Now playing in limited release and expanding nationwide this weekend is one of the best films you’re going to see this year: director Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines.  The pic centers on a professional motorcycle rider turned bank robber (Ryan Gosling) and a rookie police officer (Bradley Cooper).  Saying more would be detrimental to your enjoyment of the film, and I would encourage you to be very careful when reading about it.  Pines also stars Eva Mendes, Bruce Greenwood, Dane DeHaan, Ray Liotta, Ben Mendelsohn, and Rose Byrne.   For more on the film, here are images, clips, and everything we’ve previously posted on the film.

At the New York City press day, I got to speak with Mendes.  We talked about how she landed her role, the way she prepared to make sure her character looked real and authentic on screen, how Cianfrance asked her to make the decision of who to cast as her on-screen mother, what’s it been like waiting for the film to come out after premiering at TIFF, and more.  In addition, she also talked about who she plays in Larry David‘s Clear History.  Hit the jump to watch.

At WonderCon a few days ago, I landed an extended video interview with Danny McBride.  While he was in attendance to help promote Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s awesome-looking end of the world comedy, This Is the End (click here for the red band trailer and our panel recap), we also talked about Eastbound & Down season 4 (which starts filming next month!), Larry David‘s Clear History, and a lot more.

For those not familiar with This is the End, the R rated comedy stars everyone in Hollywood (Rogen, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Jason Segel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Paul Rudd, Jay Baruchel, Mindy Kaling, Kevin Hart, Martin Starr and more) and it looks to be one of the better films this summer.  Hit the jump for what McBride had to say about all of his projects and circle June 14, 2013 on your calendar (the release date of This is the End).

The words “Thanksgiving” and “family” are essentially synonymous, and yet it’s the family part that usually makes Turkey Day a disaster.  Whether it’s arguing politics with extended family, a dish being ruined right before dinner, or offensive/racist comments from grandparents, more often than not something goes a tad awry.  Larry David is all to familiar with Thanksgiving squabbles, and he’s put together an amusing animated short called Larry David’s Thanksgiving Special in which he tells a warm-hearted funny story about celebrating Thanksgiving in Brooklyn as a child.

Hit the jump to watch the short.

It looks like Larry David’s comedy feature set up to debut on HBO finally has a name: Clear History.  More important than that oddly ambiguous title is the all-star cast that David and director Greg Mottola (Superbad) have lined up.  We previously reported that Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Michael Keaton (Batman) were attached to star, but a slew of others have joined the production.  Clear History will also feature Kate Hudson, Bill Hader, Amy Ryan, Eva Mendes, JB Smoove, Danny McBride and Phillip Michael Hall.  Hit the jump for more on Clear History.

We previously reported that Greg Mottola’s untitled comedy that stars Larry David, Jon Hamm and Michael Keaton may be debuting on HBO.  Now we have a bit more clarity on what the plot of the film concerns and more information on what Keaton’s character will be.  The partially improvised comedy seems like it will play out as a feature-length version of David’s successful Curb Your Enthusiasm series.  Hit the jump for more on the project.

While at the HBO portion of the TCA Press Tour, President of Programming Michael Lombardo and co-President Richard Plepler took some time to talk about new and returning programming.  During the interview, they spoke about how long Game of Thrones and True Blood could run for, the status of the Entourage movie, their movie deal with Larry David and the affect that could have on future seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm, their thoughts on the first season of The Newsroom, the possibility of a fourth season for Treme, and what viewers can expect from the Woody Harrelson/Matthew McConaughey series True Detective.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

While fans are still praying that Larry David decides to make another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm at some point, the writer/actor/comedian is currently busy riding around in cars with Jerry Seinfeld and prepping a “mystery project.”  Said mystery project is a partially improvised untitled feature film that will star David, Jon Hamm, and Michael Keaton and will be directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad, Adventureland).  Though we last heard that the film was set up at Fox Searchlight, it now looks like David is mulling a debut on HBO instead.  Hit the jump for more.

In a recent interview, Michael Keaton talked about his involvement in a new Larry David movie that sounds very similar, at least in set-up, to David’s long-running HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm (meaning there’s lots of improv and not much more than a generally outlined script).

It looks like David is going in a different direction from his last feature film, 1998′s universally panned Sour Grapes (it’s still difficult for fans to understand how this movie went so wrong), which certainly seems like a good thing. Hit the jump for more details on the project, including what Michael Keaton had to say.

Jon Hamm is going from Mad Men to funny man in an untitled comedy from director Greg Mottola (Superbad).  Plot details are thin at the moment, but reports have Hamm playing a nemesis to Larry David’s protagonist. Showbiz411 reports that David will, of course, be playing a Larry David-like character in the partially improvised comedy.  David and his Curb Your Enthusiasm writers are still working out the details and they plan to shoot this fall.

Hamm is making full use of his hiatus from AMC’s dramatic series.  He was already reported to be the lead in Disney’s true life sports pic, Million Dollar Arm and is currently set to star in the British miniseries, The Young Doctor’s Handbook opposite Daniel Radcliffe.  Hamm is also partnering up with Bridesmaids alumni Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy for the in-development project, Dumb Jock.  After seeing Hamm’s performance on this year’s live 30 Rock show, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of his comedic turns.

Fox Searchlight is developing a comedy that, if it comes together, offers a very exciting team-up.  Larry David is and Greg Mottola (Superbad) are in talks to star and direct, respectively.  The screenplay is credited to Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, and David Mandel, a trio who works with David on Curb Your Enthusiasm and co-wrote The Dictator.  THR was unable to ascertain any details about the plot, other than it will be improvised as David does with Curb.  (David and his writers outline the plot, but the dialogue is largely improvised by the actors.)

Last night it was announced Mottola will adapt Jeffrey Eugendies’ novel The Marriage Plot—at the time, there was curiously only speculation that the writer/director might also take the helm.  This report paints a clearer picture, suggesting Mottola might be saving the spot for this project.  I am very eager to hear more about what they have in mind—we will pass along the details once they surface.

Faithfulness to source material can be a double-edged sword.  When the faithfulness arises not out of fear of angering a fanbase, but from the love of the filmmakers for the material, then at the very least you have something good-hearted and genuine.  But faithfulness can also be a crutch and impediment to creativity.  The Farrell Brothers have a difficult time in striking the balance between good-hearted humor and slavish devotion in their adaptation of The Three Stooges.  They keep the eponymous characters as lovable misfits, and when they’re playing to the characters’ stupidity, the Farrellys have an enjoyable comedy on their hands.  But when they also lean far too much on Moe slapping around his brothers and Curly’s various tics, The Three Stooges becomes a movie that will only appeal to kids.

Six new clips from The Three Stooges have gone online.  Yes, the movie looks terrible, but it also looks like it’s staying true to the source material.  The problem is that staying true to the source material and then trying to transport it into a modern setting doesn’t look like it will work.  There’s also the argument that the movie is for kids, who will enjoy the slapstick and goofy sound effects.  Unfortunately, there probably aren’t a lot of kids who are die-hard fans of a 1930s comedy trio.  It all comes back to “Who is this movie for?” and I don’t have a good answer.  But I will say this: Fox is screening the movie for critics, and despite the cringe-worthy trailers and clips, I’ll do my best to give the movie a fair shake when I see it in its entirety.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  The film stars Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, Chris Diamantopoulos, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Hudson, Sofia Vergara, Craig Bierko, Stephen Collins, and Larry David.  The Three Stooges opens April 13th.

Fox has released the first trailer for The Three Stooges, directed by the Farrelly Brothers.  Will Sasso, Sean Hayes, and Chris Diamantopoulos star as Curly, Moe, and Larry in the new feature, divided into three segments.  It looks awful, but in a fascinating way.  This has been a passion project for the Farrellys and the final result makes me wonder: could The Three Stooges ever work in the present day?  Doesn’t their slapstick seem quaint while their antics come off as obnoxious?  And yet there’s also something mean-spirited mixed in.  I’m sure the Farrellys thought, “Hey!  Let’s poke Snooki in the eyes!  That will put the audience on our side!”  I almost feel sorry for Snooki.  Almost.

The film also stars Jane Lynch, Sofia Vergara, Jennifer Hudson, and Larry David.  The Three Stooges opens on April 4, 2012.  Watch the trailer after the jump.

Larry David is back, and he’s as neurotic as ever in this new trailer for the eighth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO. And once again, this season is rife with some great guest stars which you can see in the trailer including Ana Gasteyer, Paul F. Tompkins, and the one that I can’t wait to see, Michael J. Fox. We also know that Ricky Gervais will show up at some point, so that’s definitely someone else to get excited about. The season premiere hits HBO on Sunday, July 10th ant 10/9c, but in the meantime, you can check out the hilarious new trailer after the jump.

Once upon a time, The Farrelly Brothers’ adaptation of The Three Stooges was a high-profile affair that featured an expensive lead cast of Benecio Del Toro, Sean Penn, and Jim Carrey.  But that line-up fell apart and the project has now been retooled for a cheaper price tag.  However, the lack of big-name stars isn’t a slam against the film.  Instead, the project has assembled some strong comic talent with Will Sasso as Curly, Sean Hayes as Larry, Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe, and Jane Lynch as Mother Superior.  Now the film has added another strong comic talent with Larry David joining the project.  According to Deadline, David will play “Mother Mengele, the unfortunate nun who runs the orphanage where the Stooges grow up and learn to create mayhem.”  While I continue to have my doubts about the Farrellys, I’m loving this cast.

Filming on The Three Stooges begins this month.  As for David, the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm airs this July on HBO.