The first trailer for the family drama Won’t Back Down (formerly Still I Rise) has gone online.  Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis star as two mothers from different backgrounds who join forces to take on the failing public school system.  It’s a nice idea for a film (apparently based on true events), and the trailer has its moments, but I fear the full feature will be trite examination of a complex issue with a “nice” ending that wraps things up with a smile.  The education system is in dire need of reform and taking a Blind Side approach to the issue is unworthy of the attention it deserves.  That said, Gyllenhaal and Davis are fantastic actresses and Gyllenhaal has certainly been outspoken about social issues in the past, so hopefully Won’t Back Down tackles the issue with intellect and candidness and provides/stirs some thoughtful discussion on the topic.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  Directed by Daniel Barnz (Beastly), the film also stars Holly Hunter and Oscar Isaac.  Won’t Back Down opens on September 28th.

Principal photography has started today on a couple of interesting productions.  Here they are at a glance:

• Therese, formerly known as Therese Raquin, is an erotic thriller starring Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Oscar Isaac (Drive), Tom Felton (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Jessica Lange (American Horror Story).
• Graphic novel adaptation, The Scribbler, also started production with Katie Cassidy (Taken) set to star.

Hit the jump for much more on both projects.

Oscar Isaac has landed one of the lead roles in the adaptation of Emile Zola’s novel Therese Raquin. The dark thriller stars Elizabeth Olsen as a young woman in 1867 Paris whose aunt, Madame Raquin, is forcing her into an arranged marriage with her rich, but sickly, first cousin (Tom Felton). As Therese soon becomes obsessed with Laurent, a friend of her husband’s, a devastating affair ensues with a very heavy price. Deadline reports that Isaac will take on the role of Laurent, and while we previously had Glenn Close attached to play Olsen’s aunt, Deadline’s report now says that Jessica Lange has the role.

Isaac had a nice supporting role in last year’s Drive and he appears in the upcoming reboot The Bourne Legacy. The talented actor is currently filming Joel and Ethan Coen’s folk music drama Inside Llewyn Davis, and he make a nice addition to the promising Therese Raquin cast. Though Close was a nice fit, Lange does “overbearing motherly figure” like nobody’s business so I have no qualms with the switch.

The first trailer and poster for The Bourne Legacy have gone online.  The central message of the trailer is this: Jeremy Renner can kick the shit out of people just as well as Matt Damon. It’s clearly the same Bourne flavor, and audiences will be happy to get another great actor beating up bad guys. The editing moves so fast that it’s tough to tell how much writer-director Tony Gilroy‘s style will differ from Paul Greengrass‘ (who directed Supremacy and Ultimatum), but I’m eager to see what Gilroy has in store.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  The film also stars Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach, Oscar Isaac, Albert Finney, Joan Allen, David Strathairn, and Scott Glenn.  The Bourne Legacy opens August 3rd.

With the pedigree that Joel and Ethan Coen have established in the last 25 years, the lead roles in their pictures are very much coveted. Some of the most iconic characters in recent memory have been from Coen films, from The Dude to Anton Chigurh to the reimagining of Rooster Cogburn. Now, rising star Oscar Isaac (Drive) can count himself among those rare talents, having landed the lead in the next Coen brothers’ picture, Inside Llewyn Davis. The film focuses on the 60s folk music scene in New York’s Greenwich Village, including such icons as Tom Paxton and Dave Van Ronk. Hit the jump for more on the project.

Nicolas Winding Refn’s much buzzed-about Drive opened in theaters this past weekend, and I finally got to see the movie everyone’s been talking about. I loved it, and I absolutely think it’s one of the best films of the year. It’s like a John Hughes movie, except with more people getting stabbed in the eye with forks. Ryan Gosling and Albert Brooks give outstanding performances, and the music is fantastic. I was afraid the film may have been too overhyped for me to rightfully enjoy it as much as my peers, but my apprehension was quickly put to rest. Today, some red band stills from the film have been released. They’re pretty spoilery, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet I’d advise you to wait.

Hit the jump to check out the images. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, and Albert Brooks. Drive is in theaters everywhere right now, so there’s no excuse for you to not see it. Seriously, go.

With Drive getting released today, here’s my review from Comic-Con

Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive works across time and genre. It’s set in present-day Los Angeles, uses an 80s score and soundtrack, features a tragic 50s noir protagonist, and wraps everyone up in archetypical figures that manage to feel fresh through strong performances and gorgeous cinematography. It’s a film that confidently walks the line between alienating its audience with bold choices but it never strays so far into the obtuse or the strange that you lose the hard-boiled crime story simmering underneath. It constantly challenges the audience to look away with its intensity, its thoughtfulness, and its brutality, but it’s too damn entertaining to look away.

People tend to freak out a little when it comes to their ten year high school reunion.  They see it as a chance to make up for past regrets, prove how well they’re doing (even if they’re not), and regress a bit to the meaningless drama of our teenage years.  Jamie Linden’s Ten Year gets the meaningless drama part.  Following a group of male friends and their female appendages, Ten Year features redundant storylines, a dearth of humor, an almost total lack of creativity, and a waste of a perfectly good cast.

Atlas Independent is new to the filmmaking game, but they’re off to a good start with the supporting cast for their first feature Revenge for Jolly!.  Brian Petsos stars as the owner of a dog who died under suspicious circumstances.  He and his cousin “follow a series of clues in an attempt to track down the dog’s murderer, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.”  Oscar Isaac plays the cousin; Elijah Wood, Adam Brody, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen Wiig, David Rasche, Kevin Corrigan, Garret Dillahunt, Bobby Moynihan, and Gillian Jacobs also star.  That’s a cast I trust with this absurdist premise.

Director Chadd Harbold wrapped the sub-$10 million production in August.  For more info on Revenge for Jolly! and Atlas Independent’s mission statement, read the full press release after the jump.

There’s not much more I can say about Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive that I didn’t already say in my review (or at least nothing I can say without wading into spoilers).  It’s easily the best film I’ve seen so far this year.  I would be shocked if it didn’t make it into my Top 10 of 2011.  You need to see it when it opens.

Film District has released three more character posters for the movie highlighting supporting characters Standard (Oscar Isaac), Blanche (Christina Hendricks), and Nino (Ron Perlman).  Check out the posters after the jump.  The film also stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, and Albert Brooks.  Drive opens September 16th.

Six new character banners from director Nicolas Winding Refn’s (Bronson) crime drama Drive have landed online. Starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Christina Hendricks, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, and Oscar Isaac, the film centers on a stunt driver (Gosling) who moonlights as a wheelman for hire. Matt screened the film at Comic-Con last month and loved it. Steve also loved it and I’m currently angry at both of them for having seen it already. So there.

Check out the new banners after the jump. Drive opens on September 16th at which point my vendetta with my Collider colleagues may finally come to an end.

Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive continues to be towards the top of my list of most anticipated films coming out this fall, and another great trailer has just been released. Since its wildly positive debut at Cannes, the film has been generating a huge amount of buzz (Matt loved it). This international trailer doesn’t really show a ton of new footage, but it does feature one of the songs from the apparently fantastic soundtrack.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman and Oscar Isaac. Drive opens September 16^th.

A few weeks ago we posted the first official image from director Jamie Linden ‘s Ten Year when the film got announced as part of this year’s Toronto Film Festival.  Now, thanks to Voltage Pictures website, we’ve got a number of new images and the first poster.  Starring Channing Tatum, Ron Livingston, Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Chris Pratt, Kate Mara, Lynn Collins and Oscar Isaac, Ten Year is about a group of friends returning home for their ten year high school reunion.  Hit the jump for more. [Update: We've removed the posters at the request of the studio.]

Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive works across time and genre.  It’s set in present-day Los Angeles, uses an 80s score and soundtrack, features a tragic 50s noir protagonist, and wraps everyone up in archetypical figures that manage to feel fresh through strong performances and gorgeous cinematography.  It’s a film that confidently walks the line between alienating its audience with bold choices but it never strays so far into the obtuse or the strange that you lose the hard-boiled crime story simmering underneath.  It constantly challenges the audience to look away with its intensity, its thoughtfulness, and its brutality, but it’s too damn entertaining to look away.

FilmDistrict has released the red band trailer for Drive that premiered today at Comic-Con.  Matt raved about the trailer in his recap of the panel, and I wholeheartedly agree: a terrific tease for the film.  Everyone at Cannes and the LA Film Festival loved it.  It will screen again later tonight at Comic-Con, another place where I am not.  September 16 is the release date for us common folk.  Marking the days…

Ryan Gosling stars as a stunt driver who moonlights as a wheelman for criminals.  When he agrees to help the husband of his beautiful neighbor (Carey Mulligan), matters go awry and he must protect the neighbor and her son.  Christina Hendricks, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, and Albert Brooks also star in Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.  Watch the trailer after the jump.