It’s a minor miracle that Kick-Ass 2 is a reality.  Matthew Vaughn’s first film was a respectable success but the R-rated superhero pic was by no means a blockbuster, so few were expecting a follow-up to come to fruition.  But alas, production is currently underway on Kick-Ass 2 in Toronto under the direction of Jeff Wadlow, and some new set photos have surfaced that give us a look at a little older Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl and the actress’ stunt double in full costume.  We also get a peek at Aaron Johnson as the titular Kick-Ass and Hit Girl’s bike, as well as Morris Chestnut who takes over the role of Sergeant Marcus Williams from Omari Hardwick, who played the character in the first film.

Hit the jump to check out the bevy of set images.  The film also stars Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Olga Kurkulina, John Leguizamo, Donald Faison and Jim Carrey.  Kick-Ass 2 opens on June 28th, 2013.

Three new TV spots for director Joe Wright’s (Hanna, Pride & Prejudice) adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy classic Anna Karenina have landed online.  The romance pic stars Keira Knightley as an adulterer who questions her happiness, and Wright has boldly chosen to set most of the film’s action inside a rundown theater with over 100 interconnected sets that allow the action to move fluidly through a door and into a separate setting entirely.  The stunning visuals are on full display in these TV spots, highlighting the gorgeous settings in which Knightley, Jude Law, and Aaron Johnson interact.

Hit the jump to check out the TV spots, and click here to read Matt’s review of the film from the Toronto Film Festival.  The pic also stars Kelly Macdonald, Olivia Williams, Matthew Macfadyen and Domnhall Gleeson.  Anna Karenina opens on November 9th.

We’ve got quite a few new posters to share this afternoon.  Briefly:

• Anna Karenina – A trio of character posters for director Joe Wright’s (Hanna) adaptation of the classic romance novel feature stars Keira Knightley, Jude Law, and Aaron Johnson.  The film opens on November 16th.
• Killing Them Softly – This UK poster for Andrew Dominik’s (The Assassination of Jesse James) crime drama is magnificently patriotic, with a gun-wielding Brad Pitt front and center.  The film opens on October 19th.
• Taken 2 – The UK poster for the Liam Neeson-fronted sequel is fairly simple, but you don’t really need anything besides Neeson and the film’s title to sell tickets.  The pic opens on October 5th.
• Deadfall – The Brazilian poster for this thriller starring Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde.  The film opens on December 7th.
• Butter – A straightforward poster for this film about the world of competitive butter-carving, starring Jennifer Garner, Olivia Wilde, Rob Corddry, and Hugh Jackman.  The film opens on October 5th.

Hit the jump to check out all the posters.

After yesterday’s news that Universal was courting Jim Carrey for Jeff Wadlow’s Kick-Ass 2, now Lindy Booth (Dawn of the Dead) is in talks to star as yet another hero.  Carrey was sought to play Colonel Stars,  who forms the heroic team, Justice Forever.  While Carrey may not take the role, Booth is currently in negotiations to star as the Night Bitch, a member of Justice Forever.

Kick-Ass 2, which features the return of stars Aaron Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, stars filming next month in Toronto and New York.  Hit the jump for more on Booth, Night Bitch and a recap of the casting so far.

Universal reportedly wants Jim Carrey to join the ass kicking in director Jeff Wadlow’s Kick-Ass 2.  The sequel to Matthew Vaughn’s 2010 original film adaptation of the Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. comic already features returning cast members Aaron Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Nicolas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.  Carrey is being sought to play the role of Colonel Stars, a founding member of Justice Forever who recruits heroes to the crime fighting group.  Deadline reports that, though Carrey is a fan of Vaughn’s original film, no deals are in place yet.  Do you think Carrey would be a good fit for the Colonel? Let us know in the comments!

Kick-Ass 2 is indeed finally happening.  The first poster banner for the film has popped up on the pic’s official Facebook page, and though it’s not much, it’s a fine tease for fans that have been clamoring for the return of Hit Girl and Co.  Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Chloe Moretz are all confirmed to return and reprise their roles from Matthew Vaughn’s 2010 adaptation of the Mark Millar comic book.

Hit the jump to take a look at the banner and to find out what we know about Kick-Ass 2 so far.

Some new images from two promising fall releases have surfaced.  First up is new images from director John Hillcoat’s (The Road) prohibition-era drama Lawless.  The film stars Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, and Jason Clarke as three brothers who became bootleggers in the South during Prohibition.  I caught the film at Comic-Con and thought it was great.  The violence is brutal and hard-hitting, but the film is grounded with engaging characters and bits of dark humor.  Moreover, Guy Pearce is terrifying as a corrupt FBI agent who’s obsessed with bringing the Bondurant brothers down.  Lawless opens on August 31st, and I highly recommend checking it out.

Additionally, we’ve got a couple of new images from director Joe Wright’s (Hanna) adaptation of the classic Leo Tolstoy novel Anna Karenina.  Keira Knightley, Jude Law and Aaron Johnson star in this visually impressive period pic that’s definitely high on my list of anticipated fall titles.  Anna Karenina opens on November 16th.  Hit the jump to check out all the images.

Though the involvement of director Joe Wright (Hanna, Pride and Prejudice) ensured that the upcoming adaptation of Leo Tolstoy‘s Anna Karenina would be anything other than your typical period romance, the first trailer gave us a peek at Wright’s truly ambitious vision for the film.  A 6-minute clip has now landed online, with Wright’s introduction explaining how they filmed most of the drama inside a rundown theater with over 100 interconnected sets allowing for the action to move fluidly through a door and into a separate setting entirely—anything from a Russian landscape to a horse training ground.  This clip highlights some of that fluidity Wright was talking about, anchored by promising performances from Keira Knightley, Jude Law, and Aaron Johnson.

Hit the jump to watch the clip.  Anna Karenina opens on November 9th.

As much as I enjoy film, my first entertainment love will always be music. As such, this weekend finds me in Chicago in anticipation of what could be my final Warped Tour appearance. That’s right, I’m a 26 year-old man (I use the term “man” lightly, of course) who still finds immense joy in the pop-punk genre. Nevertheless, it’s becoming harder and harder for my oldness to blend in with a predominantly sub-18 crowd without looking like a total creep and, therefore, today may very well be my last Warped experience. On the bright side, I still have XBox Live to remind me that I’ve never completely grown up.

Maturity issues aside, on tap in this week’s version of the Top 5 is a slew of interviews for The Amazing Spider-Man, the first trailer and new images for Tom Cruise‘s Jack Reacher, our most anticipated movies from July to September, Savages interviews with Oliver Stone, Blake Lively, etc., and more The Dark Knight Rises coverage than most humans are capable of comprehending. Links and brief recaps for each reside after the break.

A batch of new posters have landed online.  Briefly:

• A new poster for director Joe Wright’s (Hanna) adaptation of Anna Karenina.  The visually stirring period pic stars Keira Knightley, Jude Law, and Aaron Johnson.  The film opens on November 9th.
• Two Spanish posters for The Impossible, the English-language debut of director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage), have gone online.  The film centers on the events surrounding the Tsunami of 2004 and stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.  The film opens on
• An international poster for the stop-motion animated film ParaNorman, featuring the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Casey Affleck and Anna Kendrick.  The film opens on August 17th.
• The first poster for the Sundance drama Hello I Must Be Going.  The film stars Melanie Lynskey as a recent divorcee who retreats to the Connecticut home of her parents and begins an affair.  The film opens in limited release on September 7th.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.

A wise man once said*, “If you have them in the first fifteen minutes, you have a movie.  If you have them in the last fifteen minutes, you have a hit.”  By that metric, Oliver Stone‘s Savages is neither a movie nor a hit.  It begins with an atrocious first act full of flat expository narration including one of the worst lines of dialogue I’ve ever heard: “I have orgasms.  He has wargasms.”  That’s a deep hole to dig out of, but Savages manages to do so with a strong, thoughtful, exciting middle section that explore where people derive their power.  And then the movie falls apart with an ending that erases all the hard work the film had accomplished.

The drama Savages, from three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone, follows entrepreneurs Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch), and their shared girlfriend O (Blake Lively), who run a lucrative business raising some of the best marijuana ever developed.  But, the legendary weed of these Laguna Beach heroes soon catches the interest of the Mexican Baja Cartel, headed by the merciless Elena “La Reina” (Salma Hayek).  Along with her brutal enforcer Lado (Benicio Del Toro) and her head attorney Alex (Demian Bichir), Elena demands a partnership which she ensures by kidnapping that which they love most, and what was once a peaceful and easy lifestyle becomes a high-stakes battle of wills.  For more on the film, here’s six clips.

At the film’s press day, actor Aaron Johnson spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about how Oliver Stone wanted him for the film but didn’t immediately know for which role, how he enjoyed being challenged by the director, and the journey he went on with co-star Taylor Kitsch.  He also talked about the type of roles he wants to play, having read the Kick-Ass 2 script, which he says is definitely a hard R and that he expects will go into production in the Fall, and he addressed the recent statement that American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis made on Twitter about how he would be a good choice for the male lead in the film adaptation of the much-talked-about erotic novel 50 Shades of Grey.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

The drama Savages, from three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone, follows entrepreneurs Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch), and their shared girlfriend O (Blake Lively), who run a lucrative business raising some of the best marijuana ever developed.  But, the legendary weed of these Laguna Beach heroes soon catches the interest of the Mexican Baja Cartel, headed by the merciless Elena “La Reina” (Salma Hayek).  Along with her brutal enforcer Lado (Benicio Del Toro) and her head attorney Alex (Demian Bichir), Elena demands a partnership which she ensures by kidnapping that which they love most, and what was once a peaceful and easy lifestyle becomes a high-stakes battle of wills.

At the film’s press day, actor Taylor Kitsch talked about his reaction to director Oliver Stone wanting him for the role of Chon, how he prepared for the more intimate scenes in the film, what it was like to shoot his intense confrontation with John Travolta, the incredible attention to detail on set, how he felt about the ending, and his desire to stay away from projects with a lot of green screen for awhile.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

A sad film about a sad woman who pays multiple prices—including, eventually, the ultimate price—for daring to pursue her dream…so sums up Rodrigo García’s Albert Nobbs.  And in that description lays the film’s primary disappointment.

Albert Nobbs stars Glenn Close as the titular character, a woman who has spent decades masquerading as a man to work as a waiter in a posh Dublin hotel.  Going into Albert Nobbs, it is not as if one expects an uplifting film.  But depressing movies with pained heroes are one thing. To be fair, the film is well-written, but what is frustrating about Albert Nobbs is seeing an already pained person pay such a high cost for daring to dream and make her life better.  What sort of theme is punishment for attempts at improvement?  Hit the jump for our Blu-ray review of Albert Nobbs.

The first trailer and poster for director Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina has been unveiled.  The film is an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s classic tome about late 19th century Russian society and stars Keira Knightley an adulterer who questions her happiness.  We knew from Wright’s previous resume (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, Hanna) that Anna Karenina wouldn’t be a straightforward, boring period piece, and this trailer speaks volumes to the director’s strength as a filmmaker.  The visuals are absolutely gorgeous and he appears to using some truly mesmerizing set design to change the film’s setting in one take.  Knightley, Jude Law and Aaron Johnson all look great, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how Wright’s adaptation plays out in full.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer and check out the poster.  The film also stars Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Domhnall Gleeson, Emily Watson, Alicia Vikander, Olivia Williams and Ruth Wilson.  Anna Karenina opens on November 9th.