For those keeping count, X-Men: First Class is the fifth film in the X-Men series and, chronologically, the first. It opens with the same sequence of a young Erik Lensherr in a Nazi concentration camp, wrenched from his parents and twisting the metal gates, as in the original X-Men film, but expands on the events immediately following: Erik is brought before Nazi scientist Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), who tries to harness Erik’s gift by promptly shooting his mother. Across the world, a young Charles Xavier, possessing the gift of mind-reading, catches the shapeshifter Mystique breaking into his family mansion.

Fast-forward to 20-some years later, it’s 1962 and Charles (now played by James McAvoy) is a prominent biologist at Oxford whose work focuses on genetic mutation; Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is working as a waitress and posing as Xavier’s sister; Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) is hunting down the Nazi scientists who killed his family; and Shaw is now leading a terrorist organization known as the Hellfire Club, aided by his henchmen Emma Frost (January Jones), who also has the power to read minds as well as morph into a sexy diamond, and the demonic-looking Azazel (Jason Flyming), who can teleport as well as impale victims on his pointy tail; finally, there’s Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), a CIA agent who’s hunting down Shaw.

MacTaggert’s investigation uncovers Shaw and his merry band of mutants, which leads her to team up with Xavier and take the villains on aboard Shaw’s yacht, right in step with Lensherr. Shaw escapes, and MacTaggert, Xavier, and Lensherr head back to the CIA, where the three set up a mutant task force (the gathering of which is one of the movie’s best scenes) to save the world.

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While we’re only 8 days away from Fox’s big summer blockbuster X-Men: First Class and we’ve seen almost all of the film from clips circulating the web. With that, we’ve got some awesome new clips for you to drool over.

For those who still haven’t heard about the details of the film, here’s the official synopsis.

X-MEN FIRST CLASS charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time.

Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to prevent nuclear Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.

With a full cast and Kick-Ass’s driver Matthew Vaughn directing the film, we expect some pretty big results from this 60′s style prequel. Check out the clips after the jump and catch First Class in theaters on June 3rd.

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If you dismiss Bridesmaids as an estrogen laden raunch fest, you’d be selling it short. Not only is the film wickedly funny, but it has a surprising amount of heart to boot. How refreshing to see a talented ensemble of women deliver the goods on every level.

Kristen Wiig really gets to strut her stuff as Annie, an adorable underachiever who just can’t catch a break since she lost her bakery during the recession. She occasionally beds down with a handsome prick (John Hamm) who kicks her out of the sack the minute he has done the dirty deed. A real charmer, there. Adding to her misery is her boring job selling jewelry.

When Annie’s best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) becomes engaged, she asks Annie to be her maid of honor. However, their friendship is tested when Lillian’s new (and obscenely wealthy) friend Helen (Rose Byrne) starts honing in on the wedding planning.

A jealous rivalry begins escalating between the two as the events leading up to the wedding unfold. Poor Annie is roped into buying an expensive designer bridesmaid dress she can’t afford and is subjected to the most over-the-top bridal shower ever.

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Insidious was one film that was high on my list of priority to view at SXSW. Essentially a haunted house genre movie, the film is from writer Leigh Whannell and director James Wan, who previously worked together on Saw. No worries, this film is more carnival fun-house ride than house of horrors. I mean that in a good way.

Wan keeps the gore to a minimum, and the film is more campy than truly frightening. It’s still a darn fun ride, in the vein of Drag Me to Hell. The jump scares are plentiful, and had the audience squealing and screaming, but you won’t lie in bed at night pulling the covers up under your chin. It’s quickly forgotten as a fun diversion.

Young couple Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) have just moved into a big, creepy house with their three children. Josh is pretty oblivious to just how stressed out Renai is,  what with caring for three small children and settling into this huge house. You could even say she is (understandably) emotionally unstable.

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With all the comic book movies coming out the last few years and with so many more to come, fans probably have questions about them. Fortunately, Fox has decided to do something about that and let fans ask questions directly to the cast and fillmakers of the upcoming X-Men: First Class.

How does it work? Well, read and and we’ll tell you. This new program, called “X-Perts”, starts March 1st and allows fans to submit their questions via Twitter and Facebook. Each week a new cast member or filmmaker will answer them on the “X-Perts” page.

Following the above guidelines, fans can submit questions two ways: Via a Tweet @XMenMovies or by posting on the wall at the film’s official Facebook Page. Now before you go and get too excited you can be sure they won’t be ansering any spoiler questions or anything like that. For those kinds of answers you’ll just have to wait for the movie itself to be released.

Speaking of that, X-Men: First Class comes to theaters on June 3rd.

Were you as upset as the rest of us when we sat through all of the commercials on Super Bowl Sunday and didn’t get a single glimpse at Fox’s upcoming X-Men: First Class? Well good news! If you have Facebook, then Fox is making it up to you!

Starting later today, 20th Century Fox is rewarding anyone who like their X-Men Movies fan page over at Facebook.com/XMenMovies by giving them the first exclusive look at X-Men: First Class. That’s right, all you have to do is like them. Sounds simple, right?

For those of you who aren’t caught up to speed on the film itself, here’s a tidbit.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events.  Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time.

Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to prevent nuclear Armageddon.  In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.

X-Men: First Class is set to hit theaters on June 3rd.

Since he struck gold back in 2004 with Saw, James Wan has taken the horror world by storm. Continuing in that trend, his next major film in the genre, Insidious, is finally making some buzz with it’s first trailer.

Starring Watchmen’s Patrick Wilson and Damages’ Rose Byrne, the film is an interesting take on a child’s possession. Here’s the full synopsis.

INSIDIOUS is the terrifying story of a family who shortly after moving discover that dark spirits have possessed their home and that their son has inexplicably fallen into a coma. Trying to escape the haunting and save their son, they move again only to realize that it was not their house that was haunted.

The first trailer finally hit for the film, which is set to release on April 1st, and needless to say, it’s pretty haunting inside of the 51 seconds we’re given. Check it out after the jump, and be sure to catch Insidious in theaters this April.

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The horror film Insidious will be making its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) this week.

Here is the official synopsis:

Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) have a happy family with their three young children. When tragedy strikes their young son, Josh and Renai begin to experience things that science cannot explain.

Screenwriter Leigh Whannell penned several of the Saw films, and director James Wan directed two of the earlier Saw movies.

With a title like Insidious you expect this movie to be super creepy.  The clip delivers on that expectation.

Watch the clip entitled, “What is it?”  after the jump.

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Director Michael Vaughn (Kickass) is putting all the pieces in place for the upcoming film X-Men: First Class.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, actress Rose Byrne will play Moira Mactaggert, a scientist who specializes in genetic mutation. The X-Men will be younger than we have previously seen them on film.

Byrne has played opposite Glenn Close on the FX series Damages for three seasons. She earned two Emmy nominations for her work on that series.  She also took a comedic turn as a dim-witted British pop-singer  in Get Him To The Greek, with Russell Brand and Jonah Hill.

Byrne will play the love interest of Charles Xavier, played by James McAvoy.  Other cast members include Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon, and Michael Fassbender.

Shooting for X-Men: First Class will begin in late August.  It is tentatively scheduled to be released in the summer of 2011.

With filming set to begin later this month, some of the final pieces of casting for the film X-Men: First Class are falling into place. Joining the recently announced Rose Byrne and Jason Flemyng, Oliver Platt is the newest addition to the start studded cast.

Along with James McAvoy as Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Alice Eve as Emma Frost, Nicholas Hoult as Beast, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Caleb Landry Jones as Banshee, Lucas Till as Havoc, Edi Gathegi as Darwin, Kevin Bacon as the villain, Jason Flemyng as Azazel and Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert, we now have Oliver Platt joining as “The Man in Black”.

Like Kevin Bacon before him, Oliver Platt’s character has yet to be described fully.  So far the only information being released is that Platt will not be playing a mutant character.

Even though I feel that I’m versed in the world of geekdom and comics, I’m not sure who this “Man in Black” character could  be. If he was a mutant, many names come to mind ranging from Black Tom Cassidy to the Black Rook of the Hellfire Club. The moniker may just be a blanket government agent title.

There are still some glaring absences in the list of parts that have been cast. If this film is to mirror the comics at all, we are still missing Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel and Iceman.

Who do you think Platt will play? Who do you think will play the remaining major parts?

X-men: First Class will be released in theaters June 3rd 2011.

I will have to admit that I’ve not watched the FX series Damages very much. In truth, I’ve only seen the first few episodes. However, that hasn’t stopped the show from being a hit with many fans.

Unfortunately, that number of fans wasn’t enough for FX to keep the show on the air another season and it was officially canceled. But wait, there’s good news if you love the show. According to Deadline, the ratings-challenged show has been rescued by DirecTV. What does this mean? Well, count on Glenn Close, Rose Byrne and other major cast members being on board for two more seasons (20 episodes) of the Emmy-nominated show.

In addition, the satellite company is also picking up the rights to air seasons one through three so fans will get a chance to experience the series in its entirety all on one network. This deal will be different than DirecTV’s previous pickup of NBC’s canceled Friday Night Lights in that, unlike that show, Damages will only air on the satellite network and not on NBC as well.

Expect more episodes of Damages to being airing on DirecTV next year.

In 2008, Russell Brand appeared in Forgetting Sarah Marshall as his alter ego Aldous Snow, a cocky, obnoxious rock star who nabs hottie Kristen Bell from her long time boyfriend. Brand nearly stole the movie out from a cast of gifted comedy heavy-weights. Brand reprises that role in Get Him to the Greek, a comedy/road-trip/buddy movie in which he is paired with Jonah Hill.

Jonah Hill is quickly becoming my go-to guy when it comes to comedy. Although he is usually relegated to supporting character status, I find him to be a welcome addition to any ensemble cast. Now, he gets to flex his muscles (the acting sort, there are none to be found on his actual body) and take a jab at leading man status. With his doughy physique Hill makes an unconventional leading man, but he is strangely endearing and relatable.

As odd as this pairing might seems, it works exceptionally well. Also unexpected, but equally hilarious, is the casting of Sean Combs as an ego-maniacal record executive who provides some of the film’s biggest laughs, believe it or not.

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