Currently wrapping up its first season and already given a second, the A&E drama series Bates Motel gives viewers an intimate portrayal of how Norman Bates’ (Freddie Highmore) psyche unravels through his teenage years.  This contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film Psycho reveals the dark, twisted backstory and shows first-hand just how deep the relationship with his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), truly goes, as she helps forge the most famous serial killer of them all.

During this exclusive interview with Collider, co-stars Nicola Peltz (who plays Bradley, the beautiful teenager who Norman is in love with) and Olivia Cooke (who plays Emma, the quirky friend with a crush on Norman) talked about how they each came to the show, how familiar they’d been with Psycho, what they enjoy about their characters, how much input they have with their characters, and what made them each want to become actors.  Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner doesn’t like TV critics, and while most show runners probably have the same perspective, I don’t know why Weiner in particular has such a bee in his bonnet.  Mad Men does get criticized and unravelled, and has for the last seven years, but it’s with genuine love and a desire to understand a complicated show.  TV criticism is often, to me at least (and I’m biased, of course), a great form of flattery: if your show is worth talking about and dissecting, it’s because it’s a great show.  That doesn’t mean it’s infallible, though.  But back to my original point, I’m pretty sure that “The Crash” was created just to get TV critics weeping softly at having to review this episode so quickly, because it was so deep and layered.  On the other hand, maybe it was created just to mess with all of us.  Hit the jump to see which.

The first teaser trailer has been released for Greg Mottola‘s HBO film, Clear History, which stars an unrecognizable Larry David as “Nathan, a hipster marketing exec who sells all his shares at a start-up over a fight with his boss (Jon Hamm), only to miss out on billions when the company’s new product—an electric car—becomes a smashing success.”  The movie was largely improvised, and also stars Bill Hader, Kate Hudson, Eva Mendes, Danny McBride, Michael Keaton, Phillip Michael Hall, JB Smoove, and Amy Ryan.  Mottola tells EW the movie picks up ten years after Nathan’s disastrous mistake, and he has changed his name and gone incognito.  The Superbad director adds that the character is loosely based off an employee mentioned in Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and first image.  Clear History premieres on HBO in August.

This week on The Collision, we talk about franchises, auteur directors, journeyman directors, studio prerogatives, faithfulness to the franchise, and much more.  We also hope that Adam hasn’t been swept away in a tornado.  As always, we finish up with our recommendations.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for the previous episode (“Marvel Phase Two, Shane Black, and Iron Man 3“), click here to add the podcast to your RSS, and click here to find us on iTunes. To keep up to date with The Collision, you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore). Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.

Game of Thrones is juggling a lot of stories, as it always has, but this year it feels different because for the first time I think that viewers are really clearly feeling the stakes.  We know the major characters, we know the major trajectory.  There are zombies to the north and dragons to the east, and a lot of political intrigue in between.  What’s been nice about this season too is that we’ve gotten lots of great character moments, even in the midst of so many stories.  The storytelling has often been fractured though, but what “Second Sons” did a great job with was actually giving us time to pause and really embrace the plots and characters this week — no Jon, no Robb, no Bran, no Jaime and Brienne and no Theon meant lots of time to spend with the others, especially because so many of them for once shared the same screen.  Hit the jump for more on why your brother is now your father-in-law (it is known).

Remember that really uplifting story back in 2010 about the Chilean miners?  The 33 miners in Chile who were trapped for sixty-nine days underground but all managed to survive?  To not make it into a movie would be a crime, and today, Variety is reporting that Antonio Banderas, Martin Sheen, and Rodrigo Santoro (300) are set to star in The 33.  Directed by Patricia Riggen (La Misma Luna) and written by Mikko Alanne and Jose Rivera, the movie will dramatize the already dramatic events of the miners’ struggle for survival and the international rescue effort.  Santoro will be playing Florencio, the first miner to surface in the rescue.  Banderas will play the role of Mario Sepulveda, the charismatic miner known as “Super Mario.”  I’m not sure how he earned this name, but presumably he got it from his ability to collect coins and devour giant mushrooms.

Last year, producer Mike Medavoy (Apocalypse Now) picked up the “miners’ exclusive life rights last year and developed the project in collaboration of the miners, the rescuers and their families. He had lived for a decade in Chile.”  Production is set to begin in Chile this fall.

Continuing our coverage of excellent novels that have somehow been overlooked for Hollywood feature adaptations, today we’ll visit the first book in a Gothic urban fantasy trilogy.  Before you scoff, this isn’t another “young teen girl is revealed to have supernatural abilities but is torn between two equally-attractive and powerful guys.”  This story pits assassins against heathens and angels against gods, all taking place in a city of chains suspended over a bottomless abyss. That’s something you don’t see every day.  Want to know more?  Then hit the jump! Hollywood! Adapt this: Alan Campbell’s Scar Night.

Bill Hader is leaving Saturday Night Live after eight wonderful seasons.  In all those years, Hader’s signature recurring character Stefon somehow never grew tired.  Hader and co-creator John Mulaney consistently kept the formula fresh, coming up with inspired club names, passwords, and characters for each new Weekend Update appearance.

In last night’s season finale—hosted by Ben Affleck, who also hosted when Stefon debuted—the writers of course had to bring back Stefon for a farewell appearance.  It puts a nice button on the romantic tension between Stefon and Update host Seth Meyers, and in doing so, assembles all the crazy characters (most of them midgets) Stefon has mentioned in his guide to New York nightlife.  Watch it after the jump.

It’s no surprise that this week’s new entry, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness, took the top spot.  With the exception of the bumped-off Oz the Great and Powerful, the rest of the top ten features the same contenders from last week.  Iron Man 3 continues its strong performance, followed by Baz Lurhmann’s The Great Gatsby.  Michael Bay’s modestly-budgeted Pain and Gain takes the fourth spot and DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods makes a bit of a jump as the most family-friendly of films on the roster.

Hit the jump for more.

With the shortening window between theatrical and home video shrinking every year, it doesn’t surprise me Amazon has just started taking pre-orders on a limited edition Star Trek Into Darkness 3D combo pack that comes with a cool looking Starfleet Phaser.  If you’re not aware, the combo pack includes the 3D Blu-ray, the regular Blu-ray, the DVD, and a digital copy.  While Amazon doesn’t have a release date, I’m willing to bet it’s between the end of September and early November.

In addition, while Amazon is currently selling the set for $79.99 (20% off the $99.99 retail price) they have a great pre-order guarantee which says if the price ever drops “between your order time and the end of the day of the release date, you’ll receive the lowest price.”  So if they ever offer it for 40% off, you’ll get it for that price.  Hit the jump for images of the phaser, or click here to pre-order on Amazon.

With director Jordan Vogt-Roberts‘ dramedy The Kings of Summer (formerly Toy’s House) opening May 31st, CBS Films has provided us with four clips.  The plot centers on Joe (Nick Robinson), Patrick (Gabriel Basso), and Biaggio (Moises Arias), three teenagers who are fed up with their parents and decide to live in a house they build in the woods.  Reported missing, the boys enjoy an idyllic summer until their friendship begins to strain from mistrust and jealousy.  The film landed great reviews at Sundance, and I can tell you it’s definitely worth seeing, as it’s a very unique coming of age story with some great performances.  The film also stars Nick Offerman, Alison Brie and Megan Mullally.  Hit the jump to watch the clips, and look for some exclusive video interviews with the cast and Vogt-Roberts during the week of release.

With director M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming sci-fi film After Earth opening May 31st, Sony Pictures has provided us with three clips and over three minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the film.  The film stars Will Smith and Jaden Smith as a father and son who crash land on a post-apocalyptic Earth, and it’s up to the son to fight for survival when the father is seriously injured.   While we’ve previously posted some of the clips, you can now watch them all in one place.  In addition, the behind-the-scenes footage is great if you’d like to see what it was like on set.  After Earth also stars Sophie Okonedo and Zoe Kravitz.

Hit the jump to watch the clips and look for exclusive video interviews with Will and Jaden Smith the week of release.

With J.J. Abrams Star Trek Into Darkness now playing around the world, we recently landed an exclusive phone interview with John Cho.  During the interview, he talked about making the sequel, how things changed on set, who was the one who broke the most while filming, his preparation process, did he take anything home from set, deleted scenes, and a lot more.  He also talked about the status of Harold and Kumar, Get a Job, working with Matthew Perry on Go On, Bryan Cranston, and working on the pilot for Sleepy Hollow.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney’s We Steal Secrets:  The Story of WikiLeaks is a riveting, multi-layered tale about transparency in the information age and our ever-elusive search for the truth.  Unfolding like an exciting political spy thriller with a cast of complex characters, the film confirms that real life is often more compelling than fiction as it chronicles the creation of Julian Assange’s controversial website which facilitated the largest security breach in U.S. history.  The enigmatic Assange’s rise and fall are paralleled with that of PFC Bradley Manning, the brilliant, troubled young soldier who was the source of all the documents that WikiLeaks is famous for.

In this exclusive interview, Gibney talked to me about his reasons for doing the film and how they evolved as he learned more, his impressions of Assange, why Manning was central to the story, how not being able to interview the two key players led to a more powerful film, the challenge of making a documentary that appeals to both men’s supporters and detractors, his response to Oliver Stone’s criticism, his thoughts about the role of media, transparency and the issue of privacy in the internet age, and his upcoming documentary, Lance Armstrong:  The Road Back.  Hit the jump to read more:

As someone whose only firsthand experience with the Star Trek franchise comes by virtue of J.J. Abrams‘ two Trek films, I know I’m in over my head when the topic presents itself. When you mention Trek, you’re referencing (either directly or indirectly) a rich legacy filled with peaks and valleys, genre-defining characters and moments, and an international fanbase that rivals any of pop-culture’s most enduring titles. And yet here I am, with two films under my belt (both of which I enjoyed), talking about it. Obviously, I have nothing at stake with regards to Star Trek Into Darkness. Whether you like it or dislike it is of no consequence to me. My only aim today is to extend a humble word of caution to the Trek fans who have years of equity built-up in their beloved franchise: be careful not to dismiss or begrudge it solely because it’s trying to appeal to the largest possible audience. Abrams’ Trek films aren’t above reproach, but they also aren’t void of redeeming qualities. Try to at least acknowledge some of those qualities when tearing into them or risk coming off as someone whose real issue is that a bunch of people now enjoy this thing that you once considered yourself unique for liking.

All preachiness aside, this week’s Top 5 includes several interviews from Star Trek Into Darkness, rumors surrounding Christopher Nolan being approached to direct James Bond 24, the first trailers for Marvel’s new ABC series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a new trailer for Guillermo Del Toro‘s Pacific Rim, and new photos and a video from the set of director Jose Padilha‘s RoboCop remake. If I haven’t lost you yet, a brief recap and link to each of the above can be found after the jump.