It’s not all gold, Mr. Apatow.  The logic behind his films seems to be, “If it got big laughs at a test screening, we should probably keep it.”  Therefore, the editing isn’t decided on how best to tell the story, but how many jokes they can stuff into a borderline-ridiculous runtime.  If this is the case, then there must be an absolute certainty that the jokes are all terrific, and that it doesn’t detract from the characters or the plot.  You can have the “Know how I know you’re gay?” scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin because it’s funny, it doesn’t slow the film down, and it doesn’t detract from overall narrative.  This Is 40, Judd Apatow‘s latest film, lacks any such cohesion.  As nothing more than a slice-of-life, it’s free to wander around aimlessly, sometimes running up against great jokes, and sometimes meandering through scenes that could be cut completely.  More frustrating, beneath the sporadic success of the humor, there’s a compelling story and strong performances, especially from Leslie Mann.  Unfortunately, This Is 40 works in reverse, trying to let a story flow out of humorous situations rather than vice-versa.

Universal Pictures has released five clips from writer/director Judd Apatow’s new film This Is 40.  For those unaware, the pic is a “sort-of sequel” to Apatow’s 2008 film Knocked Up, and continues the story of the characters played by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann five years later as they’re navigating new challenges to their careers, parents, marriage, and children.

Hit the jump to watch the clips.  The film also stars Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, Maude Apatow, Iris Apatow, Megan Fox, Chris O’Dowd, Charlyne Yi, Jason Segel, and Melissa McCarthy.  This Is 40 opens on December 21st.

Universal Pictures has released a large batch of images from writer/director Judd Apatow’s upcoming comedy This Is 40.  For those unaware, the film is a “sort-of sequel” to Apatow’s 2008 film Knocked Up and picks up with the characters played by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann five years later as they’re navigating new challenges to their careers, parents, marriage, and children.  I’m encouraged by what we’ve seen thus far, and if anyone can bring a brutally honest portrayal of a marriage to the screen with equal parts charm and heartbreak, it’s Rudd and Mann.  These new images provide a colorful look at Apatow’s impressive cast.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film also stars Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, Maude Apatow, Iris Apatow, Megan Fox, Chris O’Dowd, Charlyne Yi, Jason Segel, and Melissa McCarthy.  This Is 40 opens on December 21st.

A new red-band trailer has been released for Judd Apatow‘s new comedy, This Is 40.  The Knocked-Up spin-off follows Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) as they try to navigate new challenges to their careers, parents, marriage, and children.  Since Apatow films about 26-days of ad-libbing, a third of the jokes in this trailer aren’t in the movie even though the film is over two-hours long.  That’s not to say that movie isn’t funny, but it’s odd to use jokes to sell the film and then decide those jokes weren’t good enough for the final cut.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Megan Fox, Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, Chris O’Dowd, Jason Segel, Maude Apatow, and Iris Apatow.  This Is 40 opens December 21st.

Earlier this year, I wrote about how The Five-Year Engagement over-indulged its actors’ improvisational comedy, which caused scenes to run on for far too long.  Director Jay Roach wisely dodges this problem by cutting his new film, The Campaign, down to a lean 85 minutes.  There’s clearly plenty of more material as stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis‘ strong chemistry and comic mastery play brilliantly off each other, especially when the humor gets particularly crass.  It’s a film that can deliver big laughs, and yet it features an odd concoction of broad comedy that grazes up against targeted political commentary.  The brew tastes a bit off as it highlights a missed opportunity to truly take advantage of the political arena.

Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis will duke it out in the upcoming comedy The Campaign, and six clips, 10 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage, and over 25 new high-resolution images from the pic have been released.  Ferrell stars as an incumbent congressman who is surprisingly challenged by the green and inexperienced Galifianakis in a North Carolina race.  Jay Roach (Recount, Austin Powers) directs the pic, which takes the ridiculousness of American politics to another level.  Ferrell and Galifianakis appear to be having a blast, and I’m looking forward to seeing the two take on the world of politics with gusto.

Hit the jump to check out the cilps, featurettes, and images, and if you missed any of our set visit coverage click here.  The film also stars Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Dan Aykroyd, Brian Cox, and John Lithgow.  The Campaign opens on August 10th.

As we gear up towards one of the most heated elections in our country’s history, people are getting a little (OK, a lot) stressed out:  political pundits are viciously attacking one another—and Batman movies—in the press, candidates are slinging mud via increasingly-aggro campaign ads, and voters on both sides of the aisle seem poised to tear one another limb from limb.  Seems like we could all use a good laugh right about now, doesn’t it?  Good news is, Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, writer Chris Henchy and director Jay Roach’s The Campaign is here to provide that much-needed dose of anger-deflating political comedy.

I visited the set of the film a few months ago, and have returned with 20 things you need to know about The Campaign before it opens next month.  Wanna know more?  Meet me after the jump.

This weekend Hero Complex in association with The Los Angeles Times hosted the third annual Hero Complex Film Festival.  Highlights to which included a screening of Shaun of the Dead with Edgar Wright, Wall-E with director Andrew Stanton and A Clockwork Orange with star Malcolm McDowell.

I was on hand Saturday for the fest at a midday screening of Paul Verhoeven’s seminal satirical ultraviolent masterpiece RoboCop. Star Peter Weller appeared after the screening for a lengthy and animated Q&A wherein he discussed prepping for RoboCop, learning to appreciate the satirical bend of the film and his thoughts on a hypothetical remake, among many other topics of conversation.  For highlights from the Q&A, hit the jump.

Earlier this week, we showed you a couple of fake campaign ads for Jay Roach‘s comedy The Campaign starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis.  Today, Warner Bros. has released the first trailer and poster.  The film centers on an incumbent candidate (Ferrell) who doesn’t expect to be opposed in his run for a fifth-term, but he finds an unexpected challenger in the unassuming and dim-witted Marty Huggins (Galifianakis).  I was hoping that the trailer would deliver more laughs than the campaign ads, but no dice.  Yes, there’s some baby-punching at the end, but overall this looks like another weak comic effort from Roach.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars The film also stars Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Brian Cox, John Lithgow, and Dan Aykroyd.  The Campaign opens August 10th.

About a month ago, we brought you these set photos from The Campaign (previously known as Dog Fight), starring Will Ferrell (Old School) and Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover). Now, we have the first official image from the movie which features Ferrell and Galifianakis’ characters as political opponents posing for a photograph. The plot of The Campaign follows Cam Brady (Ferrell) and Marty Huggins (Galifianakis), two North Carolina politicians who each have Presidential aspirations and are vying for a congressional seat in their district. This image isn’t as colorful as the previous set photos, but Galifianakis’ awkwardness is shining through loud and clear.

Directed by Jay Roach (Meet the Parents), The Campaign also stars Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Brian Cox, John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd. Look for The Campaign to appear in theaters on August 10th. Hit the jump to see the image and a bonus quote from Ferrell. [Update: We've updated the image with a hi-res version]

One of the biggest surprises for me this year was Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of The Planet of The Apes, a film that I had steadfastly refused to see for weeks after its release:  The Apes franchise is not a franchise I have ever loved (or even liked), the inclusion of James Franco seemed beyond-ominous to me (and the trailers seemed to support my suspicions), and the fact that 20^th Century Fox was selling their film on the gee-whiz sight of an ape fighting a helicopter seemed—at the time—like the very definition of absurd to me.  Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for me to eat some serious crow:  Rise of The Planet of The Apes is one of the year’s best films, a rare combination of “good ideas” and “holy crap” special effects that completely changed my opinion of what this franchise could be.  You should see it, but first, read on for my full review, after the jump.

Following a brief stint with apes and a darkly disturbing turn on Showtime’s Dexter, actor John Lithgow is heading back to comedy. Variety reports that Lithgow is joining the cast of Jay Roach’s political comedy Dog Fight. Previously titled Southern Rivals, the film stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as rival politicians running for a congressional seat in a small North Carolina district. The core comedic team here is fantastic, and Ferrell and Galifianakis will be joined by Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Sarah Baker (Sweet Home Alabama), and Katherine LaNasa (Valentine’s Day).

Roach is directing from a script by Chris Henchy and Shawn Harwell, and he’s producing alongside Ferrell and Galifianakis. Lithgow will next be seen (probably briefly) in New Year’s Eve, and also stars in Judd Apatow’s untitled comedy. Dog Fight opens August 10th, 2012.

You’re not supposed to cut out your stars half-way through your blockbuster movie.  You’re not supposed to rest your big summer movie on apes created by CGI motion-capture technology.  You’re not supposed to sell an audience on the far-fetched idea that humans can be defeated by a species that doesn’t have opposable thumbs [correction: Apes do have opposable thumbs.  We're all doomed].  You’re not supposed to leave the audience on a down note.  There’s so much that goes into making a formulaic, forgettable blockbuster and no one told the folks behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  Instead, Rupert Wyatt, the screenwriters, the actors, and the special effects team broke all the rules and came out with one the summer’s most exciting movies.

New clips from Rise of the Planet of the Apes have gone online.  I liked the earlier clip I saw of Caesar (Andy Serkis) protecting his human father figure (John Lithgow) but now I want to go into the film not spoiling any more of it for myself.  However, if you still need to be convinced about pre-damned-and-dirty apes then hit the jump to check out the 5 clips.  The film stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, Tom Felton, and Brian Cox.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens August 5th.

New clips have gone online for Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Conan the Barbarian.  The Planet of the Apes clip does a fantastic job of highlighting the incredible detail in the facial animation for Caesar (played via motion capture by Andy Serkis).  We’ve seen glimpses of that detail before in trailers, but watching how the character’s expressions change over the course of a scene is really amazing stuff.  Also, having Caesar build a model Statue of Liberty is a nice touch.

As for the Conan clip, we see Lil’ Conan show he’s the baddest ass of all the young barbarians even though he’s shorter and doesn’t have a stylish white fur coat.  The Conan clip is red-band for the crazy violence, but you’ll watch it because it has a 12-year-old kid smashing apart a guy’s kneecaps.  Hit the jump for the clips.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens August 5th.  Conan the Barbarian opens in 3D on August 19th.