Never let it be said a violent film like Inglourious Basterds can’t also serve the public interest and give back a little something. What am I talking about?

Well, tomorrow at L.A.’s Upper Playground Gallery, in conjuction with The Weinstein Company, will be an exhibition of alternative poster art for the film from a variety of contemporary artists including David Choe, N8 Van Dyke, Morning Breath and Grotesk. The posters, all signed by director Quentin Tarantino, will be sold and the proceeds will benefit the Red Cross’ Haiti relief efforts.

Check out al the posters at the gallery’s website. Also, here’s more info from the official press release:

THE LOST ART OF THE FILM “INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS”

BENEFIT ART PROGRAM TO HELP RAISE MONEY FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE

SA Studios Global’s Film Marketing Division has teamed up with Quentin Tarantino, Upper Playground and The Weinstein Company to present, THE LOST ART OF INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.

On February 18th, 2010 from 6p – 9p the world will get to preview and purchase the “Lost Art of Inglorious Basterds” at The Upper Playground Art Gallery in Downtown Los Angeles. All proceeds from this program will be donated to The American Red Cross to help the victims of the Haiti Earthquake.

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Well, I have officially run out of clever ways to say that Avatar won the weekend box office, and I think I still have weeks, if not months, to go. For the fourth week in a row, Avatar ruled the domestic box office and it has now made a mind-blowing $429 Million in one month. The movie dropped almost 30% from last weekend, yet still managed a hefty $48 Million, which places it in the seven spot for highest grossing movie (domestically) ever. It has earned $1.2 Billion globally.

Trailing the top earner were Sherlock Holmes, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, which each made around $16 Million. Holmes has now made $165 Million in three weeks, and Squeakquel has made $178 Million in as many weeks. Both look poised to surpass $200 Million during their theatrical runs.

New releases were almost shut out of the top five this weekend, but the vampire horror flick Daybreakers, starring Ethan Hawke, managed to squeeze into fourth place with a respectable gross of $15 Million. It’s Complicated took the number five spot, and made $11 Million, for a cumulative total of $76 Million. The critically maligned  romantic comedy Leap Year stirred enough interest to make about $9 Million for sixth place.

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Let’s face the facts: if you’ve already jumped off the Michael Cera bandwagon, this movie will probably not prompt you to jump back on. However, if you’re still straddling the fence, you might be pleased to see that his character in Youth in Revolt is a natural progression for Cera. It is not a full disengagement from the characteristics that made him so endearing to begin with, but it adds a welcome new layer.

Youth in Revolt is based on the first book in a series by C.D. Payne, published in 1993. Touted as a relatable new voice for teenagers, the book’s protagonist Nick Twisp became a popular “Holden Caulfield” type for their generation.

Nick is an old soul in a teenager’s body, preferring French cinema and the crooning of Frank Sinatra to typical high school shenanigans. Consequently, he has few friends, and in lieu of any actual relationships with girls, he studies a well-worn sex manual, bracing himself for the fateful day when sex might become a reality.

As is typical of most teenage comedies, the adults in Nick’s life are a bunch of buffoons. His trashy but well meaning mother (Jean Smart) has a loser boyfriend, Jerry (Zach Galifianakis), who lives with them. She spends her days in bathrobes and negligees, sporting a different fake hairpiece every day, while Jerry wears a “three-wolf moon t-shirt” without a trace of irony, making them a trailer park couple of dazzling mediocrity.

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About thirty minutes into Rob Marshall’s musical Nine, I kept getting a nagging sense of déjà vu. It finally dawned on me that the movie reminded me a lot of All That Jazz, the 1979 musical directed by Bob Fosse. That movie starred the late Roy Scheider, who portrayed a brilliant choreographer experiencing an existential crisis in the days leading up to a big Broadway production. He copes with his pathos by popping pills and chasing women, and his self destructive ways ultimately cost him the love and respect of his daughter and those closest to him.

In Nine, Daniel Day Lewis plays a brilliant Italian director who experiences an existential crisis in the days leading up to the first day of filming for his new movie. He is a scoundrel, and has so many entanglements with various women that it ultimately threatens his health, marriage and relationships, not to mention the movie.

As soon as I got home, I started researching and found out that All That Jazz and Nine were both based on Federico Fellini’s 1963 film 8 1/2, which is widely considered a masterpiece in most film circles. While All That Jazz was Bob Fosse’s re-imagining of 8 1/2 with autobiographical components liberally interwoven, Nine is a more faithful adaptation of the story.

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A Single Man is the single biggest surprise I have had at the movies all year. It is brilliant, beautiful, superbly acted, and emotionally devastating. It is one of those movies that will haunt you for days and weeks to come after viewing it.

*Minor spoilers in this review* The opening credits are set to an underwater scene depicting a man gently lolling about in the waves in slow motion.  A voice-over by George (Colin Firth) states that it has been 8 months since he lost his male partner in a car crash, and yet everyday “Waking up hurts.”

George is starting to believe that life will never really return to normal, and the day we witness in the film  is actually the day that George has decided to kill himself.  Fastidious to a fault, he meticulously lays out the outfit he wishes to be buried in, going so far as to leave instructions on how he wants his necktie to be knotted (Windsor-style.)

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In spite of its rather depressing subject matter and its bleak outlook on most of humanity, The Road manages to be an insightful, relevant, entertaining and important film which will not only hook you from the opening moments but will cause you to do something that most movies released these days do not: Think. Based on the Cormac McCarthy best selling and Pulitzer Prize winning novel, adapted by Joe Penhall and directed by John Hillcoat, the film follows the journey of a father and son making their way to supposed safety in “The South” after an unknown disaster destroys most of humanity and reduces the world to snow and ash covered ruin.

Along the way the father and son encounter the worst of society reduced to ruin and come to realize that they may never reach safety and that that safety may, in fact, not even exist. The dynamic between the father and son is meticulously explored with both Viggo Moretnsen and relative newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee giving standout performances. Mortensen is brilliant and physically transformed to inhabit his role and Smit-McPee takes what could have been a two dimensional role and infuses it with depth and courage well beyond his years. Looking at him as he progresses and his character evolves before your eyes, you experience what this journey must be like for him and how his relationship with his father changes during the course of it.

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Previously, we brought you some very cool pics and a beautiful behind the scenes video from Rob Marshall’s upcoming musical extravaganza NINE. Now, we’ve got another video to share with you from the film. This time around, it features the beautiful and talented Kate Hudson in a show stopping, all singing, all dancing sequence sure to knock your socks off. Its called “Cinema Italiano” and after watching it, I really want to go back to Italy again — or at least spend some time with Kate Hudson.

I case you don’t happen to be familiar with hugely successful musicals that are now turned into terrific films, NINE follows the life of world famous film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he reaches a creative and personal crisis of epic proportion, while balancing the numerous women in his life including his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his film star muse (Nicole Kidman), his confidant and costume designer (Judi Dench), a young American fashion journalist (Kate Hudson), the whore from his youth (Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson) and his mother (Sophia Loren).

Sounds like a handful to me. Although, there are probably worse problems to have then trying to decide between Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Fergie. Anyway, check out this new video from the film after the jump. NINE opens in New York and December 18, followed by a nationwide release on Christmas Day.

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Our friends at The Weinstein Company have sent us this first look, in the form of a trailer and a poster, at designer Tom Ford’s feature directing debut A Single Man. The film, which features Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode, was also written and produced by the prolific Ford as well.

In case you’re not familiar with the story, it is based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood and set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis. It centers on a British college professor (Firth) who is struggling to find meaning in life after the death of his long time partner.

Along the way he questions love, isolation and through a series of new relationships, both romantic and otherwise, he begins to discover the importance of smaller moments in life. The film recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival to very positive reviews and with star Firth winning for best actor. It opens in theaters December 11th.

Until then, check out a larger version of the poster, and the first trailer, after the jump.

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As you may know, this Rob Marshall directed film is loosely based on Fellini’s 8 1/2. It tells the musical story of film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) who’s facing a mid-life crisis. As he struggles to complete his latest film he examines his career, his life and the relationships with the various women in it.

If the quality of a film can be judged by the quality of its behind the scenes featurette, then I can safely say that Rob Marshall’s NINE is going to be one heck of a film.  I’ve also included some new pics from the film as well which further illustrate just how great this movie is going to look.

Put all that together with the stellar cast and Marshall’s unquestioned ability to execute terrific musicals and NINE looks to have all the making of a hit. Be sure to check out the behind the scenes video and pics after the jump.

NINE, featuring Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson and Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson, hits theaters on Christmas day.

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It takes a lot to be a horror fan. We suffer indignities that other film fans wouldn’t dream of. Genre films are seldom screened for press, leading to frantic scrambling to get a seat at a midnight showing so that we can have that review up and ready for you, dear readers, on opening day. Regular critics scoff at our genre, and often can’t be bothered with it at all. So it rests upon those of us who are true lovers of the genre to keep you abreast of the happenings in horror-land.

Adding to my general frustration with the powers that be is the mishandling of three recent films in particular.  All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, Trick ‘r Treat, and Paranormal Activity have all gotten a rotten distribution deal in one way or another. I  asked Scott Weinberg, Managing Editor of Cinematical and Editor of Horror Squad if he was surprised that all three of these got shelved after they received good festival buzz. ”Annoyed, yes. Surprised, no. Every distributor seems to want a ‘break-out’ horror flick, but few know what to do with it once they get one,” he said

So here is the rundown on these three films.

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