This weekend’s release of ParaNorman will afford me the rare opportunity to share an afternoon in the theater with two of my nephews, ages 8 and 10. Granted, they’re a little disappointed that we’re not checking it out in 3D, but I just can’t bring myself to foster any sort of affinity for the technology in their young and impressionable minds. The last movie we watched in theaters together was 2009′s Up and it was an experience that I’ll never forget as its brilliant opening sequence brought tears to both of their eyes at the ripe ages of 5 and 7. It was a glowing example of the cinema’s ability to touch young and old alike and while ParaNorman will likely be unable to touch that moment, I’m looking forward to it a ton nonetheless.

My weekend plans aside, in a three-fifths ode to our action heroes of yesteryear, this week’s Top 5 includes video interviews with the cast of The Expendables 2, video interviews with the cast and directors of ParaNorman, the first poster and trailer for Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s The Last Stand, David Cronenberg vs. the superhero genre, and the first trailer for Sly Stallone and director Walter Hill‘s revenge tale, Bullet to the Head. As always, a brief recap and link to each greets you after the jump.

Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) could do no wrong, even before this new clip of her engaging in a rap battle in director Jason Moore’s musical comedy film, Pitch Perfect.  Kendrick stars as Beca, a college student who stumbles into an a cappella club populated by a motley crew of girls whose only common link is their singing ability.  While the clip features other cast members joining in on the “riff off,” Kendrick steals the show at the end.

Also starring Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Alexis Knapp, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Adam Devine, Pitch Perfect opens October 5th.  Hit the jump to watch the clip and to see how you can make it into a music video for the movie.

We’re happy to bring you the first clip from DreamWorks new animated series, DreamWorks Dragons: Riders of Berk.  Based on the Academy Award-nominated film,  the series follows the continuing adventures of Hiccup and his faithful dragon, Toothless, along with their human and dragon friends alike as they soar over the Viking island of Berk.  The series features the returning vocal talents of Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and T.J. Miller, as well as some veteran newcomers, such as Tim Conway and Mark Hamill.  The sequel to How to Train Your Dragon is set to debut in theaters on June 20th, 2014, but the series airs on Cartoon Network starting Tuesday, September 4th.  Hit the jump to see the clip and view the full press release.

Opening on August 17 is LAIKA’s awesome 3D stop-motion feature, ParaNorman.  Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell, the film centers on a young boy who can see the dead and must use this gift to lift a curse that threatens his small town.  ParaNorman features the voices of Kodi-Smit McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Goodman, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann, Jodelle Ferland and more.  For more on the film, here’s six clips, a very cool featurette called Time Lapse, and all our previous coverage.

Earlier today I got to speak with Christopher Mintz-Plasse.  We talked about his reaction to the finished film, how the script changed along the way, and the recording process.  In addition, with Mintz-Plasse about to leave for London to start filming Kick-Ass 2, he talked about what fans can look forward to in the sequel which he describes as “Warriors meets Kick-Ass.”  He also revealed that he’s part of some of the big action scenes and Chloe Moretz’s character Hit Girl is going into the 9th grade in the sequel.  Hit the jump to watch.

With directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell’s ParaNorman opening in a couple weeks, we’ve been given some swag to send off to one lucky reader.  The 3D stop-motion picture centers on a young boy who can see the dead and must use this gift to lift a curse that threatens his small town.  ParaNorman features the voices of Kodi-Smit McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Goodman, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann, Jodelle Ferland and more.  The stop-motion animated flick opens August 17th.  Hit the jump to see how you can win some swag.

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.

We previously brought you these six new clips from the upcoming 3D, stop-motion animated film, ParaNorman, but now we can give you a quick look at how the feature came together.  This behind-the-scenes featurette gives you an idea of the technology involved (3D printing of character molds), the meticulous nature of filming each individual scene and the sheer manpower involved with pulling off a feature of this complexity.

ParaNorman, directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell, and starring the vocal talents of Kodi Smit-McPhee, John Goodman, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann and Jeff Garlin, opens in 3D on August 17th.  Hit the jump to check out the behind-the-scenes time-lapse video.

The visually stunning ParaNorman opens in theaters August 17th, but we have six new clips to tease you with today.  If you missed Steve’s set visit to LAIKA studios, do yourself a favor and check it out.  The technology and man-power involved in the making of this 3D, stop-motion animated adventure comedy is astonishing.  The following clips highlight the film’s technical beauty and give glimpses of its characters, plot and humor.

ParaNorman, from directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell, features the voices of Kodi-Smit McPhee, Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman and Alex Borstein. Hit the jump to view the clips.

While at Comic-Con for a panel presentation, actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick-Ass) spoke to the press about the stop-motion animated feature ParaNorman.  Set in the town of Blithe Hollow, 11-year-old Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) unexpectedly learns that a centuries-old witch’s curse is real and about to come true, and that only he can save the world from zombies.

During the interview, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (who plays an obnoxious and insecure bully named Alvin) talked about creating a voice for this character, getting to work with the other voice actors during the recording process, how nervous he gets every time he does a voice-over project, and how well done the anti-bullying message of the film is.  He also talked about how he is currently doing voice work for How to Train Your Dragon 2, that he has the script for Kick-Ass 2 but has not officially signed on for it yet, how he hopes to shoot from September to December of this year, and how happy he is not to have the rape scene with his character from the comic.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

I’ve been looking forward to ParaNorman ever since the incredible first trailer premiered nearly a year ago.  The stop-motion animated pic comes from LAIKA, the studio behind Coraline, and centers on a young boy whose ability to communicate with the dead comes in handy when his town is overrun by ghosts, witches, zombies, etc.

Directors Sam Fell and Chris Butler, LAIKA head Travis Knight, and actors Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse took the stage at Hall H at Comic-Con 2012 to unveil some footage and answer questions.  The 3D footage looks incredibly and you can read my recap of the lively panel discussion after the jump.

We all know him as the lovable bastard on Game of Thrones (who should have taken a roll in the snow with Ygritte (Rose Leslie)), but Kit Harington may soon lend his voice to a more villainous character.  Harington is up for a role in DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2.  The sequel to the 2010 hit features the return of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig, Craig Ferguson, T.J. Miller, Jonah Hill and more in the vocal cast, in addition to the fine assortment of scaly beasts on screen.  Hit the jump for more on this potential casting addition.

The stop-motion animated film ParaNorman already boasts cutting-edge visuals, but new viral newsletters serve to flesh out the story of the characters behind the puppets.  ParaNorman centers on the title character, voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee, a gifted but misunderstood young boy who has the power to speak to the ghostly residents of his hometown of Blithe Hollow.  We’ve already seen the gorgeous character and scene work in these images, TV spots, posters and trailers; Steve got an even closer look at the animation process during his set visit to LAIKA Studios.  Now, thanks to these viral newsletters, we get to see a little more background story on on the inhabitants of the cursed little town.

ParaNorman also features the voices of Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, and Alex Borstein.  The movie opens in 3D on August 17th.  Hit the jump to check out the newsletters.

A couple weeks ago, we reported that writer-director Jeff Wadlow was gearing up to shoot Kick-Ass 2 this September, and he was in talks with Chloe Moretz to reprise her role as Hit-Girl since the character would have an expanded role in the film.  Deadline now reports that Moretz, along with her Kick-Ass co-stars Aaron Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, are close to signing deals to return for the sequel.  Surprisingly, none of the cast members had sequel options in their contracts, so they required new negotiations.  There’s also talk of Nicolas Cage doing a cameo role, but he has yet to receive an offer.

Kick-Ass 2 has “several other star roles for new characters”, so we should look forward to some fresh casting news this summer before the flick goes in front of cameras this fall.

Check out the new release dates for the following films:

• The Tall Man, a horror/mystery/thriller starring Jessica Biel (The A-Team) and Jodelle Ferland (Silent Hill), will open August 31st, 2012.
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower, starring Emma Watson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)  and Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief) opens September 14th, 2012.
• Pitch Perfect, with Anna Kendrick (Scott Pilgrim vs the World) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick-Ass), opens Octboer 5th, 2012.

Hit the jump for more on each film.

Normally, Mark Millar is not the most reliable of sources, but since we recently confirmed the start date of production on Kick-Ass 2, we can lend a bit more credence to the comic writer’s comments in the following interview.  Director Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down)  spoke recently on the progress and tone of the sequel to Matthew Vaughn’s 2010 original hit, Kick-Ass.  Millar expands on his comments quite a bit, including a candid talk about Wadlow being chosen as director, the use of Hit-Girl in the sequel, the return of the original cast (including Aaron Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and where the franchise will go from here.  Some spoilers lay in wait ahead, but feel free to hit the jump as I’ll move the spoiler-free updates to the head of the line.