Disney has released a new trailer for the Monsters, Inc. prequel Monsters University.  The pic focuses on the college years of Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman), and this new full-length trailer reveals the film’s plot.  The Revenge of the Nerds-esque story finds Mike and Sully joining a fraternity of outcasts, as all of the Greek houses must compete against each other in the Scare Games, which carry dire consequences for the losers.  The film looks like it could be Pixar’s most purely fun movie yet, and early reactions from the screening at CinemaCon had many praising the pic’s heart.  If you missed any of Dave’s coverage from his visit to Pixar, be sure to check out his review from seeing 40 minutes of footage, 35 things to know about the film, and his interview with director Dan Scanlon.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also features the voices of Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, John Krasinski, Nathan Fillion, Bonnie Hunt, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, Bobby Moynihan, Julie Sweeney, Alfred Molina, Beth Behrs, and of course, John Ratzenberger. Monsters University opens June 21, 2013.

Even though Monsters University is only a few months away, Pixar has been keeping the voice cast under wraps.  Today, EW is reporting that Nathan Fillion, John Krasinski, and Bonnie Hunt will be voicing new monsters in the upcoming prequel.  Fillion and Krasinski are newcomers to the Pixar world, but Hunt has been a longtime collaborator with the studio having voiced characters in A Bug’s Life, Cars, Toy Story 3, and Monsters, Inc. (although she’ll be voicing a new character).

Hit the jump for descriptions of Fillion, Krasinski, and Hunt’s characters, along with some new images.  The film also features the voices of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, Bobby Moynihan, Julie Sweeney, Alfred Molina, Beth Behrs, and of course, John Ratzenberger.  Monsters University opens in 3D on June 21st.

[This is a re-post of my review from SXSW 2013.  The Incredible Burt Wonderstone opens today in wide release.]

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone may celebrate the childlike wonder and unadulterated joy of magic. It may profess the power of awe and possibility. But its true motives are simple and pure: make the audience laugh by almost any means necessary. Those means are usually along the lines of the silly, slightly demented, biting, and occasionally dark humor that may not share the story’s values, but they get consistent comedy out of a charming albeit slightly conventional premise. Working from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley‘s sharp script with great performances from its cast, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a trick we know, but it’s one performed well.

Opening this Friday is director Don Scardino’s magician comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.  The film stars Steve Carell as a Vegas magician whose relationship with his partner becomes strained as the two start getting upstaged by a hipper illusionist, played by Jim Carrey.  The pic is full of wild comedic performances, and one of the highlights of the film is most certainly Steve Buscemi as Carell’s partner Anton Marvelton.  A beloved character actor, Buscemi has been shining in supporting roles for years, and he’s one of the few who can seamlessly move between drama and comedy.  Buscemi has been doing stellar work as the lead on the HBO drama series Boardwalk Empire for the past few years, but with Burt Wonderstone he gets to show off his comedic chops in a fairly large supporting role as Anton.

I recently attended the press junket for The Incredible Burt Wonderstone in Las Vegas, and while there I got to sit down with Buscemi for a one-on-one interview.  The actor talked about how refreshing it was to play a character like Anton, how he goes about choosing which film projects he’s going to make during his hiatus from Boardwalk Empire, and much more.  Buscemi also talked about the upcoming fourth season of Boardwalk Empire, his voice work in Monsters University, and his many memorable roles in Adam Sandler’s films.

Opening this Friday is director Don Scardino’s magician comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.  The film stars Steve Carell as a Vegas magician whose relationship with his partner (Steve Buscemi) becomes strained as the two start getting upstaged by a hipper illusionist (Jim Carrey).  The screenplay by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Horrible Bosses) takes the story to some deliciously dark places while maintaining a sincere center, and Carrey is fantastically over the top with his David Blaine-esque magician character, harkening back to the actor’s classically nutty performances from early in his career.  You can read Matt’s positive review here.

I recently got the chance to attend the press junket for Burt Wonderstone in Las Vegas, and while there I participated in a press conference with Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, Olivia Wilde, Steve Buscemi, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein.  The cast and screenwriters talked about the experience of filming on the streets of Las Vegas, the parallels between magicians and comedians, attempting to master some slight-of-hand tricks for the film, crafting their outrageous characters, and much, much more.  Hit the jump to read or listen to the full press conference, which also includes a great Rodney Dangerfield story from Carrey.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone may celebrate the childlike wonder and unadulterated joy of magic.  It may profess the power of awe and possibility.  But its true motives are simple and pure: make the audience laugh by almost any means necessary.  Those means are usually along the lines of the silly, slightly demented, biting, and occasionally dark humor that may not share the story’s values, but they get consistent comedy out of a charming albeit slightly conventional premise.  Working from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley‘s sharp script with great performances from its cast, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a trick we know, but it’s one performed well.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a little over a week away from hitting theaters, and Warner Bros. has released a new promo for the film.  Done in the style of an ad for Bally’s Casino, it’s a cute showcase of washed-up magicians Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi).  In the film, the duo’s partnership is tested when they’re faced with hot new magician, Steve Gray (Jim Carrey).

Hit the jump to check out the promo, and come back tomorrow night when I’ll have my review of the film after seeing it at SXSW.  The movie also stars Olivia Wilde, James Gandolfini, and Alan Arkin.  The Incredible Burt Wonderstone opens March 15th.

With director Don Scardino’s (30 Rock) magician comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone opening March 15, Warner Bros. has provided us with 10 clips.  The film stars Steve Carell as a Vegas magician whose relationship with his partner (Steve Buscemi) becomes strained as the two start getting upstaged by a hipper illusionist (Jim Carrey).  The comedy is set to open SXSW 2013, and that’s a huge vote of confidence for the film’s quality.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  Finally, if you missed any of my set visit coverage, here are my on set interviews with Steve Carell, Olivia Wilde, Steve Buscemi, director Don Scardino, and producer Chris Bender.

Every once in a while I use this space to tout a recently released Blu-ray/DVD that I missed in theaters but, via the magic of home video, was finally able to check out from the comfort of my couch (click here to see me gush about The Perks of Being a Wallflower). Today I’ll do the same by encouraging you to check out co-writer/director Scott Derrickson‘s horror pic Sinister. There’s nothing spectacular going on here, it’s just an effective movie with several scenes that I found genuinely frightening/disturbing. Moreover, it’s probably the last widely-released horror entry since Insidious that left me turning some of the lights on in the house shortly after it ended.

With my “Super Cool Blu-ray Pick of the Week” out of the way, this week’s Top 5 includes interviews from the set of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, some drama-inducing first set images from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a set visit recap and interviews for Park Chan-wook‘s Stoker, Jack the Giant Slayer interviews, and the first trailer and poster for director James Wan‘s The Conjuring. As you may expect, a brief recap and link to each of these can be found completely free of charge after the jump.

Warner Bros. has released 38 images from The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.  The film stars Steve Carell as a Vegas magician whose relationship with his partner (Steve Buscemi) becomes strained as the two start getting upstaged by a hipper illusionist (Jim Carrey).  The comedy is set to open SXSW 2013, and that’s a huge vote of confidence for the film’s quality.

Hit the jump to check out the images, and if you missed any of Steve’s set visit coverage be sure to check out his interviews with Steve Carell, Olivia Wilde, Steve Buscemi, director Don Scardino, and producer Chris Bender.  The Incredible Burt Wonderstone opens on March 15th.

Steve Buscemi is one of my favorite actors.  And it’s not just because he’s great in every role.  The main reason I love his work is the way he jumps back and forth between genres in both movies and TV, and he always makes his character believable and authentic.  In director Don Scardino’s upcoming comedy, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Buscemi plays a Vegas magician whose relationship with his partner (Steve Carell) becomes strained as the two start getting upstaged by a hipper illusionist (Jim Carrey).

During a break in filming last year on the Los Angeles set, I got to participate in a group interview with Buscemi.  He talked about making the film, how he got involved in the project, his character, working with the rest of the cast, improvising, magic, preparing for a drama versus a comedy, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

The full trailer for Monsters University has been released.  The film goes back to Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan’s (John Goodman) college days, and shows how the two overcame their differences and became BFFs.  We previously showed you an extended featurette that explained the plot points, but this new trailer avoids spoiling the story, and instead goes for laughs.  There are some good jokes in here, and I’m hoping the movie will offer plenty more.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also features the voices of Steve Buscemi, Dave Foley, Julia Sweeney, Joel Murray, and Peter Sohn.  Monsters University opens in 3D on June 21st. [Update: We've added four new banners for the film that celebrate the Chinese New Year]

A couple of character posters and an international trailer have been released for the comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.  Steve Carell stars as a Vegas magician whose relationship with his partner (Steve Buscemi) becomes strained as the two start getting upstaged by a hipper illusionist (Jim Carrey).  The international trailer has a couple new jokes, and I’m jazzed for the film not only because of the cast, which also includes Olivia Wilde, James Gandolfini, and Alan Arkin, but because it was written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Horrible Bosses).

Hit the jump to check out the posters and new trailer.  The Incredible Burt Wonderstone will open the 2013 SXSW Film Festival, and opens on March 15th.

We’ve got a round-up of some of the latest posters from the following movies:

• The Incredible Burt Wonderstone starring Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, James Gandolfini, Jim Carrey, Jay Mohr, and Michael Bully Herbig.  The Incredible Burt Wonderstone opens March 15th.

• From Up on Poppy Hill, a Studio Ghibli film written by Hayao Miyazaki and featuring the voices of Gillian Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christina Hendricks, Ron Howard, Chris Noth, Aubrey Plaza, and Anton Yelchin.  From Up on Poppy Hill opens March 15th in New York and L.A. before expanding on March 29th.

• Top Gun 3D stars Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, and Tom Skerritt.  Top Gun 3D will have a 6-day-only IMAX 3D engagement from February 8 – 13th.

• The Place Beyond the Pines stars Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Dane DeHaan, and Eva Mendes.  The Place Beyond the Pines opens March 29th.  Click here for my review from TIFF.

Hit the jump to check out the posters and synopses for the films.

Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for the upcoming comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.  Steve Carell stars as a Vegas magician whose relationship with his partner (Steve Buscemi) becomes strained as the two start getting upstaged by a hipper illusionist (Jim Carrey).  I can’t even imagine a universe where Carell and Buscemi are anything less than great as a comedy team, well-suited to play corny, old-school magicians.  Likewise, Carrey is good get to play the intense adversary, and writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley have some funny stunts lined up for his Criss Angel doppleganger: “For twelve days he’s held. His. Urine.”  Yet judging by the trailer-closing joke, Alan Arkin may just steal the show as the elder magician who inspired Burt.

Olivia Wilde, James Gandolfini, and Jay Mohr also star.  Directed by Don Scardino, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone opens March 15, 2013.  Watch the trailer after the jump.