What is Casting Couch? It’s a compilation of casting news that has word of a new project for Zero Dark Thirty’s Jason Clarke as well as a look at Johnny Depp’s upcoming schedule. Read on. Bradley Cooper’s ego has gotten so big ever since he was nominated for an Oscar that he’s now decided he wants to take David Hasselhoff’s place as Germany’s favorite celebrity. According to Deadline, the Silver Linings Playbook actor has signed on to star in an English language adaptation of Kokowaah, which was Germany’s highest grossing film of 2011. The basic story here is that of a successful author and swinging bachelor who suddenly discovers he has an 8-year-old daughter from a brief fling he engaged in years ago. Cooper also has a producing credit on the film, and might even be stepping into the director’s chair to make this his directorial debut, but this is a casting report and not a feed Bradley Cooper’s ego report, so let’s move on.

Yes, we’re going with “zom-com” and we’re sticking to it. While promoting the endlessly charming Safety Not Guaranteed overseas (seriously, I’ve watched it four times now, and it genuinely gets better, funnier, and sweeter with every watch), everyone’s favorite side-eye-throwing leading lady Aubrey Plaza revealed a new project – ad it sounds pretty perfect for Ms. Plaza and her comedic sensibilities. The Guardian reports (via Cinema Blend) that the actress is prepping set to star in Life After Beth,a “really fucked-up” zombie comedy penned by her own boyfriend Jeff Baena (who previously co-wrote I Heart Huckabees, so that should give you some insight into his taste). Baena will also direct the film, which will also star no less than John C. Reilly. And that’s just about all we know about the project as of now, though we can’t imagine what other details you’d need beyond its apparent tone and its solid stars. Plaza is currently filming A Many Splintered Thing and will next be seen in The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman and The To Do List.

People like to see the same plots rehashed over and over again. That’s how James Bond became such a long and successful series, isn’t it? Following Pixar’s success with Toy Story, the animation studio looked to follow a sort of pattern, but it wasn’t so much in terms of the storyline as the setup of having an ensemble of characters where each was representative of a different kind of some such (usually titular) thing. Toy Story starred different toys, then A Bug’s Life involved different types of bugs, Monsters, Inc. involved different types of monsters, Finding Nemo had different fish and other sea creatures and Cars had, of course, different models of automobile. Fortunately, Pixar has gotten a bit more inventive with their basic pitches, but now Disney has borrowed the model for Wreck-It Ralph. It could have easily been titled “Video Game Life” or “An Arcade Story.” There is a bit more to it than this, and in fact I was surprised to find that a lot of the movie is more about sweets than video games, especially where Alice in Wonderland-esque puns are concerned (the “laughing taffy” made me laugh). Overall, I had a good time watching the movie and appreciate the greatest addition to the Disney Princesses roster in years. But it didn’t really feel like something that will become a “Disney Classic,” and not just because our grandchildren will have no understanding of what arcade games are in a way they could relate to it. It

Wreck-It Ralph is a nice trip down memory lane. During a packed screening for the film I could hear whispers and gasps, and I saw audience members pointing to the screen in awe and excitement of seeing their favorite video game characters. They were swept up, maybe even more so than the children in the audience. That doesn’t mean it won’t win over kids, however, because the movie is more than an empty piece of nostalgia. Case in point: the big gamble that starts the film. The opening animated short, “The Paperman,” is a beautiful black-and-white silent love story. Right after it ends, the daunting question becomes, “How is Wreck-It Ralph going to top that?” Director Rich Moore (Futurama) instantly responds, giving the audience an equally charming experience. Ralph (John C. Reilly) is your typical working stiff. For almost 30 years, he has served his sole purpose of smashing. Ralph is a wonderful video game villain, but his work has always been overshadowed by the game’s hero, Fix-It Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer). With the arcade game’s 30th anniversary coming up, Ralph has hit an existential crisis. He is tired of playing the bad guy. After facing the rejection from the game’s anniversary party, Ralph sets out to become the hero. Since his own game won’t allow him to do that, he decides to jump to a different game.

As if we weren’t sold before, Wreck-It Ralph continues to look like a quarter bucket full of fun. The latest trailer – being shown internationally – shows off a bit more of the plot and focuses on Ralph’s (John C. Reilly) relationship with the pint-sized Vanellope (Sarah Silverman). For everyone whose soaked up as much marketing material as possible, it’s just another excuse to get excited. The big question now is if they’ll toss in a Konami Code joke. Check out the new trailer for yourself:

As it turns out, the ghosts from Pac-Man and Zangief from Street Fighter are part of an Anonymous support group and help each other through the hard times of being the villain. It’s a thankless job, one that often sees you spinning inward into a single pixel or exploding with only coins left to mark your memory. It’s that kind of world building that can be expected from Disney‘s Wreck-It Ralph. The first trailer of the animated flick that stars the vocal talents of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch proves that the imaginations at work here filled up the studio. It seems like more than a standard story of a man trying to find his way in the world, although that’s definitely the framework; Ralph escapes his game and tries out all sorts of others. Beyond that, there’s a sense of wacky playfulness going on. It’s a universe of video game characters, and director Rich Moore and company seem to have had a hell of a fun time with it. Check out the trailer for yourself:

There was almost no way that Wreck-It Ralph would have been entirely done in 8-bit. It would have been a bold move, but even if Community does it, it doesn’t mean a major studio should be that adventurous. I mean, they probably should, but they usually aren’t. Still, Disney’s project looks incredibly cool – and aimed squarely at the video game generation. The fine folks over at /film dug up these character designs – one for Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) and a few different concepts for his lady love Vanellope (voiced by Sarah Silverman). Check them out for yourself:

If you’ve seen any of the other trailers for Sacha Baron Cohen’s upcoming comedy, The Dictator, then you already know what it’s all about. It mocks the absurdity of modern dictatorships, the ignorance of American jingoism, the douchiness of New York hipsters – and somehow it seems like it’s still going to tell a riches to rags story of personal growth and redemption. But to really get an idea of how far Cohen is going to be willing to go with his comedy, you have to take a look at the film’s newest red band trailer…

In Wreck-It Ralph, a villain (voiced by John C. Reilly) whose job is to bust up 8-bit buildings finds himself longing for more. It’s just like that time Donkey Kong started writing poetry and listening to The Cure. What did you think that funky Kill Screen was all about? Exactly. It’s a cool concept from Disney trading on nostalgia that includes multiple worlds (theoretically for Ralph to adventure through). There’s the racing game “Sugar Rush” and the space fighting game “Hero’s Duty,” and Disney has delivered the first look with three pictures (via CineHeroes). They’re all beautiful, but that’s par for the course at Disney. Check them out for yourself:

If you’re reading this review, then I’m going to assume that you’re already familiar with Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, the talent behind shows like Tom Goes To The Mayor and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! With each iteration of entertainment they’ve produced, it seems like things get more off the wall and strange, and Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie is no different. It steps across every boundary you can imagine, and then some. The premise behind the film is that Tim and Eric have been given a billion dollars by the Schlaaang Corporation to make a movie, and the film opens with a screening of that film, which is only three minutes long and stars a Johnny Depp impostor (they thought they had hired the real Depp) as Diamond Jim and sporting a suit made entirely out of real diamonds.

There has been a lot of talk about We Need to Talk About Kevin. It’s divisively made its way through the festival circuit, even being kind enough to grace Fantastic Fest 2011 with its presence. After an Oscar qualifying run, it was all set to bow on January 27th in limited markets, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscilloscope is delivering it two weeks early. The film from Lynne Ramsay starring Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly will now hit New York on January 13th (up against a re-re-release of Beauty and the Beast 3D, The Iron Lady and foreign remake Contraband starring Mark Wahlberg) and Los Angeles January 20th (up against a dozen other movies). Oscilloscope head David Fenkel touts the critical strength of the movie and large reception during its qualifying run as the reason to get it in front of eyeballs sooner, but there’s also a shrewd move here to make the film capture the spotlight just before Oscar voting is completed. If it can expand the stir it’s already caused beyond the festival and critical circles, the move to change the release date might just pay off in statuettes.

I spoke with John C. Reilly a few months ago for Terri, and now the seemingly always-working actor has two drastically different films coming out for the holiday season. While Terri was a humanistic and empathetic portrayal of naturally flawed people, Roman Polanski‘s Carnage is a cynical and full-blown satire of pretentious, childish adults. It is 79 minutes of characters slowly revealing their dark, immature, and somewhat understandable views. Reilly’s other film, We Need to Talk About Kevin, a mostly liked but slightly divisive film, is probably one of the most misunderstood movies of the year. Lynne Ramsay‘s film, as Reilly perfectly puts it, is meant to be taken almost as a dream. Very few scenes should be taken literally. I recently had the chance to discuss both films with Reilly, along with Roman Polanski’s specificity, the responsibilities of an actor, and when tools become human beings.

This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr goes rogue and infiltrates his local IMAX theater. First, he scales the wall of the plus-sized building and slides in undetected through the air vents. He slowly lowers himself into a theater seat to enjoy an early screening of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Unfortunately, he finds himself in the middle of a wild crowd of six-year-old kids for the early screening of the latest Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. To deal with the psychological damage, Kevin then stumbles into the Sherlock Holmes sequel and later finds an extra seat in Young Adult, where he can imagine that his chubby caboose could land a hottie like Charlize Theron.

This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr hunkers down and braces for award season. He also prepares for an onslaught of celebrity guest stars in New Year’s Eve, which features a poster that looks like a “Friends available to chat” sidebar on Facebook. In order to watch all the movies for the week, Kevin hires the only babysitter available… Jonah Hill. What could possibly go wrong with that? Fortunately this frees him up to see some of the smaller releases, like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, W.E. and I Melt with You. And he wraps up the week wondering why everyone needs to talk about him.

There are few human connections as assured and indelible as the bond between a mother and her child. At least, that’s what we’re led to believe. But what happens when that connection simply isn’t there? What happens when these two beings physically part ways after existing as one for nine months only to see their emotional tethering end as well? We Need to Talk About Kevin explores that theme to a tragic and painful conclusion, but it does so with a beautiful emptiness. Style trumps content in an effort to examine the origin of a monstrous act, but while the film seems content letting everyone blame the mother (including the mother herself) for what eventually happens it never passes up an opportunity to show the child’s inherently evil nature. Neither of them change or grow from beginning to end, but the lack of a real narrative or character arc sure does look pretty.

Being a parent is no easy task – when your child acts out or does something wrong, it’s hard not to take it as a personal reflection on yourself. In Carnage, after a playground altercation turns violent, the parents of the two boys involved decide to come together to try and come to a reasonable agreement on how to rectify the situation. What starts out as a civil conversation between the two parties quickly devolves into an honest and bitterly funny examination of not only each others’ parenting skills, but their marriages and even themselves as people. Based on Yasmina Reza‘s play, God of Carnage, director Roman Polanski takes the story to the big screen with four powerhouse performers who make being trapped in an apartment an engaging look at human nature you want to run away from, but at the same time are unable to tear your eyes from. After Nancy (Kate Winslet) and Alan Cowan’s (Christoph Waltz) son hits Penelope (Jodie Foster) and Michael Longstreet’s (John C. Reilly) son in the face with a stick, the parents decide to try and settle things like adults, but how they each think that should happen differs from person to person and those differences are eventually revealed when the Cowan’s (despite repeated efforts) find themselves unable to simply leave the Longstreet’s apartment.

Translating a limited-setting play to the screen can be tricky business – it’s not often that stage plays that take place in just one or two locations are suited for a cinematic interpretation. To put it simply – how can people sitting around in a room be compelling to a movie-going audience? Well, when the people sitting around that room are Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, and John C. Reilly, and they’re directed by Roman Polanski, it’s pretty compelling. Based on Yasmina Reza’s play “God of Carnage,” Polanski’s latest focuses on two couples, the Longstreets (as played by Foster and Reilly) and the Bowens (Winslet and Waltz), tossed together after the Bowens’ son gives a good face-wacking to the Longstreets’ boy. Attempting a cordial meeting to hash out the results of the brawl, the Bowens and the Longstreets end up making their kids look tame, as they all end up going positively bonkers. Check out just how bonkers in the second trailer for Carnage, after the break.

Yasmina Reza’s Tony-winning play “God of Carnage” doesn’t inherently lend itself to cinema. With four characters interacting in a single setting, and a narrative centered on a thin symbolic conceit, it’s the sort of dialogue-heavy project that could easily be captured with a tedious cut-and-dry, shot-reverse-shot filmic approach. It’s fortunate, then, that Roman Polanski has taken it on in Carnage, and filled the roles with some of the most interesting actors around. Say what you will about Polanski the man, but Polanski the filmmaker has demonstrated an almost limitless aptitude for creative technique. Similarly, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz (four Oscar wins among them) have a preternatural gift for imbuing even the quietest moments with extraordinary, unconventional feeling. After young Zachary Cowan hits Ethan Longstreet with a stick during a playground brawl, knocking out two of Ethan’s teeth, the latter’s parents invite the former’s to their Brooklyn apartment to discuss the incident. Over the course of a tumultuous morning, Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Foster and Reilly) and Nancy and Alan Cowan (Winslet and Waltz) will spar, commiserate and touch on the essence of parenthood, manhood and the art of confronting modernity with a social conscience.

Farce is not easy to do, which is why it’s a good thing that Roman Polanski got four formidable actors to take on the challenge of Carnage. Based on the play “God of Carnage” from Yasmina Reza, the film version features Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz as two couples (respectively) whose children have been in a schoolyard scrape. They meet for a conversation and all end up losing their minds over the situation. The wine probably helps, but watching everyone succumb to the outrage is hysterical – especially Reilly who pulls off layered, impotent rage like no man on this planet. What’s so great about this first look is that it isn’t funny in the way that, say, The Office is. There’s no passive aggressive awkwardness fueling the cringing feeling for the audience; the comedy comes straight from the breakdown. Bask in the glory of this fantastic trailer for yourself:

Roman Polanski. Christoph Waltz. Jodie Foster. John C. Reilly. Kate Winslet. That list is solid enough to pique any interest, but the premise for Carnage is just as enticing, especially with its insinuation of heavy drama in a tight space. The catalyst is a playground fight between two children, and the story focuses on the parents of one combatant inviting the parents of the other over to have a discussion. Hopefully (and promisingly) it will go as poorly as possible. The acting talent here is unbelievable, which is good, because Polanski has never exactly been an actor’s director. Here, he’s got the talent teed up, and all he needs to do is give them a small house, plenty to fight about, and enough temperature to keep things going for the full run time. Courtesy of Twitch Film, a few shots have been released prior to the film’s showing at Venice, and the images look stark and severe. Great portraits of some of the best actors working today: