Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for director Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  The film is a continuation of the story that began with last year’s An Unexpected Journey, and this trailer gives us a pretty extensive peek at what’s in store for the second installment in Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy.  In addition to the return of Orlando Bloom‘s Legolas, we get a look at the new characters played by Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel), Lee Pace (Thranduil), and Luke Evans (Bard the Bowman), as well as a nice tease of the titular dragon Smaug.  I may be misremembering just how CG-heavy An Unexpected Journey was, but there appears to be a rather exhaustive use of the technology here in Smaug.  Hopefully some of the more spotty-looking shots can be cleaned up in time for December, when audiences will once again be given the opportunity to see The Hobbit at 48 frames-per-second.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer, and click here to check out 8 high-resolution images from the pic.  The film also stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Sylvester McCoy, Graham McTavish, Michael Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Ken Stott, and Aidan Turner.  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in 2D, 3D, IMAX, and HFR on December 13th.

One of the last major pieces of Marvel’s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film appears to be falling into place.  Director James Gunn has already secured Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), David Bautista (Drax the Destroyer), and most recently Michael Rooker (Yondu) to play his titular Guardians in the film, and just yesterday we learned that Ophelia Lovibond (No Strings Attached) has signed on to play a mysterious character that’s rumored to be an aide to the villainous The Controller.

Well, now it appears that one of the actors that previously tested for the protagonist role of Star-Lord has subsequently been set as the film’s villain, as Pushing Daisies star Lee Pace is in final talks to play the antagonist in Guardians of the Galaxy.  Hit the jump for more.

After we reported that Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) was on the short list of actors for the lead role of Star-Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy feature, the actor recently confirmed his upcoming audition. This year, Pace has already tackled a historical drama in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, as well as a sweeping fantasy epic in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Pace is now up for Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, a human-alien hybrid who is a master strategist and combat expert, wears an ability-enhancing suit, pilots a psychically-linked ship and leads the Guardians of the Galaxy. Hit the jump for video of Pace confirming the audition and his thoughts on the role.

While rumors continue to swirl around Disney’s Star Wars, Marvel is busy looking for their Star-Lord. A shortlist of actors is reportedly being tested for the lead role in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, directed by James Gunn (Super). Included on that list are Joel Edgerton (Warrior), Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire), Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas), Lee Pace (Lincoln) and Eddie Redmayne (My Week with Marilyn). The leader of the Guardians, Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, was born of a human mother and alien father. He’s a master strategist and combat expert who wears an ability-enhancing suit and pilots a psychically-linked ship. Sounds like a fun role for any one of these guys to make their own, but there have been even more names thrown into the competition. Hit the jump to check them out.

It would be a gross understatement to say I haven’t been an ardent supporter of the Twilight franchise.  But I have tried to take each film on its own merits.  Nothing can change the fact that it has a despicable core message of how young women should relate to men, but there was always the potential for change.  Bella Swan could become a proactive character.  Edward Cullen and Jacob Black could be more than just brooding, softly smiling eye candy.  Somewhere, in the dreamy clouds of wish fulfillment, there may be something real instead of the silliest, most forced conflicts.  At the series’ conclusion, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 shows us what the Twilight movies could be at their best, but ultimately reminds us about the true nature of this series.

As I write this review, we here in the States are approaching an historic Presidential election.   For many, the voting decision comes down to individual beliefs related to the economy and civil rights.  So it was with a familiar national context that I approached Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, a film as much about the man himself as it is about the fight to approve the 13^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery and thereby put an end to the Civil War.  Much as our 16^th President was equal to the task, so too was Spielberg in his effort to bring this story to the screen, complemented by the absorbing lead performance of Daniel Day-Lewis and the dynamic writing of Tony Kushner.  While the film missed on a few marks, Lincoln remains an engaging story full of heart, humor and conviction that remains culturally relevant even today.  Hit the jump for my review.

Just in time for Election Day, a new international trailer for director Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln has been released, and it’s by far the best one yet.  This trailer actually delves into the central focus of the long-in-the-works drama—the passing of the 13th Amendment—and gives us a much better idea of what kind of biopic Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner have crafted.  Much of this trailer is reminiscent of The West Wing, with Daniel Day-Lewis’ Lincoln and his advisers working to secure enough votes to ensure that the amendment will pass.  The trailer also teases the multitude of strong performances from the ridiculously talented ensemble, and I can’t wait to see the whole thing unfold onscreen.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Oyelowo, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, John Hawkes, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Strathairn, Walton Goggins, Tim Blake Nelson, Bruce McGill, Jackie Earle Haley, Lee Pace and Jared Harris.  Lincoln opens on November 16th.

A few new images to share with you today from the following films:

• Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln stars Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, but also features Jackie Earle Haley, Lee Pace, Hal Holbrook and James Spader.
• Jee-woon Kim’s actioner The Last Stand shows off a new look at stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rodrigo Santoro.
• Jon Lucas and Scott Moore’s 21 and Over starring Justin Chon, Miles Teller and Skylar Astin.  

Hit the jump to check out the new images.

We posted the first teaser trailer for Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln earlier this week in anticipation of the full trailer being released during the Google + Q&A.  Now that the full trailer is online, we finally get a chance to hear Daniel Day-Lewis speak as Abraham Lincoln.  If I’m being honest, his choice of tone and inflection is not exactly what I had expected, but who am I to tell Day-Lewis what to do?  There are plenty of scenes in the legislative houses, on the streets and on the battlefield, and they all give a sense of scope and tone to the film, just like Spielberg said it would during the Q&A.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Oyelowo, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, John Hawkes, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Strathairn, Walton Goggins, Tim Blake Nelson, Bruce McGill, Jackie Earle Haley, Lee Pace and Jared Harris. Lincoln opens on November 16th. [Update: We added 7 new images after the jump]

The first teaser trailer for director Steven Spielberg‘s Lincoln has been released.  The teaser comes just days ahead of the first full trailer and live Google+ Q&A with Spielberg and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  The teaser gives us our first look at Daniel Day-Lewis in motion, though we only see glimpses of him as the titular President.  There’s also a shot of who appears to be David Oyelowo dressed in Union attire as he turns and walks away from Lincoln.  A narration of the Gettysburg address plays over scenes of Civil War combat, but who is speaking remains unclear for the moment.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, John Hawkes, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Strathairn, Walton Goggins, Tim Blake Nelson, Bruce McGill, Jackie Earle Haley, Lee Pace, and Jared Harris. Lincoln opens on November 16th.

Steven Spielberg‘s Abraham Lincoln movie, Lincoln, has landed a release date.  We previously reported that the film would open after the 2012 Presidential election so to as avoid any accusation that the movie was making a political statement (we’ll let the trailers and other advertising allow pundits to bloviate and fill airtime draw their own conclusions).  Disney has announced that the movie will open in limited engagement on November 9th before expanding nationwide on November 16th.  It’s worth noting that Lincoln will still be fighting vampires, except this time it will be at the box office.  The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 also opens on November 16th.

Lincoln stars Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th President, and the all-star cast also features Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, John Hawkes, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Strathairn, Walton Goggins, David Oyelowo, Tim Blake Nelson, Bruce McGill, Jackie Earle Haley, Lee Pace, and Jared Harris. Hit the jump for a synopsis of the source material.

Comic-con may be the first place that a lot of us will get to see Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit in motion before we get closer to its December 14th release, but for now we’ll have to settle for this new image of Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.  The magazine’s annual Comic-Con issue also features interviews from Jackson and the actors.  The story of The Hobbit, which will be split into two parts (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and December 13, 2013′s The Hobbit: There and Back Again) tells the story of a younger Bilbo Baggins, before the adventures of his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood) in The Lord of the Rings. Hit the jump to check out the cover image and to read some tidbits from Jackson and McKellen.. 

Casting is a year round event, and today we have three new casting details to provide. Director Lee Daniels (Precious) has picked up David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) for his film The Paperboy, while Lee Pace will join Steven Spielberg’s period drama Lincoln. Not to be outdone is Cody Horn, who will join End of Watch with the writer of Training Day, David Ayer, at the helm. Daniels has made quite a few casting changes, with actors dropping in and out. However, it seems this may be the final trio of male actors for the film before production begins. As for Lincoln, everything is fitting in place for a nice film, with Daniel-Day Lewis in the role of Lincoln. For more on each of these films and the actors just cast, hit the jump.

Director Peter Jackson announced two new additions to the cast of The Hobbit. Lee Pace (Pushing Daises) is set to star as the Elven King Thranduil. In The Lord of the Rings mythology, Thrandull is the father of Legolas and plays a supporting role in The Hobbit. Additionally, Kiwi actor Dean O’Gorman will be playing Fili, a dwarf and one of the twelve companions of Bilbo. Posting the news on his Facebook page, here’s what Jackson had to say about the casting of Pace:

“Casting these Tolkien stories is very difficult, especially the Elven characters, and Lee has always been our first choice for Thranduil. He’s going to be great.  We loved his performance in a movie called The Fall a few years ago, and have been hoping to work with him since.  When we were first discussing who would be right for Thranduil, Lee came into mind almost immediately.”

While I’m not familiar with O’Gorman, the addition of Pace to the cast is great news. He turned in some fantastic work in Bryan Fuller’s criminally underrated TV series Pushing Daisies, and his involvement is certainly exciting. The Hobbit will be broken into two parts.  Part 1 is set for December 2012 and Part 2 will come out in December 2013.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of the book.

The trailer for Ceremony has gone online.  Here’s the official synopsis:

Sam Davis (Michael Angarano) convinces his former best friend to spend a weekend with him to rekindle their friendship at an elegant beachside estate owned by a famous documentary filmmaker (Lee Pace). But it soon becomes clear that Sam is secretly infatuated with the filmmaker’s fiancee, Zoe (Uma Thurman), and that his true intention is to thwart their impending nuptials. As Sam’s plan begins to unravel, he is forced to realize how complicated love and friendship can be.

The movie looks like it could be a nice, light indie comedy and Pace seems like he’s having an absolute blast.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Ceremony is available On Demand on March 4th and opens in theaters on April 8th.