With writer-director J.J. Abrams Super 8 opening tonight, I was recently able to interview the cast in London for our partners at Omelete.  While Abrams likes to keep his films under wraps while they’re in production, by now you know Super 8 takes place in the summer of 1979 and it’s about a group of friends that discovers something not from this world while making a super 8 film.  Mix in that it’s produced by Steven Spielberg, uses his Amblin logo (which should clue you into what kind of movie this is), and you’re got a great coming-of-age story that I think audiences are going to love.

During my interview with three of the kids (Joel Courtney, Riley Griffiths and Ryan Lee), we talked about trying to keep the movie a secret, their reaction to seeing the finished film, filming the train sequence, what films did they watch before filming, how they got to help write and direct the super 8 zombie film within the film, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

J.J. Abrams Super 8 is an echo.  It echoes the innocence of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin films of the 1980s, it echoes the imagined purity of small town America, and it echoes the innocence and coming of age through the lens of aspiring filmmakers.  But Super 8 never makes its own noise. While the film manages to capture the fun, adventure, thrills, laughs, and characters of Spielberg’s movies, Super 8 never conjures its own magic.

Over the past several months, Paramount sent out pieces of a grainy black-and-white footage as part of the viral campaign for J.J. Abrams’ Super 8.  These pieces were shown on websites like /Film, HitFix, io9, and other websites.  Now a day before the film’s release (or really, the afternoon before the film’s release since Paramount sold tickets for showings tonight), all the pieces have been cut together to show an early 1960s “secret military video” showing early scientific research into the alien that breaks free from the train crash featured in all of Super 8‘s TV spots and trailers.  Abrams has tried so hard to keep most of the film a secret so I won’t spoil the video.  I will say that the video itself is part of Super 8‘s plot, so you should consider this somewhat of a spoiler (but I wouldn’t say it’s major).

Hit the jump to check out the footage, which contains a glimpse of the alien. The film stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Ron Eldard, and Kyle Chandler.  Super 8 opens tomorrow (or tonight).  Look for my review later today.

With writer-director J.J. Abrams Super 8 opening tomorrow, I was recently able to interview the cast in London for our partners at Omelete.  While Abrams likes to keep his films under wraps while they’re in production, by now you know Super 8 takes place in the summer of 1979 and it’s about a group of friends that discovers something not from this world while making a super 8 film.  Mix in that it’s produced by Steven Spielberg, uses his Amblin logo (which should clue you into what kind of movie this is), and you’re got a great coming-of-age story that I think audiences are going to love.

During my interview with Elle Fanning (who does some great work in Super 8) she talked about what it’s like being in a big summer movie and getting to travel the world promoting it, was it challenging keeping the secrets of the movie, filming the movie within the movie, what was the best part of making Super 8, and I also got updates on Francis Ford Coppola’s Twixt Now and Sunrise and Cameron Crowe’s We Built a Zoo.  She said the Coppola film is “very scary.  It’s a horror film.”  Hit the jump to watch:

If you’re a movie poster geek, than you’re no stranger to the work of Drew Struzan.  His work was a favorite of Steven Spielberg’s and Struzan did the iconic posters for the Indiana Jones movies, The Goonies, Back to the Future, and more.  Because Spielberg produced J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 and that film is specifically trying to recall 80s Spielberg, it makes sense that Paramount would create a Drew Struzan-like poster for the film.  However, I don’t think Struzan actually did this poster unless he forgot how to draw faces.  Seriously, it looks like poor Kyle Chandler’s face is about to melt off.

Hit the jump to check out the poster and for details on how you can pay to see the movie a day early.  Super 8 opens this Friday. [Updated: Movies.com reports that the poster is fan made.  I'm willing to give it a little more leeway since this didn't come out of Paramount's marketing department but was a labor of being super excited for the movie]

The MTV Movie Awards are a time for fans to gather round, vote for their favorite massive franchise, and give it a bucket of golden popcorn that’s like an Oscar except no one cares.  No one ever got more clout or more box office from an MTV Movie Award.

It’s also a time to give new looks at upcoming films that will most likely be nominated for awards the following year.  At tonight’s MTV Movie Awards, viewers got a new trailer for Super 8 and new clips from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and The Help.  The Super 8 trailer is more action-heavy than the previous ones, but I’m glad that they’re still not showing the alien.  The Harry Potter clip is short but intense (is it July yet? No? Damn.) and the clip from The Help doesn’t have spectacle, but I’m always happy to watch performances from Emma Stone and Allison Janney.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer and the clips.  Super 8 opens this Friday.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 opens in 3D on July 15th.  The Help opens August 12th.

With writer-director J.J. Abrams Super 8 opening next week, I was recently able to interview him in London for our partners at Omelete.  While Abrams likes to keep his films under wraps while they’re in production, by now you know Super 8 takes place in the summer of 1979 and it’s about a group of friends that discovers something not from this world while making a super 8 film.  Mix in that it’s produced by Steven Spielberg, uses his Amblin logo (which should clue you into what kind of movie this is), and you’re got a great coming-of-age story that I think audiences are going to love.

During my interview with Abrams we talked about the secrecy surrounding the film, the fact that a super 8 movie is getting released in IMAX, how involved was he in the ARG/viral stuff, what does it mean to use the Amblin logo, and what are the Easter Eggs that people should look out for.  He says “there are a couple of things hidden here and there,” and he also says “Leonard Nimoy is in the movie somewhere if you can find him.”

In addition, I also asked about the Star Trek sequel.  With production not yet underway, I wondered if he’d be able to make the summer 2012 release date.  He said “we’re working really hard to get that movie made as soon as possible, but we don’t want to rush anything.  The worst thing we could possible do would be to put something into production to make a release date instead of a great movie.”  Amen.  Hit the jump to watch.

With writer/director J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 opening next week, Paramount has released over twenty new images and you can check them out after the jump.  Here’s the synopsis:

In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth – something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.

With the embargo lifted, I can tell you Super 8 was great and it made me feel like a kid again.  If I was 12, Super 8 would probably be my favorite movie.  It really deserves the Amblin logo at the beginning…

In just two short weeks we’ll finally get to see J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg’s alien conspiracy collaboration Super 8 and yet unlike most blockbusters in the pipeline, we still know very little about it. Much like on Abrams’ Cloverfield, the marketing department has wisely played their cards close to their chest and audiences are going to get the increasingly rare experience of walking into a major blockbuster without knowing exactly what they’ll see.

That said, the mystery surrounding Super 8 has only raised the demand for info on the project and today anyone hungry for details about the movie will have their desires met by none other than Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams. The pair rarely ever speak to the press these days (as only filmmakers of their considerable box office clout can), but a video interview with the dynamic duo has surfaced on the internet today that reveals some fresh and thankfully spoiler-free tidbits on the highly anticipated project. Geeks can officially start salivating. Hit the jump to see video footage of this rare sighting of Spielberg and Abrams together, hereby crushing rumors once and for all the Abrams is actually Spielberg going through a Benjamin Button-style reverse aging process.

A new Japanese poster for Super 8 hit the internet tonight, and based on a quick survey of the movie blogs, people seem to love the vintage Steven Spielberg aesthetic.  The movie depicted in the poster truly does look like it’s influenced by the man who directed E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which was J.J. Abrams’ stated goal from the outset.

To be honest, I’m partial to the new international poster for Zookeeper, which taps into the primal pleasure of watching Kevin James and a gorilla ride a roller coaster together. Check out both after the jump.

Well, we’re off to the races people. Summer blockbuster season is officially upon us and the Hollywood hype machines are working at full force. Today clips from arguably the two biggest movies of June have found their way onto the internet. New scenes from X-Men: First Class and JJ Abrams’ excitingly/frustratingly mysterious Super 8 are now available online.  Both blockbusters have a great deal of potential and the new clips certainly don’t reveal anything that will dissuade viewers from that opinion, but don’t expect to see anything earth shattering. It’s pretty simple stuff cherry picked for marketing purposes. You will however get to see 30 more mysterious seconds from Super 8 as well as an early look at X-Men: First Class’ Hank McCoy (aka Beast) in action and far more Oliver Platt than was ever expected to be in an X-Men movie. These flicks are looking like they’ll be pretty damn good. Hopefully they’ll deliver on the hype unlike, say, a certain pirate-related sequel. Hit the jump to see the clips.  X-Men: First Class opens on June 3rd while Super 8 hits theaters on June 10th.

Paramount released the first clip from Super 8 earlier today, and followed up tonight with clip number two.  The second clip opens right where the last clip ended, so together you have a full action-packed minute of Super 8, folks.  (Actually, based on some choppy editing, I’m guessing they crammed at least couple minutes screentime devoted to kids goofing around with a camera then train crashery into said minute.)

Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich, Gabriel Basso, Joel Courtney, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, and Amanda Michalka star.  Written and directed by J.J. Abrams in collaboration with producer Steven Spielberg, Super 8 opens June 10.  Watch both clips after the jump.

The first clip from J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 has gone online.  Footage-wise, there’s not much here that you haven’t seen in the trailer.  What’s interesting about the clip is the pacing and the camera angles.  The clip is paced so quickly that it almost feels abbreviated and of course, there’s plenty of lens flare for no particular reason.

Hit the jump to check out the brief clip.  The film stars Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich, Gabriel Basso, Joel Courtney, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, and Amanda Michalka.  Super 8 opens June 10th.

While I’m not crazy about posting TV spots (if you watch TV, you’re gonna see them and see them often), footage for J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 has been so scarce that I figure this one is worth sharing.  What’s new in this spot that you didn’t see in the trailer?  Cars are missing their fuse boxes and electrical systems!  Kids screaming “Guys, watch out!” and “Oh my God!”  The trailer may have depicted the movie as a nice throwback to Spielberg’s 80s Amblin films, but this TV spot is all about heart-pounding action.

Hit the jump to check out the TV spot.  Super 8 stars Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich, Gabriel Basso, and Ryan W. Lee.  It opens June 10th.

Continuing our coverage from our visit to Pixar in anticipation of the release of Cars 2, we have our exclusive interview with Michael Giacchino.  One of the most in-demand composers at the moment (and rightly so), Giacchino has been a bit of a mainstay at Pixar having scored The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and most recently Up, for which he won the Academy Award.  His versatile work is undeniably brilliant, from the sweeping tones of Lost to the bombastic panache of Star Trek.

In our interview, Giacchino talked about his approach to the score for Cars 2, what influences he used in creating the music, what the process of a composer at Pixar is like, and also gave an update on his scores for some highly anticipated upcoming films (Super 8, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and John Carter of Mars).  Hit the jump to check it out.