We’ve got eight clips from DreamWorks Animations’ The Croods to share with you today. Directed by Kirk De Micco (Space Chimps) and Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon), The Croods centers on the titular prehistoric family embarking on the world’s first  road trip through an uncharted, fantastical and dangerous world.  Featuring the voice talents of Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Nicolas Cage, Clark Duke, Catherine Keener and Cloris Leachman, The Croods opens March 22nd.  Hit the jump to watch all eight clips.

A new trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming film The Croods has been released online.  Written and directed by Kirk De Micco (Space Chimps) and Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon), the film takes us back to “a previously undiscovered era in the history of our planet” and centers on the culture clash between a family of cavemen and a more evolved young man named Guy (Ryan Reynolds).  This trailer is much more DreamWorks-y than the first teaser in that it relies heavily on physical comedy and gags.  That said, there are a couple genuine laughs to be found and the animation looks great.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer, and click here to read Dave’s recap from DreamWorks Animation’s recent sneak peek at their upcoming slate.  The film also features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke.  The Croods opens March 22, 2013 in 3D.

[This is a re-post of my review from the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.  A Late Quartet opens today in limited release.]

I love it when films help me to understand a new culture. Usually, I visit these new cultures through documentaries, but Yaron Zilberman‘s non-documentary feature A Late Quartet captivated me with an introduction to the world of orchestral music. More impressive, he uses a technical explanation as a gateway to the conflict between his central characters. Their instruments are thoughtful metaphors for their personalities, and we see how the pursuit of personal expression through a musician’s art can both divide and unite his or her group. The movie does hit a false note when it forces a conflict between two characters, but for the most part, the cast, the story, and the setting play together in perfect harmony.

The first trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods has been released.  Written and directed by Kirk De Micco (Space Chimps) and Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon), the film takes us back to “a previously undiscovered era in the history of our planet” and centers on the culture clash between a family of cavemen and a more evolved young man named Guy (Ryan Reynolds).  We don’t see much of the plot in this trailer, but the visuals look absolutely gorgeous.  We learn that the family The Croods live by the rule of “never try anything new,” so naturally the film will focus on their journey of leaving the cave for the first time.  It’s interesting to see DreamWorks playing up the more dramatic and awe-inspiring aspects of this and Rise of the Guardians compared the comedy-heavy trailers for their previous films.  I’m sure The Croods will still have plenty of jokes, but I’m encouraged by what we see in this teaser.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also features the voices of Emma Stone, Nicolas Cage, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke.  The Croods opens in 3D on March 22nd, 2013.

Opening this weekend is Julian Farino’s The Oranges. The film is about two families who are best friends and neighbors- until one of the daughters (Leighton Meester) begins an affair with her father’s best friend (Hugh Laurie), and the comical and emotional aftermath of that affair. The all-star cast includes Catherine Keener as Laurie’s wife who finds a new purpose in life, Allison Janney and Oliver Platt as Nina’s bewildered parents and Alia Shawkat as Laurie’s daughter- and Nina’s former best friend turned arch rival. It also stars Adam Brody and up-and-comer Sam Rosen.

At the press junket for the film, I was able to speak to Laurie and Keener about their breakfast preferences, how they got involved in the film, working with an ever-present screenwriting team, and of course, Doctor House.  Hit the jump to watch.

In what may be the most dysfunctional family holiday film since the Griswolds took on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, a new red-band trailer for The Oranges has landed.  Directed by Julian Farnio (Entourage), The Oranges centers on two suburban families who are the best of friends and the most boring and predictable of people.  That all changes when the daughter of the Ostroffs starts an affair with the father of the Wallings.

Starring Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Adam Brody,  Alia Shawkat and Leighton Meester, The Oranges opens October 5th.  Hit the jump to check out the red-band trailer.

I love it when films help me to understand a new culture.  Usually, I visit these new cultures through documentaries, but Yaron Zilberman‘s non-documentary feature A Late Quartet captivated me with an introduction to the world of orchestral music.  More impressive, he uses a technical explanation as a gateway to the conflict between his central characters.  Their instruments are thoughtful metaphors for their personalities, and we see how the pursuit of personal expression through a musician’s art can both divide and unite his or her group.  The movie does hit a false note when it forces a conflict between two characters, but for the most part, the cast, the story, and the setting play together in perfect harmony.

The first trailer and poster for director Yaron Zilberman’s drama A Late Quartet have been released.  The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener and Mark Invanir as members of a world-renowned string quartet struggling to stay together “as they mark their 25th anniversary in the face of illness, competing egos, and insuppressible lust.”  The trailer gives the viewer the feeling of watching a really great play, and it appears that we’re in for a masterclass of acting with stellar performances from the whole cast.  Moreover, hearing Walken describe the intricacies of classical music in a way that only he can is pure bliss.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Imogen Poots and Liraz Charhi and will screen as part of the Toronto International Film Festival, which is currently in progress.

We’re about six months out from the release of DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods, the studio’s tale about a prehistoric family unit trying to adapt to a changing world.  We brought you coverage on The Croods earlier this year from Comic-Con 2012 where DreamWorks Animation chief creative officer Bill Damashke and supervising animator James Baxter talked about the backstory and progress of the film.  Now we have some new polished images of the family members as well as more meat to fill out each character.

The Croods, written and directed by Kirk De Micco (Space Chimps) and Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch) and featuring the voices of Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Nicolas Cage, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke, opens March 22nd, 2013.  Hit the jump to check out the new images and character descriptions. 

Many projects go through growing pains during development.  James Cameron’s Titanic was labeled the biggest bomb of all time before it even hit theaters, Martin Sheen had a heart attack during the year-long shoot of Apocalypse Now, and filming on Men in Black 3 halted for a few months so that they could work on the script.  David O. Russell’s Nailed, however, was a bona fide production nightmare.  The film has yet to be finished and it’s unlikely it’ll ever see the light of day, but none of this is the fault of the creatives involved.

The political comedy satire was filmed in 2008 with Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, Catherine Keener, and Tracy Morgan and centered on three people with serious health issues that stormed Washington D.C. to demand treatment. Production was shut down multiple times during filming, and just as Russell was getting to the filming of the film’s centerpiece scene the project was shut down for good.  The story behind Nailed’s filming and subsequent permanent limbo is stranger than fiction, and Steve recently got a lot of background on what exactly went down from producers Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher (of Red Wagon Entertainment) when he spoke with them in anticipation of the release of Lawless.  Hit the jump for the full story.

RoboCop and Nicole Holofcener have nothing in common… until now!

• The Wire breakout star Michael Kenneth Williams is in talks to join Joel Kinnaman, Hugh Laurie, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Jay Baruchel, Abbie Cornish, and Jackie Earle Haley in the Robocop remake.
• Holofcener cast Catherine Keener, Toni Collette, Ben Falcone, and Eve Hewson in supporting roles in her next movie.  Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and James Gandolfini star.

Hit the jump for details on both projects.

The first trailer for the family comedy The Oranges has been released.  The film centers on two families who are both best friends and neighbors.  Their tight relationship is strained when it’s discovered that the father of one family (Hugh Laurie) is having an affair with the grown daughter of the other family (Leighton Meester).  The film looks like a pretty great comedy, and Allison Janney is unsurprisingly fantastic.  The cast—which includes Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Alia Shawkat. and Adam Brody—has great chemistry, and director Julian Farino appears to have crafted a solid comedy.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The Oranges opens later this year.

What would you say to a few casting notices?:

• Catherine Keener will star opposite Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo in the music drama Can a Song Save Your Life?
• Dermot Mulroney and Josh Henderson will star in the indie thriller Swelter
• Kevin Durand joined the ever-growing cast of Devil’s Knot, a true crime drama about the West Memphis 3.

Hit the jump for details on each project.

HBO’s current comedy roster is stacked with some of the best writers in the business: Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Lena Dunham/Judd Apatow (Girls), Armando Iannucci (Veep), Mike White (Enlightened).  If you count the hourlong The Newsroom, Aaron Sorkin seemed like the apex in terms of pure writers.  Yet HBO has outdone themselves, entering into development on a half-hour comedy series with Charlie Kaufman.  Even better, frequent collaborator Catherine Keener is set to star and produce alongside Kaufman.  The untitled series is described as “an exploration of one day in a woman’s life and how the events leading up to it can affect, or not, the reality in which she lives.”  What?  More after the jump.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories for you this afternoon. First up, Catherine Keener is set to join Tom Hanks in the Somali pirate pic Captain Phillips. Hanks stars as real-life ship captain Richard Phillips who allowed himself to be taken hostage by Somali pirates in exchange for the safety of his crew. Variety reports that Keener will play Phillips’ wife Andrea. In the hands of a lesser filmmaker, Phillips’ story could easily turn into a Movie of the Week cheese-fest, but The Bourne Ultimatum and United 93 director Paul Greengrass is at the helm which makes me very, very happy. Furthermore, the team from The Social Network (Scott Rudin, Michael De Luca, Dana Brunetti, and Kevin Spacey) is onboard to produce. Greengrass will direct from a script by Billy Ray (Shattered Glass), based on Phillips’ memoir.

Hit the jump for casting news regarding Sharon Stone in Tony Kaye’s (American History X) thriller Attachment. Captain Phillips opens March 22nd, 2013.