One of my favorite films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was The Guest.  Directed and written by the team behind You’re Next (Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett, respectively), The Guest is fantastic and as Matt said in his review, it “feels like a lost John Carpenter film from the director’s golden age.  The picture effortlessly moves between a nerve-wracking mystery to a gleefully dark comedy, and at its best it even mixes the two together.”   The story revolves around a soldier that befriends the family of a fallen comrade and becomes a threat to everyone around him when he may not be who he says he is.  Trust me, it’s a film you should be excited to see and I’m sure it’ll be released sometime this year.  The Guest stars Dan Stevens (in an amazingly dark turn), Maika Monroe, Leland Orser, Lance Reddick, Chase Williamson, and Brendan Meyer.

Shortly after the premiere, I landed an exclusive video interview with Adam Wingard.  He talked about how You’re Next changed their approach to developing films, how they came upon the concept for The Guest, his process of editing, the length of his first cut, Stevens’ physical transformation and his topless scene, the other movie they almost made instead of The Guest (a non-stop chase action movie), and more.  In addition, Wingard talked about their next two projects, saying one is “a relentless horror film thrill ride” and the other has more action stuff in it, but both are totally different than anything else they’ve done.  Hit the jump to watch.

Here’s a brief look at this week’s promising new Blu-ray releases:

• Short Term 12 BD+DVD Combo [Blu-ray] – $14.99 (57% off)
• You’re Next [Blu-ray] – $16.99 (32% off)
• Fruitvale Station [Blu-ray] – $17.99 (55% off)
• Spectacular Now [Blu-ray] – $14.99 (40% off)
• Riddick (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD with UltraViolet) – $22.99 (34% off)
• Riddick: The Complete Collection (Blu-ray + Digital HD UltraViolet) – $39.96 (33% off)
• A.C.O.D. [Blu-ray] – $33.99 (15% off)
• Carrie [Blu-ray] – $17.99 (55% off)
• Lee Daniels’ The Butler [Blu-ray Combo] – $22.99 (43% off)
• 20 Feet from Stardom [Blu-ray] – $16.99 (32% off)
• Thief (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray/DVD) – $24.99 (37% off)

Adam Wingard’s home invasion film You’re Next was a nice surprise in 2013, but if you missed it in theaters, you can bring it home on Blu-ray/DVD starting January 14th.  You might not have seen the whole movie, but there’s a good chance you’ve seen some of the film’s marketing, including the creepy killer masks like the one above.  Now, you can win one of these masks to wear while you host your very own showing of You’re Next.  We’ve got the tiger, wolf and lamb masks.

The film stars Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Amy Seimetz, Barbara Crampton, Wendy Glenn, Margaret Laney, Rob Moran, Nicholas Tucci, and Ti West.  Hit the jump to see how you can win one of three masks. 

Because I’ve grown tired of never following through on my New Year’s resolutions to get in shape, this year I’m trying something more attainable: to keep a list of all the movies I watch in 2014. Many thanks to my colleague, Mr. Goldberg, for throwing out a Letterboxd recommendation in this collage of films he watched in 2013. I joined the site shortly after reading his rec and think it’s a great way not only to keep a viewing diary (and actually stick with a resolution for once) but also to create/share your own lists and communicate with fellow movie lovers. If you want to keep up with my 2014 watch diary, check out my Top 10 of 2013, and/or my most anticipated for 2014 then hit me up on Letterboxd by clicking here.

Shameless self-promotion aside, the first Top 5 of 2014 features a recap of Matt, Adam, and Dave’s Top 10 of 2013 lists, a new trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, video interviews for Inside Llewyn Davis with Oscar Isaac and more, the great first trailer for writer/director Gareth Evans‘ The Raid 2: Berandal, and a new installment of Cinemath that breaks down the 2013 box office. Continue reading for a brief recap and link to each of the above.

We report on a lot of posters and trailers.  These little bits of advertising are crucial in steering fan anticipation for blockbusters or bringing attention to smaller movies.  Posters and trailers serve a purpose, and they’re not easy to make.  Dozens of posters and trailers are created for movies, and studios carefully select the ones they feel will work the best and have the broadest appeal.  Sadly, when it comes to posters, many of the designs are generic.  The recent trends are “Back to the Audience”, “Gigantic Tagline”, and “Sparks and Debris”.  I’ve chosen ten posters from 2013 that took a chance, broke the mold, and came away with something eye-catching and original.

Hit the jump for my top 10 posters of 2013, and come back tomorrow for the top 10 trailers of 2013.

Every year, there are plenty of great films, but some fall through the cracks and others are overshadowed.   While we’ll have our Top 10 of the year lists near the end of 2013, we wanted to share with you some movies that may have slipped past your attention.  There are films like these on our Top 10 lists as well, but we didn’t want to be redundant, and we wanted to bring attention to more films.  These movies either had too limited of a release or they were dismissed because they looked bad or the premise was deemed too cheesy.  Whatever the reason, they have the potential to be a cult classic in the making or at least a movie you’ll probably be sharing with your friends.

Hit the jump for Matt, Dave, Adam, and Brendan’s choices for great movies you may have missed this year.

Forgettable films are a waste of time because they leave us with nothing.  Being completely inoffensive is arguably worse than being terrible because at least terrible movies give us something to talk about.  We may be ragging on it, but at least it’s not something like After Earth, a film where the only thing I remember about it is how forgettable it is.  But to focus on the positive, the best movie moments move us in a positive way.  They provide more than a target for snarky putdowns or jaw-dropping examples of complete incompetence.  The best movie moments can inspire us, shock us, exhilarate us, and bring us absolute joy.

Adam, Dave, and Matt have written about five movie moments that jumped out at them in 2013.  They’re unranked and there could have been far more selections, but these 15 moments are as good as any that came out this year. [Spoilers ahead, obviously]

Summer 2013 has come to a close, so it’s time to look back at the big and small movies of the last four months.  On this week’s episode of The Collision, we talk about the hits, the misses, the disappointments, the surprises, the general consensus on the overall success of this year’s blockbuster line-up, how critical response measures up against the box office receipts, and much more.  As always, we finish up with our recommendations.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for the previous episode (“Ben Affleck as Batman, You’re Next, The World’s End, and We Know Better”), click here to add the podcast to your RSS, and click here to find us on iTunes. To keep up to date with The Collision, you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore). Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.

This week on The Collision, we talk about Ben Affleck being cast as Batman in Man of Steel 2 , the fanboy reaction to that news, how fans think they know how best to run a studio, and much more. We also talk about the marketing of You’re Next, and rave about The World’s End.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for the previous episode (“The ‘Realness’ of Superheroes and Kick-Ass 2“), click here to add the podcast to your RSS, and click here to find us on iTunes. To keep up to date with The Collision, you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore). Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.

In terms of grosses, summer 2013 is not going out with a bang. For the fourth year in a row, a holdover took the number one spot at the pre-Labor Day box office while new releases struggled. Among the latter, The World’s End looked strongest – both financially and critically – while Sony/Screen Gems’ The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones became the latest young-adult fantasy adaptation to disappoint.

Hollywood’s three new releases were no match for holdovers at Friday’s box office. Lee Daniels’ The Butler remained on top with an estimated $4.7 million, followed by the three week-old comedy We’re the Millers. Those rankings aren’t expected to change by Sunday, ensuring that this pre-Labor Day weekend will be one of the least-lucrative of the summer.

Among the frame’s new titles, The World’s End showed the most promise. The R-rated comedy earned an estimated $3.5 million on its opening day in 1,549 locations – not a particularly impressive number until you note that The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones earned just $3.1 million from twice as many locations. The adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s fantasy novel debuted at number one on Wednesday but should have trouble reaching its modest goal of $15 million after five days. You’re Next, the one new release that had chance to unseat The Butler based on tracking, opened to a disappointing fifth place instead. The well-reviewed horror film earned an estimated $2.9 million from 2,437 locations on Friday and is projected to take in $8 million this weekend. We’ll have full details tomorrow.

It should come as a surprise to no one that this week’s Top 5 is headlined by the news that Ben Affleck will inherit the cowl as the next Batman in Summer 2015′s Man of Steel sequel. And with good reason. Unless something goes drastically wrong, the movie is going to be an international blockbuster that millions will line up to see/pay for (yours truly included). That said, and like I mentioned last week, this weekend is one that I’ve been looking forward to for some time and one that I hope movie lovers will embrace; which is why Matt’s editorial on this being the best weekend of the summer earns the second spot in this week’s installment. If you need a break from the common blockbuster, sequel, reboot, remake, etc., this weekend is for you. If you believe original movies have a place at your local cineplex, here’s your chance to dig into your wallet and prove it. You might be paying to see your favorite movie of the summer or you might end up seeing something that doesn’t suit your tastes at all. Either way, you’ll come out of it a better movie fan than you went in.

All begging and pleading aside, on tap this week is the aforementioned Ben Affleck/Batman news, Matt’s editorial on this being the best weekend of the summer (which will start the begging and pleading all over again), a neat flashback video of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese discussing the future of movies in 1990 with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, interviews for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and a couple of noteworthy Star Wars: Episode VII tidbits. As is customary, a brief recap and link to each of the above can be found after the jump.

Our own Matt Goldberg recently explained to you how this weekend is among the best this summer for original movies, but if you need a little more incentive to check them out, well we’ve got something for you.  Writer-director David Lowery, whose film Ain’t Them Bodies Saints opened last weekend, posted an article urging audiences to see not only his movie, but three other worthy films as well.  To grease the wheels a bit for his proposed weekend quadruple feature, he promised a custom-made prize to fans who saw his picture, plus writer-director Destin Cretton’s Short Term 12, writer-director Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies and Adam Wingard’s You’re Next.  Those filmmakers have also kicked in some swag for those who manage to see all four films this weekend, so it’s a win-win situation for all involved!  Hit the jump for details.

It’s been a long time in the making for You’re Next.  Premiering in 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival, the well-reviewed home-invasion horror film was quickly bought by Lionsgate… only to then sit on a shelf for 2+ years.  Since then You’re Next has screened at multiple film festivals to overwhelming acclaim while its release remained in limbo.  This Friday, the wait ends – and as leads AJ Bowen (A Horrible Way to Die) and Sharni Vinson (Bait 3D) are quick to note: the fact that an independently-made horror film is getting any sort of wide release, regardless of the time-lapse, is reason enough to celebrate.  I’ll second their motion – as You’re Next takes what can be an unpleasant subgenre in horror (see The Strangers, Funny Games) and turns it on its head into a fun audience picture.  It may be hard to imagine a film where a bunch of masked murderers hunt and kill a dysfunctional family as a rollicking good time – but that’s exactly what You’re Next is.

In the following interview with Sharni Vinson and AJ Bowen, the duo discuss the protracted release of You’re Next, their favorite moment touring with the film on and off for 2+ years and their favorite ‘final girl’.  In addition, AJ Bowen previews the Ti West directed The Sacrament, set to premiere at this year’s TIFF.  For the full interview, hit the jump.

Summer Movie Season 2013 is all but over.  Next weekend will be the traditionally slow Labor Day weekend where the highest-grossing opening weekend topped out at $30 million for the remake of Halloween.  This summer, we’ve waded through 12 sequels, 6 adaptations, and 1 reboot (I’ve kept each film to one category, but some could easily cross over like Man of Steel being a reboot and an adaptation of a comic book).  There have been some original movies along the way.

Summer is about to end, but not before it goes out with some of its best movies that also happen to be original movies.  Hit the jump for why they’re not just great films, but why you’ll be glad you saw them (and it’s probably not for the reason you think).