I’m not sure if there’s an award anywhere out there for thoroughness in marketing, but if it exists I would have to imagine the team promoting The Hunger Games has it in the bag. Back when the film was in pre-production they were sending out casting announcements seemingly every hour on the hour. It got to the point where they were releasing info on which local pizza delivery guys they were picking up to do extra work and which aspiring young nephew of a producer was coming on as a grip. Over the course of a couple of months “The Hunger Games” went from being just a series of cult novels to stoking the fire of revolution and becoming a genre movie blaze of passion sweeping across the dry planes of the World Wide Web. And now that the film is getting closer to release, their efforts have become even more refined. Case in point, these five district posters that Lionsgate has released on the Hunger Games Facebook page. If you remember, the crux of this story is about a future world, made up of 12 districts, that holds an annual tournament where two children from each district battle to the death on a big crazy game board. In order to hammer that point home, it looks like we’re going to get a poster countdown with a seal from each and every district being released over the course of the next who knows how long. And to support these efforts [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, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, Homecoming writer/director Sean Hackett discusses a brave new distribution technique, and Koran By Heart documentarian Greg Barker takes us to Cairo during Ramadan. Plus, Landon Palmer culture wars against Movies.com‘s dapper senior editor Pete Hall in a Movie News Pop Quiz that will probably cause your living room to burst into flame. Download This Episode

As we all know, alien lifeforms will soon reach the planet and destroy us all in a feverish, blinding light or a hail of laser blasts. As usual, our only hope is a reckless pilot with magic jewelry. I’ve mentioned 3D Sound before, and this gem comes from Newton and District Astronomers. Give a listen and geek out a bit. The movie it’s promoting should be insanely easy to figure out (if you haven’t already). Pro tip: wear some headphones.

In this season of meta (Rubber, Scream 4), Morgan Spurlock trumps all. Leave it to the Super Size Me documentarian, who has made a career out of sacrificing his mind and body for his projects, to humorously sell out his dignity to corporations for the most painstakingly self-reflexive movie of any sort since Adaptation. His POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is, yes, exactly what that above-title sponsorship suggests it to be. Rightfully disturbed by the ubiquity of product placement in modern entertainment, Spurlock sets out to spoof that synchronous blend of corporate schilling and art by crafting a documentary about his attempts to accrue corporate sponsors for a documentary about his attempts to accrue corporate sponsors for a documentary. And on and on we go.

Since the most recent character posters for X-Men: First Class were so abominably bad, we decided to sponsor a little contest to see which of our design-minded readers could do better. The bar was low, but everyone went far above and beyond the call of duty, and the result was a squad of really great posters. Some went with Saul Bass inspiration, others played off the comic books, one found inspiration in The Social Network, one changed the director (see above), and still others chose to go their own way entirely. Sadly, no one chose to improve on the floating head in crotch concept. That’ll be a new contest entirely, but without further ado, here’s the winner (who will receive a 1999 lithograph recreation of the first “X-Men” cover done by comic artist/legend Alex Ross) and a gallery of some especially great runners up:

Every week, Landon Palmer and Cole Abaius log on to their favorite chat client of 1996 as BlurryProjector and TheGeneralRulz in order to discuss some topical topic of interest. This week, they ponder the wildly wide-spread Mark Harris article, “The Day the Movies Died,” alongside the new infographic proving movies have gotten worse. We really need a scapegoat, huh? Is marketing really to blame? Are movies really getting worse? If so, how do we, the fans, fix them?

Since Halloween is over, people are already decorating for Christmas because Thanksgiving never got around to choosing official colors. To get in that holiday spirit, we’ve got a look at two new movie posters that are painting the town green and red. The first is for Kevin Smith’s long-promised horror film about religious zealots, Red State. The other is for the Seth Rogen-starring adaptation of the classic television show, Green Hornet. Deck the halls. It’s November.

These are just gorgeous. It’s amazing when the art of film advertising seeks to design something that will carry the tone of the film correctly while actually aiming for a bit of artistic merit. These new character posters for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 may be simple, and the name may be unusually long, but the effect is strong. The latest film (and beginning of the end) boasts the usual suspects all returning with the addition of Bill Nighy to what amounts to a roster of the best British actors in the business. Expect even more promotional materials, because after the Summer release of the trailer, Deathly Hallows will probably inundate fans with even more reasons to head to opening night in November. As if people needed more reasons.

The sweet story about Frog and Toad laughing at Toad Hall, riding around hilariously in a car, and generally being ridiculous must have been thrown right out the window into the bog. RG Entertainment (powered by WETA) plan on delivering what looks like the tale of when Toad had terminal cancer and decided to test the people around him who didn’t appreciate life with elaborate traps. The poster gives off a truly creepy vibe. If the new take on the film is this dark, will everybody still love Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride?

This is what happens when movie marketing goes wrong. This week, McDonald’s will recall about 12 million Shrek drinking glasses because federal regulators found they contain the toxic metal cadmium, which poses some potentially serious health risks.

There goes my pitch to make the cross-over sequel A Couple of Dicks in a Box.

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, we avoid getting hit by a volcano. By. That. Much.

Sure, these posters look like they are turning out great, but there’s a noticeable lack of any robotic, gold-plated owls.

Step one to being taken seriously: Make a socially conscious film. Step two: Have a typo in the trailer.

Setting aside the fact that Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandella is a no-brainer for an Oscar grab, the poster is one of the best I’ve seen all year.

The marketing department has played almost the entire movie for fans, and they just keep giving.

The marketing team behind Women in Trouble have realized their strong suits are women in lingerie and 1970s-style text.

With everyone clamoring to get more 3D movies in theaters and not enough screens to hold them, it’s a crucial time to either invest more or take a step back and question whether 3D is really going to last a while this time.

Part of me finds this trailer gimmicky. In fact, all of me does. Which is good because I hate it when I argue with myself. But gimmicky or not, the movie looks pretty damned satisfying if you love a good scare.

On a very special episode of Reject Radio, mistake guest host Landon Palmer for Bill O’Reilly, get pissed at movie marketing, and Neil has one more margarita than is advisable.