It’s more cost-effective scares as more haunted happenings return us to The Further in this micro-budget sequel. I’m psyched but it’s not a good sign when you want to slap the characters based off the trailer.

Rose Byrne (panicked): It’s still happening!

Patrick Wilson: What is?

Rose Byrne: My yeast infection.

Patrick Wilson: ….

Rose Byrne: Ghosts, dummy!

Previously, Wan earned $100 million on a $1.5 million investment with Insidious. His latest, The Conjuring, looks scary enough to earn all the money. Stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga (who don’t appear in this trailer) play a husband and wife team of ghost hunters investigating a remote farmhouse. They quickly learn that they are in over their heads when the supernatural activity grows more and more violent. I’m really impressed by the hide and seek sequence featured in this trailer. Suppose you’re a ghost and a new family moves into your house and immediately starts playing hide and seek while blindfold. How can you not f**k with them? This ghost, though, just takes it to an amazing level. It deserves our respect.

This film was originally slated for January 2013 release but due to resounding praise from audiences, the film was pushed back to August to rake in those sweet, sweet summer dollars.

It looks like the movie is going to be one of those “based on a true story wink wink” haunted house deals, like The Amityville Horror. Wilson previously worked with Wan on Insidious, but Farmiga is new to the Guy Who Did Saw Club. They will be playing a married pair of “demonologists” who take on the case of their lives, whatever, loud noises, demons, shadows, you know the deal. I hope it’s good! (The Hollywood Reporter)

The Ledge, a poopy movie for dumb-dumbs, was written and directed by Matthew Chapman. The movie, about a bunch of jerks who get caught in a stupid-looking love triangle, stars Liv Tyler, Charlie Hunnam, Patrick Wilson and Terrence Howard. From the stinky trailer, I gather that Hunnam has to jump off the ledge, or his lover Tyler will be killed by her religious zealot husband Wilson. Oh, and when I said the trailer was stinky, I meant it smells like a fart.

IFC Films will push the movie off a ledge for a limited theatrical release June 29th. Also: two thumbs down.

Cast: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Angus Sampson

Synopsis: A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.

Release Date: April 1, 2011

Sharp-eared readers might remember that Simmons also provided a small voice over appearance in last year’s True Grit, showing that he might be on his way to being one of “those voices,” like Morgan Freeman or Tim Allen. This also isn’t the first time he’s worked with Reitman and Young Adult‘s universally beloved screenwriter Diablo Cody, having appeared in their previous collaboration Juno.

Young Adult also stars Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, and Patton Oswalt, and “follows the story of a divorced 30-something young-adult fiction writer (Theron) who returns to her Minnesota home to chase after her now-married-with-kids ex-boyfriend (Wilson) with Oswalt playing a semi-crippled ol high school acquaintance who befriends the narcissistic and misguided female.” Now just imagine that being said by J.K. Simmons, and you’ll have a good idea of what the movie will be like. (The Playlist)

SXSW offered a first look at the premiere of the new James Wan/Leigh Whannell film Insidious. My first thoughts were a bit of self-reflection. I have to appreciate horror movies on a different level than the target audience. I’m not scared by ghosts and monsters and slasher killers. I can appreciate it as a story, and often some deep fantasy, but I’m not scared. Insidious has enough that should scare the horror believers and creates an in-depth mythology that objective viewers like me can respect.

Renee (Rose Byrn) and Josh (Patrick Wilson) move into a new house where apparitions pop up behind windows and push books off the shelves. Their son Dalton falls into a coma. That’s a taboo plot twist that Hollywood horror wouldn’t allow. The visions get stronger and Renee experiences them the most.

The scares at this point are solid. You see enough unsettling disturbances, some grinning twins or a bloody handprint on the sheets, to get your Shining on. Here is where the film gets smart though. They move out of the house. Josh may be skeptical but he’s willing to do it for Renee’s well being.

Of course, it wasn’t the house, it was the family. In the new house, the ghosts get more interactive. A ghostly child actually makes Renee play hide and seek. Josh’s mom Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) calls a spiritual advisor, Elise (Lin Shaye) to help. That’s when the mythology gets deep.

Elise explains astral projection to create a really mature, perceptive view of the supernatural. Leigh Whannell’s script incorporates spiritual powers and philosophy that even casual readers of pop metaphysics would appreciate. Elise and her assistants Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (Leigh Whannell) can’t stop the other world from causing trouble so the pace builds as the mythology develops.

Elise introduces the concept of The Further, which the film explores as a new vision of the world beyond our own. It’s more dreamlike than Nightmare on Elm Street and full of unsettling images and sound. The characters aren’t passive. Renee and Josh get hands on to save their son. Josh has to be the nay sayer but they make him reasonable.

I was most interested when the film kicked into its spiritual gear, but the whole film is well done. James Wan shoots the houses so that every angle on a room or staircase makes it look completely different. He reveals the disturbing elements in effective tracking shots, obscuring some things and playing with screen space. It’s not just jump scares.

I was invested in the otherworldly adventure of Insidious, which is definitely more epic than the usual haunted house story. I would look forward to further adventures in The Further.

“The plot involves five men who rent a loft apartment together where they can bring their mistresses, only to discover a woman’s body there, raising the possibility that any one of them could be the killer.”

So it appears that Loft falls into the subgenre of “bros in trouble” movies. Wilson especially is great for this type of movie, as evidenced by his performance in the “bros in trouble” (more accurately “bro in trouble”) movie Hard Candy.

The director of the original Loft, Erik Van Looy will be directing the English-language version. So try and track down a copy of the original before this comes out so you can feel cooler than your friends. (via The Playlist)

I’m told that the film, though formulaic, really delivers on scares. To me, it looks like a really scary version of “Ghosthunters,” which could be a cool premise. Noticing strange goings-on, concerned parents of a creepy kid hire paranormal investigators, only to discover it’s not their house that’s haunted but their son. Why they don’t leave the kid in the supermarket parking lot a few towns over is beyond me.

The movie stars Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson, Barbara Hershey, and apparently the ghost of Darth Maul. Good to see him working again.

*I instantly regret that pun. Please forgive me.

(The Playlist)

The Ledge is a big misdirect. You think it’s going to be a standoff movie where a cop has to talk a jumper down. That’s really just the hook. It’s really a theological debate between an atheist and a homophobic zealot. I guess you can’t really lead with that.

Gavin (Charlie Hunnam) steps out onto the ledge of a roof. Hollis (Terrence Howard) is called to talk him down. Hollis just found out that he can’t donate sperm because he’s infertile. He has kids. So he’s got that going on. Gavin tells the story of what led him to the ledge.

Shana (Liv Tyler), Gavin’s new hotel employee also happens to be his neighbor. Gavin and his gay roommate Chris (Chris Gorham) invite the neighbors for dinner, and Shana’s husband Joe (Patrick Wilson) thinks they’re both gay and prays for God to help them correct their abominable choice. Now Gavin is not gay, but he still knows that’s wrong.

It’s interesting that the Sundance audience laughed at Joe’s comments. In a progressive audience, that sounds like humor because obviously we know his suggestions of homosexuality correcting programs are evil. I think most audiences will find it horrific. At least I hope they do.

Gavin engages in theological debates with Joe while trying to save Shana from such an oppressive man. I think it’s bold to make a movie so heavily centered on a hot button issue. I just don’t think it really explores it fully.

Joe takes the typical unwavering approach that the only salvation is being born again. Gavin’s all about evidence. I don’t think it’s either God exists or he doesn’t. Beliefs can enrich people’s lives and make them want to love. Joe’s beliefs make him hate. Where does that come from?

Narratively, I have a problem with the whole movie being a flashback. I know if you didn’t start on the ledge, it wouldn’t get juicy for about a half hour, but that’s the screenwriter’s problem to solve (same guy, writer/director Matthew Chapman.) This overdone crutch of the teaser opening informs way too much of the plot. Now nothing could happen that would prohibit Gavin from ending up on the ledge. It doesn’t take too much deduction to figure out which of the five characters is behind the plot and what Gavin’s choice will have to be.

It’s interesting that there are at least two films at Sundance with homophobic villains. That’s what Red State is about too, in a slasher movie format. I guess society has gotten to the point where artists want to tackle this head on. Everyone who protested Basic Instinct and Silence of the Lambs in the early ‘90s, here’s a movie where a raging heterosexual is the villain.

We won’t have to wait much longer to see Rose Byrne get chased around by a ghost that looks like a cross-dressing Michael Myers. Saw director James Wan is back in the horror game after taking a few years off. He’s re-teamed with Leigh Whannell for Insidious, a haunted house story about a couple who fight to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.

The film will open April 1st after positive festival reactions. Many critics were abuzz about Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson‘s portrayal of the parents. I don’t really know if that ghost is supposed to be scary. I’m getting more of a Bubbe vibe than cursed succubus that will drag your first-born to an eternity of Detroit Hell. (Coming Soon)

Patton Oswalt has signed on to play Charlize Theron’s chubby best friend in Young Adult. Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, who last worked together on Juno, are teaming up again for the film about a woman who returns to he high school town to basically stalk her old boyfriend like she’s Marky Mark. The guy’s got a wife and kid now though, so he’s not interested in Charlize. Not interested? His Mrs. must do crazy sh*t in the sack.

Josh Brolin decided he couldn’t pretend Charlize isn’t worth leaving his wife for and now Patrick Wilson is in talks for the role. Seems like a missed opportunity to put Wilson in a fat suit and cast him as the best friend and Oswalt as the ex-boyfriend. I’d love to watch Charlize beg Oswalt to have sex with her and he looks up at her with stern eyes and proclaims, "No, Ugly!" (/Film)

The A-Team
PG-13, 99m., 2010
Cast: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Jessica Biel, Brian Bloom, and Patrick Wilson
Directed by Joe Carnahan
Screenplay Joe Carnahan, Brian Bloom, and Skip Woods based upon the 1980s TV show
 
The A-Team is a big, wild, and un-P.C. knuckle punch of a summer ride.
 
Based upon the campy 80s action TV series of the same name, a team of hot-doggin’-bruised forearm military men led by Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson, at his stoic cigar chompin’ best). The men at his side are Templeton “Face” Peck (Bradley Cooper doing his smarmy and swaggered best), a sly Guido type, who is quick with his hands and mind, H.M.“Howlin’ Mad” Murdoch (Sharlto Copley of District 9 in a go for broke, zany performance), a brilliant but mad-capped pilot, and B.A. Baracus (UFC Fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson), a tightly wound pit bull with his signature “Pity” and “Fool” tattooed on his mammoth knuckles.
 
As the motley crew spans the globe, made apparent by title cards like “Somewhere in Mexico” to "Iraq War" to "West Banks of Germany," each man has his specialty and intro screen smashing sequence.
 
The assignment in the film is to retrieve special money engraving plates, which will lead the team to being double-crossed by a rouge black ops agent named Pike (Brian Bloom, also co-writer of the movie) and the CIA, lead by the fit and spray-tanned group of Patrick Wilson and Jessica Biel.
 
On a whole, the plot is just a macguffin for director Joe Carnahan and writer Bloom to relish in the dirt, blood, and sweat of these red-meat eating characters and the ongoing plot and battle sequences feel like an expensive afterthought.
 
One of the great surprises here is actor/co-writer Brian Bloom’s performance as Pike, at unknown screen actor who usually specializes in video game voiceovers. Here he shows real menacing talent with his steely blue eyes and deep-graded voice. A darkly comical scene involving him and a car full of dim witted CIA agents about the nature of killing a man with a silencer shows how he and director Carnahan like to focus on the little details of  action with character.
 
While there are plenty of big absurd action moments from exploding planes, cargo docks going up in flames, and a falling tank that defies the law of physics, the movie is also chock full of small surprises from a fireworks fight involving real fireworks to Murdoch’s cooking recipes involving gun powder and anti-freeze. At times it does get out of hand with a “How’s My Driving?” bummer stick on the free falling tank, yet what lies in the success of big obnoxious summer movies are those little attention to details.
 
With The A-Team, the mid-point in the summer of mercenary action team movies is here, from last month’s little seen The Losers to August’s grand opus The Expendables. It may not be an A kind of movie but with a B, The A-Team gets the job done, while well-peppered in gunpowder and sweat.
 
Grade: B

_{JJ Abrams gives Ford and McAdams a sneak peek at the "Lost" finale.}

Finally, a movie staring Harrison Ford that you’re supposed to laugh at (besides Six Days Seven Nights and Hollywood Homicide, which you were supposed to laugh at, but didn’t).

Morning Glory, produced by golden boy JJ Abrams and co-staring Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson, and Jeff Goldblum, seems like it might have some legitimate humor. The movie tells the story of a “hotshot television producer is set the challenge of reviving a struggling morning show program, despite the constant feuding of its high-profile anchors.” It comes across as part Network, part "Today Now", and part steaming pile of sh*t. That last part is probably due to the fact that the film shares a screenwriter with Th Devil Wears Prada and a director with Notting Hill. Even so, the trailer looks pretty good until the 2:00 mark, when Ford gets emotional and that Natasha Bedingfield song kicks in (I looked her up).

See the trailer for yourself after the jump.

Morning Glory Trailer – Watch more Movie Trailers

_{"Just sliding down a building with my feet. No big deal."}

Warning: If you thought the last trailer for The A-Team was ridiculous you better redefine your idea of the word. Otherwise this new trailer will boggle your sense of reason so completely that you may need to self inflict pain in order to keep a firm grasp on reality. Most of this is Rampage Jackson‘s doing.

Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, and the aforementioned gravity-defying Jackson all look like badasses in the action-packed trailer, but I think it’s Patrick Wilson who really deserves a shoutout. Not only is he playing the villain, which we don’t see much from him, but there’s no indication that he’s in danger of losing his testicles in this movie. After Hard Candy and Barry Munday, Wilson must have wanted to branch out and take on one of those "non-castration" type of roles.

Check out The A Team trailer after the jump, if you’re capable of suspending your sense of disbelief.

The A-Team Trailer 2 – Watch more Movie Trailers