Christopher Guest is one of a kind.  The writer/director/producer/actor carved out a niche of his own in the filmmaking community with the brilliant 1984 comedy This Is Spinal Tap, directed by Rob Reiner, and went on to helm a string of comedy hits himself in his distinctive “mockumentary” vein.  Though all of his films have something great and unique to offer, there’s something particularly special about 2000’s Best in Show.  The film’s characters are ridiculous and at times loathesome, but there’s a sincerity to the picture that prevents things from ever becoming too cynical.  The result is a delightfully hilarious comedy classic.  Hit the jump for my review of Best in Show on Blu-ray.

The comedy A.C.O.D., which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to positive reviews, has been picked up for distribution by The Film Arcade and Paramount Home Media.  The title stands for “Adult Children of Divorce” and the Stuart Zicherman-directed film centers on a guy (Adam Scott) who has been caught in his parents’ (Richard Jenkins and Catherine O’Hara) ugly divorce for the past twenty years, and matters become even worse when his brother gets engaged.  Then the details of the feud are revealed in a definitive new book on children of divorce.

I caught the film at Sundance (read Matt’s review here) and it’s a solid comedy with a big heart, and as a fellow A.C.O.D. it hit really close to home for me in quite a few parts.  It also features scene-stealing performances by Catherine O’Hara and Richard Jenkins, with other nice turns from Clark Duke, Amy Poehler, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.  The Film Arcade will be handling theatrical distribution in North America, while Paramount Home Media will manage domestic home entertainment, television licensing and digital distribution, as well as international distribution.  Hit the jump for the press release.

Yesterday, we reported that producer Josh Penn (Beasts of the Southern Wild) and K5 International had revived Henry Selick‘s shelved stop-motion animated film, The Shadow King.  The film centers on, Hap, an orphan with freakishly long fingers who learns how to make his shadow puppets come alive, and must use his talent to save his brother Richard and New York from a ravenous monster.  Select scenes from the movie are currently being screened at the European Film Market for potential buyers, and now we have a first look at the film as well as the voice cast.

Hit the jump for more.

In his feature directorial debut, A.C.O.D., Stu Zicherman has taken the premise for the episode of a sitcom, and turned it into a film that’s not only funny, but also surprisingly relatable for audience members represented by the title’s acronym, “Adult Children of Divorce”.  Speaking as an A.C.O.D., my parents never had the comical, over-the top fights featured in the movie, but Zicherman and co-writer Ben Karlin manage to work in a strong, emotional center to a comedy that works in broad strokes.  The movie may share the same plotline as sitcom episode, but thanks to its excellent cast and willingness to push its protagonist to emotionally unpleasant places, A.C.O.D. works for kids from broken and unbroken homes alike.

Frankenweenie, from director Tim Burton and screenwriter John August, is a charming, macabre and heartwarming tale, about Victor (voiced by Charlie Tahan), a young boy who, after unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life, but quickly faces unintended and sometimes monstrous consequences for his actions.  The voice cast also includes Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder and Atticus Shaffer.

At the film’s press junket, actress Catherine O’Hara (who has also done Beetlejuice and  The Nightmare Before Christmas with Burton) spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about her experiences working with Tim Burton as a filmmaker, how mind-blowing it was to see the final film put together, how she approached developing the voices for each of her three characters (Victor’s mom, the gym teacher and Weird Girl), getting to record with Martin Short (who plays Victor’s father), why Burton’s films are so special for so many people, and what it’s like to be a part of work that’s so enduring for the fans.  Check out what she had to say after the jump.

Frankenweenie is a paradox for writer-director Tim Burton.  Burton’s style has become a cage.  His spirals, stripes, high-contrast colors, preference for Danny Elfman‘s scores, and reliance on Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter made it seem like Burton had reached the limits of his creative powers.  This limitation was highlighted by using it as a catch-all for any adaptation, and he’s only done adaptations since 2005′s Corpse Bride (and that was his only non-adaptation since 1990′s Edward Scissorhands).  Strangely enough, by doing a stop-motion animated adaptation of Frankenweenie—based off his 1984 short film of the same name—Burton has come back to his origins in a way that hasn’t changed his style (although there’s no Depp or Carter), but rediscovered the fun and warmth that used to be intertwined into his visuals and tone.

Director Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie is set to open in theaters on October 5th, but we have some previews to share with you today.  Two new clips have gone online for Disney’s stop-motion animated film that was based on Burton’s original idea and 1984 short film.  One of today’s clips shows young Victor Frankenstein (voiced by Charlie Tahan) in the process of resurrecting his deceased pet dog, Sparky (Frank Welker).  The second clip reveals that Victor’s secret is out, when classmate Edgar (Atticus Shaffer) pops by to share in Victor’s success.  The behind-the-scenes featurette is a bit spoilery and spotlights a good amount of plot points, but it does show some interesting puppetry work behind the camera.  Hit the jump to check it all out.

We recently brought you access to a 360-degree tour of Tim Burton’s stop-motion animated Frankenweenie set and tonight we’ve got a new clip to share with you.  Folks who attended this year’s Comic-Con event may remember it, but those of you who weren’t in attendance can now enjoy it, too.  The clip centers on Mr. Ryzkruski (Martin Landau), the creepy science teacher that inspires Victor’s (Charlie Tahan) curiosity.  Writer/director Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, also featuring the voices of Winona Rider, Martin Short, Christopher Lee and Catherine O’Hara, opens October 5th.  Hit the jump to view the clip.

Have you ever wanted to set foot on a movie set without having to deal with all the pesky credentials like education, experience and talent? Well, you’re in luck, because Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie has all new interactive tours that give you a 360-degree view of a working set.  The virtual tours are guided by some of the production’s creative team who are kind enough to explain the process of animating a stop-motion film.  If you look closely, you’ll even notice some new characters and creatures in the film that haven’t been revealed before.

Writer/director Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, featuring the voices of Charlie Tahan, Winona Rider, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Christopher Lee and Catherine O’Hara, opens October 5th.  Hit the jump to take the tour!

This upcoming seventh season of 30 Rock will be the show’s last, but it looks like Tina Fey and co. are making sure they go out on a high note.  TV Guide reports the fantastic news that Bryan Cranston and Catherine O’Hara have signed on to pop up as guest stars when the show returns.  The fun part, though, is that O’Hara will be playing Kenneth’s (Jack McBrayer) mom, while Cranston will play his mom’s “friend” Ron.  If you watch the show, you know that Kenneth is often telling stories about his mom’s “friend” Ron coming over, a man that Kenneth is not too fond of.

It’s not too difficult to connect the dots that Ron is probably Kenneth’s father, and I can’t wait to see how the ridiculously talented Cranston and O’Hara figure into the show’s plot.  The 13-episode final season of 30 Rock begins on October 4th.

The black and white, stop-motion animated 3D film Frankenweenie, from director Tim Burton and based on the ideas in his 1984 live-action short, is a heart-warming tale about a boy and his beloved dog.  After unexpectedly losing Sparky, young Victor (voiced by Charlie Tahan) sews him back together and harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life, but quickly faces unintended and sometimes monstrous consequences for his actions.  The voice cast also includes Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Atticus Shaffer and Winona Ryder.

During an early press day for the film, in which we got the chance to preview nearly 30 minutes of the film, director/producer Tim Burton talked about expanding the original story from his short, where the idea originally came from, casting actors that he hadn’t worked with in a while to voice some of the characters, how the stop-motion medium has changed over the years, his hope that younger audiences will want to explore the monsters that he’s paying tribute to in the film, and post-converting to 3D.  He also talked about the fact that Seth Grahame-Smith is working on writing Beetlejuice 2 and that he might be interested in getting involved depending on what he thinks of the script, the rumor about him doing a Pinocchio movie with Robert Downey Jr., and that Big Eyes is in the works, but that you never know what will be ready to go next.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

We’ve got a few movie casting notes for you today. Here they are at a glance:

• Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) and Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone) will star in writer/director Mark Palansky’s Rememory, in which Dinklage assists O’Hara in using her late husband’s invention to solve the mystery around his sudden death.
• Vinessa Shaw (3:10 to Yuma) is in talks to join Steven Soderbergh’s Bitter Pill. The project centers on a married doctor who is drawn into the life of an increasingly troubled patient who self-medicates to dull the anxiety related to the impending release of her husband from prison.
• Bridget Moynahan (I, Robot) joins the semi-autobiographical familial drama, Small Time, drawn from 24 co-creator Joel Surnow’s personal history.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

A couple weeks ago, director David O. Russell left the adaptation of Seth Grahme-Smith’s parody-novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for the Vince Vaughn flick Old St. Louis and to adapt the video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.  Deadline is reporting that the directing gig for Pride is one of the hottest in Hollywood and that “a lot of helmers are lining up” for it since Russell left behind a strong script.  The only name that Deadline mentions is The Twilight Saga: Eclipse director David Slade.  Slade was one of the final candidates to get the big franchise films Wolverine 2 and The Hunger Games, but those gigs went to Darren Aronofsky and Gary Ross, respectively.

Natalie Portman also recently left Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (although she’ll remain on board as a producer).  Hit the jump for news on Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Mia Wasikowska, Tilda Swinton, and Catherine O’Hara possibly starring.

Even though the film is still a couple years away, Tim Burton has already lined up a voice cast for his upcoming 3D stop-motion animated film, Frankenweenie.  The film is an adaptation of his 1984 short, and tells the story of “a man who reanimates his dog after it gets hit by a car.” Deadline reports that Winona Ryder will voice the role of Elsa, and Martin Landau will provide the voice for Mr. Rzykruski.  Martin Short and Catherine O’Hara have also been cast and will provide five voices each.  Short will voice Bob, Nassor, Toshiaki, Victor’s Dad, and Mr. Bergermeister.  Meanwhile, O’Hara will voice Edgar, Weird Girl, Victor’s Mom, and Gym Teacher.

The role of each character in the film is still unknown.  Frankenweenie marks the fourth collaboration between Burton and screenwriter John August (Big Fish, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and will be released by Disney on March 9, 2012.  Hit the jump to check out the original short film.

Take a classic work of children’s fiction, as famous for its art as it is it’s story.  Add an idiosyncratic director with a distinct visual style.  Recipe for success, right?  Wrong.  Unfortunately, Spike Jonze’s highly-anticipated adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Caldecott Medal award-winning Where the Wild Things Are falls strangely flat.  Why after the jump…