1999’s American Pie spawned an unlikely trilogy that concluded in 2003 as the film’s popularity seemed to peak and the story had few places left to go. Cut to nearly ten years later, and it feels like the studio said “it’s still a viable franchise, right? Let’s find out.” Franchise filmmaking is the meat and potatoes of studios these days, and American Reunion also goes the Fast Five route by bringing back the entire cast from the first movie. The film fizzled at the box office for a number of reasons, foremost would be that characters are thirty now, and there’s no innocence left to lose and there’s way less hope. Which means sex-hijinks are not as much fun. Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein and many more return for the film, and our review of American Reunion on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a big part of my childhood.  I grew up in this sweet spot where the cartoon was incredibly popular and we got the first few movies and a slew of video games.  I entered into Friday’s panel at Room 6BCF with hesitation.  A few animated films that never took off and some jittery cartoon series have since come out and I’ve grown older.  I can safely say, though, that while there are some big changes afoot, I think showrunner Ciro Neili knows just what buttons to push to revitalize this franchise.  During a lively panel we were shown some brief character intros, Neili’s concept art, clips of test footage, and much more.  Jason Biggs (Leonardo), Rob Paulsen (Donatello), Sean Astin (Raphael), Greg Cipes (Michaelangelo), Mae Whitman (April O’Neil), Hoon Lee (Splinter), and Kevin Michael Richardson (Shredder) were all on hand to share their experiences and individual love for the property.  Hit the jump for more details.

We’ve got some new posters for you today with all sorts of genre confusion.  Here are the movies in brief:

• The Possession, a horror-thriller from director Ole Bornedal that stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick and Natasha Calis.  The film opens August 31st.
• Trishna, from director Michael Winterbottom, stars Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed in an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles.”
• Grassroots, a policitcal comedy/drama from director Stephen Gyllenhaal, stars Cobie Smulders, Jason Biggs and Joel David Moore.

Hit the jump to check out the new posters.

Life Happens, from director/co-writer Kat Coiro, is a comedy centered on three young women – Kim (Krysten Ritter), Deena (Kate Bosworth) and Laura (Rachel Bilson) – who all live under the same roof in Los Angeles.  When one of Kim’s one-night-stands results in an unexpected pregnancy, she turns to her girlfriends for help while she attempts to cope with single motherhood and jumping back into the dating scene amid the fear that having a child could put a quick end to any potential relationship.  The movie also stars Jason Biggs, Justin Kirk, Kristen Johnston and Geoff Stults.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, the film’s star and co-writer Krysten Ritter talked about how this movie came together, the changes it went through in nearly four years of development, how happy she was with the final outcome of the film, and what she learned from this entire process and experience.  She also talked about her role in the upcoming vampire comedy Vamps, from writer/director Amy Heckerling, playing the lead in the new ABC comedy series Don’t Trust the B in Apt. 23 (airing Wednesday nights, starting April 11^th), and the pilot she’s producing for MTV, adapted from the novel Cassandra French’s Finishing School for Boys. Check out what she had to say after the jump.

I feel compelled this week to use the Top 5 opening paragraph to ask our readers a moderately sized favor: if you have any interest whatsoever in the American horror genre and its future, please do your best to find a way to catch The Cabin in the Woods in theaters when it officially opens next weekend. I’m not asking this as a way of manufacturing some hyperbolic scenario in which the success or failure of said film will literally make or break the genre as we know it. Rather, I’m hoping to use it as a reminder that opening weekend box office dollars are one of the best ways that a moviegoer can have his/her voice heard by the film industry’s powers that be. If you’re tired of remakes of remakes and reboots of those remakes, then do your best to financially support something that isn’t afraid to turn genre conventions on their respective heads. Now, all favors aside…

Waiting on the other side of the Top 5 jump this week is a recap of our visit to the set of The Avengers, the first Total Recall trailer, video interviews with the cast of American Reunion, the first trailer/images from Seth MacFarlane‘s Ted, and a batch of new images from Prometheus. You know the drill, a brief recap and link to each of the above awaits…

American Reunion, the nostalgia dripping thirteen-plus year sequel to American Pie (nine years since American Wedding, three since the DTV American Pie: Book of Love), leans heavily not only on the past iterations/bonds/adventures of its many characters but more-so on the audience’s own relationship to the original film.  Numerous references to American Pie abound: hey remember the time when Jim failed to seal the deal with Nadia over a webcam or Milf #2 or ‘That Time at Band Camp’?… – because American Reunion sure does and it pulls at every heartstring to make sure you do too.  In the sequel – Jim and Michelle’s marriage has hit a sexual lull, Stifler is now stuck working a dead end job, Oz is a C-level celebrity, Finch has disappeared without a trace and Kevin is just beginning to settle into boring normal adulthood. Of course their high-school reunion tests these status quos – upending some, reaffirming others…

At the recent press day in conjunction with our partners Omelete, I was able to speak with the entirety of the American Reunion cast.  Today’s interview: Jason Biggs & Alyson Hannigan (Jim & Michelle).  In the interview, the duo reminisce about the first American Pie, discuss the art of humiliation and preview where they see Jim and Michelle ten/twenty years from now.  Hit the jump to watch.

In the raunchy comedy American Reunion, East Great Falls High’s Class of 1999 is back, more than a decade later. Husband and wife duo Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) have come home to reminisce with Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Vicky (Tara Reid), Oz (Chris Klein), Heather (Mena Suvari), Finch (Eddie Kay Thomas) and Stifler (Seann William Scott), who out of all of them remains the same as he ever was, while Jim’s dad (Eugene Levy) gets to know Stifler’s mom (Jennifer Coolidge) a little better. In one long-overdue weekend, they will learn that time and distance cannot break the bonds of friendship.

At the film’s press day, co-stars Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan talked about the ways they most related to this story and their characters now, how it was about time for Biggs to be showing his penis, and what they thought of their dominatrix scene. Check out what they had to say after the jump.

A new red-band trailer for American Reunion has gone online. Not a ton of footage is revealed in this new look at the fourth (real) entry in the American Pie franchise, but there are a few gags here and there that make it worth your time. I’m especially fond of Stifler’s reaction to his old hook-up buddy, and a much welcomed Stifler/Finch/Stifler’s mom moment. Earlier today we posted a Funny or Die video that featured Jason Biggs and a talking pie out for revenge that’s incredibly funny, so I’m hoping the same kind of humor carries over into American Reunion. Everything we’ve seen thus far has me optimistic that Reunion is a worthy successor to the previous three Pie films, and I’m eager to check the sequel out.

Hit the jump to check out the new trailer, and if you missed our interview with writer/directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg be sure to take a gander. The film stars also stars Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nichols, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, Katrina Bowden, Dania Ramirez, and Shannon Elizabeth. American Reunion opens on April 6th.

Funny or Die has put together a new short to promote the upcoming release of American Reunion.  Star Jason Biggs‘ reputation will never be free of fucking the pie in American Pie, and in the new short, the pie wants its revenge.  American Reunion will be a success if it’s even half as funny as this short.

Hit the jump to check out the short.  American Reunion also stars Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nichols, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, Katrina Bowden, Dania Ramirez, and Shannon Elizabeth. The film opens April 6th.

With the upcoming release of American Reunion, the first three American Pie films have been put to Blu-ray, all offering both theatrical and unrated cuts. The films follow Jim (Jason Biggs) and his best friends Oz (Chris Klein), Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) as they quest to get laid. In the first film, Jim is just looking for sex, in the second he finds love, and in the third he gets married. Alyson Hannigan, Tara Reid, Jennifer Coolidge, Mena Survari, Shannon Elizabeth, January Jones, Natasha Lyonne, and Eugene Levy also star. And our review of the American Pie trilogy on Blu-ray follows after jump.

With writer-directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg‘s American Reunion opening in a few weeks, Universal has just released five clips.  In the sequel, the original gang return to East Great Falls for their high-school reunion and as the synopsis says, “In one long-overdue weekend, they will discover what has changed, who hasn’t and that time and distance can’t break the bonds of friendship.”  I’m a big fan of the first film and looking forward to seeing Jim, Oz, Finch, Kevin, Stifler and of course Stifler’s mom again.

American Reunion stars Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nichols, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, Katrina Bowden, Dania Ramirez and Shannon Elizabeth.  Hit the jump to watch the clips.

Though I hadn’t given American Reunion much thought after it was announced, the first trailer hooked me with its nostalgia-laden claws and has yet to let go. I’m happy to see the whole gang’s back together, and I’m eager to find out where all the characters stand as they firmly plant themselves into “adulthood”. Universal released a batch of new images from the film today, giving us a peek how Jim, Oz, Finch, Kevin, Stifler and of course Stifler’s mom are faring these days. We also get a look at new additions Katrina Bowden and Dania Ramirez.

Hit the jump to check out the images. The film stars Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nichols, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, and Shannon Elizabeth. American Reunion opens on April 6th.

A new trailer for American Reunion has gone online. I would never have guessed that the American Pie franchise would feel so sentimental, but the marketing materials for American Reunion have been just incredibly nostalgic. This new trailer delves a bit more into the plot, as we see Jason Biggs’s Jim tempted by the girl he used to babysit who’s now turning 18. Seann William Scott looks like he’ll once again steal the show, and it really feels nice to see all the characters back together again. The overarching tone appears to center on where the characters are now as opposed to where they thought they’d be when they were wide-eyed high schoolers, and I’m interested to see how far they take this. Of course the crux of the films is the humor, but there was a sweetness to American Pie that looks to be prevalent in American Reunion. Time will tell, but I’m genuinely looking forward to this (likely) final installment of the main franchise.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer. The film also stars Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nichols, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, and Shannon Elizabeth. American Reunion opens April 6, 2012.

An international trailer for American Reunion has gone online. The fourth entry in the American Pie franchise sees the return of basically every cast member from the first film as the characters come together for their high school reunion. This international trailer has a couple new scenes that we haven’t seen in the US trailers, and we also learn that in the UK the pic is called American Pie: Reunion (brand recognition!). I’m pretty excited for this fourquel as I was a fan of the first three films. The trailers evoke an odd sense of nostalgia and I’m intrigued to see how these characters reconcile the idea of “growing up.” Also, dick jokes.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nichols, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, and Shannon Elizabeth. American Reunion opens April 6, 2012.

Last month, Universal released a red-band teaser trailer for American Reunion, and once again showed that masturbation isn’t for everyone and certainly not for Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs).  Now an all-audiences trailer has gone online and it looks like A) Seann William Scott will once again be the scene-stealer, and B) any jokes that aren’t R-rated are sitcom-level.  Even though I’m tired of the characters, I’m willing to give American Reunion a shot since writer-directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg earned my goodwill with the first two Harold & Kumar movies.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nichols, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, and Shannon Elizabeth.  American Reunion opens April 6, 2012.