The first set photos from the big screen adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s seminal novel On the Road were published last November, and new images from the Walter Salles directed movie have finally been released.  The images show Salles’ choice of muted colors to depict the Sixties aesthetics and the smoky, hazy Beatnik ambience in which On the Road‘s heroes, Sal and Dean, evolve. Actors Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund look über-cool enough to play the lead roles of the Beat Generation’s most famous protagonists.  Hit the jump for the synopsis and images:

Right before the Christmas break, I got to sit down with Leighton Meester to talk about her new movie Country Strong.  By now you’ve probably seen the clips (or the trailer) and know the film is about an emotionally unstable country star (Gwyneth Paltrow) that gets involved with a rising young singer-songwriter (Garrett Hedlund). In addition, Tim McGraw plays her husband and Meester (Gossip Girl) plays a beauty-queen-turned-singer who is trying to make a name for herself.  The film opens everywhere this weekend.

Anyway, during the interview Meester talked about what it’s like to promote a big Hollywood movie, how did she get involved in the project, how she really sings in the movie and who she plays, and what the last year has been like for her trying to balance making movies and filming Gossip Girl.  Hit the jump to watch:

Right before the Christmas break, I got to sit down with Gwyneth Paltrow to talk about her new movie Country Strong.  By now you’ve probably seen the clips (or the trailer) and know Paltrow plays an emotionally unstable country star that gets involved with a rising young singer-songwriter (Garrett Hedlund). In addition, Tim McGraw plays her husband and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) plays a beauty-queen-turned-singer who is trying to make a name for herself.

Anyway, during the interview Paltrow talked about the challenges of making the film (she actually sings and she’s good), how she got attached to the project, what this year has been like for her, and will she record an album.  But I think the best part of the interview was the very beginning.  That’s because I got Simon Pegg to give me two questions to ask her (they’re close friends) and her reaction is great.  I won’t spoil what I asked.  Finally, towards the end of the interview, Paltrow talked about how Pepper Potts won’t be in Joss Whedon’s Avengers movie and reveals who she plays in on Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion.  Hit the jump to watch:

TRON: Legacy is an odd sequel as it attempts to capitalize on the technologically groundbreaking but commercially unsuccessfully 1982 film TRON.  The original film has built up a cult following over the years and even managed to occasionally find its way into pop culture with South Park‘s depiction of Moses resembling the Master Control Program and the YouTube celebrity “TRON Guy”.  The sequel attempts to reinvent the series as sleek and cool, but the result is a simplistic visual style that attempts to mask a poorly-paced story filled with bland characters.  TRON: Legacy comes alive with an amazing score and some eye-catching set pieces, but the sequel makes this franchise look like it should be shutdown rather than rebooted.

If you can’t wait to see TRON: Legacy and live in a major city, you have a chance to see the film tonight early and for free.  Flynn Lives, the viral website for the film, has announced that first come, first serve screenings for the film will be held in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Toronto.  The website advises that you arrive at least two hours before the screening, but no lines will be allowed to form before 5pm.

Hit the jump to check out the showtimes and theater locations for the screenings.  TRON: Legacy stars Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, and Jeff Bridges.  It opens in 3D this Friday.

With Country Strong opening in limited release  December 22 and everywhere Friday, January 7th, Screen Gems has released 8 clips which showcase the characters and the music.  If you haven’t heard of Country Strong (watch the trailer here), it was written and directed by Shana Feste and it stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Leighton Meester, and Garrett Hedlund. Here’s the synopsis:

Soon after a rising young singer-songwriter (Hedlund) gets involved with a fallen, emotionally unstable country star (Paltrow), the pair embarks on a career resurrection tour helmed by her husband/manager (McGraw) and featuring a beauty-queen-turned-singer (Meester).  Between concerts, romantic entanglements and old demons threaten to derail them all.

Something that surprised me about the film is that everyone who sings is really singing.  Meaning when Paltrow, Hedlund and Meester are on stage, you’re really hearing their voices  And they’re all pretty good.  Hit the jump for more – including 8 clips:

Disney has released two new featurettes for TRON: Legacy.  One featurette centers on the film’s villain, “Clu”, who is played by a digitally de-aged Jeff Bridges.  As Olivia Wilde exclaims, “I couldn’t believe it!  We get double Bridges?”  Every film should be so lucky.  The other featurette is more of a broad overview of the characters and the vehicles.  Neither featurette really spoils anything (or at least nothing that hasn’t already been glimpsed in the trailers), but if you need your TRON: Legacy fix (and I know you do), then hit the jump to check them out.  Also, after the jump we’ve included a report on how the film is currently tracking soft at the box office right now.

TRON: Legacy opens in 3D on December 17th.

After nearly three years of promotion, which started at San Diego Comic-Con in 2008, the highly anticipated Tron: Legacy is finally hitting theaters on December 17^th. A high-tech adventure set in a digital world that is unlike anything ever captured or seen on the big screen, the film is a father-son story at its heart. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) is a rebellious 27-year-old who is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father, Kevin (Jeff Bridges). The world’s leading tech visionary, Kevin was pulled into a digital grid where he’s been trapped for the last 20 years, and where his son also finds himself suddenly trapped. In order to escape and return to their own world, they must embark on a life-or-death journey across the landscape of the Grid, using weapons and vehicles to elude a ruthless villain named Clu, that was created by Kevin himself.

In this exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor Garrett Hedlund talked about taking on his first leading role, his excitement for everyone getting to see all of the hard work that director Joseph Kosinski put into bringing Tron: Legacy to life and keeping Sam’s jacket as a memento of filming. He also talked about becoming a country musician for Country Strong (opening in limited release on December 22^nd and in wide release on January 7^th, 2011), co-starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw, and the experience of playing Dean Moriarty in On The Road, which is something of a dream project for him. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Disney has released a new TRON: Legacy featurette, this time focusing on the vehicles in the new movie.  Since you probably haven’t been able to avoid the marketing for the film, then you’re probably aware that not only will the sequel feature the classic light cycle, but also cars and jets as well.  The new featurette talks about how they approached creating the new vehicles by bringing in production designer Darren Gilford, who has a background in automobile design.

Hit the jump to check out the featurette.  Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the film stars Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, and Jeff Bridges.  TRON: Legacy opens in 3D on December 17th.

Are you counting down the days till TRON: Legacy gets released?  Do you wish you could have visited the set while the production was filming in Vancouver?   Have you always wanted to see what really goes on behind the scenes when a movie is getting filmed?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’re about to have a geekgasm.  That’s because Walt Disney has released the EPK for TRON: Legacy and included are 15 minutes of behind the scenes footage (B-Roll) from when the movie was getting made.  Here’s just some of the stuff that’s included:

• Behind the scenes footage from the End of Line club
• Daft Punk in costume walking onto set
• Michael Sheen getting ready to film his scenes in the End of Line club
• Joseph Kosinski directing the actors
• Jeff Bridges wearing the special helmet to record his scenes as Clu
• Tons of footage of the practical sets and the actors getting ready to film
• Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde performing a scene and getting ready for some stunts
• Jeff Bridges house in the Tron universe and what it was like behind the scenes
• Cast goofing around behind the scenes
• Filming on location in Vancouver
• Behind the scenes footage from Flynn’s Arcade

But I’ve left out the best part…all the footage is set to the music of Daft Punk!  Want to see and hear more?  Hit the jump:

With the huge TRON: Legacy press junket taking place in Los Angeles this weekend, Walt Disney has released the EPK (electronic press kit) for the film.  The great thing about the EPK is that it includes 4 clips from the movie.  So if you’ve missed the clips that have hit the net this past week, after the jump I’ve grouped them into one player.  The clips are called Alan tells Sam about the page, Long Time (Jeff Bridges meets his son), Quorra saves Sam, Sirens dress Sam.

Finally, while I got to see the movie the other night, Disney has us under a strict embargo until closer to release.  Expect my thoughts then…

After a rough ride, On the Road is finally getting closer to completion. After the first set photos, new shots from director Walter Salles’ adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s seminal novel have been released, and appear to perfectly transcribe the poetic energy and black-and-white imagery that the story inevitably conjures up, raising the question whether the movie will also be in black-and-white.

Produced by Francis Ford Coppola, the film stars stars Garrett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy) and Sam Riley (Control) as Sal Paradise, the mystic Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise embark on a road trip across North America in search of adventure and freedom.  The cast also boasts a long, all-star cast, including Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Moretensen, Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi, Terrence Howard and Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss. Hit the jump to see the photos and find out more about On the Road.

Walt Disney has released another clip from TRON: Legacy and you can check it out after the jump.  If you went to Tron Night, you already saw the clip as it takes place shortly after Sam (Garrett Hedlund) enters the grid and gets his identity disc.  However, since many of you never made it to Tron Night, I think you’ll enjoy checking out the clip as it doesn’t spoil anything.

However, the big news I want to share is the big TRON: Legacy press junket is on the horizon.  What that means is…people are going to actually see the finished film in the very near future and I’ll be one of them.  While I don’t know if Disney will have me under an embargo…if they allow it, you can expect me to hit twitter as soon as the screening ends.  Hit the jump for the clip and expect a ton of new TRON: Legacy interviews in the coming weeks…

It’s “TRON Tuesday” so that means fresh TRON marketing (although it seems like we get that regardless of the day, but I guess it’s guaranteed on Tuesdays).  This Tuesday, we’ve got a new trailer for the film that goes all over the place.  You’ve got the emotional father-son stuff between Kevin (Jeff Bridges) and Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund).  There’s a little romantic angle between Sam and Quorra (Olivia Wilde).  We get some more de-aged-face-time with the film’s villain, Clu (also Bridges).  And there’s some new action shots thrown in as well.  It doesn’t come together as well as I’d hoped, but it’s still not a bad trailer.

Hit the jump to check out the new trailer.  We’ve also posted 18 new high res images that we grabbed from the trailer.  TRON: Legacy opens in 3D on December 17th.

Yesterday, we showed you the first part of a TRON: Legacy triptych poster featuring a digitally de-aged Jeff Bridges as “Clu”.  Today, the second part of the triptych has gone online.  It’s similar to a domestic poster that was already released but that doesn’t mean it looks any less cool.  The final part of the triptych is set to be released on Friday.

Hit the jump to check out the new poster.  TRON: Legacy stars Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, Bruce Boxleitner, and Jeff Bridges.  It opens in 3D on December 17th.