As a fan of the genre, it’s sad to say it but we have had a bit too much of the “Alien Invasion Blockbuster.” Between subpar films like Battle: Los Angeles, Skyline, and the countless District 9 ripoffs that have gotten the greenlight in the past two years, the genre itself has been a bit played out.

That’s why we’re pretty excited to see something new and fresh with the trailer for The Darkest Hour. Directed by production designer Chris Gorak and produced by our old pal Timur Bekmambetov, the movie has an interesting visual take on the played out story.

The Darkest Hour is the story of five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack. The 3D thriller highlights the classic beauty of Moscow alongside mind-blowing special effects.

Starring a fresh young cast (Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor) and showing more bystander deaths in the trailer than any film we can think of from the past year, we’re pretty excited to see what this film can bring to 3D and 2D theaters.

Check out the trailer after the jump and catch The Darkest Hour in theaters December 23rd.

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We don’t feature enough Indie films around here so to remedy that, I’ve got one for you today that looks especially interesting. It’s called Bellflower and before you snicker and turn away because of the title, you really should watch the trailer.

Here’s some info about the film from the official synopsis:

Best friends Woodrow and Aiden spend all of their free time building Mad Max-inspired flamethrowers and muscle cars in preparation for a global apocalypse. But when Woodrow meets a charismatic young woman and falls hard in love, he and Aiden quickly integrate into a new group of friends, setting off on a journey of love and hate, betrayal, infidelity and extreme violence more devastating and fiery than any of their apocalyptic fantasies.

Written and directed by Evan Glodell, the film features Jessie Wiseman, Tyler Dawson, Rebekah Brandes, Vincent Grashaw and Evan Glodell. It opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, August 5th.

Check out the trailer to this very interesting film after the jump. You won’t be sorry you did.

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Get ready for some cool undersea adventure as Disney is about to go 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with director David Fincher. Previously, the studio had been talking with Charlie’s Angels helmer McG about taking on the pic, but that didn’t end up happening.

Now, Disney has decided that the film might need a fresher approach and is going after Fight Club‘s Fincher to direct and Bourne Ultimatum scribe Scott Z. Burns to write the script. The project reportedly came together after Fincher approached Disney and said he wanted to tackle a big “tentpole” project for the studio and something different from his usual dark, R-rated films.

In case you’re not familiar with the story, it is based on a novel by Jules Verne, first published in 1869, and tells the story of a group of men who encounter a vengeful scientist names Nemo and his submarine, the Nautilus. Plus, if you remember the first Disney version of the film, which is a classic by most standards, there’s also a giant squid the men, including a young Kirk Douglas, must fight in order to survive.

Last year, Disney was fast-tracking a $150 Million Leagues that would have served as an origin story for Nemo. But that film was canceled after a regime-change at the studio. Now, Disney wants to get back in the Nemo business and this new film, even though plotlines are still a secret, will reportedly be more like Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.

Not sure exactly what that means, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Maybe it means Nemo has a son and they have family issues? Could be.

Here’s a list of some of the new movie and TV shows coming to DVD and Blu-ray this week that we’re looking forward to seeing. Also, there’s some classic, and not-so-classic, movies hitting Blu-ray for the first time this week as well.

Of all the new releases, we’re particularly interested in the Blu-ray versions of movies and TV shows such as J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, Gone with the Wind, Thirst, Rome: The Complete Series and the Blu-ray debut of David Fincher’s awesome Fight Club (shown above with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton). We are Jack’s excitement at this release finally coming out.

Check them out:

Movies

Bruno ~ Sacha Baron Cohen, Paula Abdul (DVD and Blu-ray)

Clerks ~ Brian O’Halloran, Kevin Smith (Blu-ray)

Downhill Racer (The Criterion Collection) ~ Robert Redford, Gene Hackman (DVD)

Fight Club ~ Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter (Blu-ray)

Galaxy Quest ~ Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman (Blu-ray)

Gone with the Wind (Ultimate Collector’s Edition) ~ Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh (Blu-ray)

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The release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has reopened discussions about what makes a good book to film adaptation. The Potter series often divides fans, and the latest chapter is no exception. I’ve heard from a number of fans of the book series who are  disappointed with the current film’s adaptation, while I’ve also talked to fans who are satisfied. Brad Brevet from RopesofSilicon reflected on some of the more negative fan reactions and he asks, “how faithful should film adaptations be?”

Adapting a book into a film is not an easy process. Squeezing a 300-page novel into a 120-minute film is difficult, especially if the book has lots of exposition or other elements that are not easily cinematic. For books that are rich and deeply characterized, like the Potter books, adaptation is almost always going to mean losing some characters or the minute characterizations that many fans hold dear.

That said, making an adaptation that is too close to the original work can often be just as problematic as making an unfaithful adaptation. Brevet mentions this spring’s Watchmen as an example of a film that while remarkably true to its graphic novel counterpart, still didn’t end up endearing itself to even diehard Watchmen fans. I would argue this was because despite getting the character and plot details correct, Watchmen didn’t effectively bring enough of its own cinematic virtues to the project. In contrast, Frank Miller’s Sin City was a tremendous adaptation of various vignettes from the graphic novel series, and it managed to be both accurate and bring in its own voice.

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David Fincher, director of such diverse and entertaining films as Fight Club, Seven, Zodiac and the recent The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is apparently about to add yet another film to his diverse roster of credits. According to Variety, Fincher is in what the showbiz folks refer to as “advanced talks” to take on the directing chores of Arron Sorkin’s latest writing project The Social Network.

The film, which will focus on the evolution of Facebook from its 2004 creation on the Harvard campus by sophomore Mark Zuckerberg to a juggernaut with more than 200 million members, is being produced by Scott Rudin, Michael De Luca and Trigger Street. Columbia Pictures is the studio. According to the article, the studio hopes to start production later this year.

If this turns out to be Fincher’s next film, I gotta say I’m now way more interested in the story of Facebook than I was before. Sure, its very interesting how the site went from obscurity to become what it is today. But I’m not sure I would want to see a movie about it.

Now, if Fincher ends up being in charge, I do. The next question is, who will play Zuckerberg? My vote? Topher Grace.