It’s never a good sign when a film gets pushed back over 6 months. It’s even worse when a studio like Paramount pushes 3 of their upcoming 2012 films back. That seems to be the case, as the mountainous studio has pushed back 3 of its releases. One of these releases is the upcoming 3D epic Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton.

According to an interview with Deadline, a studio exec for Paramount says this is all part of the plan to push the film overseas, but when a film gets pushed from March 2 to January 11 of the following year, it’s never a good sign.

“This should really set up the international,” a studio exec explains to me. ”Jeremy Renner’s international profile should be in great shape after being in Mission: Impossible 4 now, then The Avengers in May, then The Bourne Legacy in August. As this past weekend shows, January is great play time internationally, and we haven’t done too bad domestically in January, either.”

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I tend to think of Scorsese as a master of genre films—he’s done gangster films (Goodfellas, Casino), comedy (After Hours, The King of Comedy), police drama (The Departed), psychological thriller (Shutter Island), boxing (Raging Bull), biopic (Kundun, The Aviator, No Direction Home), concert (Shine a Light), historical (Gangs of New York), literary classic (The Age of Innocence), even a remake Cape Fear) and a sequel (The Color of Money)—but he tends to bring such a distinct touch to the films, they don’t quite feel like genre films.

So when I heard he was taking a stab at a kiddie flick, Hugo immediately shot to my most anticipated Scorsese film to date (outside, of course, of the fictional film he was making with Larry David as the money-hurling mob boss in Curb Your Enthusiasm)—added to that who wouldn’t be interested in Scorsese’s take on 3D?

And Hugo doesn’t disappoint. It’s not the most compelling story, but for all its two-hour-seven-minute running time, I wasn’t bored once. There’s a lot more going on, and I’ll get to that in a moment, but first the rundown.

Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is an urchin who haunts a Paris railway station in the early 1930s, repairing its clocks and stealing various cogs and sprockets to rebuild the homunculus he and his father (Jude Law) were working on right up to his death. While Hugo tends to remain out of the sight and mind of the station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), he’s less successful evading the eye of the toymaker he robs (Ben Kingsley). Caught trying to thieve a wind-up mouse, he’s forced to give up his father’s notebook, which includes all the instructions on repairing the mechanical man and provokes a strange reaction from the toymaker.

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It all started as a little, micro-budget horror flick 3 years ago, that has now become a phenomenon (pun intended) and one highly anticipated trilogy. Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity is just that, and the viral marketing campaign for the upcoming third installment is just beginning.

Over the weekend, several news outlets received a VHS tape and VCR in the mail that had some pretty scary stuff on it. Just enough to get you to pee yourself with both fear and anticipation for what the next film has to bring us.

Here’s what we can look forward to in terms of a story.

The third film takes place in 1988, when Katie and Kristi were kids. While trying to get video proof of Bloody Mary, Katie and Kristi are first confronted by the monstrous demon haunting them in the first and second movies along with their family.

Check out two of the static-filled videos after the jump, and catch Paranormal Activity 3 in theaters on October 21st.

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I’m hesitant to write a summary of Super 8 because I went in knowing nothing about it, had some reservations at first, but was so surprised at around the 10-minute mark that I immediately came on board. So if you’d like to enjoy it cold, read no further. Though I suspect that warning could apply to any film.

Super 8 takes place during the summer of 1979 and follows an outcast group of kids deeply engaged in one of the great pleasures of childhood: making movies. There’s the director Charles (Riley Griffiths), Joe, the makeup guy (Joel Courtney), a few of their bucktoothed, gangly friends, and the female lead Alice (Elle Fanning). Of course, these kids invest much more into their movies than my friends and I ever did (makeup? Multiple angles?), and one of the running gags is Charles’ insistence on production values, regardless of whether it endangers the cast and crew.

While shooting one of the scenes at an abandoned depot, a train barrels past and is derailed by a truck driving down the tracks. The magnificent crash is caught on film and the kids discover that the driver of the truck, who miraculously survives, is their science teacher Mr. Woodward (Glynn Turman), who tells them to get the hell out of there just as the feds arrive.

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To all who have survived the month of June by successfully traversing lines of blood-sucking twihards, I congratulate you. You can relax now because the steaming month of July is less about men of iron and teenagers who use SPF 60 and more about whiz kids, dreamers, and spies.

Movie studios may appear to be throwing grenades into your trench, but don’t let the eye-catching blue and orange of the movie posters fool you. These grenades are merely filled with smoke and a good amount of marketing slickness. They will explode in your face only when you yank the pin by paying $12. Then, they will have truly won the battle. Instead of succumbing to the propaganda, arm yourselves wisely with the reviews below.

Those in the know will hold their breath until August when the golden generation of action heroes team up to save the world, kick some ass before kicking the bucket, and get sweaty enough to take off their shirts- giving both men and women some very good reasons for sitting in an air-conditioned multiplex.

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Last week, a perplexing video debuted on Apple. It appeared to be a trailer for Gore Verbinski’s animated adventure, Rango, but only by way of a few illegal substances.  It turns out that was only a preview for the film’s website (oh, what marketing times we live in!) and the actual trailer premiered this week.

Rango centers on a little household pet who goes on a journey to discover his true self.   Now we finally know what the “household pet” voiced by Johnny Depp is — an adorable, Hawaiian shirt wearing lizard.   Somehow, he’s made his way into the desert where he has no instinct for survival.  The trailer doesn’t betray much in terms of story, and simply lets little Rango run shrieking and wild.

The trailer is pretty cute, and is absolutely gorgeous and immersive in its animation.  The animals are stylized in their features, but their fur, feathers, and scales look photoreal.   The desert feels sunbaked and scary.  And the little Wild West town?  Well, that’s just adorable.   Who knew Rango was going to be a kiddie Western? Not me. I was expecting Bolt all over again.   Rango looks like it might just make Nickelodeon and Paramount a worthy animation rival to DreamWorks and Pixar.

The trailer can be seen after the jump. Watch it, and tell us what you think.  Rango is scheduled to hit theaters March 4, 2011.

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This week’s pick is the 1989 drama directed by Roland Joffe Fat Man and Little Boy which were the code names given to the two atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan, ending the war in the Pacific during World War II. The film stars Paul Newman in a tour de force role as Gen. Leslie Groves, the military head of what was to be known as the “Manhattan Project.”

The film also stars Dwight Schultz (better known for his role on the hit TV show The A-Team playing Murdock) as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant physicist which brought the scientific minds together to help create the project. Rounding out the cast is John Cusack (Michael Merriman) who is a young physicist who acts as the film’s narrator while keeping a secret journal of his time in the New Mexico countryside while research and development of the “gadget” was underway.

The film is a brilliant examination of how the hypothetical became reality. Groves and Oppenheimer begin pulling in some of the best minds in the world who are eager to create a super weapon which will smash the Nazi’s hold throughout Europe. Ironically, Hitler’s own notions of racial purity drove some of Europe’s greatest minds to England and the United States to help the allies come up with an atomic device that would grant them the terms to wage war on the aggressors.

Many of the scenes show how the scientists met crushing deadlines, near fatal accidents with high explosives, radioactive materials, and whether or not the $2 billion project was ethical in the hands of military men like Groves, and what the fate of the world would be with such an awesome new weapon?

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Hamburger Hill (1987) is an intensely, well acted Vietnam War movie which shows seasoned combat troops at their very best. The film follows a group of men of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division as they are ordered to assault a hill fortification of Vietnamese trenches and bunkers from May 10,-20, 1969.

The troops of the 3rd Battalion nicknamed Hill 937 “Hamburger Hill” because it chewed men up like a meat grinder. In fact, according to military historians, the battle for “Hamburger Hill” was one of the last major ground battles fought in Vietnam before American personnel became downsized due to the unable to be won nature of the war, and against America’s enemies.

The film stars a group of up and coming actors, many who went on to becoming huge stars including Dylan McDermott (SSgt. James Frantz), Steven Weber (Sfc. Dennis Worcester), Courtney B. Vance (Spc. Abraham “Doc” Johnson), Michael Boatman (Pvt. Ray Motown), and a young Don Cheadle as (Pvt. Johnny Washburn).

One of the main reasons I have always enjoyed this film is because it shows the hardships, camaraderie, and the dedication that each of these men had for each other while facing some of the most brutal combat in the war. The main characters open up to one another and begin to learn about each others lives as well as what their plans are when they get out of the war.

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Catch-22 (1970) is one of those films which falls into several genres. It’s a war film, it’s dramatic, and is considered by many to be a “black comedy.” Mike Nichols directed this screen adaption, which was written by long time collaborator Buck Henry and on the Joseph Heller novel about a group of U.S. Army pilots stationed on a tiny island west of Italy during the tail end of World War II.

Legendary comedic actor Alan Arkin stars as Captain John Yossarian, a veteran bombardier with the fictional 256th Bomber Squadron who are forced to fly countless missions by their commander, Colonel Cathcart (Martin Balsam). Yossarian has flown over twice the required missions allowed by bomber crews before they are eligible to rotate back home for non active duty.

Yossarian feels that the more times he climbs into the nose of his bomber, the more chances he has at dying. Trying to fake insanity in order to be grounded, invokes the policy known in the army as “Catch-22″ meaning that if a pilot tries to get out of flying missions, he isn’t really crazy and therefore can’t be grounded under the basis of instability.

Yossarian confides in Dr. “Doc” Daneeka (Jack Gilford) to try and have him committed for the duration of the war, yet Doc doesn’t want to rock the boat and feel the pressures of not only Col. Cathcart, but his even tougher adjutant, Lt. colonel Korn (Buck Henry).

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When I went to bed last night, lulled by the barrage of television spots for The Bounty Hunter, I had only one thought — the world needs more romantic comedies! I mean, we only have one coming out this weekend! And then we have to wait an entire week for The Last Song! You’re killing me Hollywood.

Thankfully, Ivan Reitman senses the need, and is coming to the rescue.  According to Variety, Reitman will be helming an untitled romantic comedy for Paramount. He’s lured Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher to star, and it already has a release date of January 7, 2011.

Penned by Elizabeth Meriwether, the script has the working title of Friends With Benefits. (If IMDB is to be believed, it had an even raunchier working title that rhymes with Muckmuddies.  I can’t imagine why they had to change that.) The story is being kept secret, but it revolves around how much easier it is to fall into a sexual relationship over something with emotional bonds.

In other words, friends with benefits. Reitman feels this is untapped territory when it comes to the genre of cute people in love.  “It’s an issue ripe for discussion.”

January 7, 2011. The day when Portman, Kutcher, and Reitman became pioneers in the field of cinematic romance. Mark your calenders. History will be made.