Sony Pictures Classic has released some new images from director Richard Linklater’s follow-up to Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, the sequel Before Midnight.  The film picks up nine years after the events of Before Sunset as we once again catch up with Ethan Hawke’s Jessie and Julie Delpy’s Celine, but to say anything more would be to ruin the experience of the film.  These new images, in fact, could conceivably be considered spoilers.  I caught the film at Sundance (read Matt’s review here) and thought it was a brilliant addition to the series.  It’s emotional, funny, bare, and revealing, and once again Hawke and Delpy shine in roles that both speak to and about the audience.  You’d be hard pressed to find a trilogy better than this one, and Before Midnight might even be the best film of the bunch.

Hit the jump to check out the images, if you wish to do so, and click here to watch the trailer.  Be aware that the photos do spoil a few of the film’s surprises, but I doubt that it would affect the film’s overall quality.  Before Midnight opens in limited release on May 24th.

With his highly anticipated third film in the “Before” series, Before Midnight, set to hit theaters next month, director Richard Linklater is closing in on his next project.  The LA Times reports that Linklater is in talks to take the helm of the long-in-development adaptation of Bill Bryson’s travel memoir A Walk in the Woods.  The comedic story centers on two childhood friends who meet up later in life to attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail, making observations about the world around them and catching up with their own lives during the journey.

Robert Redford and Nick Nolte have been attached to star in the film since June 2011 with Redford also producing, and this actually seems like a perfect fit for Linklater, a director who has plenty of experience crafting thoughtful, emotional, and even powerful films out of two people talking.  Redford is set to play Bryson while Nolte will play his friend Stephen Katz, and production on the indie film might get underway as soon as this fall.  Hit the jump to read a synopsis of the book.

Sony Pictures Classics has released the first trailer for director Richard Linklater’s sequel Before Midnight.  I caught the film at Sundance and it’s tough to say anything about it without ruining the film’s surprises.  If you were a fan of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset and have every intention of seeing Before Midnight opening weekend, I might suggest you not watch this trailer.  It doesn’t give anything away outright, but it’s much more fun to go into these movies knowing as little as possible.  That said, this trailer does a nice job of playing on the nostalgia from the first two films while teasing what Midnight has in store.  I will say that I had impossibly high expectations for Before Midnight going in, and I found that it somehow surpassed them.  This trilogy is truly one of the great works of cinema, and Before Midnight is not only a fantastic and worthy addition to the saga of Jesse and Celine, but it’s also one of the best films of the year so far.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer, and click here to read Matt’s review of the film from Sundance.  Before Midnight stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy and opens in limited release on May 24th.

With Sundance 2013 in full swing, more promotional material continues to leak out, like these new images from:

• Before Midnight – The third movie in the Richard Linklater trilogy that includes 1995′s Before Sunrise and 2004′s Before Sunset, centering on the timely relationship between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy’s aging lovers.  Be sure to read Matt’s review here.
• The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman – Director Fredrik Bond’s crime romance centering on the title character (Shia LaBeouf) who falls for a woman (Evan Rachel Wood) claimed by a violent crime boss.

Hit the jump to check out the new images from each movie.

Richard Linklater‘s 1995 film Before Sunrise is a love story.  His 2004 follow-up, Before Sunset, is a life story.  His latest film, Before Midnight, is a lived-in love story.  The relationship of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) resumes at its most complicated point where we see what happens nine years after true love.  Once again, Linklater and his co-writers (also Hawke and Delpy) have delivered an honest and thoughtful romance that truly taps into the maturity of its lead characters.  Although the story falters when the focus pulls back from its protagonists, Before Midnight firmly establishes the trilogy as a unique and remarkable accomplishment that manages to always find the humor, tragedy, frustration, and desire in a brutally honest love story.

Let’s take a look at some recent casting news, shall we?

• It looks like Gael Garcia Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries) will be joining Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike) in The Dallas Buyer’s Club, a drama about the AIDS epidemic directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (C.R.A.Z.Y.).
• Ron Perlman (Hellboy) will join Savage Mutts, a criminal action thriller written and directed by Nika Agiashvili (Tbilisi, My City).
• Word has it that Jack Black and director Richard Linklater, who previously collaborated on School of Rock and the 2012 indie Bernie, will reunite for a bowling movie that may have been inspired by colorful PBA champion, Pete Weber.
• Finally, the ensemble cast of August: Osage County has added Julianne Nicholson (Kinsey) as well.  The film currently stars Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Ewan McGregor and Dermot Mulroney.

Hit the jump for more on each casting note.

Just a few months after the release of his latest feature, Bernie, director Richard Linklater has already secretly wrapped his follow-up project.  Word broke out last week that Linklater was in Greece working on a sequel to Before Sunrise and Before Sunset with actors/co-writers Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.  Hawke, however, was quick to downplay the rumors as he insisted that they were simply developing a screenplay and “trying to see if it’s worth filming.”

Well it looks like Hawke was stretching the truth a bit, because Deadline now reports that they actually were filming the sequel, titled Before Midnight, and production has now wrapped.  Hit the jump for more, including the first image from the film.

Fans of Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy’s Before Sunrise and Before Sunset will be happy to know that we weren’t too far off when we reported that Hawke and director Richard Linklater were currently filming a third film in the series in Greece.  It’s been confirmed that the duo are in Greece working on the Before Sunset sequel, but no shooting has taken place yet.  As the first two installments saw Hawke and Delpy’s characters romancing in Vienna and Paris, perhaps Greece will be the backdrop to the next next chapter, tentatively titled Before Midnight.  Hit the jump to see what Hawke had to say.

Director Richard Linklater returned to screens earlier this year with the dark comedy Bernie, and in celebration of the film’s release on Blu-ray/DVD today, we’ve been provided with a few goodies to giveaway to some lucky fans.  Jack Black stars in this true story about an assistant funeral director of a small Texas town who woos and then murders a cantankerous, affluent widow.  We have three posters for the film, each signed by Linklater, Black, and Shirley MacLaine, that will go to three lucky readers.

Hit the jump to find out how you can win.

Now playing, in limited release, is director William Friedkin‘s controversial thriller Killer Joe.  Based on the play by Tracey Letts, the NC-17-rated film centers on a son (Emile Hirsch) and his father (Thomas Haden Church) who hire a cop moonlighting as a hitman (Matthew McConaughey) to murder their mother in order to get her insurance policy.  The film also stars Juno Temple as Hirsch’s sister and Gina Gershon.  Loaded with great performances and an insane third act, Killer Joe is definitely worth checking out.  For more on the film, here’s the trailer, a clip, and my interview with Hirsch.

The other day I sat down with McConaughey here in Los Angeles. We talked about making Killer Joe, his initial reaction to the script, how the finished film compares to the script, his favorite movies, and more.  In addition, we talked about his movies with Richard Linklater, Wooderson (from Dazed and Confused), and the status of The Lincoln Lawyer sequel.  Hit the jump to watch..

Despite admitting that he had “gotten into trouble” and was now “sworn to secrecy,” Ethan Hawke confirmed that he and his longtime collaborator Richard Linklater would be shooting a follow-up to their critically acclaimed films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset this summer.

Almost ten years passed between the first two films, and we are quickly approaching almost a decade since the last. Though not much else is known about the next installment to this now-trilogy, Linklater and Hawke’s interest in the passage of time is without question.  The two have also been working on The 12-Year Project, literally filming a mere one vignette a year. For more on that project, the Sunset sequel and Hawke’s other recent projects, hit the jump.

Opening this weekend, in limited release, is director Richard Linklater’s (Dazed and Confused, School of Rock, Before Sunrise) new film Bernie.  The dark comedy is based on a true story and stars Jack Black as an assistant funeral director of a small Texas town who wooed and then murdered a cantankerous, affluent widow.  Black is surrounded by a terrific supporting cast that includes Shirley MacLaine as said widow and Matthew McConaughey as the one person in town who suspects Bernie of wrongdoing.  While I’ve been less than impressed with Black’s recent film choices, I thought his work in Bernie was incredible and it’ll remind you that when he has the right material, he’s a great actor.  For more on the film, here’s seven clips.

Last week I got to sit down with Richard Linklater for an extended video interview.  We talked about putting Bernie together, how the industry has changed over the past decade, casting, his favorite movies, Woody Allen, how the script changes in rehearsal but not as much on set, what’s the status of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset on Blu-ray, and if we’ll see another chapter in the series.  Hit the jump to watch.

We’ve been provided with seven clips from director Richard Linklater’s (Dazed and Confused, School of Rock, Before Sunrise) new film Bernie to share with our readers.  The dark comedy is based on a true story and stars Jack Black as an assistant funeral director of a small Texas town who wooed and then murdered a cantankerous, affluent widow.  Black is surrounded by a terrific supporting cast that includes Shirley MacLaine as said widow and Matthew McConaughey as the one person in town who suspects Bernie of wrongdoing.  While I’ve been less than impressed with Black’s recent film choices, I thought his work in Bernie was incredible and it’ll remind you that when he has the right material, he’s a great actor.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  The film opens on April 27th.

The first trailer for director Richard Linklater’s (Dazed and Confused) new dark comedy Bernie has gone online. Based on a true story, the film stars Jack Black as an assistant funeral director of a small Texas town who wooed and then murdered a cantankerous, affluent widow. I’m a big fan of Linklater’s work, and while I was wary of Bernie after getting a look at the first poster, I really like this trailer. It’s strange, it’s weird, and it’s really funny. Matthew McConaughey is in fine form here as the one person in town who suspects that Bernie is in the wrong, and Shirley MacLaine looks to be wonderfully crabby as the victim of Bernie’s crime. I like the almost documentary-like style that Linklater uses to tell the story (not found footage), and I can’t wait to see more.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. Bernie opens April 27th.

We’ve got a couple of tidbits regarding sequel news to share today: one sensible and one slightly insane. We’ll start with the sensible sequel. Actress Julie Delpy recently told a Sundance audience (per Deadline) that she’s done with acting and wishes to focus on writing and directing. However, she’s still keeping her options open for a third film in the Before Sunrise/Before Sunset series with Ethan Hawke and director Richard Linklater. She told EW (via The Playlist):

“We’re thinking about [a third film], but the second one we only did because we had a good setup, and ideas. I don’t think we would do it if we find the right thing to say. If the third one’s not good, it’s not good for the two before. We’re careful. We’re thinking about it, but it’s not official.”

The first two films each take place during one day and center on the romantic relationship between Delpy and Hawke. Hit the jump for news regarding a sequel to The Wicker Man remake in which Nicolas Cage would play a ghost. Seriously.