Lots of casting news to catch up on, so here it is in brief:

• Steve Coogan (Tropic Thunder) has been cast to voice a character in Despicable Me 2, starring Steve Carell and Al Pacino.
• Malcolm McDowell (The Artist) will star in a vignette of Tbilisi, My City.
• Kyle Gallner (A Nightmare on Elm Street) is a recent addition to Beautiful Creatures, the adaptation of the Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl novel.
• Abigail Spencer (Mad Men) will join the indie drama Kilimanjaro, starring Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker).
• Vik Sahay (Chuck) rounds out the cast for the werewolf film, Wer, directed by William Brent Bell (The Devil Inside).

Hit the jump for more.

The first trailer for the indie drama Little Birds has gone online.  The film premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and stars Juno Temple and Kay Panabaker as two young girls who leave home for Los Angeles, only to discover that the boredom of their hometown may be better than trying to survive in a big city.  This is a really well-crafted trailer for the indie-inclined, as it highlights all the right notes for its target audience.  The performances look great, the visuals striking, and the story seems familiar yet unique.  Color me intrigued.  Furthermore, since its Sundance premiere Temple has becoming somewhat of a rising star, with roles in the upcoming Lovelace and The Dark Knight Rises.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Kate Bosworth, Kyle Gallner, and Leslie Mann.

[This review is a reprint of Bill's review that ran during the Dallas International Film Festival]

Beautiful Boy is the story of missed connections between one another. Sometimes these result in arguments or misunderstandings, while other times they go unresolved until they finally boil over and cause a lasting effect. Director Shawn Ku gracefully navigates the heart breaking story of a couples’ loss in the wake of their son committing an act of mass violence at his college and then taking his own life. While the plot may sound conveniently topical, the way in which Ku treats the subject will have ripples for years to come. There isn’t an easy path of recovery to take, and now more than ever, people’s intrusive voyeurism and public remarks can cause even more emotional pain. Hit the jump for the full review.

Confidence is a crucial quality in a filmmaker.  Unlike the artistic expression of a painting or a novel, a film requires marshaling a small army to execute thousands of decisions in order to achieve a filmmaker’s vision.  Kevin Smith is not a filmmaker who exudes confidence.  After the noble failure of Jersey Girl, he retreated to the safety of Clerks II and then followed it up with the simple-yet-enjoyable Zack and Miri Make a Porno and the widely-despised Cop Out.  His new film, Red State, is a radical departure for Smith and yet he lacks the confidence to properly execute the action-horror-thriller he’s devised.  Visually and aurally impressive and featuring a phenomenal performance from Michael Parks, the film never completely comes together as it’s undermined by poorly-timed humor, clumsy exposition, and a refusal to trust the audience with ideas more complex than “fascism is bad.”

We have a couple of bits of casting news to send your way tonight.  First up, Kevin Smith has announced that Kyle Gallner (Red State) will play a character similar to “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky in Smith’s upcoming hockey-film Hit Somebody.  Per Cinema Blend, Gallner will make a turn as a budding hockey star who is just entering the NHL.  The actor joins a cast that already includes fellow Red State co-stars Nicholas Braun and Ralph Garman.  Speaking of Red State, the film is scheduled to debut at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival which runs January 20th-30th.

Next up, Golden Globe-winner Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) has signed on to star alongside Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the horror/thriller Dibbuk Box.  Directed by Ole Bornedal (Nightwatch), Dibbuk Box tells the story of a family who discovers that a mysterious box they purchased at a yard sale contains a spirit that is determined to “devour its human host.”  According to Deadline, Sedgwick will play the mother of the child who becomes attached to the death box.  Dibbuk Box is currently slated for a Halloween release on October 28th.

Kevin Smith has released the first teaser trailer for his upcoming horror movie Red State.  Premiering at next month’s Sundance Film Festival, Red State is a huge departure for Smith as the flick is about “a group of misfits [who] encounter extreme fundamentalism in Middle America.”  The film stars Michael Parks, Michael Angarano, Kyle Gallner, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Kevin Pollak, Anna Gunn, Stephen Root, and Smith’s Hit Somebody lead Nicholas Braun.  Parks is said to play a Fred Phelps-type preacher who leads a family of followers.

If you’ve been following the development of Red State, you know Smith had a really tough time getting the financing together due to the difficult subject matter.  And after watching the trailer, I can see why.  Red State looks nothing like his previous films and I’m definitely catching this at the first press screening at Sundance.  While I loved Smith’s first few films, I’ve been very disappointed with his recent output.  And his attitude about critics hasn’t helped his cause.  Saying all that, I’d love for him to rebound with Red State.  Judge the trailer for yourself after the jump.

As we make our way to the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, we’ll be posting images from the movies playing at the fest.  After the jump you’ll find images and one-line synopses for the in-competition films Little Birds (starring Juno Temple, Kay Panabaker, Leslie Mann, Kate Bosworth, and Kyle Gallner) and On the Ice (starring Josiah Patkotak, Frank Qutuq Irelan, Teddy Kyle Smith, Adamina Kerr, and Sierra Jade Sampson).  You’ll also find links to all of the other Sundance image articles we’ve done so far.  The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 20 – 30th.

Hot off the heels of news that Kevin Smith’s upcoming horror film Red State was recently accepted into the Sundance Film Festival, new images have been revealed from the film and a new poster has been unveiled by Smith himself. The poster was released by Smith via Twitter as a “thank you” to fans who pledged $1000 to The Wayne Foundation in less than 30 minutes. The Wayne Foundation is a charity devoted to stopping pederasts, with a mission to provide young women who have fallen victim to commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking with a means of leaving the sex industry for good.

The poster unveiled by Smith features Red State actress Kerry Bishe, and is one of four posters that Smith plans to release next week starting Monday. The headline of the poster, “The Virgin”, asserts Smith’s statement on his “Red State of the Union” podcast that the film begins very much like an 80’s horror film.  Smith’s podcast has been the source of a great deal of news concerning the film, particularly his description of the flick as essentially about “sex, religion, and politics.”  The images from the film that were released showcase Smith’s stellar cast, and confirm that the film is a drastic departure from his previous catalog of films. Hit the jump the check out the poster and images, as well as a bit more on the flick.

As a child of the 1980’s, it’s been funny to watch the majority of the entertainment of that era either sequelized or remade. Whether it’s trying to emulate John Hughes’s tone in a teen driven romantic comedy, or the Indiana Jones sequel, or the birth of comic book movies, it all feels very connected to that decade. For horror fans, it seems every major and minor title is getting the remake treatment, with Wes Craven’s classic films of the period at the top of the list. Craven’s classics Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes were already done (and reasonably well), so it was only a matter of time before someone finally got to Freddy Kruger. Platinum Dunes, the remakers behind The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror and Friday the 13^th put Samuel Bayer behind the camera, and made the smart choice in giving the iconic hat, sweater and finger-knives glove to Jackie Earle Haley. Random teens (headed up by Rooney Mara) are terrorized by Kruger in their dreams for an unknown reason, which become evident in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and my review of the blu-ray follows after the jump.

Continuing our first-look image series of movies playing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, we have images from John Carpenter’s The Ward starring Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Jared Harris, and Lyndsy Fonseca.  The Ward is Carpenter’s first film in over a decade and that alone is reason enough to see it. We also have images from Shawn Ku’s Beautiful Boy, which has a killer cast that includes Michael Sheen, Maria Bello, Moon Bloodgood, Alan Tudyk, Kyle Gallner, Austin Nichols, and Meat Loaf Aday.

Hit the jump to check out all the images and synopses for both films.  The 2010 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 9 – 19th.

In a recent interview, Kevin Smith talked about the divide between the type of actors he was looking to cast in the horror film Red State (“not complete unknowns,” but not “name recognizable” either), and the caliber of thespian actively seeking roles (“grade A talent”).  Judging from the list of actors who are currently in talks for the project — Dermot Mulroney, Kyle Gallner, Michael Angarano, Stephen Root, and Melissa Leo according to TheWrap — Smith may not be able to ward off all worthy suitors.

Root and Leo are well-respected veterans in the field, and there’s a 78% chance that Mulroney can be classified as a recognizable name; it seems likely that the seasoned trio are eying supporting roles.  The younger Gallner and Angarano, on the other hand, may be candidates for lead roles opposite star Michael Parks (Grindhouse) in the film, “loosely based on Reverend Fred Phelps of the hateful Westboro Baptist Church.”  According to a Smith tweet, Red State starts shooting on September 22nd.  If your interest is piqued, make sure to check out the full interview for more on the film’s production — dude can talk.

Tuesday night was the world premiere of Platinum Dunes/Warner Bros. remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.  The premiere was held at the famous Chinese Theater in Hollywood, and as you might have noticed with the amount of interviews I’ve been posting, I was on the red carpet.  So rather than flood the entire front page with interviews, I’ve grouped the last four into this one article.  If you hit the jump, you can check out Director Samuel Bayer, Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner and Producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form talk about being at the premiere and answering a ton of questions.

As most of you know, opening this Friday is New Line/Platinum Dunes remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.  Over the past few months we’ve been covering the movie extensively with a set report, on set interviews with Jackie Earle Haley and producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, and a few weeks ago I spoke to Katie Cassidy / Thomas Dekker and Rooney Mara / Kyle Gallner at WonderCon.

Anyway, yesterday was the Los Angeles press day for the film and I got to speak with director Samuel Bayer, producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, and I also got to speak with Thomas Dekker, Rooney Mara & Kyle Gallner in a junket setting.  Since I spoke to them a few weeks ago, I used the time to try and ask new questions.  Also, I’ve now seen the film, so I could ask more specific things.  Hit the jump to check it out.  I’ve time indexed the interview so you can watch what interests you:

Samuel Bayer has a long history directing music videos and commercials.  While his resume is way too long to list in this intro, some of his famous videos are Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, Blind Melon’s No Rain, almost all of Green Day’s American Idiot videos, and tons of others since 1991.  It’s really an impressive list.

Anyway, he finally made his first feature and it’s New Line’s/Platinum Dunes remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. The movie stars Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker and Kellan Lutz.

To help promote the film, I sat down with Bayer earlier today to talk about his experiences directing the movie, what will be on the Blu-ray/DVD, how does he feel about directors cuts, what will he do next, and a lot more.  As always, I’ve time indexed the interview so you can watch the parts you want.  Hit the jump to check it out:

With New Line Cinema’s A Nightmare on Elm Street getting released this weekend, we’ve been given 5 movie clips and 3 TV spots from the film.  If you’re trying to avoid spoilers, you probably shouldn’t watch these clips…but if you’d like a taste of what director Samuel Bayer has planned, hit the jump.  A Nightmare on Elm Street stars Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children, Watchmen) as Freddy Krueger, Rooney Mara (Urban Legend: Bloody Mary) as Nancy, Kyle Gallner (The Haunting in Connecticut) as Quentin, Katie Cassidy (Taken, Supernatural & Melrose Place) as Kris, Thomas Dekker (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) as Jesse, and Kellan Lutz (Twilight) as Dean.  Look for some exclusive interviews with the cast soon: