Woody Harrelson has had an interesting revitalization in the past few years with films like Zombieland and 2012, but now it’s time for him to take on another meaty lead a la The People vs. Larry Flynt. Except this time you can expect a better film with Rampart.

The film’s got a pretty star-studded cast with Harrelson being joined by Ned Beatty, Ben Foster, Anne Heche, Ice Cube, Cynthia Nixon, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, and Steve Buscemi, but that’s not even as good as the story itself. Here’s the synopsis.

Los Angeles, 1999. Officer Dave Brown (Harrelson) is a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop, dedicated to doing “the people’s dirty work” and asserting his own code of justice, often blurring the lines between right and wrong to maintain his action-hero state of mind. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as the consequences of his past sins and his refusal to change his ways in light of a department-wide corruption scandal seal his fate.

Brown internalizes his fear, anguish and paranoia as his world, complete with two ex-wives who are sisters, two daughters, an aging mentor dispensing bad advice, investigators galore, and a series of seemingly random women, starts making less and less sense. In the end, what is left is a human being stripped of all his pretense, machismo, chauvinism, arrogance, sexism, homophobia, racism, aggression, misanthropy; but is it enough to redeem him as a man?

Take a look at the trailer below to see the film in action, and catch Rampart in limited theaters on November 23rd.

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This week’s pick is the 1979 least known and only comedy from director Steven Spielberg, 1941 which stars Saturday Night Live originals Dan Aykroyd (Sgt. Frank Tree), and the incomparable John Belushi (Capt. “Wild” Bill Kelso, U.S. Army Air Corp.) Other supporting actors include Bobby Di Cicco (Wally Stephens), Ned Beatty (Ward Douglas), Lorraine Gary (Joan Douglas), Murray Hamilton (Claude Crumm), Christopher Lee (Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt), Tim Matheson (Capt. Loomis Berkhead) and Toshiro Mifune (Cmd. Akiro Mitamura).

Also on hand are Warren Oates (Col. Maddox), Robert Stack (Maj. Gen. Joseph W. Stillwell), Treat Williams (Cpl. Chuck “Stretch” Sitarski), Nancy Allen (Donna Stratton), John Candy (Pvt. Foley), Slim Pickens (Hollis P. Wood), and Count Floyd himself, Joe Flaherty (Raoul Lipschitz).

The opening of the film informs the audience about the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 which hurtled an unsuspecting America into World War II. The West Coast of the United States was fearful that the Japanese would attack California next. These were actual fears that were quickly realized by its citizens, and that extreme caution and observation was needed to thwart any attempt which made invasion possible. The film is set just six days after the Pearl Harbor attack.

In the first few opening minutes of the film, Spielberg, and writers Bob Gale, John Milius, and future director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future trilogy) fantastically lampoon Spielberg’s Jaws opening by using the very same actress to re-create her skinny dip scene in the early morning hours. Veteran Spielberg composer John Williams even re-creates his famous theme music. The female swimmer is instantly caught on the periscope of a Japanese submarine which is prowling the California coastline for a worthy military target.

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In 1995, an animation studio called Pixar released Toy Story, a tale that chronicled what toys do when no one is around.  The movie featured the loyal and charismatic Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks),  whose alpha-toy status is threatened when his owner receives a bright and shiny Buzz Lightyear toy for  his birthday.  The movie became an instant classic, and earned over $360M  worldwide.  Pixar also became the gold standard for animation and storytelling.

The sequel, Toy Story 2, was released in 1999, and earned over $485 Million. Now, over 11 years later, Pixar finally unveils Toy Story 3.  Rest assured, the movie is worth the wait.  Pixar builds on its impeccable track record with yet another beautifully written and animated story that will appeal to kids and adults alike.

From one parent to another- clean the toy room out before you go see this. Throwing away toys after seeing this is tantamount to killing a bunny or stomping on a butterfly. You’ll feel like a cold-blooded killer.

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Previously, we brought you an extended trailer for director Michael Winterbottom’s upcoming film The Killer Inside Me. Sadly, as we found out later, it wasn’t the “official’ release and was subsiquently removed from the Internets. That was unfortunate because the trailer, and the movie, looked quite interesting.

Fortunately, the studio has now seen fit to release the trailer “officially” into the wild and, of course, we’ve got it for you right here. This trailer isn’t all that different from the previous one and still features the film’s stars Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba doing what they do best. It also has a great look and intriguing premise. However, it doesn’t go quite a far as the last one did and is obviously more for general consumption. I’m sure we’ll see a “Red Band” version of this soon enough.

In case you’ve forgotten what the film is about, its based on the novel by Jim Thompson, who also wrote the novels The Grifters and The Getaway, and features Affleck as Sheriff Lou Ford who, on the surface, is an upstanding citizen and upholds the law. But underneath, Ford hides a dark secret that leads him to places he may not want to go but feels compelled to explore.

The Killer Inside Me also features Bill Pulman, Simon Baker, Ned Beatty and Elias Koteas. It hits theaters and On Demand June 18th. Check out the trailer and a larger version of the poster after the jump.

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About a month ago, we brought you news of the first new character to be revealed from Disney’s upcoming Toy Story 3. His name was Mr. Prickelpants, and he was a porcupine in lederhosen, voiced by Timothy Dalton. As if the characters couldn’t get any better than that, we just got word of the next four to be revealed.

Disney has even gone as far as to give descriptions of each new toy, staying in the context of the Toy Story Universe. Each of our favorites are still back, including Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz, Wallace Shawn as T. Rex, and John Ratzenberger as Piggy Bank.

Check out each of the descriptions, with exclusive new pics, after the jump. Catch Toy Story 3 in theaters and IMAX across the country on June 18th.

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Casey Affleck has been known to take some pretty intense roles as of late. His first being the role of Robert Ford in The Assassination of Jesse James and then his work on his brother’s project, Gone Baby Gone. It looks like Affleck is going to step it up once again as Sheriff Lou Ford in the ultra-violent The Killer Inside Me.

The film is based on the novel by Jim Thompson, who also wrote the novels films such as The Grifters and The Getaway were adapted from. The original 1976 film starred Stacey Keach, who took on the role that Affleck is now running with.

The extended trailer shows off some of the intense moments (hopefully not all) from the film, such as some raunchy aggressive sex with both Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson, as well as a violent murder of one of them. This may just be the role that puts Casey Affleck on the map. The film has a lot of visual similarities to No Country for Old Men, which may help it come Academy Awards season.

Director Michael Winterbottom is the visual eye behind the remake. He directed a few other low-budget films such as A Mighty Heart and 24 Hour Party People. The Killer Inside Me also stars Bill Pullman, Simon Baker, Ned Beatty, and Elias Koteas. As of yet, it does not yet have a hard release date.

Check out the full, extended trailer after the jump. Some moments may be NSFW.

Update: Sadly, the video has been removed at the request of the copyright holder.

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