Columbia has unveiled the first teaser trailer for Men in Black 3 which reunites Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as Agent J and Agent K, members of a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth.

The trailer doesn’t show us anything we haven’t seen before, but it introduces us to the time-travelling storyline and we get a brief glimpse at Josh Brolin as the younger Agent K.

Watch below:

In Men in Black 3, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back… in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K’s life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him — secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

The film is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld who was behind the first two movies, and also stars Emma Thompson as Agent Oh, who is head of MIB in the present day but will be seen as a secretary in 1969 (portrayed by Alice Eve), and Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords who will play the villain.

Men in Black 3 will be released May 25, 2012.

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According to Box Office Mojo, Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer’s mafia epic The Gangster Squad has found a release date for October 19, 2012. The film tells the real life story of notorious mobster Mickey Cohen and the LA police department looking to bring him down. Said Mobster will be played by Sean Penn and also stars Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, and Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) among others.

From the sound of it, this has complete Oscar potential written all over it and it seems like Warner Bros. agrees with that philosophy, considering the fall release that normally bears those big name award winners. After all, the fall, Warner Brothers, and gangster movie are just a few buzz words that shout back to The Departed which went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture in 2007. With an all-star cast and intriguing storyline, The Gangster Squad seems like one to watch out for.

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According to Deadline Josh Brolin has signed on to lead the remake of the cult 2003 Korean revenge thriller Oldboy, which has Spike Lee directing.

In the original film the story followed a man who is kidnapped on his daughter’s birthday and held for 15 years in solitary confinement without explanation. He is eventually released and sets out on a path to take revenge on those who destroyed his life. Back in 2008 Steven Spielberg was considering directing Will Smith in the remake, but that never happened so Mandate Pictures bought the rights and got Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) to write the script.

The aim is to begin production in March, so Brolin will likely fit it in after Gangster Squad with Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling, and before Jason Reitman’s Labor Day opposite Kate Winslet.

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According to Deadline Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar) will be joining Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Anthony Mackie in The Gangster Squad, a 1940s crime drama that will be directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland).

Penn will play Los Angeles mobster Mickey Cohen, with Gosling and Brolin set to play two cops assigned to bring him down when the gangster starts targeting innocent people. Ribisi will play Conway Keeler, a cop in the group who is a master of electronics and wires. The film is based on a series of articles written by Paul Lieberman which chronicle the LAPD’s fight to keep East Coast Mafia types out of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 50s.

Ruben Fleischer has mainly been a director of comedies with his latest, 30 Minutes or Less, set for release in August. This will be his first attempt at a serious drama, and it’s looking promising thanks to the impressive cast he’s managed to pull together.

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Variety reports that Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) will be joining Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling in Gangster Squad, a 1940s crime drama that will be directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland).

Penn will play Los Angeles mobster Mickey Cohen, with Gosling and Brolin set to play two cops assigned to bring him down when the gangster starts targeting innocent people. The film is based on a series of articles written by Paul Lieberman which chronicle the LAPD’s fight to keep East Coast Mafia types out of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 50s.

Mackie will play Rocky Washington, ex-cop and the first black lieutenant in the LAPD, who is ultimately recruited to work as part of the gangster squad. Since The Hurt Locker won gold at the Oscars last year both Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie have been in demand. Mackie, who was considered for The Bourne Legacy and Mission Impossible 4, will be seen next in Real Steel, and in 2012 we’ll see him in Man on a Ledge and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

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According to Deadline Warner Bros. is currently in negotiations with Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling to star in Gangster Squad, a 1940s crime drama that will be directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland).

If all goes well Penn will play Los Angeles mobster Mickey Cohen, with Gosling and Brolin in talks to play two cops assigned to bring him down when the gangster starts targeting innocent people. The film is based on a series of articles written by Paul Lieberman which chronicle the LAPD’s fight to keep East Coast Mafia types out of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 50s.

All three actors have Oscar nominations or wins under their belt, so Gangster Squad could easily be a contender when the 2013 ceremony rolls round. So far director Ruben Fleischer has only been associated with comedy, so it’ll be interesting to see him try something darker. Warner Bros. aim to begin filming later this year so they’ll be hoping to wrap up these deals soon.

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After taking a 4 month break to iron out issues with the script cameras are rolling once again on Men in Black 3. The majority of shooting will focus on the time-travel section of the movie which sees Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones transported back to 1969 where they meet Josh Brolin, who plays a young version of Jones.

Originally I wasn’t convinced about Brolin playing a young Tommy Lee Jones, but these recently snapped images from the set show that it is actually pretty good casting. Someone give the casting director a raise! The images come from The Daily Mail, and you can see more by clicking here.

Men in Black 3 is still on track for a May 2012 release, and is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld who was behind the first two instalments. As well as Smith, Jones and Brolin the film also stars British actress Emma Thompson as Agent Oh, who is head of MIB in the present day but will be seen as a secretary in 1969 (portrayed by Alice Eve). Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords will play the villain.

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Paramount has announced that the Coen Brothers’ True Grit, starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld and Josh Brolin, will be released on DVD and Blu-ray June 7th.

True Grit is now available to pre-order from Amazon on:

- DVD
- Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy

The movie was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including acting nods for Bridges and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, and is considered one of the best film of 2010. The movie also shattering the notion that Western’s are a turn-off for audiences by making $230 million worldwide, becoming the most successful Western since Unforgiven.

The Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack contents are as follows:

Blu-ray:

- Mattie’s True Grit
- From Bustles to Buckskin—Dressing for the 1880s
- Colts, Winchesters & Remingtons: The Guns of a Post-Civil War Western
- Re-Creating Fort Smith
- The Cast
- Charles Portis—The Greatest Writer You’ve Never Heard Of…
- The Cinematography of True Grit
- Theatrical Trailer

DVD:

- Feature Film
- Digital Copy

The standard DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and English Audio Description with French, English and Spanish subtitles.

The single disc DVD includes the following:

- Hailee’s True Grit
- From Bustles to Buckskin—Dressing for the 1880s
- Re-Creating Fort Smith
- The Cast

True Grit is now available to pre-order from Amazon on:

- DVD
- Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy

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Earlier today we heard that the second half of filming on Men in Black 3 would now begin in March, as opposed to later this month like originally planned. There seems to be issues with the script which need to be ironed out, but it’s not all bad news as British actress Alice Eve will be joining the cast when filming eventually resumes.

From Deadline:

Alice Eve will play the younger version of Men in Black Agency head Emma Thompson in the time travel storyline. The British actress plays Olivia, hired as secretary for the Agency in 1969. While it appears she was given the job because of her looks, Olivia is actually whip smart. Sure enough, in the contemporary storyline, Thompson runs the place.

The filming in March will mainly focus on the time-travel section of the movie which sees Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones transported back to 1969 where they meet Josh Brolin, who plays a young version of Jones. Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me If You Can and Rush Hour 2) is currently re-writing the script.

Men in Black 3 is still on track for a May 2012 release, and is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld who was behind the first two instalments.

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One of the biggest changes in the American film landscape over time has been the decline of the western. The genre once comprised a ludicrous percentage of the overall film output due to their cheap production costs and limited locations, and most of the films were shot on movie ranches in Southern California. And though the number of theatrical westerns has dramatically fallen since the 1980′s, there has been a bit of a resurgence in the past few years. Movies like Andrew Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, James Mangold’s remake of 3:10 to Yuma, and the modern day Coen Brothers western No Country For Old Men have been welcome additions to the genre, continuing a mini-revival sparked by Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood’s 1992 Best Picture winner.

I’ve got some good news: the classic western is back. True Grit is one of the best films of 2010. Ostensibly a remake of the 1969 John Wayne film of the same name – one which earned The Duke his only Academy Award – the Coen Brothers want to make it clear that a remake was actually not their intention. In a recent interview, they said they had seen the original film in theaters when they were kids but haven’t revisited it since then, and now only have a vague recollection of it. Their version is an adaptation of Charles Portis’ novel, and remake or not, that detail is entirely inconsequential; this is easily one of my favorite movies of the year, one in which I got that feeling I’m lucky to get a few times a year when I know I’m watching something special. With this movie in theaters and Red Dead Redemption tearing up video game consoles, 2010 is a great year for westerns.

It’s strange seeing a pure, classic western out of the Coens so soon after their modern take on the genre won Best Picture only three years ago. It’s undoubtedly “their” movie, with all of the brothers’ trademark dark humor and gorgeous cinematography from collaborator Roger Deakins, but at times it felt as if this was a western from the mind of Quentin Tarantino. The dialogue was highly stylized and removed contractions from the equation almost entirely (providing some very funny moments thanks to the actors’ delivery), with a rapid-fire barter scene between young Mattie Ross and a horse dealer standing out as a highlight. Like Inglourious Basterds, I was surprised how much of the movie was people sitting around talking, but also surprised at how intriguing the film was in spite of that. It shares one more thing with the work of QT: True Grit is punctuated by points of shocking violence, and because they’re so sparse, it lends real meaning to those scenes, making them feel as if they truly matter.

The biggest surprise for me was the phenomenal performance by relative newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, appearing in her first major film and easily holding her own against some of the most intimidating actors in Hollywood. True, her character is extraordinarily well-written, but it takes a special kind of talent from a thirteen-year-old girl to pull off a convincing performance like this; I’m predicting big things from this girl in the future. And I’m not just saying this to be nice, either: if there were more than five nominees in the Best Actress category, I’d say she was a lock for a nomination. Heck, she still might be – although there’s very little chance of a win, she still deserves all the praise she will surely receive for her work here. Regardless of professional accolades, she delivers one of my personal favorite performances of the entire year.

The rest of the cast, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, was outstanding as well. Jeff Bridges makes the iconic character of Rooster Cogburn his own, grumbling and slurring his way through the film. For the awards-obsessed out there, it’s very possible Bridges could repeat as Best Actor, a feat not accomplished since Tom Hanks did it in ’93 (Philadelphia) and ’94 (Forrest Gump). For those who’ve seen the original True Grit and are wondering if the famous “fill your hands, you sons of bitches!” scene is represented here, the answer is yes; it’s a testament to Bridges that he can separate himself so much from one of the most famous characters in western history while participating in many of the same story beats as the original film.

The villains were equally enjoyable. Josh Brolin, though he doesn’t get much screen time, is effective as Tom Chaney, the man who killed Mattie’s father. He’s a man mentioned many times throughout the film but who doesn’t appear until near the end, allowing the audience to build up our own vision of what this character might be like based on hearsay from other characters in the film (see: The Third Man). But Chaney turns out to be alternatively idiotic and terrifying. He’s a moronic psychopath, and since you never know what they’re going to do, there’s no kind more dangerous. In a convenient bit of casting, the underrated Barry Pepper (seriously Hollywood, get this guy some more work) plays a man with the same last name – “Lucky” Ned Pepper, the leader of Brolin’s gang of outlaws. He’s not the biggest guy in real life or on screen, but he commands respect with his presence in this movie and you can tell the much larger Tom Chaney fears him; it’s a small part, but an important one and one in which Pepper is easily able to excel.

The dusty landscapes and snow-covered settings were captured wonderfully by Roger Deakins, certainly inspired here by classic westerns in the look and tone of the cinematography. One shot in particular, of Rooster Cogburn framed in the entrance of a mine cart shaft, is a direct homage to John Ford’s iconic shot in The Searchers. Deakins keeps his camera still unless it’s absolutely necessary to move it. This is not a Scorsese picture in which the camera slowly rotates around a group as people converse; this is straightforward filmmaking, allowing the audience to savor the locales and expansive backdrops and have a perfect sense of geography at all times.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a score quite like this one. Carter Burwell composed the score, but nearly every song – and that’s not an exaggeration – is a riff on the old hymn “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” It’s really weird to hear, since it comes up every few minutes in the movie in a different form – slower, faster, more piano, more strings – but it’s all essentially the same song. It’s not bad; in fact, I think it worked very well and absolutely added to the atmosphere of the movie. It just struck me as strange, since I can’t think of another score offhand that is so heavily inspired by just one song.

I need to see this movie again to discuss it more thoroughly. I was so sucked in by the characters and wave after wave of awesome scenes (the opening hanging in the square, the courtroom questioning, the list goes on) that I found myself almost unable to watch the movie with a critical eye because I was enjoying it too freaking much. When you see as many movies as I do (and I presume if you’re reading this, you might), you know how rare this reaction is.

It’s hard to credit the Coens for much originality here, considering their script is based heavily on Portis’ original novel. The thing about this movie, though, is that even though it isn’t entirely original, their take on the source material makes it feel brand new. Ultimately, isn’t that what matters? The visceral feeling of watching a movie? Isn’t that why we watch movies in the first place? In the tradition of the 1969 film, the Coen Brothers have crafted a smart movie that breaks from conventions and presents a highly personalized look at the Old West and the notions of law and retribution in society. It’s also way funnier than the serious trailers make it out to be – in fact, the humor was my favorite part of the entire film. Even with the Coens impressive resume, I’d rank True Grit as one of my favorite films from the talented siblings. I’d highly recommend everyone check this one out over the holidays. Until next time…

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