Fox Searchlight has released a new trailer for Sound of My Voice director Zal Batmanglij’s upcoming thriller The East.  The film stars Brit Marling as an undercover operative for an elite private intelligence firm who infiltrates a domestic terrorist organization in order to protect her corporate clientele.  Once she starts living as part of the anarchist collective, though, she finds that her loyalties aren’t as solid as she believed them to be.  I caught the film at Sundance and it’s a very solid thriller.  Batmanglij and star/co-writer Marling prove that they can skillfully craft a commercially pleasing film that still manages to be smart and thought provoking, and Marling turns in a riveting performance as the film’s protagonist.  This trailer delves quite a bit deeper into the pic’s plot than the first teaser trailer, and it gives you a good idea of the pic’s intensity level and story beats.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer, click here to read Matt’s review, and click here to read my interview with Batmanglij and Marling.  The film also stars Alexander Skarsgard, Ellen Page, Patricia Clarkson, Julia Ormond, Shiloh Fernandez, and Jason Ritter.  The East opens on May 31st.

The undercover thriller is a familiar genre, but it rarely reaches its full potential.  For a setting where betrayal and shifting sympathies are central to the plot, most of these stories only provide the semblance of a grey area.  Yes, the terrorist is planning to destroy the western seaboard, but his kid died ten years ago, so he’s not all bad.  This is an easy road to nominal dramatic conflict while still keeping the audience firmly supporting the hero.  With their new film The East, director Zal Batmanglij and co-writer Brit Marling have played the undercover thriller to near-perfection by forcing the audience to sit uncomfortably as we wonder who should deserve our sympathies.  Playing to the conventions of the genre stops The East from holding any major surprises, but Batmanglij and his strong cast always keep us riveted as we become as conflicted as the film’s protagonist.

We’ve got a few more casting stories for you this evening. First up, The Help star Octavia Spencer is in negotiations to join the cast of Diablo Cody’s untitled directorial debut. Penned by Cody, the comedy “follows a sheltered young woman (Julianne Hough) who loses her faith after a plane crash and decides to go to Las Vegas to experience the wild side of life.  On her journey, she meets an unlikely companion (Russell Brand) who inadvertently helps her find her true self.” Showblitz reports that Spencer will play a card dealer at the casino where Brand’s character works. Spencer was celebrated for her more dramatic turn in this summer’s hit drama The Help. She’s also in talks to star in the indie dramedy Smashed. Production on Diablo Cody’s untitled project (previously referred to as Lamb of God) is set to begin next Spring.

Hit the jump for casting news on the indie drama The East and the Tom Cruise thriller One Shot.

Five clips from Lone Scherfig’s One Day have gone online.  The film tracks one day (July 15th) over twenty years in the relationship between Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess).  I assumed from the trailers that Emma and Dexter only meet for one day every year, but that’s not what happens at all.  The day is a window into their lives and showing how much they both change, come together, and grow apart over the course of two decades.  If you have a friend you’re close to but rarely see or hear from, you’ll want to give them a call after the movie.  Look out for my review of the film next week.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  One Day opens August 19th.

Everyone’s favorite mustached government employee Ron Swanswon (Nick Offerman) on Parks and Recreation has already deal with plenty of grief from his wife Tammy (Megan Mullally), but that’s not the only Tammy that Mr. Swanson found himself married to in the past. As a matter of fact, Swanson’s first ex-wife is also named Tammy and apparently she’s an even bigger bitch than the second. The character was obscured but revealed at the end of the second season finale a couple months back, but now we know who will finally be terrorizing Swanson come the third season premiere this fall. Patricia Clarkson (Easy A, Whatever Works) will play Tammy 1 in two episodes of the comedy’s third season. More details after the jump.

Magnolia has released the first trailer for Main Street, a drama about “the residents of a small Southern city are changed forever by the arrival of a stranger with a controversial plan to save their decaying hometown.”  It’s worth a watch for Colin Firth and Orlando Bloom trying on Southern accents.  There’s something about the transition from proper English to Southern drawl that sounds unnatural, especially when Bloom is acting opposite Margo Martindale, who owns the homespun phrasing.

I honestly couldn’t get past it, but you can give it a shot after the break.  Ellen Burstyn, Patricia Clarkson, Amber Tamblyn also star.  Main Street premieres on VOD August 5, followed by theatrical release September 9.

New posters have been released for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Take Shelter, Main Street, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.    The UK Tinker Tailor poster is pretty slick, the Take Shelter does a satisfactory job of conveying the film’s sense of dread and isolation, the Main Street poster [which @DarkHorizons tells me is the same design they used when promoting it in international markets two years ago] is painfully bland, and the Thai banner for Rise of the Planet of the Apes proves yet again that an ape staring you down will make you want to see the movie featuring said ape.  We also have a hi-res version of the poster for Martin Scorsese’s Hugo.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy opens November 18th, Take Shelter opens September 30th, Main Street hits VOD on August 5th and theaters on September 9th, Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens August 5th, and Hugo arrives in 3D on November 23rd.

A new green band trailer for Friends with Benefits has been released.  Directed and co-written by Will Gluck (Easy A), the romantic comedy stars Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Richard Jenkins, and Patricia Clarkson.  As you might expect, the film tells the story of two friends (Timberlake and Kunis) who decide to give no-strings-attached-coitus the old college try.  The trailer is quite funny and definitely worth checking out.  Also, after The Social Network, hosting some great episodes of Saturday Night Live, and looking really funny in this trailer, I think Timberlake should move full time into making movies.  At least I hope he does.  Friends with Benefits is slated to hit theaters on July 22nd, 2011.

Focus Features has released the first images from director Cary Fukunaga’s (Sin Nombre) Jane Eyre and Lone Scherfig’s (An Education) One Day.  Jane Eyre is based on Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel and it stars Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Holliday Grainger, Sally Hawkins, Tamzin Merchant, Imogen Poots, and Judi Dench.  One Day is adapted from the internationally praised bestselling novel by David Nicholls and it stars Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess as two people who meet on the night of their college graduation (July 15th, 1988).  “For the next two decades, every July 15th reveals to us how [they] are faring, as their friendship ebbs and flows with the passing of the years.”

Hit the jump for the images and the full synopses.

Easy A is easily one of the funniest comedies of the year.   It’s witty, clever, silly, and is anchored by a breakthrough performance by star Emma Stone.  Comedies set in high schools are usually a grind, but Easy A is the best one since 2004′s Mean Girls. The film even has some smart commentary on the nature of reputation in the digital age and how easier access to information hasn’t made it any easier to get to the truth, especially when a lie can be so much juicier.  And in between its smart jokes and thoughtful subtext, Easy A also has a big heart.  That’s essential when your protagonist is cashing in on pretending to be a skank.

Will Gluck is a filmmaker with an authentic voice who usually writes the material he directs and creates projects that have something to say about popular culture in a unique way. After Fired Up, his first foray into the high school genre, met with a less than enthusiastic reception, he was wary of doing another high school movie again. But that changed after he read Easy A, Bert Royal’s sharp and funny script about Olive Penderghast, a smart high school senior who acquires a sudden reputation as the campus slut after a little white lie she tells hits the social network sites with lightening speed and takes on a life of its own.

Gluck is currently in production on his next feature, Friends with Benefits, starring Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Woody Harrelson, Patricia Clarkson, and Richard Jenkins. He is also lined up to direct Rehab from a screenplay by Sam Laybourne and has written the comedy Taildraggers about a group of young Alaskan pilots who face off against a local taxi company. On the small screen, he is currently developing an untitled show about the Catskills gas rush for HBO with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo.  More after the jump:

A movie that I’m hearing a lot of great buzz on is director Will Gluck’s (Fired Up) Easy A.  The film stars Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm MacDowell, Aly Michalka, and Stanley Tucci. Here’s the synopsis:

After a little white lie about losing her virginity gets out, a clean cut high school girl (Emma Stone) sees her life paralleling Hester Prynne’s in “The Scarlet Letter,” which she is currently studying in school – until she decides to use the rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing.

The Los Angeles press junket was this weekend and we’ll have exclusive video interviews with most of the cast and director Will Gluck very soon. Until then, Screen Gems has provided us with eight movie clips and a featurette, so hit the jump to check them out.  Easy A hits theaters September 17.

Dr. Julian Bashir logged some serious travel as the chief medical officer of space station Deep Space Nine and the USS Defiant.  The man who played the good doctor for seven seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Alexander Siddig, has collected a huge stash of frequent flier miles on his own, lately.

Collider caught up with Siddig during his worldwide tour to promote Cairo Time which opened this past weekend in limited release to the highest per theater average ($62,250 at five frequently sold-out locations for a $12,450 per screen) of any film in release over the frame.  Hit the jump for the audio and transcript of the interview and for all things Deep Space Nine, his controversial new film Miral with Freida Pinto and director Julian Schnabel and whether he’s been approached about taking part in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek sequel.

Screen Gems has released the first full trailer for Easy A, a modern comedic take on the classic Nathaniel Hawthorne novel, The Scarlet Letter.  Emma Stone (Zombieland) stars as a high school girl who lies about her sexual exploits in an attempt to boost her reputation as well as her bank account. The impressive cast also includes Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell, and Stanley Tucci.  Will Gluck (Fired Up!) directs from a script by relative newcomer Bert V. Royal.

Stone is a charming star, the cast should deliver (I liked Tucci’s line in the clip), and Gluck’s high school sex romp Fired Up! was reputed to be better than it needed to be.  All promising signs.  Check out the trailer for yourself after the jump.

Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island is not about solving a mystery. It’s about solving madness.  The legendary director’s latest film is a gothic horror that intrigues without deception, scares without shocks, and weaves a beautiful tapestry of haunting insanity without ever relying on twists and last-minute reveals.  Once again, we see that Martin Scorsese cannot be predicted beyond an expectation of crafting a great film.  By combining breathtaking technical work with memorable performances, Scorsese has added yet another film to his list of cinematic achievements.