Roadside Attractions has released a trailer for Lake Bell‘s comedy, In a World…  Bell stars as Carol, a voiceover actress who feels marginalized both by the sexism in her profession and the success of her father (Fred Melamed), who is famous in the voiceover profession.  When I saw the film at Sundance, I enjoyed it despite some glaring flaws, and this trailer gives an idea of what a better movie would have looked like.  It streamlines the themes and the plot of the picture, and wisely leaves out the distracting subplot involving Carol’s sister Dani (Michaela Watkins) and her boyfriend Moe (Rob Corddry).

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Ken Marino, Lucy Punch, Nick Offerman, Eva Longoria,, and Demetri Martin.  In a World… opens in limited release on August 9th.

Production has begun on Craig Gillespie‘s Million Dollar Arm.  Based on a true story, Jon Hamm plays a washed-up sports agent who travels to India, and sets up a televised, national game show “Million Dollar Arm” to see if any cricket players might cut it in the major leagues.  The press release provides the full synopsis, and while it sounds a little corny at points, such as “Ultimately, what began as a purely commercial venture becomes something more and leads JB to find the one thing he was never looking for at all—a family,” I have full faith in screenwriter Tom McCarthy.  He’s 3-for-3 with The Station Agent, The Visitor, and Win Win (although he also directed those movies).  Also, Hamm is long overdue for the lead role in a feature film.  Finally, the flick boasts a terrific supporting cast that includes Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi), Madhurt Mittal (Slumdog Millionaire), Bill Paxton, Lake Bell, Aasif Mandvi, Pitobash, and Alan Arkin.

Hit the jump for the press release and synopsis.  Filming is set for India, Georgia, and Los Angeles.  Million Dollar Arm will be released in 2014.

The indie thriller Black Rock tells the story of three young women – Sarah (Kate Bosworth), Abby (Katie Aselton, who also directed the film from a script by her husband, Mark Duplass) and Lou (Lake Bell) – who decide to renew their bond by revisiting a moment from their childhood and returning to an empty island off the coast of Maine.  Once there, they realize they are not alone when they encounter three recently returned servicemen who have come to the island to hunt, and things quickly get out of hand, leaving the women to fight for their lives.

At the film’s press day, actress/director Katie Aselton and actress Lake Bell talked about surviving the challenging shoot, the crazy weather, being game for anything, having no trailers or bathrooms on set, what they did to unwind, and wanting to do lighter fare once the film was finished.  Bell also spoke about the experience of directing her own first full-length feature In a World….  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

From the casting news universe come these two tidbits today:

• Lake Bell (No Strings Attached) has signed on to star alongside Jon Hamm and Aasif Mandvi in the Disney sports drama Million Dollar Arm.

• Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) and Phoebe Fox (One Day, Black Mirror) will star in The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, the sequel to 2012’s Daniel Radcliffe-led horror flick The Woman in Black.

Hit the jump for more on each project. 

I usually like movies that have some sense of structure and pacing.  If they don’t have these qualities, then I like these films to be truly daring and outside-the-box.  Lake Bell‘s In a World… is a rambling mess of a nice little comedy with too many characters, and has almost no sense of pacing or flow.  But somehow, it’s still a charming flick.  Bell gives a fun lead performance, and she surrounds herself with a likable cast.  Even the subtext is cutesy.  In a World… should be a movie that I found a slog, but somehow, Bell’s film won me over despite its glaring flaws.

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival recently announced a couple batches of films that will screen at the Fest in January, and today we’ve got some first images and synopses for a few films that will be playing in competition as part of the U.S. Dramatic lineup.  Briefly

• Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes – Written and directed by Francesca Gregorini, starring Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O’Connor, Jimmi Simpson, and Aneurin Barnard.
• Fruitvale – Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, starring Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, and Chad Michael Murray.
• In a World… – Written and directed by Lake Bell, starring Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, and Fred Melamed.
• May in the Summer – Written and directed by Cherien Dabis, starring Dabis, Hiam Abbass, Bill Pullman, Alia Shawkat, Nadine Malouf, and Alexander Siddig.

Hit the jump for the images and synopses.  The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs January 17 – 27.

A trailer has gone online for Katie Aselton‘s horror film Black Rock.  The film focuses on three old friends (played by Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell, and Aselton) who attempt to reconnect on a camping trip to a deserted island only to find it not-so-deserted.  Once there, a series of unfortunate events leads the trio of women on a fight for their lives.  When I saw the film at Sundance earlier this year, I thought it had an interesting hook, but then Aselton and co-writer Mark Duplass took the film to a familiar place that drained all tension from the picture.  I’ll also say that if you’re looking forward to this movie, there’s a point in the trailer that strongly hints at a spoiler.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Black Rock opens May 17, 2013.

Slashers are classified as horror, but they’re really more about the thrills.  There’s nothing truly horrifying about the situation because in all likelihood, our camping trip is not to end up with everyone getting slaughtered.  Truly horrifying events happen in our world.  It’s the all-too-common horror we become desensitized to.  Women are beaten and abused and raped every day but we don’t want to stop and dwell on that.  It’s too awful to confront if it’s not happening to you or someone you know.  In her new film Black Rock, director Katie Aselton makes us face that horror head-on and then she steers away to the safety of the hunter-hunted thriller we’ve seen countless times before.  The film can only muster horror in its violence, but then it negates that horror through clichés.

I didn’t want to write this review because it would involve me giving more thought to repulsive, selfish characters who populate a comedy that’s almost entirely devoid of laughs.  There’s something fascinating about a movie that sets up jokes and then forgets to deliver a punchline.  And because awful character delivering non-jokes isn’t enough, the film is saddled with limp, thoughtless direction that misses every opportunity for a laugh.   When A Good Old Fashioned isn’t being clichéd, it’s being dull, and sometimes it’s both, but it’s hardly ever funny.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has sent us over seven new images from A Good Old Fashioned Orgy.  The movie is about a bunch of friends who have had a lot of good times at a beach house but when the house is about to be sold, they decide to go out with a (gang)bang.  The ensemble cast features Jason Sudeikis, Leslie Bibb, Lake Bell, Michelle Borth, Nick Kroll, Tyler Labine, Angela Sarafyan, Lindsay Sloane, Martin Starr, Lucy Punch, and Will Forte.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  A Good Old Fashioned Orgy opens September 2nd.

The trailer for writers/directors Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck’s comedy A Good Old Fashioned Orgy is now available online. Starring Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte, Lucy Punch, Leslie Bibb, Lindsay Sloane, Tyler Labine, and Lake Bell, the film tells the story of a 30 year-old man/child (Sudeikis) who decides to throw one last bash at the Hampton residence his parents are on the verge of selling. Judging from the trailer, the pic almost looks like an uninterrupted barrage of partying and general immaturity. In short, I’m looking forward to it. That said, I can’t help but wonder how I can get my hands on one of those “Labor Day Orgy” t-shirts.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer. A Good Old Fashioned Orgy opens to select theaters this September 2nd.

Rob Corddry. Lake Bell. Rob Huebel. Malin Akerman. Megan Mullally. Henry Winkler. Erinn Hayes. Ken Marino. If you’re a fan of comedy, chances are you’re a fan of more than a few of these people. So what happens when you squeeze all these personalities, plus notable guest appearances by Paul Scheer, Adam Scott, David Wain, and more, into 11 minute episodes parodying medical dramas? Childrens Hospital, a sporadically hilarious, consistently goofy satire that’s worth your time, if only for its brisk run time. Continue reading for a full review of the show and a rundown of the DVD extras.

Actress Katie Aselton is set to direct and star in the thriller Black Rock. Lake Bell and Kate Bosworth have signed on to co-star in the film which was conceived by Aselton and written by Mark Duplass (Cyrus). The story centers on “three childhood friends who embark on a weekend getaway to the isolated island of Black Rock, only to discover that they are not alone.” While that may sound like your standard thriller, with indie-staple Duplass writing the screenplay you can pretty much bet on it being something wholly original.

As an actress, Aselton has worked on FX’s The League and appears in the upcoming Paul Rudd indie comedy Our Idiot Brother. Submarine is handling U.S. and international sales at Cannes, with a portion of the film’s funding being crowd-sourced through Kickstarter. Hit the jump to read the full press release.

Sony Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have picked up the distribution rights to A Good Old Fashioned Orgy.  According to Variety, the story–co-directed by Pete Huyck and Alex Gregory (Frasier)–centers on “a group of 30-somethings who spend every summer weekend throwing elaborate theme parties and eventually throw one final bash – an orgy.”  The comedy will star Saturday Night Live‘s Jason Sudeikis who’s poised to have a breakout year.  He’ll next be seen in theater in the comedy Hall Pass and again later this year alongside Jason Bateman and Charlie Day in Horrible Bosses.  Sony and Goldwyn plan to release Orgy in late summer.

According to THR, the film has an outstanding cast that not only includes Sudeikis, but also Tyler Labine, Leslie Bibb, Will Forte, Lucy Punch, Lake Bell, Michelle Borth, Martin Starr, Nick Kroll, Lindsay Sloaneand, and David Koechner.

No Strings Attached is the blandest of romantic comedies and only attempts to give itself an edge through a half-assed attempt at raunchy humor and salty language.  It sets up situational comedy that would feel stale in a 1980s sitcom and populates these unfunny scenarios with people who feel designed to serve the purpose of a bit rather than actual human beings who stumbled into a comedic situation.  The only truly funny thing about No Strings Attached is how proud it is of its reversal of gender roles, which would be a feat worth applauding if the film had come out in the 1950s.  Devoid of chemistry and humor, No Strings Attached is a romantic comedy that lacks both romance and comedy.