A new trailer for Academy Award-winning writer Geoffrey Fletcher’s (Precious) first directing venture Violet & Daisy has been released.  The film centers on two young female assassins, played by Saiorse Ronan (Atonement) and Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), who set out for what they think will be a quick and easy hit, but turns into something much more complicated when their target throws a wrench in the works.  The marketing and posters for the film thus far have seemed to be going for that pulpy and modern pop take on young women in today’s society, like Spring Breakers, but the trailer gives off a tone that seems a bit muddled.  It has elements of quirky comedy and a more serious and dire consequences drama, but not a clear vision that can be derived just from the trailer.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer, and click here to read Matt’s review from TIFF 2011.  The film also stars James Gandolfini, Danny Trejo, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Cody Horn.  Violet & Daisy will be released on June 7th.

The first trailer and poster for the dark comedy The Brass Teapot have been released online.  The film stars Juno Temple and Michael Angarano as a young married couple who come into possession of a mysterious teapot that dispenses money whenever the owners hurt themselves.  It’s an interesting premise that plays out in a strange fashion, and I’m not exactly sure of the film’s tone based off of this trailer.  It certainly looks like it has potential, but there’s a grating emo rock song that plays throughout the second half of the trailer that’s more than a little annoying/distracting.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  Directed by Ramaa Mosley, the film also stars Alexis Bledel, Billy Magnussen, Alia Shawkat, Bobby Moynihan, Stephen Park, and Debra Monk.  The Brass Teapot opens on April 5th.

We’ve got the first images and synopsis for the drama The Brass Teapot from the American Film Market. The pic centers on a young broke couple who steal a teapot that produces cash whenever someone feels pain. Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises) and Michael Angarano (Red State) star as the young couple, with Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) and Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development) rounding out the cast. Written by Tim Macy, the film was directed by Ramaa Mosley. Hit the jump to check out the images and synopsis. [Update: We've removed the images at the request of the studio.]

The concept of an adorable female assassin is nothing new.  I’m pretty sure that at least half of all anime is based on this premise.  The appeal is that you juxtapose wide-eyed innocence and blood-drenched experience.  However, it’s an idea that’s been done to near-death (see: anime, +50%) and I was curious to see how Oscar-winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious) would handle adorable-assassins in his directorial debut Violet & Daisy.  Fletcher has delivered a script was tons of potential for a fun action-comedy that doesn’t blow the genre apart but manages to do a solid job of staying playful and upbeat with the talented Saoirse Ronan and James Gandolfini selling the dramatic aspects of the story.  Unfortunately, Fletcher is constantly hamstrung by his lack of experience, budgetary constraints, and Alexis Bledel’s lackluster performance.

Damsels in Distress (starring Greta Gerwig and Adam Brody), Goon (starring Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, and Liev Schreiber), Page Eight (starring Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, and Ralph Fiennes), and Violet & Daisy (starring Saoirse Ronan, Alexis Bledel, and James Gandolfini) are all playing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.  We have images for these films.  We think you’d like to see them.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 – 18th.

The trailer for Girl Walks into a Bar has gone online.  The film has an impressive cast that includes Carla Gugino, Zachary Quinto, Danny DeVito, Josh Hartnett, Rosario Dawson, Alexis Bledel, and Robert Forster.  Based solely on the trailer, I have no idea was to what the movie’s about.  But Girl‘s hook doesn’t seem to be it’s cast or its story, but rather its distribution method.  Girl Walks into a Bar will be presented by Lexus and YouTube for free, exclusively on YouTube.  The money quote in the press release comes from Lexus VP of Marketing Dave Nordstrom:

“It seems fitting to support this initiative as we launch our most unconfined vehicle yet—the CT 200h hybrid —in a space that we know will reach an unconventional, sophisticated audience.” (emphasis mine)

Clearly, Mr. Nordstrom has never been on YouTube.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer, four images from the film, and the full press release.  Girl Walks into a Bar goes online March 11th.

We have two bits of casting news for you today.  First, Alexis Bledel has joined James Gandolfini, Danny Trejo, and Oscar-nominee Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) in the “teenage hitgirl” film Violet and Daisy.  Written by Oscar-winner Geoffrey Fletcher (who wrote Precious), per Variety, the film “centers on a pair of teenage assassins who are lured into what is supposed to be just another quick and easy job, only to find complications as the man they’re supposed to kill is not what they expected.”  Violet and Daisy will mark Fletcher’s directorial debut and, subjectively speaking, Bledel’s debut in something that isn’t kind of terrible.

The second bit of casting news comes from Angelina Jolie’s as of yet untitled Bosnian War film.  From The Playlist, Yugoslavian actress Zana Marjanovic (Snow) has landed the lead in Jolie’s writing/directing debut.  The project is described as follows: “a love story set during the Bosnian war, the film focuses on a Serbian man and a Bosnian woman who meet on the eve of the war and the effect the war has on their relationship.”  Last month, Croatian actor Rade Šerbedžija (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I) also joined the film.  Production is scheduled to begin this fall in Sarajevo and Budapest.  True to her word thus far, Jolie has promised to cast only actors from the region.

Alexis Bledel is an actress making a name for herself in both film and television. After starting out in community theater and then working as a model, her television debut was in the critically acclaimed and fan favorite series Gilmore Girls. She then went on to play one of the leads in both Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants films, and starred as the daughter of Michael Keaton and Jane Lynch in the comedy Post-Grad.

In her latest project, The Good Guy, the Texas native is playing an ambitious young woman in Manhattan, who is looking for a good job, good friends and a good guy to share her life with. During an interview at the film’s press day, Alexis spoke about developing the character of Beth. She also talked about her role in the upcoming historical drama The Conspirator, from director Robert Redford, and confirmed that there would be no more Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants films

Check out what she had to say after the jump:

It seems a little unfair to rip into a movie like “Post Grad”.  I don’t mind doing it with a movie like “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” because it comes from strong source material, has solid actors, and cost a $150 million to make so a failure is not only a disappointment but a little offensive.  But “Post Grad” is so insipid, so in love with its empty characters, barely able to understand its own premise, and comes to such sickening conclusions, I can’t let it pass.  When the only way to survive it is to wonder how the next scene will be worse than the one that came before, I feel justified in ripping the film apart since it ripped apart my soul for what felt like an eternity.  I can’t understand why Fox Searchlight didn’t dump this straight to DVD and now it’s gonna be taking up 1,958 screens this weekend and wasting the time of those foolish enough to pay a ticket because they thought the movie looked kind of cute judging from the standee in the lobby.