Intense, political films are a staple in Hollywood. They provide fodder for good drama and also allow the filmmakers to say a little something about the political climate and their feelings about the government and how its run.

A new film trying to fit into that mold is George Clooney’s upcoming The Ides of March. The film, about cutthroat political politics and based on the play by Beau Willimon, has a new trailer out today and we’ve got it for you right here.

The Sony Pictures released features a great cast, including Clooney himself, such as Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti. Clooney has done a pretty good job with his previous outing as director so it will be interesting to see this new one once it arrives.

Check out the trailer after the break. The Ides of March will open the Venice Film Festival this year with a release sure to follow.

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As rough as the world of professional wrestling may be at times, there is a lighter side to it. It’s not all steel chairs, piledrivers and stitches. This is where the WWE Divas come in. Here you have a group of amazingly beautiful and athletic women who put their bodies on the line and take risks the same ways that their male counterparts do. One of the great examples of a woman building herself into that role is the WWE’s Kelly Kelly.

Five years ago at the age of 19, Kelly Kelly debuted on ECW where she danced as an exhibitionist. And then she continued dancing as a part of Extreme Expose. Eventually, stories developed for Kelly that allowed her to begin an in ring career that didn’t involve dancing. In our interview with Kelly at Comic Con, she talks to us about the change in her career and achieving something that many quickly discounted as even being a possibility for her, holding a championship in the WWE.

Kelly also talks about her first Comic Con experience, gives a sneak peek behind the scenes of being a WWE Diva and her long road to the top. Kelly has also had success outside the ring this year as she was named to the Maxim Top 100 too, the only WWE Diva to receive that honor while still at the company.

Take a look below to check out our full interview with Kelly Kelly and stick to the Flickcast for more still coming to you from this year’s Comic Con. The Con may be over, but our coverage keeps on coming!

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It’s always nice when we see independently financed and released films get their first trailer to entice an audience. There is no “Bay-esque” flash cuts, no mysterious title cards, just some awesome action and intense sequences thrown together with dialogue reminiscent of Clerks and brought to us by @ThatKevinSmith. Yes. That’s how he’s credited.

That’s how to cut a trailer. And that’s exactly what we get in the very first trailer for Smith’s Red State, the film so indie that he’s releasing it to theaters himself. Here’s the premise for the writer/director’s first horror film to date.

Red State begins by following three horny high-school boys who come across an online ad from an older woman looking for a gang bang. Boys being boys, they hit the road to satisfy their libidinal urges. But what begins as a fantasy takes a dark turn as they come face-to-face with a terrifying “holy” force with a fatal agenda.

Instead of relying on archetypes and predictable formulas, Smith meticulously fashions all-too-real characters, utilizing exceptional performances (notably by Michael Parks) and an intelligent script. His realistic style gives the film an intimate feeling, heightening the terror to biblical proportions. Red State is a shocking new kind of horror film that aggressively confronts higher powers and extreme doctrines with a vengeance.

That’s right, you’ve got the man that brought us the line “snoochie boochies” giving us a religious thriller with a pretty stellar cast. Leading that charge is the legendary Michael Parks, along with Kevin Pollak and John Goodman as the two would-be heroes of the tale (at least that’s what we’re hoping).

Take a look at the trailer after the jump and be sure to hit your local arthouse when Red State hits it on October 19th.

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There has already been two high profile takes on the incredible Hulk, both with their own sets of problems, and neither quite getting it right. Joss Whedon’s The Avengers hopes that the third time will be the charm, as yet another skilled actor takes on the role of Bruce Banner.

Of course, all of this change leads to some very natural questions about what will set this Hulk apart, and luckily the chaps at LA Times Hero Complex talked to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to find out.

It will be as different as ”The Incredible Hulk” was from Ang Lee’s “Hulk” in terms of its look and design, but it is Hulk.” said Feige when asked how different the two Hulks will be. “Hulk is Hulk. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel.

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While still remaining to be an excellent show, Starz’ Spartacus: Blood and Sand has gone through some pretty rough times. They originally lost their star Andy Whitfield due to illness, which prompted creator Steven S. DeKnight to write a prequel season in which Whitfield was not needed. Then Whitfield bounced back and forth about being able to return, but ultimately had to decline due to uncertainty.

Normally, a major recasting is not something a studio nor producers would want to go through, as an actor like Whitfield carried the show, but the fans demanded more of the show, so they went forward with the recasting. That brought Australian actor Liam McIntyre to the top of the pile.

While having no major roles in the past, McIntyre had the look of Spartacus down, and it didn’t hurt that he looked a bit like Whitfield, either.

We got the chance to speak with McIntyre about filling these pretty big sandals, what it was like working with an already-established crew, and getting into shape using the famed “celeb boot camp” that just about every action star have had to use in order to whip into shape for a role.

Check out our interview, and if you haven’t seen any of the upcoming season of Spartacus, check out the full trailer here.

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I’m by no means a fan of reality television. That being said, I have stuck with some of the traditional shows that gave birth (in a Rosemary’s Baby kind of way) to the current reality programming genre. Those shows are COPS and America’s Most Wanted. I even remember when both shows premiered on Fox, a newbie network at the time…and I probably just dated myself with that comment given they’ve been on for over twenty years respectively.

It was because of my loyalty to America’s Most Wanted that had me shiver a little when I saw the trailer for the upcoming Jesse Eisenberg film, 30 Minutes or Less.  Here’s the premise care of IMDB:

Two fledgling criminals kidnap a pizza delivery guy, strap a bomb to his chest, and inform him that he has mere hours to rob a bank or else…

Sounds pretty funny, right? Pizza delivery guy gets a bomb strapped to him and he’s forced to rob a bank.  I’d be laughing had this not unfolded in real life with far less comedic repercussions.

On August 28, 2003 Brian Wells arrived for work at 11:00 am.  His occupation: pizza delivery driver.  At 1:30 pm Brian was asked to deliver two cheese and pepperoni pizzas to a remote location near the woods.  About an hour after that Brian entered a bank with a bomb strapped to him (around his neck in this case) and handed the teller a note demanding money.

It’s an eerie tale to be sure and when I first saw the segment on America’s Most Wanted I thought, who’s going to be the first to make a movie about that.  At the time I imagined some type of Michael Mann crime drama in the same vein as Collateral. Apparently I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Instead, this real life, horrifying event has been wrapped in what I’m sure critics will call a “laugh-out-loud” buddy comedy.  I have no way to confirm if writers Matthew Sullivan and Michael Diliberti knew anything about what has been dubbed “the collar bomb” case, but according to Wikipedia (take it with a grain of salt) that was the basis for 30 Minutes or Less.

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If toys make an effective inspiration for movie franchises, why not games? After all, regardless of its relative creative merits, the Transformers franchise has managed to make a metric crapload of money.

So, why not try to do the same with a movie based on a classic game? It could work. That’s just what director Peter Berg and his team have done with the upcoming Battleship. To prove it, we’ve got the first trailer for the film for you right now.

In it we get a lot of the film’s story of a young, upstart naval officer (Taylor Kitsch) in love with his Admiral’s daughter (Brooklyn Decker) who needs to put aside his personal feelings and learn to be a man when an alien invasion threatens his fleet of ships. The movie is, of course, based on the classic board game Battleship and from the trailer, it actually looks like director Berg gets that he’s making a movie based on a game, is in on the joke and doing his best to make it a fun and exciting film.

When I first heard they were making a movie based on Battleship, I was, to say the least, skeptical. After watching the trailer I’m now intrigued, especially as to how Berg and company are going to pull it off. Who knows, maybe they can?

Check out the trailer after the jump. Battleship, which stars Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker and Rihanna, arrives in theaters on May 18th, 2012.

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While we were away at Comic-Con last week, a few interesting things seemed to happen. Not only did we get word that Frank Darabont would be leaving Walking Dead, but in gaming news, it looks like Freddy Krueger will be returning to the consoles for the first time since the mid 1980s as the final DLC character for Mortal Kombat.

The news comes as bit of a surprise at first, because not many people think of the Nightmare on Elm Street killer when they think about fun playable fighting characters, but then it makes some sense when you realize that this is Warner Bros’ way of cross pollinating between brands.

The character will be available in a few weeks, and will be fully loaded with tons of claw-slashing and hellfire-based moves and combos. Note that this is also the most recent version of Freddy, and not the original Robert Englund version of the character we’ve loved for decades.

It is a shame that this is the alleged “final” DLC character for the game, as Warner has some pretty cool other franchises that they could dip into, as long as they stay away from any of the territory that was covered in Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe.

Who wouldn’t want to see Scorpion take on Voldemort or watch Sub Zero get pummeled by Zach Galifiniakis from The Hangover or even watch Sherlock Holmes slap the hell out of Shang Tsung? Let’s hope that the DLC does well enough for WB to look into a few more options down the road.

In the meantime, check out the full DLC trailer after the jump.

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Just when you thought NBC’s breakout show Community couldn’t get any better after such guest stars as LeVar Burton, Betty White, Josh Holloway, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner, but it looks like the ante is about to get upped.

Word is now coming in that John Goodman will have a whopping 6-episode stint on the upcoming third season of the show. Here’s the scoop from TV Line.

Goodman will recur in at least six episodes of NBC’s quirky comedy as Vice Dean Laybourne, the head of Greendale’s air conditioning repair school, and he will become a major foe for both Dean Pelton (played by newly promoted series regular Jim Rash) and our favorite study group.

That’s right, the man who has The Flintsontes, Speed Racer and The Big Lebowski on his resume will be coming to one of the best written and funniest shows currently on TV this season, predictivaly making this another stellar season for creator Dan Harmon and his cast.

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In what has to be pretty shocking news, especially considering he was just at Comic-Con last week to do publicity for the show, Frank Darabont has reportedly stepped down from his role as showrunner of AMC’s The Walking Dead.

According to the report, it is unclear if Darabont will end up staying with the show in some other capacity or will be off the show completely. It is also unclear at this time if recent hire and The Shield alumni Glen Mazzarra will take over as showrunner on the show, which is currently filming its second season.

If you recall, Darabont wrote and directed the pilot for AMC’s breakout zombie apocalypse hit and served as Exec. Producer and showrunner for the show’s first season and into the second.

If this turns out to be true and Darabont leaves the show completely, it isn’t that hard to understand why. Darabont is a feature film writer, director and producer. That’s a world where you often have months, if not years, to craft a screenplay, cast, shoot, edit and deliver a finished product.

Series television is a grind. Turning out work day in and day out and moving so quickly is not something that’s for everyone. Having worked in TV and features I can tell you the pacing of producing a weekly TV series can be killer. Maybe he just got tired? Or, tired of having to compromise so much?

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This past year has marked a pretty big time for shows on the BBC, as US network TV finally started paying attention to how good some of the programming was and decided to jump on the bandwagon. In some cases, such as Syfy’s Being Human, the network took the idea but none of the original folks that worked on it. That’s not what happened, however, with Torchwood.

Originally starting on a little BBC offshoot, the Doctor Who spinoff grew in popularity and has now been brought over to the States by STARZ in a whole new, updated version. The show while still stays in canon with the earlier version and keeps the show’s main stars John Barrowman and Eve Myles.

We got a chance to speak with Barrowman about playing his favorite superhero, Captain Jack Harkness, for so many years, as well as what it’s like bringing the show from the UK to the US.

Also, John mentioned that Captain Jack wasn’t the only hero he’s had the honor of trying out for. He’s been a huge Captain America fan for years, but back in 2004, he even auditioned to play the lead in Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns before they inevitably went with Brandon Routh.

Check out what John Barrowman had to say about all these things and more in our interview after the jump. Catch Torchwood: Miracle Day airing Friday nights at 10/9C on STARZ.

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Let’s get this out of the way in advance: I’m a fan of actor, personality and bongo player Matthew McConaughey. Even though he’s been dipping in the romantic comedy well too much for the last several years, I’ve always thought he had an edge that needed to be explored.

Looks like I’m getting my wish with his upcoming film Killer Joe. In fact, not only does McConaughey look like he’s continuing to return to better, more challenging, roles the film also marks another directing effort for one of my favorites, William Friedkin. So, win win.

The film, written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award writer Tracy Letts, tells the story of a Dallas detective who is also a hired killer. Talk about conflicted. Check out the synopsis below and a cool clip for the film after the jump:

When 22 year-old drug dealer Chris (Emile Hirsch) has his stash of drugs stolen from him by his mother, he has to come up with six-thousand dollars quick, or he’s dead. Desperate, he goes to the trailer-park to see his father, Ansel (Thomas Hayden Church), and he lays out the plan. Chris’s mother, who everyone hates, has a life insurance policy that would clear up his debt and make them all rich. The problem is that Chris’ mother is very much alive.

Enter Detective “Killer” Joe Cooper, a hired hit man with the manners of a Southern gentleman, who will do the job – for an upfront fee, that Chris and Ansel can’t pay. Just as Joe is about to leave, he spots Dottie (Juno Temple), Chris’ innocent younger sister. Joe makes Chris an offer, he’ll keep Dottie as sexual collateral until the money is collected and his fee can be paid. Chris reluctantly puts his debt ahead of his sister and agrees to Joe’s demand.

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