…just be prepared for that), it seemed like the logical time to take a week off. In spite of the holiday, though, a few cool things did happen the week before last so you’ll have to excuse the fact that some of this week’s items date back to two weeks ago.

Disclaimer aside, this week’s return includes Allison’s Confessions of a Star Wars Virgin series and more Star Wars news, Adam’s 2013 Oscar Previews, Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel returning for the Boy Meets World sequel series, Girl Meets World, the first programming announcement and an abundance of first images from Sundance 2013, and the synopsis for Star Trek Into Darkness finally sees the light of day. Find a brief recap and link to each after the jump.

I try and heed the wise words of Conan O’Brien and resist the urge to be cynical. I really do. But while digging through our The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 coverage in anticipation of this week’s post I stumbled across this poster for the film and all of my best laid plans went to waste. There is just no excuse for a franchise of its stature to have a poster that terrible. I’m far from an expert in graphic design, but mercy…I re-read Adam’s original post several times hoping to find the sentence where he points out that the poster was the Grand Prize winner of Summit’s “Design the Worst Damn Movie Poster Possible” contest. Sadly, there was no mention of such a contest. This was real and it made my heart hurt.

All cynicism aside, in this week’s Top 5, The Twilight Saga comes to a merciful end with interviews and things of the like, Damon Lindelof‘s draft of the Prometheus script becomes available for your reading pleasure, news regarding the debuts of Star Trek Into Darkness‘ first trailer and first 9 minutes of the film surfaces, a handful of images and a video from the set of Thor: The Dark World make their way onto the Interwebs, and believe it or not, more news regarding Star Wars: Episode VII gets discussed. I trust you know where to find a brief recap and link to each.

One of the actors I had the privilege of interviewing during my visit to the set of Texas Chainsaw 3D last August is Louisana’s own Paul Rae. While his name may not immediately standout to those in the peanut gallery, Rae’s previous work includes turns in a number of films including Joel Coen and Ethan Coen‘s True Grit remake and Oliver Stone‘s W. just to name a few.

During the interview, the ultra down-to-earth Rae discussed a number of topics including his excitement in playing a character that “nobody will like very much”, how he expects fans of the franchise to react to this latest iteration, how one of the scenes is “the most disturbing thing” he’s ever seen, and more. Check out the full interview after the jump.

Last night I uncovered a gem from 2011 for the first time and my only regret is that I didn’t take the time to seek it out sooner. Writer/director Thomas McCarthy‘s dramedy Win Win is not only consistently funny but also chock full of both heartwarming and heartbreaking moments. The performances are terrific all-around, the script is strong albeit somewhat easy to telegraph, and the wrestling scenes are even surprisingly intense at times (I mean, it was nominated for a prestigious ESPY for “Best Sports Film” after all). Matt gave the film his full endorsement when he reviewed it at Sundance 2011 and I’m doing the same here today.

Movie recommendations aside, in what was yet another busy week around these parts, the five standouts include our Skyfall interviews with Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, director Sam Mendes and more, a Beautiful Creatures set visit recap, the first trailer for Brad Pitt‘s World War Z, even more set visit goodness from Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s The Last Stand, and ongoing development news for the next Star Wars trilogy. Keep reading for brief recaps and links to all of the above.

Just when I thought my limited edition poster appetite was satisfied, the Halloween season rolls around and Mondo drops this beauty from Ken Taylor for John Carpenter‘s masterpiece. Given that I wasn’t fortunate enough to attend the benefit at L.A.’s New Beverly Cinema where the print’s Regular edition of 225 was released for only $100 (which included a ticket to the screening no less!), I’m now banished to dealing with sellers who are already asking upwards of four times that number. Sigh. What’s a guy to do but drop ridiculous amounts of money on movie art?

But enough of Hoarders: Collectible Movie Poster Edition, standing out from this past week’s headlines is the huge news regarding Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm and the launch of a new Star Wars trilogy beginning in 2015, Wreck-It Ralph interviews with John C. Reilly and more, our American Film Market 2012 coverage, Francis Lawrence helming the remainder of The Hunger Games franchise (including a two-part adaptation of Mockingjay), and special Election 2012 assets including Joss Whedon‘s endorsement of the Zomney Apocalypse and the return of Idiocracy‘s President Dwayne Elizando Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.

Tonight the wife and I are hosting an inaugural Halloween gathering for three primary reasons: 1) it’s an excuse to hang out with friends, 2) it’s an opportunity to watch horror classics with said friends and 3) our street name is Elm and we can’t pass on the chance to christen the get together with the least original Halloween party name of all time (I’ll let you do the math). All of this in mind, I was finding it difficult to strike a healthy balance of scary movie goodness that was equal parts frightening (for fans of the horror genre like myself) and fun/of the “Halloween spirit” (for those who don’t necessarily enjoy the genre but can appreciate the season). That was until I remembered that we owned Ernest Scared Stupid on Blu-ray. Now the biggest concern I have is making sure no one walks out of the house at the end of the night with that little gem in hand.

All Hallows Eve 2012 party plans aside, in this week’s Top 5 we’ve got a lineup that includes a visit to the New Zealand set of The Hobbit, the first trailer amongst other new assets from Iron Man 3, Cloud Atlas interviews with Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and more, the first red band trailer for director Fede Alvarez‘s Evil Dead remake, and a heartfelt plea for a Hollywood adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. A brief recap and link to each lives on after the jump.

In the spirit of the Halloween season, last night I watched The Cabin in the Woods again for the first time since catching it in theaters back in April. After a second viewing, my feelings on the film haven’t really changed. I love it. I love it with the passion of an army of “Mermen”. It’s just a brilliant blend of satire, horror and comedy and I’ll argue all day/all night with anyone who tells me differently (in all fairness, it’s okay if you don’t like the movie…you’re wrong, but it’s okay). If you’re like me and enjoy taking in horror classics around good ol’ All Hallows’ Eve, I ask that you do yourself a favor and include The Cabin in the Woods in your classic programming slate. You’ll either (A) love it or (B) have the opportunity to argue with me all day/all night. It’s a win-win.

With my Halloween viewing recommendation in hand, I’ll now present to you this week’s edition of our Top 5. In this week’s iteration is our coverage of New York Comic-Con 2012, yours truly’s Texas Chainsaw 3D set visit, Wally Pfister using the words “appalling” and The Avengers in the same sentence and all hell breaking loose shortly thereafter, the first teaser trailer for director Kimberly Peirce‘s Carrie remake, and Hugo Weaving vs. Transformers. A brief recap and link to each patiently awaits your attention after the jump.