One of the funniest films I saw at SXSW was Jacob Vaughan‘s Milo.  The juvenile comedy centers on a man (Ken Marino) whose stresses at home and at work causes him extraordinary gastric distress, which isn’t helped by the fact that he has a gremlin-like creature living in his colon.  Today, Magnet has announced that they’ve picked up the film for distribution.  Magnet is definitely a good fit for the film, and I assume the company will go their normal route of releasing the film on VOD before giving it a limited theatrical release.  No release date has been announced, but hopefully audiences will get to see the movie later this year.

Hit the jump for the full press release.  Milo also stars Gillian Jacobs, Patrick Warburton, Mary Kay Place, Peter Stormare, and Stephen Root.

Jacob Vaughan‘s Milo is revelatory in multiple ways.  It’s a sly comment on our culture’s obsession with stress and how to relieve it.  It’s an intimate family drama about a man afraid of becoming a father when he was abandoned by his own.  Most of all, Milo proves you can get a surprising amount of comic mileage from an anal demon.  Vaughan’s comedy is one of the most juvenile films I’ve ever seen, but works because of its completely sincerity rather than celebrating its own sense of humor.  As silly as Milo gets, Vaughan and his actors play the proceedings completely straight-faced, and let the comedy shine through where the sun don’t shine.

We’ve got some new images of the upcoming Seth MacFarlane comedy, Ted, to go with the clips we posted earlier.  The story of Ted follows John (Mark Wahlberg) and his teddy bear come to life (voiced by MacFarlane). As kids, I’m sure many of us wished that one or more of our treasured stuffed animals would come to life. We probably never expected our fuzzy friends to start smoking a lot of weed, crushing their fair share of Bud Lights and turning into furry little womanizers.  Of course, this causes a big problem for John, whose girlfriend (Mila Kunis) puts up the ultimatum that either Ted goes or she goes (easy decision in my mind).  Ted, also starring Patrick Warburton, Giovanni Ribisi, Laura Vandervoort and Joel McHale, opens June 29th.  Hit the jump to check out the new images.

You know his voice from Family Guy, but Seth MacFarlane will now be lending his signature sound to a walking, talking, pot-smoking teddy bear in Ted.   If you’ve already seen this red-band trailer, then you know what you’re in for with the following clips from the movie.  Ted stars Mark Wahlberg as a grown man who can’t seem to let go of his stuffed best friend, Ted (MacFarlane).  MacFarlane also co-wrote the screenplay and will make his feature directing debut with the comedy.  Ted, also starring Mila Kunis, Patrick Warburton, Giovanni Ribisi, Laura Vandervoort and Joel McHale, opens June 29th.  Hit the jump to view the clips.

The first trailer and a batch of images from Seth MacFarlane‘s feature directorial debut Ted have gone online. The film stars Mark Wahlberg as a grown man whose childhood wish that his teddy bear would come to life suddenly comes true. The catch is that the bear (played by Macfarlane using motion-capture) turns out to be a swearing, pot-smoking wreck. The trailer is pretty fantastic, especially since it’s red band. Wahlberg lets his “fuck”-laden Boston accent fly, and he and Ted look to have some incredibly entertaining chemistry. The bear is the most adorable foul-mouthed, dirty-minded stuffed animal you’ll ever come across and I’m kind of in love with him.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and images. The film also stars Mila Kunis, Joel McHale, Patrick Warburton, Giovanni Ribisi and the voice of MacFarlane as Ted. Ted opens July 13th.

Two upcoming Relativity Media films may not have titles, but they now have release dates.  First up, James McTeigue’s Untitled Raven Project (previously titled The Raven) will open on March 9, 2012.  Per the press release, “The film is a gritty thriller in which Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans) to hunt down a mad serial killer who’s using Poe’s own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders.”  The untitled movie also stars Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.

Relativity has also set the date for the Untitled Farrelly/Wessler Comedy that has an absolutely ridiculous cast starring in a series of interconnected stories.  Just some of the names on board include Johnny Knoxville, Gerard Butler, Anna Faris, Seann Hugh Jackman, Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Halle Berry, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet, Terrence Howard, Liev Schreiber, Elizabeth Banks, Justin Long, Kristen Bell, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Stephen Merchant.  Hit the jump for the full press release.

Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil comes out during a time when unoffensive animated films just aren’t good enough anymore. For the film watcher, this is a great time with the likes of Pixar and Dreamworks upping the ante, with a few dark horses here and there and some old mainstays like Disney still staking a claim. Unfortunately, Hoodwinked Too isn’t a shining example of the current times. Instead, a bizarre plot, uninspired animation, and worst of all, a lack of more than a handful of laughs keep this sequel from pushing the genre forward. The shame is that there is some quality work done by some of the voice cast, but the rest of the film falls flat around them. Hit the jump for the full review.

Family Guy staple Patrick Warburton is the latest actor to join Seth MacFarlane’s R-rated comedy Ted. Co-written and directed by MacFarlane, the story centers on a man (Mark Wahlberg) whose childhood wish that his teddy bear, Ted (played by MacFarlane using motion-capture), would come to life. The wish finally comes true, but now the bear is a swearing, pot-smoking wreck that is wreaking havoc in the man’s life. Warburton joins a cast that includes Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Joel McHale and Giovanni Ribisi.

Deadline reports that Warburton will play “Guy”, a sexually confused co-worker of Wahlberg’s character at the Enterprise Rent-a-Car front office. Guy is described in the script has “a burly Patrick Warburton type” (hey, look how that worked out!). Ted marks Family Guy creator MacFarlane’s feature film debut. The film is set to be released July 13^th, 2012.

And to clarify, this is not a comedy that’s currently lacking a title. Untitled Comedy is the title. The film, which is currently in production, will be composed of a series of loosely related comedic sketches, featuring a plethora of different actors and directors. If you think it sounds a little bit like those atrocious Movie movies (you know, the ones brought to you by 2 of the 6 writers of Scary Movie), rest assured that Farrelly and co. have assembled a heap of high-end talent to bring their sketches to life. Stepping in front of the camera will be Elizabeth Banks, Gerard Butler, Kieran Culkin, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Knoxville, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz, Liev Schreiber, Sean William Scott, Tony Shalhoub, Emma Stone, Matt Walsh, Patrick Warburton, Naomi Watts, and Kate Winslet. Behind the camera, Elizabeth Banks, Bob Odenkirk, Brett Ratner, Griffin Dunne, and Farrelly himself have already helmed sequences, with more directors and cast slated to climb aboard as things progress.

The film is said to be in the mould of classic sketch comedies like John Landis’ The Kentucky Fried Movie, the 1977 flick penned by spoof masters David Zucker and Jim Abrahams (Airplane!) and Ken Shapiro’s 1974 skewering of television, The Groove Tube. Hopefully, that paints a picture for you. Hit the jump for the full press release and my thoughts on the project.