The word from Comic-Con was that Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch, while difficult to explain, was one of the more stunning highlights of a quality overall showing. The posters we showed you mere days ago were hot, wet and on fire. Cole Abaius’ report from the Hall H panel talked about a some of the strongest female characters we’ve seen on screen in a while. It all sounds like a wild Kill Bill-esque ride through the visually supercharged mind of director Zack Snyder. Nothing about that seems underwhelming. At least not to me. Today brings us the first bit of bonafide proof that Sucker Punch is going to be off-the-rails, both visually and conceptually. It’s a trailer that features badass ladies, burlesque musical numbers, dragons, samurais and suits of armor. As Cole said in his report, it’s breath-taking. And it awaits you after the jump.

Strong female characters are not the norm in Hollywood, but if you thought of one name that would use his directorial clout to bring a few more of them to the world, would it be Zack Snyder? The same man who was lambasted for being sexist after 300 is now being praised by his actresses for loving women and creating the best possible roles for them with his new movie. “Women are always looking for layers because women are complex creatures. For this movie, you don’t have to be just one thing. For men in action, you can be all things, but for women people see that maybe she’s dressed sexy so maybe it’s not empowering. It’s a tough line, but the truth is that women can be all of those things,” said star Carla Gugino. She got to be all of those things on Sucker Punch specifically because of Zack Snyder’s vision and appreciation for creating rounded female characters. Oh, and the footage they showed today has samurai warriors and a giant dragon. Feminism and fire-breathing. Something for everyone!

Our Comic-Con 2010 coverage is in full swing, and while the gents on the ground in San Diego continue to bring you their assessment of what’s happening in and around Hall H, I’ve got the lovely task of keeping up with all of the hot materials being released by studios. This means trailers, posters and hot breaking news. This little update is red hot — a set of character posters for Zack Snyder’s stylish, sexy actioner Sucker Punch. If you remember, we showed you the first photo last week. Now we’ve got individual looks at each of the film’s dangerous ladies — and you’ll be hard pressed to be able to take your eyes off of them. Check them out after the jump… Click here for more from Comic-Con 2010

Even though he had shown some visual chops with his Dawn of the Dead remake, it was 300 that put director Zack Snyder on the big map. The intensely stylistic, bloody affair propelled both Snyder and star Gerard Butler to Hollywood’s A-List, where both have enjoyed some juicy projects since. Three years later, Snyder and his producing partner/wife Deborah are in the midst of two releases: next year’s girl-power shoot out Sucker Punch and this fall’s heroic animated owl adventure Legend of the Guardians. But Zack seems to be most excited about something new — another collaboration with co-writer Kurt Johnstad and comic legend Frank Miller on Xerxes.

The upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly, their yearly look at Comic-Con, has drawn a lot of attention even before hitting news stands, as it is showing off some of the hot geek properties that will grace the stages of the San Diego Convention Center next week. Yesterday it was a first look at Green Lantern. Today we get a look at the cast of Zack Snyder‘s girl-power shoot ‘em up Sucker Punch. It’s got sexy and dangerous visions of Emily Browning, Jena Malone, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung. And as an exclamation point on the whole affair, Scott Glenn as a Nazi. Check out the full image after the jump.

This week, on a very special Reject Radio, Landon Palmer grabs half a handle of expensive whiskey and gets nostalgic about Cinematic One Night Stands (those movies that you love but never want to see again). We also dig deep into the question of how a CGI character can be fired, debate who should direct Wicked, and discover Youtube. Plus, we manage to squeeze in a few minutes to review Despicable Me, I Am Love, and Predators. Check it out after the jump!

For a fun thought experiment, think about the last great role you saw Christan Bale tackle not counting Public Enemies or any time he puts on a cape, cowl and growl for Christopher Nolan. While you’re doing that, imagine a world where he and Zack Snyder are teaming up for something completely original. It may be shocking that a new concept is coming out of Hollywood and even more surprising that it’s coming from a man who cut his teeth on remakes and comic adaptations, but according to Pajiba, it’s the God’s honest truth. Snyder will be producing The Last Photograph and Bale is set in stone to star.

The battle has begun. On one side are artists and fans, aware of the consequences of converting 2D films to 3D in post-production. It doesn’t work, films like The Last Airbender have proven that. On the other side are studio executives, most of whom see only the possibility of fleecing the moviegoing public. Slap a cheap 3D sticker on your movie and you can charge $20 a seat. It’s a saving grace in a bad economy. It’s a battle that will rage on until the masses stop rewarding poorly converted films. Or until more filmmakers like Zack Snyder say “no.”

You have almost a year to get your wallet ready.

Last week I wrote about the history of the auteur theory and its strengths and weaknesses when applied to actual film practice. Regardless of the theory’s apparent problems, it’s clear that the idea of the auteur still holds great weight in framing the way even the most casual of filmgoer goes about experiencing cinema.

300 made money and lots of it and now Warner Bros. is thinking of reopening that mine and going for some 3D gold. Snyder was shown a ten minute clip that had been converted to 3D by the studio.

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.

The folks at USA Today have debuted the first look at the upcoming animated adventure Legend of the Guardians, from 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder. Now that the title is settled, Warner Bros. has released the first five photos from the film — and they look beautiful.

There are times — and these times are not few and far between — when the retitling of a film seems odd, unnecessary and often, quite stupid. Like when Sony Pictures renamed The Kung Fu Kid as The Karate Kid for branding purposes, then still made the movie about Kung Fu. That doesn’t make sense at all. This time, however, a movie has been retitled for the benefit of marketing, but it also makes sense.

After being inundated with a slew of ads for Clash of the Titans and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, it’s completely obvious that Greek mythology is poised to be the latest trend for Hollywood. But unlike vampires or pirates, there hasn’t been a recent proven Greek mythology hit to alleviate the fears of today’s risk adverse Hollywood. So why the recent Hollywood leap of faith?

Will there actually ever be a Watchmen sequel? Recent reports state there’s traction within Warner Brothers and DC to create a prequel and/or sequel to the beloved graphic novel and film. If it does happen, we’d like to make some suggestions…

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.

This week’s round of drunken shenanigans is a special one, that gives you two options for downing booze while watching new releases. Just know that if you’re drinking during Up, you won’t want the kids in the room.

20th Century Fox is taking you back in time, to the time when Moses was saving the Hebrews from the Pharaoh. And they’re doing it in ass-kicking slow-mo…

Hot off the heels of the start of Mad Men’s third season, Jon Hamm is reaching out and touching pen to paper in hopes of finding success on the big screen.