When Lee Daniels signed on to direct The Butler, it was unclear how Wil Haygood’s “Washington Post” article would be converted into cinematic storytelling. There was a lot of room for maneuvering. Although deft and interesting, there are about a dozen different tones that could emerge from the profile of White House butler Eugene Allen — who served eight presidents from Truman to Reagan and is played here by Forest Whitaker. Judging from the trailer, Daniels and screenwriter Danny Strong swung for the fences. It’ll be fascinating to see how they’ve packed so many trenchant, racially-charged years of American history into an intimately human story. Allen was born in 1919 and would live to see Barack Obama elected president. That’s not merely a lot of time to cover; considering the loaded symbolism, the people who sat behind the Resolute desk while Allen was stacking champagne, and his rich personal struggle with the paperwork behind shuffled on Capitol Hill, Daniels and the production have their work cut out for them here. Of course there’s also John Cusack, whose face looks like its about to explode playing Richard Nixon. Check out the trailer for yourself:

2013 is set to be a solid year for science fiction films, and one of the more anticipated releases is the big-screen adaptation of Orson Scott Card‘s bestselling and beloved Ender’s Game. The story follows a young cadet (Asa Butterfield) training in the art of warfare as mankind’s last ditch effort to stave off an alien invasion. It seems the insectoid-like Buggers (?) are able to anticipate our typical defense efforts and sending teenagers into battle catches them off guard. There’s probably more to it than that, but that’s really all I could glean from this first trailer. Check it out below.

Kristen Wiig is one of those one in a million comic talents. She doesn’t have to do anything funny, she just is funny. Even if you were to stare at her just sitting still and not really doing anything, it’s unlikely you’d be able to last for more than a few seconds without cracking a smile. We’ll call it the Chris Farley effect, and it’s the sort of thing that allows her to effortlessly elevate the material she’s delivering to heights it likely wouldn’t reach if handled by anyone else. But can even a talent on the level of a Kristen Wiig help make the material that this trailer for her new film, Girl Most Likely, is serving up go down any smoother?

Following the release of the first trailer for James Mangold’s The Wolverine, it wasn’t hard to tell that we weren’t impressed. We even found 6 scenes copied from earlier X-Men movies. Based on the comments we saw, you weren’t very impressed in what you were seeing from The Wolverine, either. After the abysmal ride that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, who can blame us? Today the folks at Fox have set out again into the cold wilderness of comic fandom on the Internet with another minute-long trailer for the Hugh Jackman-led quasi-sequel. It’s clear that they don’t want us to know the story yet, but they would like to remind us that Wolvie is still the only superhero on the block who’s interested in “screaming in someone’s face as he stabs them to death.” That’s our buddy. And in this new trailer, put together with footage shown at the recent CinemaCon exhibitors convention in Las Vegas, has plenty of action, less of the terrible CGI and a better look at the Silver Samurai. All of these are good things.

Yes, the gun pointed at your face is meant to send a message, and it might be the last one you ever receive. Of course, when the trailer for Violet & Daisy opens, the sights are on James Gandolfini, so you’re probably safe for now. The movie is high concept enough — two young girls kill people for a living but are confronted by an unusual target that changes them — but after watching the trailer, it’s difficult to understand exactly what the hell is going on. Flight attendant-laden dream sequences, studies on friendship and Danny Trejo in a vest punctuate the Saoirse Ronan and Alexis Bledel-starring flick. The production also has a strange history. Geoffrey Fletcher made this his directorial debut after his big Oscar win as the writer of Precious, it scored praise at TIFF in 2011 along with some profiles, but is just now finding distribution in the States from Cinedigm. Sometimes that speaks to quality, but it seems more likely in this case that traditional distribution channels just didn’t know what to do with this thing. Defying categorization usually isn’t good for the advertising team. Check it out the trailer for yourself:

If you’ve somehow avoided the charms of actress Jess Weixler thus far, this first trailer for Jay Gammill‘s Free Samples may grate on your nerves. Who is this flighty chick fucking up something as simple as giving out free samples of ice cream from a truck? Who is this young lass breaking Jesse Eisenberg‘s heart? Who drops out of law school to be a loser? Why should I care? You should care precisely because it’s Weixler who is playing shiftless leading lady Jillian as said law-school-drop-out-ice-cream-loser and she is nothing short of consistently wonderful throughout her myriad indie roles. From The Lie to Peter and Vandy to Teeth (yup, that’s her!), Weixler is the best thing about every film she’s ever starred in, so if she’s headlining a lo-fi outing about ice cream shilling and deferred dreams, we’re sold. No wonder Eisenberg wants to get into “the good stuff” with her. Do you want chocolate or vanilla? Decide while watching the first trailer for Free Samples, after the break.

You probably don’t need to watch the newly released Pacific Rim trailer below because by this point you already know if you want to see it or not. It’s a Guillermo del Toro movie about giant monsters fighting giant robots! But if for some reason you’re not yet convinced that this is going to be all kinds of over the top explodey goodness go ahead and take 2:38 to watch the new trailer below. It originally premiered at WonderCon where it was meant to be an exclusive, but del Toro and friends have decided to share it with the online world anyway. Check out the much loved Pacific Rim trailer from WonderCon below.

Filmmaker David Gordon Green (thankfully) shied away from his recent spat of studio comedies (like the wonderful Pineapple Express and the dismal The Sitter) for his latest feature, a lo-fi affair starring Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch that’s based on, of all things, an Icelandic comedy titled Either Way. It does not get more lo-fi than that. The film centers on a pair of highway repairmen who are stuck spending the summer, well, repairing highway and hanging out with each other – so it’s too bad that they don’t like each other so much. Straight-laced Alvin (Rudd) is more concerned with doing his work and relaxing in the woods, while oddball Lance (Hirsch) is interested in…well, slightly different pursuits. It’s a bit more complicated than that, as the two also have a personal link that guarantees that even surviving the summer together doesn’t spell the end of their relationship, but Prince Avalanche certainly looks an unexpectedly amusing slice of life. Let’s do some highway repair with Rudd and Hirsch after the break.

The past couple years have seen a healthy stream of fantastic documentaries focused on the world of music. More precisely, Searching for Sugar Man, Paul Williams Still Alive and Sound City all entertained and enlightened by offering viewers a glimpse into stories from the past about people that today’s audiences have forgotten. The upcoming Drafthouse Films release, A Band Called Death, aims to do the same by re-introducing the world to a little-known but much respected punk/rock band from the early ’70s. They preceded bands we do remember but were forgotten to the ravages of time. It’s not just their timing that makes them stand out from the Caucasian crowd though… Check out the first trailer for A Band Called Death below.

There are a ton of great things in this full Bling Ring trailer, but Emma Watson is the absolute best. It’s very likely that her character’s conversation with the press that’s featured here could be the highlight of the entire movie. Otherwise, she just looks and sounds fantastic with her affected Valley Girl drawl and angsty airheadedness. Seriously, though. She might want to run a country someday. In the movie, she and her friends get the idea to rob from the rich and famous by paying attention to when they’re own publicity machines have them making high-profile appearances. They get caught, but they get a few high heels out of the deal. Check out the trailer for Sofia Coppola‘s latest for yourself:

Now this is how you announce a movie. Who cares about months of buzz and pages of acting shortlists, wrote the girl who writes about those things for a living, when you can just go ahead and tell people that you’ve made a movie by debuting a teaser trailer? And that’s exactly what the fine folks over at Insomniac Games have done to announce the first big screen adaptation of their popular Ratchet & Clank game. Sure, it’s easy to surprise everyone with a trailer when the whole thing is animated, is being overseen by its parent company, comes from a script by TJ Fixman (who has penned all the recent R&C game scripts), and is set to include voicework from all the game’s normal stars (including James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, and Jim Ward), but still, this is one smooth move. The popular PlayStation video game franchise first debuted in 2002, and it follows the sci-fi adventures of Ratchet (a mechanic who also looks like a cute little fox) and Clank (his robot pal). They are into saving the universe from evil and such, and while some of us are clearly not familiar with the game, Ratchet, Clank, and their pal (kinda) Captain Qwark all seem to be quite amusing, and a feature-length adventure starring the three could be equally as entertaining. After the break, celebrate the announcement of the Ratchet & Clank movie by watching the first actual Ratchet & Clank teaser trailer.

I really expected to hate Kenneth Branagh’s Thor. He’s a fine director, and Marvel had shown even by that point that they knew what they were doing, but the idea of a movie based on a Norse god as superhero just sounded terrible. Happily though I was wrong, and the film ended up being an entertaining entry that managed to make both its hero and villain extremely likeable. Now that we’ve entered Marvel’s Phase Two, their post-Avengers plan is ready to roll out with sequels and new content. Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 is first out of the gate this summer, but hot on its heels will be Thor: The Dark World. Branagh has been replaced with TV veteran Alan Taylor. While it may seem like a risk tasking a television guy with crafting an epic, big screen adventure take comfort in the fact that some of the series on his resume are equally ambitious and well respected including Oz, Homicide, The West Wing, Deadwood, The Sopranos, Mad Men and, wait for it… the somewhat apropos Game of Thrones. If that doesn’t do it for you though you can just check out the teaser for Thor: The Dark World below.

What exactly is this new movie Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges are starring in, called R.I.P.D.? In one respect it’s a comic book movie, seeing as it was adapted from a Peter M. Lenkov graphic novel. In another it’s your typical buddy cop movie, seeing as it teams the new guy on a police force up with the grizzled veteran and sends them out on a case. When you watch this new trailer for the film, you can make connections between it and Men in Black, Ghostbusters, or heck.. even Robocop, so any way you slice it, it sounds like a genre fan’s dream come true. That’s in concept though, in execution things tend not to be so cut and dry, so you’re probably going to have to hit the jump and check out the trailer for yourself.

Gore Verbinski‘s The Lone Ranger hits July 3rd, and it seems sort of perfect for the Independence Day weekend. It’s a western on a massive scale with plenty of explosions and bullets to spare, but if the trailers so far haven’t sealed the deal, this last one should do the trick. For one, it downplays how ridiculous Johnny Depp probably is as Tonto and focuses on the action with a percussive ballet in the background that matches every trigger pull cut for cut. Justice is like the hawk. Sometimes it must go hooded:

The prevalent theme of this year’s Sundance Film Festival centered on characters engaging in highly inappropriate sexual relationships, with a number of films chronicling romances (of a sort) that blossomed between people who had some serious power inequality (basically, there were just a lot of teachers getting it on with their students), with Hannah Fidell‘s quietly haunting A Teacher absolutely blowing up the mini-genre. The film was a favorite of mine at the fest, mainly due to star Lindsay Budge’s remarkable performance as the teacher in question, one which will soon be available for more moviegoers to enjoy (well, you know, as much as you can enjoy an achingly uncomfortable film), thanks to Oscilloscope Laboratories. The Playlist has just rolled out an exclusive teaser trailer for the film, one that does quite a bit with very little, as the minute or so of footage on display comes without dialogue and relies heavily on some s-e-x-y imagery. But, be warned, A Teacher isn’t just sexy, it’s seriously awkward (in the best possible way). Get a glimpse of the forbidden passion of A Teacher after the break. Scandal!

The first teaser for Warner Bros. Pictures’ Man of Steel — from the director/producer duo of Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan — failed to inspire a number of us, especially those who had been burned before by a new, modern Superman movie. The second trailer didn’t do much either, beyond showing off Clark Kent’s life on the run. This third trailer, released today in conjunction with WB’s presence at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, is pretty major. In one fell swoop, director Zack Snyder answers a number of questions. Will it be set on a grande scale? Yes. Will we see the destruction of Krypton? Yes. Will the flying and fighting scenes be fast, in-focus and at normal speed? Mostly, yes. Does this film deserve a place at the top of Summer’s Most Wanted? Absolutely.

While most films that earn the title of “Sundance hit” tend to fall on the heavier side of cinema (we’re still reeling from this year’s influx of films about highly inappropriate sexual relationships), occasionally a Sundance favorite will end up being something fun, frisky, and genuinely crowd-pleasing. Such is the case with Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ The Kings of Summer (known at the festival as Toy’s House), a coming-of-age tale in the vein of Goonies, a feel-good film about growing up, busting out, and moving on. Starring the wonderful Nick Robinson as Joe Toy, the film tracks Joe’s seemingly wild idea to leave home for his own place in the woods – a ramshackle, handmade affair that soon also houses his best friend Patrick (Gabriel Basso) and the delightfully wacky Biaggio (Moises Arias). As fun as everything may be for the boys on this particularly crazy summer, it can’t last forever. After the break, plot your own escape from the tyranny of having Nick Offerman as your dad (trust us, it’s not all bacon and whiskey) with the first trailer for The Kings of Summer.

If you’ve somehow missed our relentless reportage on the subject, the Tribeca Film Festival kicks off later this week with the premiere of Tom Berninger‘s Mistaken for Strangers, a tour documentary about Berninger’s time on tour with his brother’s (Matt Berninger) band The National. The film’s first trailer is a solid mix of standard tour stuff (life as a rock star is wacky!), family drama (it looks like the Berningers get down to some long-needed heart-to-hearts in the film), and performances by the band. Basically, a perfect music doc. Jam out with the first trailer for Mistaken for Strangers after the break.

Shane McConkey was an extreme sports enthusiast, a professional skier and a man who defied physics for a living. He sadly died in a 2009 skiing accident, but his memory of dream-chasing lives on in the aptly titled, upcoming documentary McConkey. Featuring family members and professional friends like Travis Pastrana and Tony Hawk, the film seeks to focus on McConkey’s life while pushing beyond it to find the impact he made on the sporting world and as an inspirational figure. It’s playing at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, and it’s got a trailer that’s both adrenaline-fueled and uplifting. Check it out for yourself:

Yes, Carlo Carlei‘s take on Romeo and Juliet does have a few things going for it – most notably, a stellar cast that includes Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet and Douglas Booth as Romeo, along with Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Stellan Skarsgard, and apparently Ed Westwick just for scenery-chewing funsies – but even the best cast in the world can’t avoid one major, glaring problem with this new version of Shakespeare’s classic. Namely, that this one just seems utterly pointless. Carlei’s vision is a classic one – it doesn’t have the flash of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, or the revisionist fun of something like West Side Story - but it also doesn’t even attempt to improve upon the gold standard traditionalist take of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version. Why, exactly, is this being made now? Are kids today really in need of a just-barely-updated version of the film to watch during English class post-Shakespeare reading? Well, probably. Enjoy some, well, totally mediocre delights with the first trailer for the new Romeo and Juliet after the break.