With the season premiere of Game of Thrones less than a week away, HBO has continued their marketing onslaught by releasing a new promo and a new featurette.  The promo once again reminds us that the dragons are going to be a big factor in the new season, and as for the featurette, I highly encourage you to watch it.  It goes into detail about creating the world of the Wildlings, and the amount of effort and detail that makes the world come alive.  You probably won’t notice these details when watching the show, but subconsciously they make the world believable.  This is the case for all of the settings on the series, but showing the technical work in creating the life beyond The Wall is a fine example of how the show’s technical departments work their magic.  The featurette also devotes time to new character Mance Rayder (played by the great Ciaran Hinds).

Hit the jump to check out the promo and the featurette.  Also, be sure to check out Allison’s recap of Season Two.  Game of Thrones premieres on March 31st at 9/8c.

The highly anticipated third season of HBO’s Game of Thrones is nigh, and the network has released a tantalizing video blog to whet fans’ appetites.  This particular featurette focuses on the production’s work in Iceland, where the harsh climate doubles as the environment “beyond the wall.”  Executive producers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff talk about what the bitter cold and snow bring to the series (beardcicles!), while actors Ciaran Hinds and Kit Harington speak to the beauty of the country.

Hit the jump to watch the video blog, and click here to check out 23 images from the new season.  Game of Thrones season three premieres on HBO on March 31st.

Although HBO’s third season of Game of Thrones won’t kick-off until March 31st, their regular video blogs have given fans some insight into the daily workings of the production. A new behind-the-scenes featurette is no different as it shows off a good deal of footage of both fan-favorite characters we’ve come to know and love so far, plus new additions to the cast.  The cast and crew also provide commentary on the production of the season and what they’re excited for viewers to see.  Hopefully it won’t be too long before we finally get a real trailer.  Hit the jump to watch the new featurette for season three of Game of Thrones. 

Though a slew of actors were recently announced at Comic Con as new additions to HBO’s Game of Thrones third season cast, one of the biggest roles remained a mystery — that of Mance Rayder, known as the “King Beyond the Wall.”  Though exhaustive speculation and fancasting has taken place since the series’ first began regarding who might play the popular character, it was revealed today that Irish actor Ciarán Hinds (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) will take the role.

Mance is connected to the story of Jon Snow (Kit Harington), and is leader of the Wildlings — a singular presence who has united the forces beyond the Wall together to march south into Westeros, something that the now scattered and beleaguered Night’s Watch has been preparing for with dread for years.  For more on the casting, hit the jump.

Modern spy fiction owes debts to two British authors. Ian Fleming created James Bond, who became the spy movie franchise over the past few decades. Fleming’s formula has also worked in dozens of other films—beautiful girls, clever gadgets, exotic locations. The other fiction spymaster is John LeCarre. LeCarre’s spies are so authentic some of the terms he created for his spies to use came to be used in the real world. LeCarre’s most famous work, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, was recently made into a film for those looking to get lost in the wilderness of mirrors. We review the DVD after the jump.

Production is set to begin next week on the untitled international suspense thriller starring Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall, and Working Title has announced a few additions to the cast.  Julia Stiles, Jim Broadbent, Ciarán Hinds, Riz Ahmed, Kenneth Cranham, and Anne-Marie Duff have been added to the cast, with John Crowley (Boy A) set to direct.  The story centers on two ex-lovers who “find their loyalties tested and their lives at risk when they are joined together on the defense team in a terrorism trial.”  Not much else is known plot-wise, but Crowley has assembled a fine international cast and I’m looking forward to seeing how the suspense thriller plays out.

Hit the jump to read the full press release.

I’ve heard good things about John Carter from people who have seen it, but sadly the film’s marketing has been a mess.  A recent featurette finally showed off the film’s scope and so does the final trailer.  But none of the trailers (except one that was fan-made, and far better than any of Disney’s trailers) took a single moment to explain who John Carter is, how he got to Mars, and why he has special powers.  Does any audience member who is unfamiliar with the source material, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel A Princess of Mars, know anything about the character beyond “Shirtless Dude Who Fights Weird Creatures”?  The movie is titled “John Carter” and Disney never took the time to tell us anything about him.

Hit the jump to check out the final trailer.  The film stars Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Haden Church, and Willem Dafoe.  John Carter opens in IMAX and 3D on March 9th.

We have three new posters from three big movies for you today. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll be brief and let the artwork speak for itself:

• First up is a new poster for Men in Black 3 featuring Josh Brolin, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. The film, by director Barry Sonnenfeld, opens in 3D on May 25^th.
• Next is an up-close-and-personal look at star Taylor Kitsch in his second of three 2012 releases, Battleship. Also starring Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker and Rihanna, Battleship opens May 18^th.
• Saving the best for last is the Mondo poster that is supposedly being given away at special IMAX screenings of John Carter. Starring Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds and Bryan Cranston, John Carter opens March 9^th.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.

We’re only a few weeks away from the release of Disney’s epic John Carter, and a large batch of high resolution images have been released. We’ve seen some of the images before, but we also get some really cool behind-the-scenes images that show just how director Andrew Stanton captured many of the effects-heavy portions of the film. While the initial trailer had me wary, I’ve been impressed by each new trailer and clip released this far. Stanton’s previously directorial resume is stellar, so I’m really hoping he delivers when we get a chance to check out the full film.

Hit the jump to check out the images. If you missed it, be sure to check out Matt’s set visit coverage including his full recap and interviews with co-writer/director Andrew Stanton, Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe and Thomas Haden Church, Lynn Collins, and Samantha Morton. The film also stars Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, and Bryan Cranston. John Carter opens in 3D on March 9th.

With Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance opening next weekend, Sony has just released the EPK (electronic press kit) and it’s loaded with cool stuff from the film.  Just a little while ago we posted five clips, and now we’ve got around twelve minutes of behind the scenes footage from when the production was filming in Romania and across Eastern Europe.

In addition, for fans of directors Neveldine/Taylor, the footage features the two doing some crazy stunts to get a shot, and it’s also got the entire cast (Nicolas Cage , Violante Placido, Fergus Riordan, Ciaran Hinds, Idris Elba, Christopher Lambert, Anthony Head, and Johnny Whitworth) filming stunts and acting crazy on the set.  Hit the jump to watch and look for my exclusive video interviews with the cast next week.

We’ve been provided with five movie clips from the upcoming sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance to share with our readers.  Nicolas Cage returns at the titular Ghost Rider, and Crank directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor bring their signature visual style to the comic book franchise.  Cage finds himself tasked with rescuing a young boy from the grip of the Devil.  The film also stars Violante Placido, Fergus Riordan, Ciaran Hinds, Idris Elba, Christopher Lambert, Anthony Head, and Johnny Whitworth.

Hit the jump to watch the clips and click here for our previous coverage on the film which includes Steve’s set visit and tons of on set interviews with the cast. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance opens in 3D February 17th.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the sequel that no one wanted but which we will all nonetheless watch at least once in our lives to see Nicholas Cage pissing fire, hits theatres next month. In anticipation, the interwebs were flooded with a torrent of images from the film, featuring a heavily tattooed (and apparently still-alive) Christopher Lambert, helmers Mark Neveldine and Bryan Taylor (Crank) making a scene ten times more awesome by directing it on rollerblades, and Cage’s CGI alter-ego not only pissing fire, but vomiting it. Hit the jump for a bevy of images (some of which we’ve seen before) from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

For Daniel Radcliffe’s first major role since Harry Potter, he chose to star in The Woman in Black, a gothic horror tale based off of a 1983 novel by Susan Hill. Horror movies have been lucrative as of late (Insidious, Paranormal Activity 3, The Devil Inside) and legendary studio Hammer Film Productions is delving back into the sort of film that made them popular in the UK. On this side of the pond, however, Radcliffe’s name is sure to stir up more interest than the revival of an old horror studio. With that in mind, domestic distributor CBS Films has released a collection of behind-the-scenes featurettes and clips for The Woman in Black in an effort to showcase Radcliffe’s maturity as an actor. Directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake), The Woman in Black stars Radcliffe, Janet McTeer (Tideland) and Ciaran Hinds (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and opens February 3rd. Hit the jump to check out the featurettes, clips and a new poster.

With less than a month to go before directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance hits screens, a new behind-the-scenes featurette has been released. While Nicolas Cage remains the star of the film (upstaged only slightly by the flaming skull of Ghost Rider himself), directors Neveldine and Taylor are the focus in this short piece. Known for their insane camera work on films like Crank and Gamer, Neveldine/Taylor have only gotten crazier. The featurette spends as much time spotlighting the movie’s stuntwork professionals  as it does the directors themselves.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance also stars Idris Elba and Ciaran Hinds and opens February 17^th. You can check out Steve’s set visit here. Hit the jump to check out the explosive featurette.

With awards-season upon us, I’ve been doing my best to catch up with any potential contenders that I may have missed up to this point. Without a doubt, the standout of late has been writer/director Tate Taylor‘s The Help. I had heard from several friends that the pic was solid but nothing special. After finally getting a chance to sit down with it myself, I have to say that I disagree. I think it’s better than that. Not only is it filled with great performances, but it also finds a way to be more than a story of how a caring white person can help those otherwise hopeless black people. If only 2009′s The Blind Side could go back in time and take note.

But enough of my own cinematic experiences, in this week’s “Top 5″ you’ll find a recap of our visit to the Romanian set of Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance, Benedict Cumberbatch talking about his villainous role in J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek sequel, our interview with Mondo creative director Justin Ishmael, the possibility of a Bridesmaids world without Kristen Wiig, and video interviews with War Horse‘s Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Tom Hiddleston and more. Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.