Juan Diego Solanas‘s Upside Down was first announced back in 2009, and since then, I’ve often wondered when we’d see our first meaty piece of marketing for the writer and director’s Kirsten Dunst- and Jim Sturgess-starring romance. Turns out, it’s today. Turns out, the film looks just as bizarre, occasionally inspired, kind of derivative, slightly silly, somewhat hammy, and potentially headache-inducing than I could have possibly expected. Yow. Star-crossed (or make that world-crossed) lovers, Adam and Eve (yes, really), live in two different worlds – really different. Poor Adam lives “down below” and Eve lives “up top” – two different worlds that exist on top of and inverted of each other. Sound weird? It is. However, the film’s official synopsis (which has been kicking around for awhile now), combined with the trailer, does pretty effectively communicate the laws and look of the dueling worlds. The synopsis informs us that “Adam is a seemingly ordinary guy in a very extraordinary universe. He lives humbly trying to make ends meet, but his romantic spirit holds on to the memory of a girl he met once upon a time from another world, an inverted affluent world with its own gravity, directly above but beyond reach… a girl named Eve. Their childhood flirtation becomes an impossible love. But when he catches a glimpse of grown?up Eve on television, nothing will get in the way of getting her back… Not even the law or science!” Damn you, law! Screw you, science! Breakin’ all the rules [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr flexes his rippling muscles and sets out to live a warrior lifestyle, just like Jason Momoa in Conan the O’Barbarian. But before he can do that, he has to drive a stake through his neighbor’s heart, since he’s certain he lives next door to a vampire. What else could all those sparkles be about? Meanwhile, he sends his kids off to a dangerous 3D, Aroma-Vision mission, hoping they can make it as real spy kids so they can teach him to put on a fake British accent and woo a not-quite-British Anne Hathaway.

Without a synopsis beyond being called a contemporary noir movie, Ashes nonetheless earns some respect for the cast it just hired. Ray Winstone and Leslie Manville are veterans, and Jim Sturgess is a rising actor who has the talent to back up his growing fame. According the The Hollywood Reporter, those actors will be joined by Jodie Whittaker (Attack the Block) and the consistently strong Luke Evans (Robin Hood, Clash of the Titans) for the project written by Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll team Mat Whitecross (who will direct) and Paul Viragh. Any noir news is good news, and this cast is something to look forward to. Oddly enough, the film is being financed partially by the band Coldplay which creates the interesting possibility of the pop band also scoring a dark drama. That’s speculation, but it would either be a fascinating success or an unmitigated disaster, and that’s the kind of scenario to get out of bed for in the morning. Production starts next week.

Lone Scherfig proved to be a directorial talent with An Education, and, according to Variety, she’ll be tested even harder this time around as her film One Day goes up against Kevin James falling down with the help of talking animals (The Zookeeper), and Katherine Heigl falling in love without the help of talking animals (One For the Money) when it sees its release on July 8th. The movie, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, tells the story of two friends who spend the night of their college graduation together. The focus returns to that day year after year – sometimes seeing the friends together, sometimes seeing them apart. Of course, the true competition comes from being sandwiched in between Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, but it’s inspired counter-programming for an audience that might not want to see giant robots, zoo creatures voiced by actors or teenage wizards.

Back in 2006, book critic Barbara Scott claimed that “‘The Long Walk’ is so cinematic that you have to wonder why it has never been made into a movie.” That statement proved to be prescient because now that novel about a handful of prisoners crossing over the planet’s harshest terrain in order to see freedom has been turned into a film by the phenomenal Peter Weir. The director of masterful human stories like Master and Commander, Dead Poets Society, and Witness now has a trailer out there in the world for his latest – The Way Back. It looks treacherous and raw. It appears to be Man vs Nature in all its glory. See for yourself:

The opening and initial set up of Heartless is incredible. Sadly, it takes a wrong turn almost immediately afterward and slowly crawls its way deeper into a hole it can’t quite ever get out of. It’s not at all a terrible movie, but it’s the kind of movie that frustrates with how many good ideas it has that it’s unable to flesh out or capitalize on. Jim Sturgess delivers another empathetic performance as Jamie Morgan – a young man whose self-confidence is completely wracked by a heart-shaped birth mark covering the side of his face. He learns that there’s a gang of demons wandering through London creating chaos, makes a Faustian pact with a sideburned Satan, and lives to regret the decision.

There’s an endless debate raging about whether names alone can be enough to draw someone to a film. It’s something you and your movie friends talk about from time to time whenever a particular project sparks that sort of interest. It’s something that will never end because it’s different for each person. It’s something that gets denied for the most part until the right project emerges. In the interest of science, here’s an experiment to test the question: An Education director Lone Scherfig. Anne Hathaway. Jim Sturgess. One Day. Interested?

Heartless suffers from trying to do too much to the point where it accomplishes too little. What begins as an effective-looking thriller quickly drowns under the weight of personal drama, Faustian implications, social commentary, and an ultimately unsatisfying ending.

It may just be me, but the first several moments of this brand new Legend of the Guardians trailer — the new animated film from director Zack Snyder — feels a lot like 300. Super slow-motion and angry warrior faces. All that’s missing is the voice of Gerard Butler screaming “This is Ga-HOOLE!” while one owl kicks the other one down a pit of despair. That doesn’t exactly happen, but some other cool stuff certainly does.

Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving and David Wenham have joined the voice cast of Zack Snyder’s next film, the 3D animated feature Guardians of Ga’hoole. But wait, there’s more.

While there’s a lot to admire about Kari Skogland’s ‘Fifty Dead Men Walking,’ one can’t help but wish it had found a more original way to approach its subject, the Irish Troubles.

This highfalutin, silly immigration drama from writer-director Wayne Kramer wastes a lot of terrific actors.

Sounds like we found something to wash that dirty taste out of our mouths from Spider-Man 3.

Jim Stugess makes a deal with the Devil in his upcoming flick to ensure that he will be handsome. the only side effect: he must start killing people. Fun!

21 galvanizes you from frame one and never lets go. It’s the most entertaining movie about Sin City in recent memory; right up there with Ocean’s Thirteen.

While the actual concept and events in the film are real, they have been so gussied up with glitz and flash that we lose the essence of the drama. It tries to be as slick and as cool as an MTV music video, but it completely busts. [Grade: C]

Anyone who has ever been to Vegas knows that you get free drinks at the blackjack tables. And while this will cloud your mind and hinder you in counting cards, free drinks would be great in a movie like 21.

Today, I’m teaching you how to run the house. Sort of. Ok, not really. The deck is still stacked against you, but in honor of 21 we’re going to quickly go over the rules of the game.

A group of MIT students take the concept of card counting to a whole new level in this seemingly sharp witted, fast-paced heist flick.

Oh my, what could have been. Across the Universe is not as bad as it could have been and it’s also not as great as it should be. The third musical (second rock musical) of the year, Across the Universecan’t quite ascend to the level that Once is on but instead it is more in the realm of Hairspray, which isn’t bad either.