A new trailer has been released for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.  Things have certainly changed for the news crew since Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Baxter’s still hanging around and Brick is as clueless as ever, but even though Veronica Corningstone makes an appearance, Ron seems to be pretty heavily into dating someone new.  More challenges await the team as the network enters into a twenty-four hour news cycle and new youthful anchors threaten their place atop the pyramid.  It’s not exactly what I expected for the first look at the sequel, but that’s not a bad thing.  Bring on the scotch!

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film stars Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Dylan Baker, Meagan Good, Greg Kinnear, and Harrison Ford.  Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues opens on December 20th.

Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment have released seven clips from the upcoming animated sequel Despicable Me 2.  In the new film, Gru (Steve Carell) is kidnapped by the “Anti-Villain League”, and recruited in order to defeat a new super villain, voiced by Benjamin Bratt.  Fans of the first pic aren’t likely to be disappointed with this follow-up, as it looks to include more goofy weaponry, cute kids, and of course those adorable minions.

Hit the jump to watch the clips.  The film also features the voices of Kristen Wiig, Ken Jeong, Steve Coogan, Dana Gaier, Elsie Kate Fisher, Miranda Cosgrove, and Russell Brand.  Despicable Me 2 opens in 3D on July 3rd.

Paramount Pictures has released a new teaser trailer for director Adam McKay’s sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.  Much like the initial teaser trailer that was unveiled before the film even began production, this trailer doesn’t show any actual footage. In fact, it actually looks like it may have been shot at the same time as that initial teaser, but it’s no less hilarious.  We get individual greetings from Will Ferrell, David Koechner, Paul Rudd, and Steve Carell all in character, but unsurprisingly it’s Carell’s Brick who steals the show.  This movie cannot get here fast enough.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Christina Applegate, Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Dylan Baker, Meagan Good, Greg Kinnear, and Harrison Ford.  Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues opens December 20.

The first clip has been released from Despicable Me 2.  In the new film, Gru (Steve Carell) is kidnapped by the “Anti-Villain League”, and recruited in order to defeat a new super villain.  As we saw in the latest trailer, Gru seems to have settled comfortably into domestic life, and this clip continues the charming relationship he has with his adopted children.  It’s a cute scene that will probably feel slightly familiar to parents who don’t want to deal with annoying neighbors.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The film also features the voices of Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Ken Jeong, Steve Coogan, Dana Gaier, Elsie Kate Fisher, Miranda Cosgrove, and Russell Brand.  Despicable Me 2 opens in 3D on July 3rd.

Fox Searchlight has released the first trailer for the coming of age comedy/drama The Way, Way Back.  The film marks the directorial debut of The Descendants co-writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash and centers on a 14-year-old boy (Liam James) who spends his summer vacation bonding with the manager of a water park (Sam Rockwell) while staying with his mother (Toni Collette) and her overbearing boyfriend (Steve Carell).  The Adventureland-esque pic looks to be a nice little summer film with a healthy mix of comedy and drama, and there’s a refreshing lack of cynicism in this trailer.  Rockwell and Allison Janney are always swell, and the two are most definitely the comedic highlights here.  Matt caught the film at Sundance and was rather mixed in his review, but I find this debut trailer to be promising.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Maya Rudolph, Rob Corddry, Zoe Levin, AnnaSophia Robb, and Amanda Peet.  The Way, Way Back opens on July 5th in limited release.

Steve Carell and James Gandolfini have just been cast to star in the HBO movie, Bone Wars, where they will be portraying two paleontologists who were once engaged in a heated competition to discover dinosaur fossils.  Known also as The Great Dinosaur Rush, the feud not only led to one of the greatest discoveries of new dinosaur species but also left the two men ruined after they spent their own fortune to fund the search.  Hit the jump for more.

A new trailer, poster, and images are now online for Despicable Me 2.  The new trailer shows Gru (Steve Carell) being kidnapped by the “Anti-Villain League”, and being recruited in order to defeat a new super villain.  Gru seems to have softened considerably since becoming the father of Margo, Agnes, and Edith.  Unsurprisingly, the best jokes belong to the minions, and although Despicable Me 2 looks okay, I’m still more excited to see the minions’ spinoff.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer, poster, and images. The film also features the voices of Kristen Wiig, Al Pacino, Miranda Cosgrove and Russell Brand.  Despicable Me 2 opens in 3D on July 3rd. 

[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 (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.

Steve Carell wore a nice pair of slacks when he stopped by NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to announce the start of production on Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.  Currently setting up to shoot in Atlanta, the sequel will reunite San Diego’s favorite news team almost ten years after their original outing.  This time around, director Adam McKay plans to take the crew to New York City.  I can only imagine how Brick Tamland will respond.

Starring Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Christina Applegate, James Marsden, Kristen Wiig, Meagan Good and Dylan Baker, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues opens December 20th.  Hit the jump to watch Carell on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and see what he has to say about Brick’s mental state.

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.