Pop Culture Buzz

Sony Pictures Entertainment has released the first teaser trailer for “District 9″, which you might see before “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”. “District 9″ is super secret sci-fi project produced by Peter Jackson. Not much was known about this project when it was first announced but the brilliant marketing and ad campaign has already peaked movie geeks interest online for months now.

The concept for “Disrict 9″ involves aliens who have landed in Johannesburg, South Africa, and are living as refugees there. It has a very Cloverfield feeling to it, and is shot like a documentary, following around the MNU (essentially, the local government-run police) who are trying to keep them contained in certain areas of the city.

The ship in the trailer looks amazing and I can only how cool it will look on the big screen, especially in the doc-style the movie is filmed in. Some people might be disappointed by the blur that is on the alien’s face, but I think that adds to the mystery of the project, and makes you want to see what’s behind the censored box. Watch the trailer below and leave your thoughts in the comments section!

In “Imagine That”, Eddie Murphy stars as a successful financial executive who has more time for his blackberry than his seven-year-old daughter (Yara Shahidi). When he has a crisis of confidence and his career starts going down the drain, however, he finds the solution to all his problems in his daughters imaginary world.

The trailer below offers up nothing too original or exciting, but it might be entertaining, or at least fun for the kids. Let’s just hope that this Eddie Murphy film is better than “Meet Dave”, “The Haunted Mansion” or “Pluto Nash”.

“Fame” is the upcoming 2009 musical remake of the 1980 hit film that was also spun off into a hit TV show. The remake is scheduled to be released on September 25, 2009 which is just in time for back to school. With the popularity of shows like “Dancing With the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance” this film may have the potential to be huge like the original did. I guess we’ll see at the end of the summer, until then watch the trailer below:

Sony Pictures Animation has finally released the movie trailer for “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”. Inspired by the beloved children’s book (one of my favorites), the film tells the story of a scientist named Flint Lockwood, who while trying to solve world hunger who encounters a problem of global proportions, as food begins to fall from the sky like rain. The voice cast is comprised of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Tracy Morgan and Mr. T. This creative little film has some serious potential to be a sweet charmer stuck in the middle of a summer full of tent pole productions, let’s hope it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle!

“The Hangover” is an upcoming R-rated comedy directed by Todd Phillips, who also directed “Starsky and Hutch”, “Old School” and “Road Trip”, among others. With “The Hangover”, it looks like Phillips has taken the frat comedy to its next logical step: a guy who is about to get married falling back into a mess of drunken antics with his buddies the night before.

The movie stars Ed Helms (The Office), Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers, The Midnight Meat Train) in the lead roles, which means Phillips is working with some new faces. I’m looking forward to seeing how well these guys gel, but if the trailer is any indication, I think the results are going to be hilarious.

I probably only need seven words to get you excited about this: Mike Tyson air drummming to Phil Collins. “The Hangover” hits theatres on June 5th; watch the trailer below:

“Brüno” is the follow up mockumentary comedy film to “Borat” by brilliant comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. It is produced by, co-written by, and stars Baron Cohen. The character “Bruno” originates from Cohen’s previous HBO series, “Da Ali G Show”. This film is the third based on characters from the show, following “Ali G Indahouse” and “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”, but the latter and this film occurs in real-life situations unlike the “Ali G Indahouse”.

In the film, which opens on July 10, British comic Cohen plays a gay Austrian TV presenter called Bruno. The movie is facing an adults only certification in the US due to the sexually explicit material. Some scenes might have to be cut so Bruno can be seen by a wider audience. According to early reviews, part of the plot involves Bruno drawing inspiration from people like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie to, as he says, find a “new shithole to save”..and…”Clooney has Darfur, I need to find my Darfur…”.

In his quest to become a big time celebrity, Bruno feels that the only way he can accomplish this is by giving back. He even flies to the Middle East to negotiate peace between Israel and Palestine by telling them “Why are you all so mad at Hamas, Pita bread is the real enemy, yes?”. The best part? Apparently there’s a giant charity song at the end of the movie featuring Bono, Coldplay, Elton John and Snoop Dogg. Any other movie and I’d call bullshit — but this is Sacha Baron Cohen, so expect it. Can’t wait. I also hear “Bruno” attends a “Yes on 8″ rally in California (see the picture below), that should be very interesting to watch also! This is my most highly anticipated film to watch in 2009, hands down!

Classic comedy director Harold Ramis (”Caddyshack”, “Groundhog Day”) will release a biblical comedy called “Year One” this summer and the trailer has already started generating good buzz. The plot follows a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers named Zed and Oh (Jack Black and Michael Cera) who are banished from their primitive village. Soon after the two bafoons set off on an epic journey through the ancient world meeting various characters from the Old Testament.

The film also features Paul Rudd and David Cross, who play Cain and Abel, Hank Azaria as Abraham, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (aka McLovin) as Isaac, and Oliver Platt as a High Priest. Based on an original idea by Ramis, and a screenplay by “The Office” scribes Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg (the same guys who are writing the new “Ghostbusters” movie), “Year One” is scheduled to hit theaters on June 19th 2009.

I have high hopes for this high concept bible story farce. If history has proven anything in Hollywood it’s that you need good timeless jokes to pull off a risky gimmick like this. Let’s just hope that the trailer doesn’t give away all the real funny stuff.

Horror’s prodigal son returns with “Drag Me to Hell”, Sam Raimi’s first directing gig within the genre in over 15-years. Sam Raimi created the “Evil Dead” series as well as the “Spiderman” films so movie geeks all over are pretty familiar with his work. His new picture is based on a script written by Sam and his brother Ivan.

“Drag Me To Hell” tells the story of Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), an ambitious L.A. loan officer with a charming boyfriend, Professor Clay Dalton (Justin Long). When Christine disallows an old woman an extension on her mortgage payment, to prove she is able to make tough decisions to her boss, she is attacked by the old woman while getting into her car, and has a curse set upon her, threatening to send her to Hell for eternity. Sounds like a bloody good time!

“OBSERVE AND REPORT”

“17 AGAIN”

“PLANET 51″

“MUST READ AFTER MY DEATH”

“PUBLIC ENEMIES”

If you are a fan of Simon Pegg comedies such as “Hot Fuzz” and “Run Fatboy Run”, or of British humor in general, then this movie may be right up your alley. “Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel” looks like a cross betwen “Dr. Who” and “Shaun of the Dead” which gives it a lot of promise to become a hysterical hit!

“FAQ” stars Chris O’Dowd, Marc Wootton and Dean Lennox Kelly who play three social outcasts; two geeks and a cynic. These “three ordinary blokes” may hold the fate of the entire world in their hands when they discover a rift in the space-time continuum in the gents’ of their local pub. Anna Faris stars as a girl from the future who sets the adventure in motion. The film is a co-production between HBO Films and BBC Films which Lionsgate will distribute scheduled for a release in for this Spring.

WATCH THE TRAILER BELOW:

PLOT:

Once the high school cheerleading captain who dated the quarterback, Rose Lorkowski (Academy Award nominee Amy Adams) now finds herself a thirty something single mother working as a maid. Desperate to get her son into a better school, Rose persuades her sister Norah (Emily Blunt) to go into the crime scene clean-up business with her to make some quick cash.

I am a sucker for quirky black independent comedies, and by the looks of this hilariously sweet trailer, “Sunshine Cleaners” has the potential to charm the socks off of film lovers. And with talent like Emily Blunt, Amy Adams and Alan Arkin how can you not be the slightestas bit amused by this little clip? Watch the cute trailer below:

Judd Apatow has been behind some of the most real to life and hilariously over the top comedies of the past few years; “Knocked Up”, “40 Year Old Virgin”, “Superbad”, “Pineapple Express”, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”. By the looks of the trailer for his latest film called “Funny People”, he may have another winner on his hands. The trailer below looks like another crowd pleaser!

“Inglourious Basterds” is an upcoming ensemble war film/spaghetti western written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It has the largest cast of characters (with speaking roles) of any Tarantino film to date and is currently in production with several locations, among them Germany and France.

Tarantino plans to complete production of “Inglourious Basterds” in time for release at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2009. The title (and partial premise) of the upcoming film is inspired by Italian director Enzo Castellari’s 1978 movie “Inglorious Bastards” which follows two story lines: One follows a group of prisoners-turned-soldiers whose mission is to take down a group of Nazis, and the other follows a young Jewish woman who seeks to avenge the death of her parents by this Nazi group.

Two years ago Tarantino put out one of my favorite films of all time (and my favorite Tarantino film ever) “Death Proof”, which didn’t get the recognition it deserved as a smart hardcore action thriller. After watching the trailer below I can see that this film is going to really push the limits of a “war film” using his trademark gruesome images and real to life dialogue. I can hardly freakin’ wait!

Here are movie trailers for three of the biggest event films of 2009! This summer already looks like it will be a great season for action packed big studio releases. All 3 of these large budgeted films look like they will be pretty big at the box office. Watch the brand spankin’ new movie trailers for “Transformers 2″, “G.I. Joe” & “Land of the Lost” below!

“TRANSFORMERS 2″

“G.I. JOE: RISE OF COBRA”

“LAND OF THE LOST”

This action packed sci-fi thriller involves a group of young American ex-pats with telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities, hiding from a clandestine U.S. government agency. They must utilize their different talents and band together for a final job enabling them to escape the agency forever. This sleak looking film stars Dakota Fanning and the always sexy Chris Evans and Djimon Hounsou. Check out the trailer below: