In addition to giving a moving response to the Boston Marathon tragedy, Patton Oswalt has been using his status as Lord High Geek to star in some amazing comedy videos this week.  The first is a bit from College Humor where he plays the Penguin in the site’s ongoing mockery of Batman, “Badman”.  In the sketch, Batman fails to understand the difference between death and being asleep.

The other video is a deleted scene from Parks and Recreation where he plays a citizen doing a filibuster by creating possibly the nerdiest fan-fiction crossover ever between Star Wars: Episode VII and The Avengers 2 while also bringing in the rest of the Marvel Universe, licensing rights be damned.  Eventually it just becomes geeky white noise where I stopped following the plot and just heard bits like “Lando Calrissian, Princess Leia, Han Solo love triangle”, “Robot Chewbacca”, and “Time Ribbon”.  I imagine that Oswalt wrote/riffed the uncut 8-minute scene, but since Parks has such amazing writers, I could believe they had input as well.  Hit the jump for comic greatness.

We’ve got a couple of TV news-related bits to share this afternoon.  First up, as production on the second season of Aaron Sorkin’s HBO series The Newsroom gears up, two welcome cast additions have been announced.  THR reports that Patton Oswalt and Rosemarie DeWitt (Mad Men) have been set in recurring roles for the show’s second season.  Oswalt wil be playing the new VP of Human Resources at the cable network Atlantic Cable News, while DeWitt is set as a litigator who is brought in to defend the network in a wrongful-termination lawsuit.

Hit the jump for more, including a new trailer and poster for the promising new Kevin Bacon-fronted Fox series The Following.

Earlier today, the Evil Dead and Carrie reboots got into the holiday spirit with some well-timed Halloween releases.  They weren’t the only ones.  Here’s what other goodies we have:

• Dwayne Johnson in costume (ie green paint) as the Incredible Hulk
• Patton Oswalt as Doc Ock, with a DIY costume video from Adam Savage
• A motion poster for Texas Chainsaw 3D
• A short fan-made Halloween video featuring LEGO Lord of the Rings characters
• A Halloween clip from Axe Cop, featuring the voice of Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation)
• A zombie make-up and costume featurette from Warm Bodies
• Images from Wreck-It Ralph, Les Miserables, Hotel Transylvania and more!

Hit the jump to check out our grab bag of Halloween tricks n’ treats!

Magnet Releasing has the unveiled the first trailer for Nature Calls.  Since Nature Calls is about a group of obscene men who take a group of foul-mouthed boy scouts on a camping trip, you better believe it’s a red band trailer.  When executed well, this particular comedy subgenre can be very funny.  And with a cast led by Patton Oswalt, Johnny Knoxville, Rob Riggle, and Patrice O’Neal, the stars range from funny to very funny.  That does not come across in the trailer, which is artificially crass and grating.  But that doesn’t mean that writer/director Todd Rohal can’t pull it off at feature length.  Here’s hoping.

Nature Calls hits VOD on October 4 followed by a theatrical release on November 9.  Watch the red band trailer after the jump.

Earlier this week I got to speak with Patton Oswalt & Rob Corddry for Lorene Scafaria‘s offbeat romantic comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.  The film focuses on two neighbors (played by Steve Carell and Keira Knightley) who bond during a road trip as they both try to reconnect with lost loves and family before a meteor destroys the Earth.  In the film, Oswalt and Corddry play two of the offbeat characters they meet along the way.  For more on the film, click here for seven clips.

During the interview Oswalt and Corddry talked about how they made the characters their own, improv, how they prepare for their roles, future projects like Michael Bay‘s Pain and Gain and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Focus Features has released seven clips from Lorene Scafaria‘s dark romantic comedy Seeing a Friend for the End of the World.  The movie takes place a few weeks before a meteor wipes out all life on Earth, and mild-mannered Dodge (Steve Carell) strikes up a friendship with his neighbor Penny (Keira Knightley) as the two go on a road-trip to find Dodge’s true love and get Penny back home to see her parents.  Along the way, they meet a cast of colorful characters and situations as people react differently to the coming apocalypse.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  The film also stars stars Adam Brody, Derek Luke, Melanie Lynskey, T.J. Miller, Patton Oswalt, Rob Heubel, Connie Britton, Gillian Jacobs, Rob Corddry, and Melinda Dillon.  Seeking a Friend for the End of the World opens Friday.

You’re driving down the street, and it’s suddenly blocked off.  You notice these weird yellow signs with nonsensical letters or numbers.  There’s unusual glow lighting up a neighborhood you can’t usually see from your house.  What you might have here is a film company shooting in your town.  It happens a lot, and you never know where they might pop up…until now.

The following is a semi-comprehensive list of films currently shooting, what they’re shooting, and where they’re shooting.  We’ll be telling you where you might get to see the very famous, the kinda famous and (if all goes well) the soon-to-be famous. While we can’t list every single movie, television show, or student film in production, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what the heck is going on where all those people are buzzing about.  Want to know where in the world are Matt Damon, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Woody Harrelson, and Leonardo DiCaprio? Hit the jump for more.

New images from the Keira Knightley movies Anna Karenina and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World have gone online.  Knightley plays the title character in Joe Wright‘s adaptation of Leo Tolstoy‘s classic tome about late 19th-century Russian society.  Seeking a Friend is far more light-hearted fare, and has Knightley playing a woman who sets out on a road-trip with a guy (Steve Carell) who’s trying to find his high-school sweetheart during Earth’s final days (it doesn’t sound light-hearted, but you can see from the trailer that it’s a comedy).

Hit the jump to check out the images.  Anna Karenina opens November 9th.  Seeking a Friend for the End of the World opens June 22nd

Even though Jason Reitman is the director of Young Adult, and Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson and Patton Oswalt are the leads, writer Diablo Cody comes across as the star and auteur of the film. She wrote Juno – which won her an Oscar and was a huge success – helped create The United States of Tara, and wrote Jennifer’s Body. As to be expected with any success from a larger than life female artist, the backlash was severe and cruel. In many ways Cody is commenting on her haters in Young Adult, a pitch black comedy about a ghost writer (Theron) who goes back to her hometown in the hopes of wrecking a marriage. Our review of the film on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

The 2012 SXSW Film Festival has announced some exciting additions to their already-stellar line-up.  The Sundance flicks Searching for Sugar Man, Chasing Ice, Monsieur Lazhar (my review), Safety Not Guaranteed (my review), Shut Up and Play the Hits, and Sleepwalk with Me will all be showing up at this year’s SXSW.  I heard nothing but good things about Chasing Ice and Sleepwalk with Me, and I’m glad I’ll have a second chance to see them.  SXSW 2012 will also have the world premiere of Steve Taylor‘s Blue Like Jazz, and Todd Rohal‘s Nature Calls starring Patton Oswalt, Johnny Knoxville, and Rob Riggle.  

Hit the jump for more on all of the new additions.  The 2012 SXSW Film Festival runs from March 9 – 17th.

Developed by Graham Yost and starring Timothy Olyphant, Justified is based on the works of crime novelist Elmore Leonard. As Season 2 ended the Bennett family’s hold over Harlan County and marked the return of Raylan’s (Olyphant) old nemesis/friend Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) to the criminal life, Season 3 picked up with him finding out that he and his crew aren’t the only ones making a play to rule the Harlan underworld. Now, Raylan finds himself dealing with a pregnant ex-wife (Natalie Zea) while facing off against dirty politicians, a mysterious man named Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson), and an enterprising criminal from the Motor City (Neal McDonough).

While at the TCA Winter Press Tour, showrunner/executive producer/writer Graham Yost talked to Collider for this exclusive interview about where this season is headed, how the new criminal element will affect things, that he’s hoping to get Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) and Patton Oswalt (Young Adult) on as guest stars since they’re both big fans of the show, the pressure of not repeating yourself while living up to what fans expect, and how far ahead they plan out where things are going with the story. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

The first trailer for the apocalyptic dramedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World has landed. The film stars Steve Carell as a man who sets out with a woman (Keira Knightley) to search for his high-school sweetheart during Earth’s final days. It’s a premise you’d expect from a big budget sci-fi pic or a zany road trip comedy, but the tone on display in this trailer is nothing short of fantastic. Director Lorene Scafaria has populated the flick with a brilliant ensemble, as we see Patton Oswalt, Rob Heubel, Connie Britton, Gillian Jacobs, Rob Corddry, and more pop up in this short trailer alone. There are genuinely funny moments, but an underlying sadness permeates throughout that hints at some strong character work as well. I love the way the apocalypse is tackled here and can’t wait to see more.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film also stars Adam Brody, Derek Luke, Melanie Lynskey, T.J. Miller, and Melinda Dillon. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World opens June 22nd.

Coming off a terrific dramatic turn in Jason Reitman’s Young Adult, Patton Oswalt is now looking to star in Ben Stiller’s next directorial project. Showblitz reports that Oswalt is in talks to star in Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The film is a remake of the 1947 Danny Kaye film which centers on a LIFE Magazine proofreader who, incapable of standing up for himself in the real world, retreats to a fantasy where he becomes his poised, confident opposite. Stiller stars as the proofreader, Kristin Wiig is onboard as his love interest, and Shirley MacLaine is set as Stiller’s mother. Oswalt will play Todd, “a friendly eHarmony counselor who helps the protagonist create an online dating profile.”

It seems like a perfectly suitable role for Oswalt, who I sincerely hope gets the chance to shine after holding his own opposite Charlize Theron in Young Adult. Oswalt will next be seen in the Dean Koontz adaptation Odd Thomas, and also stars alongside Steve Carell and Keira Knightley in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Production on Walter Mitty will begin in April in New York and Iceland.

Whether he’s on a stage doing stand-up, voicing an animated character, or just having fun on Twitter, Patton Oswalt is a hilariously funny guy. But, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF), he was honored with a Virtuoso Award for his dramatic work as Matt Freehauf in Young Adult, directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Collider was there to cover and attend the event, and we’ve compiled the highlights of what the actor had to say, both on the press line and during the Q&A.

While there, Patton Oswalt talked about what the whole award season experience has been like for him, the highlight of getting to talk to people that meant something to him growing up, bridging the gap between being a stand-up comic and a successful actor, that he’s taking a few months off even though he’s been getting a lot of offers, and even likened his friendship with Charlize Theron to that of a flight simulator. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

The Alamo Drafthouse has a strict no-texting policy.  They have this weird theory that losing one shitty customer is alright because you’re getting so many more sensible, polite customers in return.  It makes the theater experience better, makes people want to come to the theater, and then profits happen.  Everbody’s happy.  They also make warnings/PSAs that actually work.  When you go to a multiplex, you get a cellphone company like Sprint or AT&T doing a cutesy PSA telling people they shouldn’t talk and text during the movie.  No one pays attention, and they act like ass-holes anyway because the theater isn’t going to enforce anything.

By comparison, the Drafthouse does really catchy PSAs.  Their best was using an angry voicemail from a patron who was kicked out for texting.  Young Adult director Jason Reitman and star Patton Oswalt built off this hilarious voicemail for a new PSA and you can check it out after the jump.