The line-up for this year’s 2012 Atlanta Film Festival has been announced.  The festival will open with the comedy L!fe Happens starring Krysten Ritter, Kate Bosworth, and Rachel Bilson.  I don’t know about the opener (I love Ritter), but ATLFF will have a popular closer with Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods finishing out the festival.  In between there’s some must-see stuff like Compliance (one of the best films I saw at Sundance), God Bless America (I didn’t care for it, but I was in the minority when I saw it at TIFF), the charming and Oscar-nominated Monsieur Lazhar, the horror anthology V/H/S, and the drama The Woman in the Fifth starring Ethan Hawke and Kristen Scott Thomas.  Also, ATLFF has wisely recognized the cinematic quality of Game of Thrones and so in partnership with HBO and Xfinity, the festival will be showing the premiere of Season 2 at the Rialto Center for the Arts.

Hit the jump for the press release, which includes the full line-up.  The 2012 Atlanta Film Festival runs from March 23 – April 1st.

The full lineup for South By Southwest 2012 has been announced and for those of you not attending the festival, prepare to seethe with jealousy. The Austin, Texas festival will host screenings of the Will Ferrell Spanish-language comedy Casa de mi Padre, festival favorite The Raid, Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America, and the world premiere of 21 Jump Street, which recently screened to press to overwhelmingly positive praise. Add these films to the previously announced festival opener Cabin in the Woods (from Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard), and I’m sufficiently envious of those making the trek to Austin.

Other highlights from the full lineup include the documentary The Imposter, Killer Joe, The Hunter, Lena Dunham’s Girls, and Kevin Macdonald’s doc Marley. Hit the jump to see the full list, but keep in mind that the midnight selections have yet to be announced. Collider’s own Matt Goldberg will be covering all the shenanigans from the festival, so keep an eye out for our coverage on the site. South by Southwest 2012 takes place March 9 – 17.

Twisted young talent Bobcat Goldthwait was one of the premier stand-ups of the 1980s. Sadly, when it came time to do movies, his awkward, is-someone-murdering-a-cat delivery didn’t translate too far outside the Police Academy series. But a few years ago, something unexpected happened: the loud, spastic comedian morphed into a quietly acclaimed writer and director of pitch black comedies like the sublime World’s Greatest Dad.

God Bless America may be his blackest yet, as evidenced by a very red-band trailer that’s surfaced online. It’s the tale of Frank (Mad Men’s Joel Murray), a middle-aged man who spends his days toiling in exhausted apathy amidst the cultural decay and all-around douchiness of the world; he’s disenfranchised to the point of near-suicide, but instead decides to take his 9mm on a killing spree to eradicate as many vacuous, double-parking assholes as he can before a brain tumour takes him out. Joining him is a like-minded 16 year-old girl. Fair warning: clips like this are pretty much the reason the red-band was invented…well, that and dick jokes.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer. Also be sure to check out our two reviews on the film, by Matt Goldberg and Phil Brown.

We’ve got a few new posters to debut today. First up is a fantastic new poster for the drama We Need to Talk About Kevin. The film stars Tilda Swinton as a mother dealing with her son’s unforgivable and violent act. This poster is gloriously chilling, as it evokes the horror films of the 60s and 70s (especially Rosemary’s Baby) to perfectly encapsulate the pure evil that is Kevin. The film is extraordinary and I highly suggest you check it out when it opens on January 27th.

We’ve also got posters for Jennifer Westfeldt’s dramedy Friends with Kids and the new Bobcat Goldthwait pic God Bless America. Friends with Kids features an all-star cast that includes Adam Scott, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Megan Fox, and opens on March 9th. Goldthwait’s dark comedy God Bless America opens May 11th and will be available VOD on April 6th. Hit the jump to see the posters.

Film criticism is a tricky beast. One man’s Citizen Kane is another man’s Glen Or Glenda and it’s impossible to discredit either opinion. During TIFF my esteemed college Matt Goldberg and I disagreed pretty wildly on Bobcat Goldthwait’s vicious pop culture satire God Bless America. While I can’t pretend the film is a flawless masterpiece, I was rather fond of Goldthwait’s psychotically satirical take on the material. Perhaps it says more about my pop culture stained brain than anything else, but I do feel that Goldthwait’s message and approach are valid, if admittedly twisted and a little f-ed up. I guess I’m just fond of the twisted and the f-ed up. That’s me, what are you gonna do? In the interest of debate (and inevitably, message board bashing), I thought I’d present an alternate take on this fairly divisive movie. I’m not saying I’m necessarily right, I just want this opinion of the movie out there. Hit the jump for more and make of it what you will.

The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival has come to a close.  We covered the hell out of it and we’ve got loads of interviews still to post.  Today, TIFF announced the winners in three award categories for Canadian films and the winners of the Cadillac People’s Choice Awards.  Nathan Morlando’s crime drama Edwin Boyd (pictured above) won Best Canadian First Feature Film, Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar picked up the award for Best Canadian Feature Film, and Ian Harnarine’ Doubles With Slight Pepper was awarded Best Canadian Short Film.  As for the Cadillac People’s Choice Awards, Nadine Labaki’s Where Do We Go Now? won the top prize, Jon Shenk’s The Island President won in the documentary category, and Gareth Evans’ The Raid picked up the award for The Cadillac People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award.

Hit the jump for the full press release along with a list of all the films that were sold to distributors.  Keep in mind that just because a film didn’t sell during the festival, that doesn’t mean it won’t be picked up for distribution in the near future.

With the Toronto International Film Festival in full swing, we have some acquisition news to bring your way tonight. First up, Magnet Releasing announced that it has acquired the worldwide rights to director Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America. Per the press release, Magnet is planning a 2012 theatrical release for the film through Magnolia Pictures’ Ultra VOD program. Starring Joel Murray, Tara Lynne Barr and Mackenzie Brooke Smith, the film follows Frank (Murray), a jobless and potentially dying man whose frustrations manifest themselves via dispatching generally unlikable people. In case you missed it, click here to check out Matt’s review of the film from TIFF.

Up next, Celluloid Dreams announced that it has picked up worldwide rights to co-writer/director Dan Algrant’s drama Greetings from Tim Buckley. Starring Penn Badgley, Imogen Poots, Frank Wood, Jessica Stone and Frank Bello, the pic follows Jeff Buckley (Badgley) as he romances a young woman (Poots) while attempting to understanding the father who abandoned him. The film is currently shooting in New York which means that a 2012 release could well be within reach. For a little more on the God Bless America and Greetings from Tim Buckley acquisitions, check out the press releases after the jump.

Pop culture is filled with annoyance and irritations.  We can turn on the TV and lament the downfall of civilization because as bad as reality shows, shock jocks, and political pundits can be, perhaps we’re worse for giving them attention in the first place.  At one point or another, some Americans have probably had a dark fantasy about taking out the trash of American culture because wouldn’t it be nice if we could get rid of all the fame-whores, mean-spirited celebrities, and the ordinary citizens who can’t get enough of the first two.  It would be nice to have a release valve and writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait provides that in God Bless America.  But he never probes deeper to what that fantasy says about us and instead indulges the audience by using his characters as mouthpieces and never realizing that his anti-heroes are as shallow and narcissistic as the people they’re killing.

More images continue to roll out for films playing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.  New images have been released for Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America, Daniel Nettheim’s The Hunter starring Willem Dafoe, and Bennett Miller’s Moneyball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.

Hit the jump to check out the new images and a synopsis for each film.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 – 18th.

We’ve already seen the heavy-hitters of non-documentary films showing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.  Today, TIFF has announced its impressive documentary line-up along with line-ups for the interesting smaller films that are worth your attention at the fest.  The documentaries include Morgan Spurlock’s Comic-Con: Episode IV – A Fan’s Hope, Werner Herzog’s Into the Abyss, Jonathan Demme’s I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful, and Wim Wenders’ 3D film Pina. The Midnight Madness line-up includes Bobcat Goldthwait’s latest, God Bless America and Douglas Aarniokoski’s The Day starring Ashley Bell and Dominic Monaghan.

Hit the jump for the documentary line-ups (“Real to Reel”), “Midnight Madness”, “Vanguard” (international genre flicks), “TIFF Kids”, and “City to City” (an annual programme that focuses on films from one city; this year is Buenos Aires).  The 2011 Toronto Film Festival runs from September 8th to 18th.

Bobcat Goldthwait, to those that still think of him as a comedian, has become a real Hollywood director in the past few years. Similar to how the current generation may know Clint Eastwood more for his work behind the camera instead of in front of it, Goldthwait will perhaps be more known for his films about bestiality, auto erotic asphyxiation, and his newest movie topic, teen murder (and that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you compare Bobcat Goldthwait to Clint Eastwood).

Goldthwait’s new film will be called God Bless America and is backed by Darko Pictures, the same company that funded Goldthwait’s previous film, World’s Greatest Dad. According to Goldthwait, the film covers what happens when you watch a show similar to MTV’s My Super Sweet 16. The show, to those blessedly unfamiliar with the program, it shows bratty, rich teenagers crying over how little diamonds are encrusted on the BMW their daddy bought them.  The film will follow “a middle aged guy…at home watching a show like My Super Sweet 16.” As you can imagine, a side effect of watching such a show would be the want to murder anyone on it. On the Adam Carolla Show [via CinemaBlend] Goldthwait explains that the man “drives 400 miles and kills that girl.” Eventually, when no one seems to mind that she is missing, the man and a classmate of the girl “get in this stolen Camaro and drive around and kill people.”  Well, I’m in.