Even though Mark and Jay Duplas’ Cyrus was already a hit with audiences at Sundance this year, Fox Searchlight is taking the film to SXSW as well to help build awareness and excitement for the film. Seeing as we’re big fans of the entire creative team involved with Cyrus, we’re happy to bring you info about it right here.

Basically, the film follows the life of John (John C. Reilly) a depressed, recently divorced guy who is pretty much a complete loser, desperate for attention. At a party, he manages to hook up with the hot Molly (Marisa Tomei) who, it turns out, has an adult son: Cyrus (Jonah Hill).

Cyrus and his mom have a somewhat interesting and open relationship and he will go to pretty much any lengths to protect her from anyone, especially John. Before long, the two are locked in a battle of wits for the woman they both love and only one man can be left standing when it’s over.

Everyone involved with this film seems to be at the top of their game, even Hill who seems to finally be coming into his own opposite two fantastic pros like Reilly and Tomei. Plus, it just looks really funny — which, sadly, you can’t always say about some “comedies” these days.

Be sure and check out the trailer after the jump. Fox Searchlight releases Cyrus on July 9th.

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This week sees more new film and TV releases on Blu-ray and DVD. Among the ones we’re more interested in this week are Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Dead Snow, The Box, Season One of Nurse Jackie and Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (pictured above with John C. Reilly and Chris Massoglia).

Check out all the new releases below.

Movies

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant ~ John C. Reilly, Salma Hayek (Blu-ray and DVD)

Dead Snow ~ Vegar Hoel (Blu-ray and DVD)

Dirty Harry/Magnum Force ~ Clint Eastwood (Blu-ray)

Everybody’s Fine ~ Robert De Niro, Drew Darrymore (Blu-ray and DVD)

Grumpy Old Men/Grumpier Old Men ~ Walter Matthau, Jack Lemon (Blu-ray)

Howards End (Criterion Collection) ~ Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter (Blu-ray and DVD)

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths ~ Mark Harmon, Alyssa Milano, William Baldwin (Blu-ray and DVD)

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It’s debatable, but many say that John C Reilly is one of the funniest working actors today. His range from such films as Chicago and Magnolia to Step Brothers or his recurring role as Dr. Steve Brule on Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! proves that the man has the chops to pull off just about any role — as long as that role can be a middle-aged man with curly hair.

He’s now taking on something else humorous, with a bit of a darker tone: the Duplass Brothers’ Cyrus. The film is about a rundown guy who meets and falls for an attractive older woman, played by the new indie queen Marisa Tomei. Things are going well until he finds that she’s got a 30 year old son, played by Jonah Hill.

The synopsis reads like a different take on Step Brothers, but after watching the trailer, you can be assured that this film actually has a script, rather than Ferrell and Reilly riffing off of each other for 90 minutes. It also sounds a bit like science fiction, if we are to believe that Marisa Tomei birthed Jonah Hill, but we can suspend disbelief for this one.

The film is currently screening at Sundance and turning quite a lot of heads. Check out the official trailer after the jump, and we’ll be sure to have more on a release date and distributor as they happen.

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According to THR’s Heat Vision Blog, John C. Reilly and Mary-Louise Parker are now in negotiations to join the cast of Red, Summit Entertainment’s adaptation of the Wildstorm/DC Comics miniseries written by Jon and Erich Hoeber and being directed by Robert Schwentke. If they do end up signing up for the film, they will join a cast that already includes Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren.

Originally published in 2003 and 2004, Red was co-created by writer Warren Ellis and artist Cully Hammer. It centers on a former black-ops agent Paul Moses (Bruce Willis), now in retirement, who has to contend with younger, more high-tech assassins who want to kill him and keep his former exploits from going public. Naturally, the first hit squad fails and alerts Moses that he’s being targeted. So, he goes on the offensive in order to stay alive.

If cast, Reilly would play a retired CIA agent who is paranoid that everyone is out to kill him. Parker would play Willis’ character’ love interest, a federal pension worker who becomes embroiled in the Willis character’s struggle to stay alive. Red is expected to begin filming in January in Toronto with an projected release later in 2010.

The Vampire’s Assistant is based on the first three books in a series of twelve by Darren Shan. Like the Twilight series, The Vampire’s Assistant books are targeted towards young adults, and naturally this movie is as well. If you are not a tweener, or a fan of the book series, it is best to steer clear of this painfully bland adaptation.  The movie seems entirely too self-aware of its target audience, and consequently it takes the safe route at every turn throughout the film.  This results in a rather boring final product, despite some bright spots.

Darren  (Chris Massoglia) and his friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson) sneak out one night to attend a freak show in their area.  Ringmaster Mr. Tall (Ken Watanabe) introduces a plethora of captivating creatures, including a snake boy (Patrick Fugit of Almost Famous), a woman capable of spontaneously regenerating lobbed off  limbs (30 Rock’s Jane Krakowski), a bearded lady/psychic (Salma Hayek), and a girl with freakishly large teeth (Kristen Schaal), amongst others.

The opening scene featuring the freak show was my favorite part of the movie.  It aptly portrays the shock, excitement and disgust that two young boys would feel the first time viewing such an event.  It also had some very cool makeup/CGI effects.  Having been a fan of the original Freaks (1932) I tend to delight in this subject matter, and I was not disappointed.

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Cirque du Freak: the Vampire’s Assistant, directed by About A Boy’s Paul Weitz and based on the series of young-adult novels by Darren Shan, is a surprisingly good movie with all the requisite scares, humor, characters and excellent performances (at least by most of the cast) you could want. Its a good time at the movies unencumbered by many of the things which handicapped something with similar subject matter like Twilight. The real trick here is that the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously and in so doing, manages to be fun and entertaining as well as, at points, quite scary.

Going in to this film I was pretty ignorant of the subject matter and its origins, never better illustrated by my wondering why so many teenagers were in the screening of this film during Fantastic Fest. Also, having not read any of the 12 books of the Cirque Du Freak saga, I can’t say how faithful an adaptation it is of the book. But having any prior knowledge of these characters or reading the books is not really a prerequisite for enjoyment of this film. The world created by director Weitz and the rest of his team is fully populated and realized and envelopes you from the first moments. Its a world that anyone, child or adult, should have no trouble understanding and becoming enthralled by.

Fortunately, the filmmakers accomplish this without the need for lots of gore or real violence (the film carries a PG-13 rating) so this film, because of these reasons and due to its origins in the young adult series of novels, is suitable for most teenagers and adults alike. Although, adults may not appreciate one or two of the jokes that fall flat and may wish the film spent more time with the intriguing supporting characters rather than with the film’s two teenage leads, they will still find this a charming and entertaining good time.

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Seeing as how Vampires are all the rage these days, why not do a film with Walk Hard’s John C. Reilly as a century-old vampire in a cape? There is no wrong answer to that question, only Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.

Based on the series of Cirque Du Freak books by Darren Shan, the film is a fantasy-adventure about a teenager who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. The trailer doesn’t really give off the “warring vampires” vibe, but rather Harry Potter meets Carnivale.

The film also stars Ken Watanabe, Josh Hutcherson, Patrick Fugit, Jane Krakowski and Salma Hayek. Cirque Du Freak hits theaters October 23. Check out the trailer after the jump.

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While the summer blockbusters are still going strong, there’s one film that just misses the “summer” requirement but is still making a name for itself. The film is Shane Acker’s 9, which is based on his award-winning animated short from a few years back, and is produced by Tim Burton. The film is out this September and the marketing team has just released a series of character posters, showing off the animated cast of the film.

In the film, a group of numbered “people” are given the task of saving a post-apocalyptic world from destruction of giant robotic creatures. If you’re thinking “this sounds like every other movie out this summer”, then you should watch the original short that the film will be based on, because it’s got just enough of the Tim Burton fantasy-feel to make it a great movie.

The new posters show off the pretty big ensemble cast, with Christopher Plummer playing 1, Martin Landau as 2, John C. Reilly as 5, Crispen Glover as 6, Jennifer Connoly as 7 and Elijah Wood as the main character 9. Check out the character posters after the jump. 9 hits theaters September 9th.

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As we’ve said before here at The Flickcast, we’re very interested in the upcoming animated film 9, directed by Tim Burton protege’ Shane Acker and Exec. Produced by Burton and director Timur Bekmabetov. From what we’ve seen so far it, combines all of our favorite genres: sci-fi, drama, suspense and action to form what could be one of the most interesting and original films released this year.

In the past, we’ve been able to bring you some details about the film, including the very first poster. Now, we’re pleased to let you know that the film has a new website where you can get even more information and hopefully becomes as interested in the film as we are. This new site differs from the current one devoted to the film over at Focus Features in that it provides glimpses into the minds of the characters and the scientist who created them. Its a very cool way to learn more about the film, the story and its characters.

9 features the voices of Ellijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly and Christopher Plummer as the rag-tag band of living, fighting toys who take up arms after the world of humans is destroyed. 9 hits theaters on September 9th.

Before that, be sure to check out the new website. Also, because we can, you can also take a look at the trailer for the film after the break.

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