With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I can’t help but think that Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum’s The Vow is Hollywood’s way of saying, “We know you suck at planning romantic Valentine’s dates, so why not pay us to take care of that for you?”. And you know what? They’re right. I’ve already reserved a couple of tix for the pic and, just like that, I’m basically a romance deity (Note: “Romance deity” may be a slight exaggeration”).

All romantic escapades aside, this week’s “Top 5″ brings you all of our John Carter set visit coverage, a plethora of Star Wars items, a new trailer for director Marc Webb‘s The Amazing Spider-Man, the first trailer and poster from Jeremy Renner‘s The Bourne Legacy, and all of Super Bowl XLVI’s movie ads in one place. You can find a brief recap and link to each after the jump.

“Barsoom” reads a sign on the outskirts of the movie set we’re about to visit.  “Barsoom” is what Martians call their planet in Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ A Princess of Mars.  A group of my fellow online movie journalists and I are headed to the set of Andrew Stanton‘s adaptation of the classic sci-fi novel, John Carter.  Mars may technically be in Big Water, Utah, but today we’ll be walking the ruins of an ancient Martian city, meeting a princess who bleeds blue, and a nine-foot-tall nomad tribe of warriors.  Hit the jump to take a trip to the red planet and find out about my visit to the set of John Carter.

If you ever watched TV’s Friday Night Lights, then you’re probably already a Taylor Kitsch fan.  You know he’s got the charm and acting chops to carry a film, and he’s carrying two blockbusters this year.  First up is Andrew Stanton‘s John Carter, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ novel A Princess of Mars.  Kitsch plays John Carter, a Civil War veteran who finds him transported to the surface of Mars and thrown into a new civil war, but this it’s between nine-foot-tall green aliens and princesses who literally bleed blue.  While on the film’s set, we talked to Kitsch about finding the balance between everyman and action hero, being the audience surrogate, working with director and co-writer Stanton, acting in physical environment as opposed to a green-screen soundstage, and more.

Hit the jump to check out the interview.  John Carter opens March 9th.

Making the move from directing animation to live-action was the big question facing Andrew Stanton when I visited the set of John Carter in April 2010.  Stanton had already delivered two amazing Pixar movies with Finding Nemo and WALL-E, but he headed to Mars with John Carter and Mars was a mix of live-action and CG.  Stanton was refreshingly honest about the transition and how the two mediums compare.  He also talked about his frustrations with the live-action process, how the film isn’t in post-production but “Principal Digital Photography”, the process of adapting the book, trying to flesh out the main characters, where they’re at with the planned sequels, and more.

Hit the jump to check out the interview.  John Carter opens in 3D on March 9th.

Tharks, the green-skinned, six-limbed creatures living on Mars in John Carter are about nine feet tall.  Great actors though they are, Willem Dafoe and Thomas Haden Church, are not nine feet tall.  Even though they’re wearing the standard motion-capture grey leotards and tracking dots, there’s no accounting for height…unless you add stilts.  Watching Dafoe and Church march around on stilts is one of the high-lights of any set visit I’ve gone to.

With a sandstorm whipping into our faces and into our microphones, my fellow movie journalists and I spoke to Dafoe and Church on the set of John Carter.  In addition to talking about the stilts, we spoke about the scene they were currently filming, their characters, how doing motion-capture on set helped their performances, and more.  Hit the jump to check out the interview.  John Carter opens in 3D on March 9th.

Andrew Stanton‘s John Carter is based off the novel A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Lynn Collins plays the novel’s eponymous princess, Dejah Thoris.  But rather than a damsel in distress waiting for the Earthman John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) to come to her rescue, she can hold her own and kick some ass. When I went to the set of John Carter with some of my fellow movie bloggers, Collins spoke to us about her martial arts training, Dejah’s fighting style training, the three hours it takes to cover her body in intricate tattoos, what the tattoos mean, and more.  “John Carter” may be the title of the movie, but don’t be surprised if we’re paying just as much attention to the Princess of Mars.

Hit the jump to check out the interview.  John Carter opens in 3D on March 9th.

Like most of her John Carter co-stars, Oscar-nominee Samantha Morton (In America) has been in blockbuster films, but she’s never had to do motion capture up until this movie.  Also, since she plays a Thark, she also never had to walk on stilts until John Carter.  Morton plays Sola, a pariah of the war-loving Thark society due to her caring and nurturing attitude, and she’s given the task of helping John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) acclimate to life among the Tharks.

Morton was a bit reluctant to talk about her character since she’s used to talking more about the film after it’s finished rather than during production.  It’s a position I absolutely respect, and I’m glad she was at least willing to comment on how working with director Andrew Stanton compared to working with Charlie Kaufman (Synecdoche, New York) and Steven Spielberg (Minority Report), adapting a classic piece of literature (John Carter is based off Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ A Princess of Mars), and a bit more.  Hit the jump for the interview.  John Carter opens in 3D on March 9th.

I was underwhelmed by last night’s Super Bowl spot for John Carter (a movie so epic, it can fit into its title!), but I still think the movie can deliver.  It’s got scope, it’s going to be unlike anything else this year, and it’s got Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo and WALL-E) at the helm.  Disney has released 7 new images from the film and they provide a better look at Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris, the warrior princess of Mars.

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

Did you know that marketing decisions can be condescending and sexist?  It’s true! (and those two qualities usually go hand-in-hand so you shouldn’t be surprised)  I’ve been puzzled as to why Disney changed the title of John Carter to John Carter of Mars.  To me, “of Mars” is the hook.  John Carter is “Some Guy” particular because of his generic name.  If his name was “Captain Billyboots Spaceship” then I can see dropping the “of Mars”.  So why did half the title disappear?

Director Andrew Stanton recently told BleedingCool that the title had already been changed from A Princess of Mars because it was a “truth” that boys wouldn’t go see it if they kept author Edgar Rice Burroughs’ original title. But then, when they changed it to John Carter of Mars, Stanton believed it was also a “truth” that girls wouldn’t see it because apparently girls hate planets.  So the compromise was to make it John Carter and now no one will see it.  Hit the jump for more from Stanton and my thoughts on this idiotic decision.

Good Morning America had a sneak peek of the new John Carter trailer earlier today, which probably wasn’t the best way to present a hard sell to an unfamiliar audience, not to mention a critical group of fans ready to tear into the film adaptation that dropped the most interesting half of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars. Disney followed up quickly with the full trailer that gives you a better sense of the film.  It looks big, like the event film that Disney needs it to be.

Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Haden Church, and James Purefoy star in director Andrew Stanton‘s first live-action feature. John Carter opens in 3D on March 9, 2012.  Watch the trailer after the jump.

A new trailer for director Andrew Stanton‘s John Carter has been released. The film centers on a former Confederate soldier who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he finds himself in the middle of a epic war between the planet’s inhabitants. The trailer (or at least the cut that aired on Good Morning America) is short and not sweet. It features lines like “That don’t look like a fair fight,” and “We did not cause this, but we will end it!” Hoo-boy.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer. The film stars Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Haden Church, and James Purefoy. John Carter opens in 3D on March 9, 2012. [Update: Stanton has tweeted [via @Illusion0fLife] that the full trailer will air tonight online and during Jimmy Kimmel Live. ] [2nd Update: Disney has asked us to refer to this as a "sneak peek" of the trailer.  That means it's a preview of a trailer, which is the idiotic world of double-marketing we live in.  If you want to see the full trailer in all its wonder, it will run tonight at 9:00pm PST on IGN]

Last week a new image from Wall-E director Andrew Stanton’s John Carter popped up online, and now six more images have been unveiled in anticipation of the new trailer dropping next Thursday. Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter of Mars, the sci-fi pic tells the story of a former Confederate soldier who is transported to Mars right in the middle of an epic conflict between the planet’s inhabitants. I wasn’t exactly wowed by the first trailer, so I’m hoping this new one looks more promising. These images are pretty cool, and give us a look at some neat creatures from the film (including Tars Tarkas played by Willem Dafoe), but the film still looks like an incredibly hard sell to general audiences. Hopefully this new trailer will alleviate concerns, as I think Stanton’s an extremely talented filmmaker.

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

The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly has a new image from Andrew Stanton‘s John Carter.  The movie centers on a former Confederate soldier who finds himself suddenly transported to Mars and put in the middle of an epic conflict between the planet’s inhabitants.  John Carter is rumored to have an insane budget and while the movie comes out in March, Disney has held off on the marketing and hasn’t built awareness beyond the trailer from July, an edit bay visit, and showing clips at D23 (clips the rest of us haven’t seen).  Obviously, there’s still time to get everyone’s attention, but when you think about how much lead time the studio gave to The Muppets compared to a movie based on the less well-known John Carter of Mars, it’s a little difficult to understand why we’re just now getting another image.  Hopefully, we’re about to see a lot more and get a better sense of what Stanton’s conjured.

Hit the jump to check out the full image.  The film stars Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Hayden Church, and Willem Dafoe.  John Carter opens in 3D on March 9th. [Update: We've updated the article with an official version of the image.]

The teaser trailer for John Carter has landed online. I’m not exactly sure what to make of this film.  Some parts look incredibly cheesy (“You may be the only one who can save us!”) while others look like a good, old-fashioned adventure flick.  I hope its the latter because some of the designs are great  and the special effects look pretty sweet.  You can also click here for what Steve thought when he visited the editing bay.

Hit the jump to check out the teaser trailer.  The film stars Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Haden Church, and James Purefoy.  John Carter opens March 9, 2012. The US trailer is set to go online later today and if it’s different than this one we’ll update the story.

“I’ve tried really hard to capture what I thought was universal and timeless about this book that is above and beyond the genre itself.” – Andrew Stanton

After hearing director Andrew Stanton (WALL·E, Finding Nemo) talk passionately for almost an hour about his first live-action movie, John Carter, in San Francisco last week, I’m convinced he’s the right person to finally bring Edgar Rice Burroughs celebrated novel to the big screen.  Not only is he a lifelong fan of the material, but his behind the scenes team is packed wall-to-wall with lifelong Burroughs fans.  In addition, while some filmmakers might cling to the source material and treat it like a Bible that they refuse to diverge from, Stanton is smart enough to know that some things that read great on the page won’t translate to the screen, though that doesn’t mean a Thark won’t still be a 9 to 10-foot tall green alien with 4 arms and tusks.

But let me back up a second.

With Disney releasing the first teaser trailer for John Carter later this week (it’ll be on Harry Potter and also online), today marks the very beginning of the Studio’s campaign to promote the movie.  To help make that happen, they invited a few online reporters to Northern California to watch some footage, the teaser trailer, and also speak with producer Jim Morris and director Andrew Stanton.  If you’ve been looking forward to John Carter, or you’re just a fan of Stanton and curious about his next movie, hit the jump for 20 things to know about the movie and an awesome interview (both audio and transcript) with the great director.