Friends with Kids is one of those high concept romantic comedies that posits a Big Life Question—in this case: can a couple have a baby together and keep the romance?—and then spends the next 90 minutes trying to answer it. Think of it as the No Strings Attached—can friends sleep together without emotional complications?—of the ticking biological clock set.

Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt, best known for 2002’s Kissing Jessica Stein) and Jason (Adam Scott) are good college friends who live on different floors of the same apartment building on Riverside Drive. They watch in alarm as their coupled friends Leslie and Alex (Maya Rudolph and Chris O’Dowd) and Missy and Ben (Kristen Wiig and Jon Hamm, Westerfeldt’s real-life partner) conceive and bear children, and proceed to ruin their lives and relationships. At every point the parents are haggard, distraught and argumentative. Fathers are irresponsible and immature. Mothers depressed and resentful. Their looks are sunk. So are their libidos and marriages.

Julie and Jason vow the same will not happen to them, whenever they should each happen to find the mate of their dreams. Problem is: Julie’s not getting younger. There’s no man in sight and she wants a baby. So Jason, a commitment-phobe who’s known for never sleeping with the same woman for longer than a week, hatches a plan, the kind of conceit they come up with in movies and then build the next two acts on, even though it wouldn’t fly for five seconds in real life: he and Julie will have a baby together, totally without ties. Just as parenting partners. Call it Parents Without Benefits.

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The line that got the biggest laugh at my screening of This Means War was not in the film. It was uttered by colleague Pete Sobczynski. The print cut out two minutes in on the line “Remember: This is a covert mission,” immediate cut to black, cue Pete shouting out, “Oh come on! It can’t be that covert!” At which point Chicago Film Critics Association President Dann Gire nominated Pete for the Roger Ebert Award for Best Witticism. He deserves to win.

So what does this moderate digression have to do with This Means War? It was one of two times I laughed – the other was a throwaway gag where one character asks why the love interest (Reese Witherspoon) is talking to that old man (Chelsea Handler).

This Means War tries to mash two genres and succeeds in making both of them boring. The first is the dreaded rom-com. In this case, a love triangle between two men and one woman. The second is action-spy-thriller, as the two men work together for the CIA. That they’re all but suspended from duty in the first five minutes of the movie is not a good sign.

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With Valentine’s Day hitting on Tuesday, it only makes sense that the box office would reflect that feeling of love we’re smelling in the air. It looks like guys and gals together made sure Valentine’s Day won the weekend, as Screen Gems’ The Vow starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams managed to take the weekend with an estimated $41 Million.

In a very close second, the Denzel Washington vs. Ryan Reynolds flick Safe House brought in an estimated $39 Million, which wouldn’t be bad if the film’s budget wasn’t a total of $85 Million. Right behind that one was another financial conundrum, Dwayne Johnson’s Journey 2, which cost about $80 Million and only only netted $27 Million here in the states.

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Given that the Mayans had a portion of the population convinced that this is the last year on the planet, it makes sense that Hollywood would be willing to exploit the apocalypse by taking it to the world of Romantic Comedies. That’s exactly the plan from with Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.

From writer/director Lorene Scafaria, who last brought us Michael Cera and Kat Dennings running around New York City in Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist comes yet another lengthy-titled film. This time, the twist is a bit more enticing. Here’s the rundown.

Steve Carell and Keira Knightley star in the comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, which marks the feature directorial debut of screenwriter Lorene Scafaria. Set in a too-near future, the movie explores what people will do when humanity’s last days are at hand. As the respective journeys of Dodge (Carell) and Penny (Knightley) converge, the two spark to each other and their outlooks – if not the world’s – brighten.

A full cast of funny, with folks like TJ Miller, Patton Oswalt, and Rob Huebel making the end of the world a bit funnier. Take a look at the trailer after the jump, and catch the flick on June 22nd.

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Visually Stimulating seems the be the name of the game as we are in the first few days of a brand new year. With films like The Hobbit and Hunger Games taking over the year’s “most anticipated” list, it makes sense that other studios are going to try to pick up the slack and release some very edgy-looking films.

With that in mind, we get the very first trailer for Argentinian director Juan Diego Solanas’ upcoming domestic flick, Upside Down, in which the world is exactly as we know it, except there is an entirely different world that lives directly above us, and they don’t like us very much.

The film stars British heartthrob Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) and the sometimes affable Kiersten Dunst as the star-crossed lovers in which this story finds itself circling. Clearly, there is a metaphor to be found in the premise, but we can’t stop thinking how funny it is that Kiersten Dunst is the love interest in an upside down world. A bit “on the nose”.

Take a look at the enticing trailer after the jump, and while you won’t be able to understand the anticipated “In a World” title screens (they’re in French), you will be able to get the gist through dialogue. Enjoy, and catch Upside Down in theaters later this year.

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Just when you thought Michael Fassbender couldn’t get any more serious and awesome, the redband trailer for his new NC-17 rated film, Shame, hits the web. In it, Fassbender is staring down a young redhead on a train, letting his mind do the wandering, and things come across a bit creepy.

The film was just today nominated for a Spirit Award in the Best Foreign Film category, and has made tons of news in terms of how raunchy the film is (much like any NC-17 film gets). Here’s the premise of the film:

Brandon (Fassbender) is a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his wayward younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment stirring memories of their shared painful past, Brandon’s insular life spirals out of control.

For the ladies, you’ll get tons of Fassbender in many different positions, and for the dudes, you’ll get Fassbender putting plenty of young ladies in many different positions. Take a look at the new trailer after the jump and catch the film in select theaters this weekend.

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With Juno, Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman solidified themselves in cinematic history with Cody even winning an Oscar for best screenplay. So it makes sense the duo would try to strike gold again with a whole new gang of wacky characters and off-beat tone in their latest collaboration Young Adult.

That seems to be the plan for the movie, or at least what we can gather from this new red-band trailer. For those who need a bit more other than seeing the amazing cast of Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, and Patton Oswalt, here’s the synopsis:

Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to relive her glory days and attempt to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart (Wilson). When returning home proves more difficult than she thought, Mavis forms an unusual bond with a former classmate (Oswalt) who hasn’t quite gotten over high school, either.

Take a look at the new trailer after the jump in which Theron gets a bit nuts. Young Adult is set to hit theaters on December 9th.

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You already know the premise: A jilted/disillusioned–with-love-20/30-something revisits his/her past lovers to understand why he/she can’t find love, and finally realizes that her true love has been right there all along, in one form or another.

In this case, the Disillusionee is Ally Darling (Anna Faris), a recently-fired-then-slept-with-her-boss 20/30-something who reads a magazine article that says women who’ve slept with over 20 partners tend to not find true love. Ally is at number 19. Fearful of the consequences, she makes the decision that the next new guy she sleeps with will be the guy she marries. She also decides to seek out her former boyfriends/casual hookups, hoping to reignite some of the past’s embers and hence keep her number at 19.

There’s more than a passing similarity to High Fidelity in the premise and also in the choice to have several notable comedians—Andy Samberg, Parks and Rec’s (and Faris’s real-life husband) Chris Pratt, the BBCOffice’s Martin Freeman, Zachary Quinto (not so much a comedian, but hey)—and the perfect guy who’s been there all along is her next-door neighbor Colin (Captain America’s Chris Evans).

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Spoiler Alert: I know how she does it. And I’m about to tell you.

The “she” of the title is Kate Reddy (played by Sarah Jessica Parker), and, for starters, she has a full-time nanny. The nanny apparently also cleans, really well, or else there is some unseen housekeeper, because the house is always in a perfect state of cleanliness, beds pristinely made and kitchen counters bare and shining.

Someone also does laundry, because there is not a single basket of dirty, clean-but-not-folded or folded-but-not-put-away laundry anywhere in sight. That same person, or perhaps someone else, must also do Kate’s personal shopping, because she has a killer wardrobe, as do the children, and what mother working a demanding 60+ hour-a-week schedule has time for shopping?

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For those who are clamoring for their vampire-on-werewolf action, look no further, as the first full trailer for Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 hit the internets today. This time, things get a little less romantic, and a little more like The Omen, as Bella’s pregnancy gets a bit scary. Here’s the premise for the first part of this story.

In the highly anticipated next chapter of the blockbuster The Twilight Saga, the new found married bliss of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) is cut short when a series of betrayals and misfortunes threatens to destroy their world.

After their wedding, Bella and Edward travel to Rio de Janeiro for their honeymoon, where they finally give in to their passions. Bella soon discovers she is pregnant, and during a nearly fatal childbirth, Edward finally fulfills her wish to become immortal.

But the arrival of their remarkable daughter, Renesmee, sets in motion a perilous chain of events that pits the Cullens and their allies against the Volturi, the fearsome council of vampire leaders, setting the stage for an all-out battle.

The suspenseful and deeply romantic Breaking Dawn continues the epic tale of supernatural fantasy and passionate love that has made The Twilight Saga a worldwide phenomenon.

Finally, for those who want a full review of the entire Twilight series so far, here’s Family Guy’s Chris Griffin to explain it all. Check out the new trailer after the jump and catch Breaking Dawn: Part 1 in theaters on November 18th.

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Mel Brooks may have knocked it out of the park by being tongue-in-cheek back when he made Silent Movie, but there is no way today’s audience could possibly accept a full, silent, black & white film. Right? Well, that’s exactly what director Michel Hazanavicius has done.

His film, The Artist, is done like a classic black & white film. Movie stars, dames in trouble, tons of indoor smoking, and more dancing than you could shake a stick at. Here’s the premise:

Hollywood 1927. George Valentin is a very successful silent movie star. The arrival of talking pictures will mark the end of his career. Peppy Miller, a young woman extra, becomes a major movie star.

With films about zombies and The Help making waves in the box office, why couldn’t a simple silent movie about Hollywood in the 1920s take off? They’ve already got us hooked with the trailer, which you can check out after the jump.

Catch Weinstein Company’s The Artist in theaters on November 23rd.

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Based on the cast (Steve Carell and Julianne Moore as a married couple Cal and Emily—how perfect) and a promising trailer, I went into Crazy, Stupid, Love fully expecting to love it. I didn’t, but I did leave loving the young couple (a surprisingly funny Ryan Gosling as Jacob and Emma Stone as Hannah). They had everything going for them—charm, chemistry and perfect timing. Emma Stone is darling and hilarious and deserves every bit of the praise and buzz she’s receiving.

They’re no mere insanely pretty faces, either. Both Gosling and Stone have smarts and personality that shine through, despite the screenplay’s sometimes ridiculous shortcomings. Yes, the screenplay. Who the heck greenlit this thing? With all the money they must’ve had, they couldn’t have hired someone to perk this thing up?

The clichés, oh the clichés. This is one of those movies where the crowd acts as one simple-minded, one-minded body. You know what I’m talking about. Everyone in the office pokes their heads above their cubicles at once and claps. Everyone stands outside and with the exact same judgmental expression watches the hero’s meltdown in the school parking lot. Stuff a normal group of individuals would never do. It’s the equivalent of a laugh track in a dumb sit-com. But that’s not all.

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