We may have football just out of our systems after Super Bowl Sunday, but that doesn’t mean FX isn’t going ahead with their hit fantasy football comedy, The League. After a successful first and second season, it looks like we can sit back with a beer and bowl of chips for a whole new third season. From THR:

The network has ordered 13 episodes of the show, which is set against the backdrop of a fantasy football league. Production will get under way in the summer for a fall premiere.

“We love the show, and the reaction the cast received across the country during their recent comedy tour is a sign the show is really building momentum,” FX executive vp original programming Nick Grad said.

Aside from being a relatively cheap show to make for the network, the season averaged roughly 1.4 million viewers in the 18-49 demo, which is the exact age range that FX reaches for with their original and syndicated programming.

No word on what we can expect to see in the upcoming season, but you can expect to see Nick Kroll, Jeremy Cowart, Katie Aselton, Jon Lajoie, Stephen Rannazzisi, Mark Duplass, and Paul Scheer to all return this Fall on FX.

So this is a new genre we haven’t heard of before. A “massively multi-player beat ‘em up.” Color us intrigued.

Recently, PlatinumGames and Sega announced their latest title coming to the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 titled Anarchy Reigns. Little information was given about the game other than a brief teaser trailer featuring some over the top looking characters and the brief PR blip:

With ANARCHY REIGNS, PlatinumGames will be using their hallmark creativity and technical excellence to challenge the boundaries of the conventional brawler genre by allowing multiple players to get involved in heavy-hitting action simultaneously.

ANARCHY REIGNS incorporates a diverse range of multiplayer modes to provide players with different challenges, including Tag Team battles and Battle Royal, where players can challenge others in a full-on fight for victory.

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Superman may be going through some interesting changes and new incarnations in the corporeal world, but fans of the Man of Steel now get him in a very small dose in the form of an animated web short. Written, drawn, and animated by Disney animator Robb Pratt, the film is an homage to the classic Superman serials and even takes a few visual cues from the class Fleischer cartoon.

Superman fans even get a little something extra in the form of Superman’s voice, which is lent by former Superboy actor John Newton. Pratt is best known for his animation on countless Disney films such as Tarzan, Hercules and Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Even though this film is pretty cool, the emphasis is definitely on “short.” However, it’s worth it. You can check out this short film after the jump.

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This week’s pick is the 1941 Howard Hawks classic Sergeant York which stars Gary Cooper as the back woods Tennessee hero of World War I. The supporting cast include Walter Brennan (Pastor Pile), Joan Leslie (Gracie Williams), George Tobias (“Pusher” Ross), Ward Bond (Ike Botkin), Stanley Ridges (Maj. Buxton), Dickie Moore (George York), June Lockhart (Rosie York), and Margaret Wycherly (Mother York).

The film was adapted by Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, and actor/director John Huston, from York’s own memoirs about his experiences.

It was Alvin York himelf who insisted on Gary Cooper taking the role. Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart and Ronald Reagan were also considered for the part, but York still insisted that Cooper was the right choice for the role.

The film is an autobiographical account of York’s upbringing in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee where he is struggling to make enough money so that he may be able to buy a plot of land for himself. He is young, rambunctious, a drinker, and brawler who has good intentions, but is a burden on his poor family who share a tiny shanty.

Pastor Pile (Brennan) sees good in Alvin and tries to convince him to put his faith in god. Alvin is at first against the idea of religion and asks why he should trust in god. An epiphany overcomes Alvin one night after a night of hard drinking and fighting, which makes him change his ways and to put faith in the lord, in order to marry his sweetheart Gracie (Leslie) and acquire a piece of land in order to be a good husband and provider for her.

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No matter your political leanings, most people can’t deny that Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, was a fascinating character. The story of a man going from humble beginnings as a small-town lifeguard through his time as a Hollywood actor, as Governor of California and then on to the Presidency is an amazing journey and a tale to be told.

Fortunately, HBO has us covered and will be bringing this story to their network tonight with the premiere of Eugene Jarecki’s documentary Regan. According to the network, the film is a “fresh examination of the fascinating paradoxes surrounding the man, the myth and his legacy.”

It “follows the 40th president’s rise from small-town lifeguard to revered architect of the modern world . . . and investigates how Reagan’s homespun political vision fueled a seismic career, one whose reverberations still shape American life.” Sounds interesting to me. Think I’ll tune in . . . or at least set the DVR.

The film first screened at the Sundance Film Festival and now will air for the first time tonight at 9/8C on HBO. Check out the trailer for the film after the jump.

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Last night’s Super Bowl brought in a few pretty great commercials, but two that stood out above the rest were the first trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger, and the brand new J.J. Abrams sci-fi thriller Super 8. On both counts, we got some of the very first footage of the film, getting us even more excited for it.

Written and directed by Abrams, the film’s plot has been kept pretty close to chest until now. From what we’ve gathered, a group of kids in 1979 catch something inexplicable emerge from a train wreck on their home video camera.

The big deal here is that this is the first joint venture between Abrams and master of extraterrestrial cinema, Steven Spielberg, who brings his experience and belief in unknown casting to the project.

Now, we get the first glimpse at this new film, and you will too, right after the jump.

Super 8 is set to hit theaters on June 10th.

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Thanks to Netflix Watch Instantly, a lot of us are getting to catch some movies that didn’t make it to our cineplexes the first time around. Last week I had the opportunity to watch Dogtooth, an independent film that had run the festival circuit with lots of word of mouth, but I never got to see it in my hometown.

The film has been officially nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign language film, and I must say that this is a very bold, unexpected choice for the normally stodgy academy voters.  I have decided to refrain from actually reviewing Dogtooth, because I have no idea how to do so.  It defies genre and logic, yet it is very interesting. Check it out, if you are so inclined.

This week I saw another film I had been hearing about for ages:  Enter the Void.  When I was at Fantastic Fest last fall, the single screening of this film sold out in mere moments.  Following the screening, viewers were giddy, touting the film as a visual masterpiece that had to be seen on the big screen.

I, for one, am very glad that I didn’t see the film on the big screen.  I had a great deal of concern over the strobe-light effects that were reported to be pervasive in the film.  My fears were not unwarranted.  In the comfort of my basement, I broke the film up into two viewings, which worked well for me. I am not sure that I could have sat through the entire running time in a theater.

For the uninitiated, Enter the Void is the latest film offering from controversial filmmaker Gaspar Noé.  His 20o2 film Irreversible is considered one of the most disturbing movies ever made, thanks to a punishing and prolongated rape scene.

Enter the Void is already a cult classic, and deservedly so.  Noé offers up one of the most innovative and visually compelling films you are likely to ever see.  There is no doubt that the man is a mad genius of sorts.  Based on technical merit alone, any cinephile worth their salt needs to watch this.  It will be discussed for decades.

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I know, reading that headline you may be skeptical because you haven’t received your iPhone 4 notification of shipment yet from Big Red. However, as I got mine last Friday night, I can assure you that Verizon is indeed sending out the iPhone 4 a little earlier than they originally let on. Actually, several days early.

In fact, the news for those of us who stayed awake until midnight West Coast time to order is even better than that. According to an update at Fedex, my particular iPhone 4 is actually on a truck and out for delivery today. See, miracles do happen.

Of course I realize that the iPhone from Verizon is exactly like the iPhone from AT&T and isn’t exactly revolutionary, more like evolutionary. Also, I realize it will actually have some subtle, but potentially problematic, differences from the AT&T version. However, that doesn’t stop me from being pretty excited about the prospect of the best smartphone on the best wireless network.

So, once it arrives in my hands expect a full report and maybe even one or two unboxing photos. In the meantime, if you’ve ordered yours via the Verizon pre-order, don’t lose hope. Your shiny new goodness is probably on the way very soon too.

Having just watched the classic original recently this story is of particular interest to me. Following the trend of remaking classic films, next up from Fox and James Cameron is the reboot/remake of 1966 sci-fi adventure Fantastic Voyage, which was based on the novel by acclaimed author Isaac Asimov.

This project has been in the works for some time with several directors, including Darren Aronofsky, Timur Bekmambetoiv, Johnathan Mostow and Louis Leterrier, circling but with no final selection. That is, until now. Today, Fox and Cameron announced their choice to take on directing duties for the remake is Night at the Museum and Date Night helmer Shawn Levy.

The new film, a re-imagining of the original about a team of scientists shrunk to microscopic size inside a submarine and injected into a man to try to save his life, will be a big 3D release for the studio. The script was written by Shane Salerno and Laeta Kalogridis.

If you’ve watched any of Levy’s other movies you can see his talent but, for the most part, they’ve been comedies. His choice as director of this kind of huge budget sci-fi epic that will, undoubtedly, be mostly CG is an interesting one. Good thing James Cameron will be around if things take a turn for the worse once this thing gets going.

Look for Shawn Levy’s Fantastic Voyage to hit theaters sometime in 2013.

While it may be the ultimate night of TV for sports fans everywhere, the Super Bowl is also the biggest time of the year for great commercials and movie trailers. Some of the biggest upcoming films of the year get seen first during this night, and last night brought us some doozies.

Up first, of course, is the very first footage and trailer for Captain America: The First Avengers. In this 30 second spot, we get some great moments to look forward to, such as Cap (Chris Evans) in full costume, a glimpse at the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), some Stanley Tucci, and some great action shots.

The film is set to release on July 22nd and also stars Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky.

Check out the trailer after the jump. Now that we’ve seen the trailer, what do we think? Sound off in the comments.

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In an effort to bite off even more than I can chew (and since we don’t have, like, a bajillion articles published on Friday anyway), I’ve decided to take a swing at covering Parks and Recreation, a little gem of a show I’ve gotten into the past week while cooped up inside the apartment thanks to the Great Chicago Blizzard of ’11. (It even made me miss a screening of Sanctum because the city shut down. Really. Though early reports of the film say I didn’t miss much.)

One of the things that got me to check out the show, other than ennui, was the stellar reviews it’d been getting and my general desire to fill the void The Office’s lackluster season has left. Hey, they had a good run and some pretty good episodes so far, but Parks and Rec has been batting a 1,000 since its second season, which is right around when The Office started to come into its own. (And in case you’re wondering, the spate of Office comparisons are because Parks and Rec was created by two Office alums, Greg Daniels and Michael Schur.)

One of the things I admire about the show, beside its daringness to showcase an overtly Libertarian character in Ron “F*cking” Swanson and the adorable pluckiness of Amy Peohler, is the light contempt it has for the general public of the little backwards town of Pawnee. Coming from a small town myself and having lived in an even pettier one that offered hours upon hours of small-town self-righteousness just a local access channel away, it’s nice to see someone satirize this comic gold mine. It always is the same, lonely people who take themselves way too seriously over a trivial point of local government, and the subtle touch of reducing the populace’s rhetorical skills to simple chanting is a nice touch.

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It’s starting to look a lot like Avengers around here as the first poster for Captain America has now arrived. In it we get a good look at Cap himself (as played by Chris Evans) as well as some clues to what we can expect from the film.

Obviously, at least from the poster, we can expect Cap to engage in some battles that result in him getting quite dirty. In addition, it seems he’s out to avenge something or someone in the movie. Perhaps that’s why he’s called the “First Avenger”? I bet that’s a good guess.

Still, Evans looks pretty cool in the poster and from the overall look I feel safe to say that the film, and the character, are in good hands with Joe Johnston. Check out the full poster after the jump. Look for Captain America: The First Avenger in theaters on July 22nd. That date can’t get here fast enough.

Ok, what do you guys think of the poster? Does it work for you or not? Sound off in the comments.

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