I’ll admit I was biased against the NBC’s new White House sitcom 1600 Penn, about a “dysfunctional First Family,” after I saw the terrible, terrible, parody-esque bump the network made for it (seriously, isn’t that the same style/music 30 Rock uses to make fun of terrible fictional NBC shows like “Queen of Jordan”?).  But a series shouldn’t be punished because of an inept promo editor, and some early positive buzz from a few trusted sources had me watching the first three episodes with cautious optimism.  Unfortunately, that feeling didn’t last through even one segment.

The pilot, which aired as a sneak peak in December, is (confusingly) not the episode that will (from my understanding) be kicking off the series this month.  It’s a shame, too, because the pilot at least explains the set up, which the second episode sorely needs.  Hit the jump for the Who’s Who of 1600 Penn, and whether it’s worth tuning in for.

The new NBC comedy series 1600 Penn follows the lives of the Gilchrists, who are just the average American family dealing with everyday issues, all while living in the White House.  The President (Bill Pullman) is finding it more difficult to be the head of his family than the head of the country, the First Lady (Jenna Elfman) is trying to win over her step-kids and the First Son (Josh Gad) just keeps sticking his foot in it, especially when it comes to his pregnant sister (Martha MacIsaac).

While on a set visit, where Collider and a few outlets were invited to tour the Oval Office and then conduct interviews in the Situation Room, co-stars Bill Pullman and Jenna Elfman talked about how being a part of the show has given them a new appreciation for what the First Family has to go through, research they did into presidential families, fascinating First Ladies, and fun cameos they have coming up, including Bruce Campbell as the President’s brother.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

It’s a banner day for fans of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” since Bill Paxton and Tom Cruise may finally star together for the first time in their thirty-year careers.  Paxton is in negotiations to join director Doug Liman’s All You Need is Kill at Warner Bros.  The sci-fi actioner based on a Japanese graphic-novel already stars Cruise as a soldier in a war against aliens who relives the day of his death over and over.  His repeated battle experience hardens his resolve and makes him a better soldier.  Paxton is in talks to play Cruise’s tough platoon leader.  Hit the jump for more on All You Need is Kill.

What happened in 2008 with America’s economy could have been the sort of disaster that sent the country (and possibly much of the world) into a depression. America – through deregulation and bad planning – created toxic assets where people were given loans that they had no real hopes of paying them off. Too Big to Fail attempts to turn how Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (William Hurt) dealt with the problem. The cast is studded with people like James Woods, Bill Pullman, Billy Crudup, Topher Grace, Paul Giamatti, and many more. Curtis Hanson directed the film, though he can’t get over the massive amount of exposition. Our review of the Blu-ray of Too Big to Fail follows after the jump.

Independence Day 2 is a project that doesn’t exist, but it’s almost existed for quite a few years now.  Director Roland Emmerich and star Will Smith have talked about the various stages of development on the sci-fi follow-up over the years, but as of yet nothing tangible has come to fruition.  Last we heard, Fox was planning back-to-back sequels with or without Smith’s involvement, and now producer Dean Devlin has announced that he and Emmerich are actively working on Independence Day 2.  Moreover, they’re also hoping to continue and ultimately finish the story they began with the 1994 sci-fi film Stargate with two new sequels.  Hit the jump for more.

Will Smith will be reclaiming his Fourth of July box office throne next year, but it’ll be with a movie that’s 16 years old.  In addition to dates for the X-Men: First Class sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Robopocalypse, Fox announced today that director Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi invasion pic Independence Day will return to theaters in 3D on July 3rd, 2013.  It’ll be interesting to see how well the film actually does given that the box office climate nowadays is vastly different from that of 1996.  How confused will kids be to see that the humans’ master line of defense involves a now primitive-looking computer virus?

In a world where “dark” and “gritty” blockbusters dominate the marketplace, the slightly goofy and unabashedly fun Independence Day should stand out a bit.  That said, The Avengers is breaking records left and right and that film is packed to the brim with hope, humor, and unbridled joy.  Hit the jump for more, including the film’s original trailer.

The trailer for Lola Versus has gone online.  The movie stars Greta Gerwig as a young woman who gets dumped just before her wedding, and who must then struggle with her newly single life.  Based on this trailer, your enjoyment of Lola Versus will vary based on how much you’ve enjoyed Gerwig work in the past.  The jokes don’t seem particularly strong (there’s a My Best Friend’s Wedding reference), but I tend to like Gerwig even though she’s never blown me away in a movie.  Hopefully, Lola Versus will be the film that does it.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer along with the new poster.  The film also stars Zoe Lister-Jones, Joel Kinnaman, Hamish Linklater, Debra Winger, and Bill Pullman.  Lola Versus June 8th.

Fans of Party Down will be happy to see Ken Marino once again returning to the small screen in ABC’s comedy pilot American Judy by Judy Greer (Archer). The project follows Greer’s character, a newly married suburban housewife who struggles to raise her step-kids, deal with her mother-in-law and stay out of the line of fire of her husband’s ex-wife, who happens to be the town sheriff. Marino will star as Greer’s husband. Based on Greer’s real-life events, American Judy will be written and executive produced by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont.

In other casting news, The Descendants’ Amara Miller will be moving to 1600 Penn in the NBC presidential family comedy pilot. Starring as Marigold, the youngest daughter of the President (Bill Pullman), Miller will play one half of the family’s twins. Hit the jump for more on each project.

He did not go quietly into the night, nor did he vanish without a fight, and now President Bill Pullman is back. Deadline reports that Pullman has been cast as the President of the United States on the NBC comedy pilot 1600 Penn. Co-created by Book of Mormon star Josh Gad, Jason Winer, and Jon Lovett, the sitcom tells the story of a dysfunctional family whose out-of-control oldest son returns home and “becomes not only its biggest liability but also the glue holding everyone together.” The twist in the story is that the family is the First Family. Gad plays the dysfunctional son, and Deadline also reports that Brittany Snow has been cast as the overachieving perfectionist eldest daughter. Obviously the show isn’t guaranteed to go to series until NBC sees the pilot, but it sounds like a fun premise and I’m eager to see what kind of show 1600 Penn is. Also, Bill freaking Pullman.

When Captain Jack Harkness enters a room at San Diego Comic Con, everyone salutes.  Especially when he (John Barrowman), comes along with Eve Myles, Alexa Havins, Mekhi Phifer, Bill Pullman and writer Jane Espenson.  During this year’s Comic-Con, I was able to speak with the stars of Torchwood: Miracle Day after their panel.  They talked about if it’s a good idea for Harkness and Gwen to hook up?  How will Harkness deal with mortality?  What brought the new talent to the Torchwood: Miracle Day?  Hit the jump to find out.

With Comic-Con 2011 fast approaching, we can expect a multitude of panel announcements in the coming weeks. Today, Starz has informed us that the cast of both Torchwood: Miracle Day and Spartacus: Vengeance will be appearing at the Con on Friday, July 22^nd. For Torchwood, John Barrowman, Eve Myles, and new headliners Bill Pullman, Mekhi Phifer, Alexa Havins, Lauren Ambrose, and writer Jane Espenson will all be present. For Spartacus, Liam McIntyre, Lucy Lawless, Dustin Clare, Manu Bennett, Katrina Law, and Executive Producer and Head Writer Steven S. DeKnight will appear.

Hit the jump to read the full press release. Torchwood debuts on Starz Friday July 8^th, while Spartacus will air on the cable channel in 2012.

Production has begun on Fox Searchlight’s low-budget romantic comedy Lola Versus, and a few new castmembers have been announced. Bill Pullman, Debra Winger and Joel Kinnaman have joined a cast headed up by Greta Gerwig. Hamish Linklater (The New Adventures of Old Christine) has also come aboard the film that tells the story of a 29-year-old woman (Gerwig) who gets dumped be her fiancée (Kinnaman) three weeks before the wedding. She proceeds to embark on a series of desperate encounters as she finds herself questioning her place in the world on the cusp of turning 30.

Kinnamann is best known as one of the stars of AMC’s successful drama series The Killing, which was just recently picked up for a second season. He steps into Lola Versus replacing Orlando Bloom in the role of Gerwig’s fiancée. Daryl Wein (Breaking Upwards) is directing from a script he co-wrote with Zoe Jones. Filming is currently underway in New York City. Hit the jump to read the full press release.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to interview Bill Pullman while in Austin. Pullman has a decorated career while working in various genre films and standard fare, which includes Independence Day, Spaceballs, Casper, While You Were Sleeping, Newsies, and Lost Highway. Among the topics of discussion was a the famous speech in Independence Day, why his name was given as a thanks in The Cove, upcoming projects, what it meant to bring a few genre films to Austin for the Quote-A-Long series, and more. So hit the jump for the full video interview (which is time indexed):

With Fantastic Fest 2010 in Austin, Texas mere weeks away, the third wave of films playing the festival has been announced. Among the highlights are Darren Bousman’s thriller Mother’s Day starring Rebecca De Mornay, Guy Moshe’s Bunraku with Woody Harrelson and Josh Hartnett and Red, starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and many more. Add these to the previous announcements of the World Premiere of Sharktopus, special screenings of Let Me In, Buried, Stone, I Spit on Your Grave and more, Fantastic Fest certainly sounds like it’ll live up to its name.

Hit the jump for more details on the third wave including two repertory screenings featuring Bill Pullman.

Icon Pictures has released the UK teaser trailer for Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me.  It’s one of the best trailers you’ll see this year as it makes the film look mean, nasty, and utterly compelling.  Casey Affleck looks amazing as the lead character, a sheriff who pretends he’s a charming rube when in actuality he’s murderous sociopath.  Unlike the promo trailer that showed up last November, you don’t have to worry about being spoiled.

The film played at this year’s Sundance Film Festival to widespread controversy, particularly relating to questions about whether or not the film was misogynistic due to its portrayal of brutal violence against women.  UK audiences can judge for themselves when the film hits theaters on June 4th.  US audiences will have to wait until June 18th for the flick’s limited release.  The film co-stars Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Bill Pullman, Ned Beatty, Simon Baker, and Elias Koteas.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer from The Guardian [via The Playlist] along with the official plot synopsis.