Earlier this week I literally dreamed about The Dark Knight Rises. Not that I was in the movie. Not that I was Batman. Just that I was in the theater watching it for the first time. And I woke up with a sense of joy that followed me around for hours. Even now I can’t decide exactly what this says about me or whether it’s a good or bad thing that I’m so excited for a single moviegoing experience. Part of me is a little disappointed in my subconscious for dreaming on such a micro level. Another part is encouraged that it finds such joy in the “little things”. Regardless, those precious two hours and forty-five minutes or so on midnight of July 20th can’t get here soon enough.

All personal issues aside, this week’s iteration of the Top 5 includes the new trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson‘s The Master, Brave interviews with John Lasseter, director Mark Andrews and more, Brendan’s latest Cinemath feature, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World interviews with Steve Carell, Keira Knightley and more, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter interviews with Tim Burton and co. The search for a brief recap and link to each concludes after the jump.

With Pixar’s Brave opening this weekend, Disney recently held a press junket in Scotland where I got to interview some of the cast and filmmakers.  The film centers on Princess Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald), a young girl who accidentally sets loose an evil curse when she wishes for the freedom to escape her restrictive life.  But the big news about Brave is that it’s Pixar’s first film with a female protagonist and their first fairy tale.  I would imagine it won’t be their last.  Brave also features the voices of Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters.  For more on Brave, here’s all our previous coverage and four clips.

During my interview with Kevin McKidd we talked about how the film changed over the long development process,what surprised him about the recording process, his reaction to the finished film, what people should do if they visit Scotland, and how he’s recorded an album of traditional Scottish folk music, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

A new clip from Pixar’s latest feature Brave has been released.  The story centers on Princess Merida, a young girl who accidentally sets loose an evil curse when she wishes for the freedom to escape her restrictive life.  This clip plays straight to the younger audience for the film, as a brawl breaks out between suitors that are trying to win the hand of Merida.  Slapstick abounds and I sincerely hope this kind of humor doesn’t permeate throughout the entire film.  We’ve come to expect a smarter and more nuanced type of humor from Pixar that skillfully plays to all ages of the audience, and this kind of funny business isn’t exactly striking the right chord with me.  That said, there’s a lot to love in the previous Brave trailers so I’m eager to finally catch the full film.

Hit the jump to watch the clip.  The film features the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters. Brave opens in 3D on June 22th.

Four clips from Disney-Pixar’s latest film, Brave, have gone online.  The story centers on Princess Merida, a young girl who accidentally sets loose an evil curse when she wishes for the freedom to escape her restrictive life.  All the footage released from this film has looked excellent, and I’m eager to be whisked away to the Scottish Highlands by another (hopefully) well-crafted and effective story from Pixar.  Moreover, this marks the studio’s first film with a female protagonist and their first fairy tale, so hopefully we’re in for a treat.

Hit the jump to watch the clips.  Brave features the voices of Kelly Macdonald,  Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters. Brave opens in 3D on June 22^nd.

The first round of the NFL Draft kicks off tonight, and while fans across the country are busy prognosticating/praying, Disney is capitalizing on the excitement with an NFL Draft-inspired TV spot for the upcoming Pixar flick Brave.  It’s actually a pretty smart product integration, as it’s been obvious from the previous trailers that the Mouse House has been trying hard to lure the male crowd to the female-centered movie.  It’s a bit ridiculous to think that young males won’t go to a movie just because a female is the main character, and we’ve learned from The Hunger Games that strong, independent female protagonists are an enormous draw when done well.

Nevertheless, this spot does have some fun jokes and is packed with NFL-related references.  Also, somewhat surprisingly, there’s a pretty racy gag involving a certain female body part.  I guess we can expect a scandalous PG rating for the latest Pixar pic.  Hit the jump to watch the spot.  The film features the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters.  Brave opens in 3D on June 22nd.

The full trailer for Pixar’s Brave has gone online along with a new clip.  The past trailers have tried to blend the comic and dramatic sides of the film, and done so with varying levels of success.  The latest trailer puts up a clear wall between the two, showing off the amusing antics of the protagonist Princess Merida’s family (I love her father’s impression of his daughter) and then making a jarring, abrupt cut to the dramatic, mystical side of the adventure where Merida makes a wish to change her fate of being married off to another clan and losing her freedom.  The first half of the trailer made laugh, and the second half gave me chills (I love the use of Julie Fowlis‘ “Tha Mo Ghaol Air Aird A’ Chuain”), but I’m still looking for the connective tissue that will bring the two tones together.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer along with the clip (which falls on the comic side of Brave‘s schizophrenic advertising).  The film features the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters.  Brave opens in 3D on June 22nd.

The first couple of trailers for Pixar’s Brave weren’t terrible, but they left something to be desired. The tone seemed a bit scattershot and the reliance on jokes and action over story and character felt uncharacteristic of a Pixar trailer. It made sense that Disney would be targeting young boys with the first trailers who otherwise might blow off “that fairy tale cartoon with a girl,” and I felt confident that the first peeks weren’t telling the whole story. A few days ago Disney released a full clip that I really enjoyed, and last night during the Oscars they debuted the film’s first TV spot. Both the clip and the TV spot are fantastic, and they hint at the kind of movie I was expecting when I first read the logline for Brave: “a young princess in the Scottish Highlands defies an age-old custom, inadvertently unleashing chaos and fury in the kingdom.” I really, really love the tone and the atmosphere of this TV spot and I can’t wait to see the full film this summer.

Hit the jump to watch the spot. The film features the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters. Brave opens in 3D on June 22nd.

A new trailer for Pixar’s Brave has gone online.  Rather than show off a bunch of scenes from the movie or even give an overview of the plot.  The movie follows Merida, young princess (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) in the Scottish Highlands who defies an age-old custom, inadvertently unleashing chaos and fury in the kingdom.  This trailer doesn’t explain any of that and instead ops to show one scene.  The scene has three less-than-desirable men trying to win an archery contest for Merida’s hand in marriage.  Merida, none-too-happy with the situation, eventually has to show everyone what an utter bad-ass she is.  I still want to see more of the film’s scope, but the new trailer does a good job showing the movie’s comic and dramatic sides.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer, and click here to see the poster that was released yesterday. The film also features the voices of Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters. Brave opens in 3D on June 22nd.

A new trailer for Pixar’s upcoming film Brave has been released. The pic is the studio’s first fairy tale and revolves around a young princess (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) in the Scottish Highlands who defies an age-old custom, inadvertently unleashing chaos and fury in the kingdom.  The tone of the trailer is a bit scattershot.  On the one hand, there are grand statements about changing your fate and wanting freedom.  On the other hand, there’s a guy in a kilt mooning his fellow Scot.  Tone aside, the visuals look fantastic. Overall, the trailer is alright, but I think Brave still has the potential to be a great movie.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film also features the voices of Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters.  Brave opens in 3D on June 22, 2012.

A new synopsis for Pixar’s Brave has gone online.  We already knew the film was set in the mystical Scottish Highlands and revolved around a young princess (voiced my Kelly Macdonald) who defies a sacred custom of the land, inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom, and then makes an ill-fated wish in order to set things right.  The new synopsis adds a bit more color to the previous synopsis although it doesn’t add much in the way of new plot details.  However, it’s looking like that for everyone who was unimpressed with Cars 2 (i.e. everyone), Brave will be the terrific experience we’ve come to expect from Pixar.

Hit the jump to check out the synopsis.  Click here, here, and here for our Brave interviews at D23.  The film also stars Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters.  Brave opens in 3D on June 22, 2012.

At this weekend’s D23 (essentially Disney’s Comic-Con), I got to speak with Kevin McKidd and Kelly Macdonald about Pixar’s Brave.  In the upcoming animated film arriving June 22^nd, 2012, Macdonald plays an unruly daughter and an accomplished archer who defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom.  McKidd plays one of the kingdom’s three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin.

During the interview, they talked about being at D23, who they play in Brave and what it’s about, how Brave is the first Pixar movie with a female protagonist and what that means, how the movie has changed during the recording process, and I also got in a question about the second season of Boardwalk Empire.  Hit the jump to watch.

Comes a Bright Day has all the ingredients to be a great product of the UK independent film system.  First of all, it’s a crime drama with a dark sense of humor—”an offbeat, coming-of age love-story set during the armed robbery of London’s most exclusive jewelers.”  The cast is led by up-and-comers Craig Roberts (Submarine) and Imogen Poots (Fright Night), surrounded by veteran actors Kevin McKidd (Grey’s Anatomy) and Timothy Spall (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and fresh face Anthony Welsh.  And the official website is packed with material to spread the word about the film, including images, featurettes, and a production blog.

Director Simon Aboud is in post-production right now on his feature debut, with an eye toward premiering at Sundance or Berlin in 2012.  Hit the jump to see a ton of new images plus a few videos from the set of Comes a Bright Day.

After watching the trailer for The Bunraku, I’m more than a little confused. Its visual style conjures imagery of Dick Tracy and Kung Fu Hustle, but it’s as if these films took place in the world of Beetle Juice. Not to mention there’s some guy unloading serious kick-assery while wearing what seems to be the sorting hat from Harry Potter. The story is as follows: a drifter (Josh Hartnett) teams up with a young samurai (Gackt) and a bartender (Woody Harrelson) who plot revenge against a ruthless leader (Ron Perlman), a dangerous man leading an army of criminals headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins. The film also stars Demi Moore and Kevin McKidd.

One thing I love about the way Pixar markets their original films is that the trailers show very little footage from the actual movie itself. You’re able to go in almost completely fresh, without feeling like you’ve already seen 2/3’s of the movie. The next original film to be released from Pixar will be Brave next summer, and now The Pixar Blog confirms that the first teaser trailer for the film will be attached to Pixar’s Cars 2 when it hits theaters next month.

The studio’s first fairy tale (and their first film with a female protagonist), Brave centers on Princess Merida, a skilled archer who accidentally sets evil upon the Scottish highlands when she is granted an ill-fated wish. The phenomenal voice cast includes Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters. Judging by the gorgeous concept art that Pixar released in March, we’re in for quite a treat. Brave is slated for a June 22^nd, 2012 release, while Cars 2 hits theaters June 24^th.

I’m already looking past Cars 2 and on to Pixar’s next film Brave.  That’s partially because Cars 2 looks awful and partially because Brave will feature the studio’s first female protagonist.  It was also going to be the studio’s first film with a female director (Brenda Chapman), but there was a bit of controversy last October when Chapman was replaced by Mark Andrews, who previously directed the Pixar short One Man Band.

Behind-the-scenes drama aside, Brave looks like it could be a great film.  The film is set in Scotland and centers on a tomboyish princess who accidentally unleashes evil on her kingdom and must save the day.  The princess was to be voiced by Reese Witherspoon but scheduling conflicts forced her to drop out.  She’ll be replaced by they actually scottish Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire).  Hit the jump for more details on the film plus a first look at the concept art.  Brave is set to hit theaters in 3D on June 22, 2012. [Updated: Disney has provided some high-resolution images of the concept, which you can check out after the jump]