Last night I had the opportunity to check out a late showing of Pain & Gain during which I encountered a few thoughts that I couldn’t shake: 1) I wish Michael Bay would make more films like this and less of the transforming car variety. 2) Why can’t Dwayne Johnson be in every movie? 3) This is probably the craziest “Based on a True Story” movie I’ve ever seen. I’ve heard Bay say that some of the most extreme elements of the plot are also the most true to the original story. This is good to know because had someone written a lot of what shows up in the film I would likely call it too farfetched for my suspended disbelief to withstand. Make no mistake, this is a wild, entertaining ride that utilizes layers of action, crime, comedy, sex, and even a touch of sadism to keep you invested from beginning to end.

My mini-review aside, this week’s Top 5 includes the first trailer for Thor: The Dark World, Pain & Gain interviews with Michael Bay, Mark Wahlberg, and more, a recap of our visit to Pixar for Monsters University, news that Zack Snyder could take the helm of Justice League pending Man of Steel‘s success, and the first entry in a new interview series from Steve: “Breaking Down the Movie” with The Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance. As is customary, a brief recap and link to each of the above is ready and waiting after the jump.

While we all waited a long, long time to see the first footage from Man of Steel (especially given that the film started production in the fall of 2011), as the release date looms closer we’re starting to learn much more about Zack Snyder’s new take on Superman.  The director recently addressed the backlash he received when it was first announced that he would be directing the new Superman movie, and now a new interview has surfaced in which Snyder talks more specifically about how he approached the “Superman flying” scenes and creating the planet of Krypton.  In addition, he spoke about about the first time he saw Henry Cavill in the suit.  Hit the jump to read on.

Much is riding on the success of this summer’s Man of Steel.  Not only is Warner Bros. hoping the film launches a new Superman franchise, but it is also the key to moving forward with other DC properties in the wake of Marvel’s immense success (ie. The Avengers grossing $1.5 billion).  The early buzz on Man of Steel is incredibly positive and the film’s latest trailer was rather remarkable, so expectations are quite high.  We know that Warner Bros. is developing a Justice League film with a potential 2015 release date, but further details about the pic have been rather unclear.

In a new interview with director Zack Snyder, though, it was revealed that the current plan is to ask Snyder to helm Justice League should Man of Steel take off.  Hit the jump for more.

Last weekend I finally had the chance to check out director Rodney Ascher‘s The Shining analysis doc Room 237 on Xbox Live. The film garnered a rave review from Matt when he screened it at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and for the most part I share his enthusiasm for the pic.  On one hand, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen and I admire it for that exact reason. The extensive scenic analysis Room 237 employs, the hypnotic score, and its refusal to show the faces of those presenting their theories makes it an absolutely captivating ride that never lets you come up for air. On the other hand, I now have to live the rest of my life looking for Stanley Kubrick‘s airbrushed face in the clouds during The Shining‘s opening scene. And when/if I ever find it, what am I supposed to do with that information? Sigh.

I could go on about the film’s individual parts, but suffice to say that I consider it required viewing for anyone with even a fleeting interest in film analysis, Kubrick, and/or The Shining. And with that I’ll move on to the reason we’re all here. In this week’s Top 5 you’ll have the pleasure of checking out a stellar new trailer and a slew of other assets from Man of Steel, our set visit recap for The Hangover Part III, the first trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, more set visit goodness for Now You See Me, and all of our CinemaCon 2013 coverage. The “Continue Reading” button below is your ticket to a brief recap and link to each of the above.

Mere moments after a new trailer dropped for director Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, the multi-hyphenate took to Twitter to debut the first poster from another of his upcoming projects, 300: Rise of an Empire.  Snyder will be producing the sequel; at the helm is Noam Murro (Smart People).  We know that the sequel to 300 will feature a sea battle between the Greeks and the invading Persians.  Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom) steps into the sandals this time as Greek general Themistocles, who leads his soldiers against the vast army of the self-proclaimed god, Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his own general, Artemisia (Eva Green).

300: Rise of an Empire, also starring Lena Headey, opens August 2nd.  Hit the jump to check out the poster and be sure to take a look at these previously released images from the film if you haven’t already.

Warner Bros. has released a new trailer for director Zack Snyder‘s Superman film Man of Steel.  There’s a lot to pull apart here in this three-minute trailer, starting with the heroic shots of Russell Crowe who appears to have prescience about his son’s abilities once he gets to Earth.  Then, we see Clark Kent passing through childhood, adolescence and adulthood, all while the expectations of his fathers are heaped upon his broad shoulders.  It’s not all existential as we get the first real hint of action sequences in the film, along with scenes of the menacing Michael Shannon and the tenacious Amy Adams.  And that theme?  There’s quite a bit going on here so be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film stars Henry Cavill, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne and Antje Traue.  Man of Steel opens in 3D on June 14th.

Last week, some intriguing new images from Man of Steel made their way online from the latest issue of EW.  The magazine quickly asked us to remove the images from our site, but today they’ve been officially released for all to see.  We get nice looks at Michael Shannon’s General Zod, Henry Cavill’s Supes, Amy Adams’ Lois Lane, Laurence Fishburne’s Perry White, and more, including a new image of Antje Traue as the villainess Faora that wasn’t included in that initial batch.

Hit the jump to take a look at the images, and if you missed General Zod’s warning to Earth (ie. the first viral video for the film), click here.  The pic also stars Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, and Diane Lane.  Man of Steel opens in 3D on June 14th.

It’s safe to say that Warner Bros.’ Man of Steel is one of the biggest films of the summer, if not the biggest film.  The studio is attempting to introduce a new Superman to audiences, and all eyes are on director Zack Snyder to see if Man of Steel does the character justice.  The project began almost by accident when David S. Goyer ran into a wall regarding a plot point on The Dark Knight Rises and turned to his Superman comics as a distraction.  Christopher Nolan spurred to Goyer’s take on the character and offered to produce the film based on Goyer’s script, and now we’ve got a brand new Superman movie headed our way in a matter of months.

Entertainment Weekly’s big Summer Movie Preview issue is hitting stands soon, and they’ve now unveiled their Man of Steel-graced cover along with some rather revealing information regarding the movie.  Hit the jump to read on, though be aware that some may consider the following spoilery (even though it’s about things that aren’t in the movie).

Warner Bros. has released a new high-resolution image from Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman film Man of Steel.  This new image—which shows Supes in handcuffs being escorted down a hallway by a barrage of military personnel—is actually pretty familiar, as it was used to construct the pic’s most recent poster and it’s a notable part of the film’s latest trailer.  In addition to giving us a brief glimpse at Christopher Meloni‘s Colonel Hardy character (in the back on the far right), this image also poses a number of questions like why is Superman in cuffs to begin with and why doesn’t he just bust out of them?  Hopefully all will be answered when the film finally hits theaters this summer.

Hit the jump to take a look at the high-resolution image.  The pic stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, and Russell Crowe.  Man of Steel opens in 3D on June 14th.

With director Zack Snyder’s Superman film Man of Steel hitting theaters in just a couple of months, we’re finally starting to see and hear more about the highly anticipated Warner Bros. project.  Recently the superhero pic landed the cover of Total Film magazine, and now some goodies from TF’s Man of Steel issue have started to surface by way of a batch of new images from the pic and Sndyer and star Henry Cavill’s thoughts on creating a Superman for the modern era.  Snyder and Cavill drill home the point that this film tackles a grounded, realistic iteration of the character, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how their take plays out on the big screen this summer.

Hit the jump to check out new Man of Steel images as well as quotes from Snyder and Cavill.  Man of Steel opens in 3D on June 14th. [Update: We've been asked to take the images down.]

A new magazine cover featuring Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill (Immortals) and Amy Adams (The Fighter) has been released online.  Zack Snyder’s take on Superman finds Clark Kent (Cavill) deciding on whether to use his abilities to promote peace or to conquer.  Whatever he decides, he must protect those he loves from a new threat.

The film also stars Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni and Russell Crowe.  Man of Steel opens June 14th.  Hit the jump to check out the new image. [Update: We've updated the article with high-resolution versions of the covers.]

I realize that it’s a little too March to be discussing my favorite holiday gifts, but I only recently had the opportunity to dive into one of mine and, as a result, I feel the need to share it’s greatness with our readers. The ESPN 30 for 30 Collector’s Set Blu-ray is an outstanding collection of sports documentaries that is rife with social commentary and almost sure to have something for sports and/or documentary fans alike. Before I get accused of paid programming, I’ll disclaim that all thirty of its films aren’t home runs (that’s right, a sports pun). Moreover, I’m fairly sure that all of the series’ entries are available to watch instantly on Netflix right now making the physical collection redundant for some. Regardless of how you partake, I encourage you to sift through the series, find a topic that interests you, and give it a shot.

All recommendations aside, this week’s Top 5 features a healthy portion of Iron Man 3 coverage (including the new trailer), Oz the Great and Powerful interviews with Sam Raimi, James Franco, Mila Kunis, and more, the first trailer for The Hangover Part III, a sizable Justice League movie rumor, and the new trailer and poster for Will Smith and Jaden Smith‘s After Earth. As you may be expecting, a brief recap and link for each of the above waits after the jump.

The guys over at Latino-Review have decided to spend this fine evening dropping an atomic-bomb-level rumor that will send fanboys into a tizzy.  The site is reporting three major developments when it comes to Justice League and Warner Bros. trying to figure out how they’re going to combat Disney’s one-two franchise punch of Marvel and Star Wars.  So far, Warners has been struggling with their superheroes.  They’re all out of Batman, and while there’s some very early positive buzz on Man of Steel, their highly-anticipated Justice League movie reportedly had to go back to square one early last month when Will Beale‘s script was tossed out.

But Warner Bros. isn’t giving up, and according to Latino-Review, Christopher Nolan is coming to the rescue.  And so is Zack Snyder.  And they want Christian Bale to put the cape and cowl back on.  Hit the jump for more.

If one were to take a poll of the most anticipated film of 2013, director Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot Man of Steel would likely find itself towards the very top.  It’s been seven years since the character was last seen onscreen, and Warner Bros. is hoping that Man of Steel kicks off a new franchise for the studio following the conclusion of the Harry Potter series and Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy.  We’ve already seen a couple of trailers for the film, but the majority of the pic is still being kept tightly under wraps; Snyder only just recently confirmed that Michael Shannon is playing General Zod.

With the pic’s June release date looming, Warner Bros. recently got its first look at the full film by way of some early private studio screenings.  Reactions to those screenings appear to be highly positive, as a recent report sheds some light on what fans can expect from the pic.  Hit the jump to read on.

While director Zack Snyder and Warner Bros. have done a great job keeping most of the secrets for Man of Steel, one thing was always going to be a problem they couldn’t avoid: merchandizing.  No matter what a studio does to keep everything under wraps, once the toys start to be displayed, everything is quickly revealed.  And today is no different.

Thanks to Toy Fair opening their doors in New York City this morning, we’ve gotten some great new looks at the costumes for Superman (Henry Cavill), Jor-El (Russell Crowe), General Zod (Michael Shannon), and Faora (Antje Traue).   While we previous posted toy images of General Zod and Jor-El, they were the smaller action figures and the ones today are 1:6 scale statue’s, which feature more detail.   Hit the jump to take a look at the images.  Man of Steel opens in 3D on June 14th.