Alberto Iglesias is a fantastic composer. He has two Oscar nominations under his belt, and now that he is getting higher profile work it wont be long before this Spanish composer gets a win. His most recent score is for the spy drama Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy, starring a who’s who of the best British actors working today.

The music for a thriller like this is essential in selling the mood and tension. A great score can be all the difference a movie like this needs to really breakout. So it is with great excitement that I take a listen to the Iglesias’ music, knowing that if he nails it this could be one of the best scores of the year.

My first reaction to this score is that it’s simple, piano heavy tones are perfect for a hard boiled spy thriller. I appreciate the minimalist approach which really heightens the moments of suspense in the score. The music is also not afraid to get big and exciting, most notably on the titular final track. There is a great since of intrigue in this music, really capturing the vibe you what to hear in a movie such as this.

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If you’ve been the star of one of the most successful film franchises of all time and now that’s over, you might want to consider trying to go in a different direction with your career. If you’re Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, that’s kinda what you’ve done with your upcoming film The Woman In Black.

In the film Radcliffe plays a lawyer who travels to a remote English village and discovers that the ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals. The horror thriller is a remake of a 1989 TV movie which was adapted from a play which, itself, was adapted from a novel by Susan Hill. You follow all that? Good.

We’v got a new trailer for the film to share with you today. In it, Radcliffe does his best to overcome the notion that he should just pull out his wand and blast the ghost with his magical powers. Does he succeed? You be the judge.

Check out the trailer after the jump. The Woman In Black is set to hit theaters on February 3rd of 2012.

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Everyone may have had their sites set of things they knew about like Amazing Spider-Man and Game of Thrones this year at San Diego Comic-Con, but one film that managed to turn tons of heads (that managed to get into the panel) was Francis Ford Coppola’s newest vampire/witchcraft based film, TWIXT.

Starring Val Kilmer and Elle Fanning, the film takes the world of Vampires and Witches that modern audiences know all too well and gives it an old spin. Here’s the premise.

A writer with a declining career arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl. That night in a dream, he is approached by a mysterious young ghost named V. He’s unsure of her connection to the murder in the town, but is grateful for the story being handed to him. Ultimately he is led to the truth of the story, surprised to find that the ending has more to do with his own life than he could ever have anticipated.

If Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang taught us anything, it’s that Val Kilmer as a failed anything is much more entertaining and believable than a successful Val Kilmer.m The only unfortunate part of the trailer is the pacing, and how the visuals tend to linger, which would be impressive if they were shots and visual aesthetics that we haven’t seen countless times before.

Judge for yourself and take a look at the trailer after the jump. TWIXT hits theaters later this year.

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Let’s get this out of the way in advance: I’m a fan of actor, personality and bongo player Matthew McConaughey. Even though he’s been dipping in the romantic comedy well too much for the last several years, I’ve always thought he had an edge that needed to be explored.

Looks like I’m getting my wish with his upcoming film Killer Joe. In fact, not only does McConaughey look like he’s continuing to return to better, more challenging, roles the film also marks another directing effort for one of my favorites, William Friedkin. So, win win.

The film, written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award writer Tracy Letts, tells the story of a Dallas detective who is also a hired killer. Talk about conflicted. Check out the synopsis below and a cool clip for the film after the jump:

When 22 year-old drug dealer Chris (Emile Hirsch) has his stash of drugs stolen from him by his mother, he has to come up with six-thousand dollars quick, or he’s dead. Desperate, he goes to the trailer-park to see his father, Ansel (Thomas Hayden Church), and he lays out the plan. Chris’s mother, who everyone hates, has a life insurance policy that would clear up his debt and make them all rich. The problem is that Chris’ mother is very much alive.

Enter Detective “Killer” Joe Cooper, a hired hit man with the manners of a Southern gentleman, who will do the job – for an upfront fee, that Chris and Ansel can’t pay. Just as Joe is about to leave, he spots Dottie (Juno Temple), Chris’ innocent younger sister. Joe makes Chris an offer, he’ll keep Dottie as sexual collateral until the money is collected and his fee can be paid. Chris reluctantly puts his debt ahead of his sister and agrees to Joe’s demand.

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The concept of the insane upper-class citizens is one that has gone to the wayside over the past few years. There are some great films that incorporate the plot twist, such as Swimming with Sharks, but most insane antagonists in film tend to be members of the unwashed and broke.

That’s where Nick Tomnay’s The Perfect Host comes in. Based on his original 2001 short, The Host, the film takes the classic hostage tale and spins it around. Here’s the official synopsis.

Warwick Wilson is the consummate host. He carefully prepares for a dinner party, the table impeccably set and the duck perfectly timed for 8:30 p.m. John Taylor is a career criminal. He’s just robbed a bank and needs to get off the streets.

He finds himself on Warwick’s doorstep posing as a friend of a friend, new to Los Angeles, who’s been mugged and lost his luggage. As the wine flows and the evening progresses, we become deeply intertwined in the lives of these two men and discover just how deceiving appearances can be.

David Hyde Pierce takes on the role of Warwick, which is great seeing as how Pierce has been stuck with the fumbling, British comic relief for so many years. It will be nice to see him try out “nut case” for size.

Check out the trailer after the jump, and catch The Perfect Host on demand on May 27th and in theaters on July 1.

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Often, it’s difficult for actors to make the transition from one role they are hugely famous for into other roles. That’s especially true if you’ve grown up playing one character. People often have a hard time thinking of you as anything else.

Case in point is actor Daniel Radcliffe who will, almost certainly, always be thought of by many as Harry Potter. However, that hasn’t stopped the actor from trying to branch out and leave Harry behind. One of those attempts is a new project from Momentum Films and Exclusive Media Group’s Hammer called The Woman in Black.

In the film, Radcliffe plays a young lawyer who travels to a mysterious house to settle the affairs of the spooky mansion’s owner. Of course, we’ve got a teaser from the film to show you right now.

Click through to check out the teaser. The Woman In Black is currently shooting for a February, 2012 release.

So, what do we think? Can Radcliffe move on to other, more mature roles or will he always be Harry Potter to you? Sound off in the comments!

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Hanna is no ordinary assassin. With piercing blue eyes and an angelic countenance, the teenager looks more suited to be homecoming queen than cold blooded killer. Only that was not her lot in life. Hanna has been isolated from the populace in the frigid confines of Northern Finland, learning survival skills from her well versed father Erik (Eric Bana), who is an ex-CIA operative.

It’s obvious that Erik is trying to prepare Hanna for something; in addition to survival skills, he quizzes her in multiple languages, and educates her on topics of science, current events, and literature. Hanna spends her evenings poring over Grimm’s Fairy Tales by candlelight.  You could say she is a true Renaissance woman.

The opening scene on the frozen tundra shows Hanna shooting a Reindeer with a bow and arrow. When the creature still writhes about, she calmly shoots it, then dresses it right in the field. She goes about these gruesome tasks with robotic precision and complete detachment.

Later, Erik and Hanna decide it is time to move on from their self-imposed exile; Hanna is ready to go out into the real world. Erik has been honing Hanna’s skills in anticipation of being pursued by Marissa (Cate Blanchett), another CIA agent dead set on getting rid of Hanna. Erik and Hanna go their separate ways, but make plans to meet at a safe-house in Germany.

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In 2009, director Duncan Jones made a splash on the indie scene by bringing us a smart, trippy sci-fi film called Moon. The film was warmly received by critics, but fell short of being a commercial success.

Despite the fact that Source Code has all the trappings of a studio film (bigger budget, bigger stars, bigger advertising campaign) Jones has remained remarkably faithful to his indie roots. The result is the rare mix of a smart thriller with wide audience appeal. We’ve seen that audiences don’t always shy away from smart films (case in point, Christopher Nolan’s Inception); maybe we are finally starting to see the studios warm to the idea that smart and commercially viable are not necessarily mutually exclusive concepts.

Source Code proves that the two can concepts can co-exist in perfect harmony. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Captain Colter Stevens, who finds himself on a train in Chicago one day and is completely panicked to find out that he has no idea who the woman sitting with him is, and he doesn’t know how he got on the train. Before he can put the pieces of the puzzle, the train blows up.

Colter finds himself waking up in a pod-type device, listening to the soothing voice of Colleen (Vera Farmiga), a military officer who explains that he has been sent back in time (before the train exploded) to find out who placed the bomb on the train. They believe that another attack is planned, and the only way to stop it is to find the perpetrator of the attack on the first train.

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When the trailer for the upcoming sci-fi thriller Limitless starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro first hit, one of the first questions that came to mind when we learned of the plot was “sure, this pill allows him to get a haircut and learn Italian, but does it give him superpowers?” Sure enough, this clip has got the answer for us.

For those who haven’t read about the full synopsis for the film, here it is.

Eddie Morra (Cooper) is an unemployed writer whose girlfriend Lindy (Abbey Cornish) breaks up with him. Eddie believes he has no future, but when a friend introduces him to the experimental drug NZT, Eddie becomes highly focused and highly confident. He is able to recall everything he has read, heard, or seen, and he uses the knowledge to become successful in the financial world. Business mogul Carl Van Loon (De Niro) sees Eddie as a potential tool to make money, but Eddie’s success also attracts hitmen who pursue him for the NZT. Eddie’s stash dwindles, causing him side effects, as he tries to escape being assassinated.

So when an experimental drug gives you heightened intelligence, creativity, and learning powers, doesn’t it make sense that you’d be great in a fist fight? Check out a new clip from the film after the jump and learn for yourself.

Limitless hits theaters on March 18th.

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The Tourist really wants to be the perfect Saturday night date movie. It is the kind of film that could be described entirely in clichéd one-liners, but that’s okay because it embraces this and wants to be entertaining nonetheless. Full of intrigue, romance, espionage and glamour, what it is lacking is nothing on the surface.

The problem is that there is nothing more to the film than its exterior. It is stylish, chic and not difficult to watch, but there really isn’t any more substance to it than an unsigned “Wish You Were Here” postcard of Venice.

Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, whose film The Lives of Others won the 2007 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, The Tourist should be in good hands. It was written by Donnersmarck, as well as two other very capable writers: Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) and Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park).

These are people that know how to make a good movie. Add stars like Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie and something delicious should be boiling at the surface, instead it felt more like a bowl of microwaved condensed soup.

A loose remake of the 2005 French film Anthony Zimmer directed by Jérôme Salle, the film is a giant nod to the great romantic crime capers of the 50s and 60s, most obviously Charade and To Catch a Thief. It is about a tourist, Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp), a math teacher from Wisconsin who meets a striking, mysterious woman called Elise, played by Angelina Jolie.

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How many times has this happened to you? You wake up in a car, its smashed up and you have no memory of how you got there or what happened. Sound familiar?

Well, even if it doesn’t sound familiar, it still makes for an interesting premise for a movie to be sure. Fortunately, someone already had the idea and has made a movie that starts off just that way. The movie, which features Adrien Brody and is called Wrecked, tells the story of Brody’s character who wakes up in a forest after a car accident and has no idea how he got there or what happened.

Then, as he piece together the events leading to his predicament, things don’t turn out at all ho they seem. In fact, they don’t turn out very good at all. The film was directed by Michael Greenspan and is slated for release next year.

Check out the trailer after the jump.

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Red certainly isn’t an important or groundbreaking film, but it is a lot of fun, and that counts for something in my book.  Sometimes that is exactly what we are seeking out, and this film delivers.  It’s a blast.

Bruce Willis plays Frank Moses, a man who appears to be living a  ho-hum existence  in the suburbs.  He spends his free time convincing a government employee in Kansas City (Sarah, played by a sassy Mary-Louise Parker) that he has not received his government checks.  He is really ripping them up, just so he can call her every few days and talk.  The two have adopted a flirty rapport during their chats.

In a thrilling opening sequence, Frank finds out (rather unexpectedly) that he is being targeted by assassins, and he quickly and efficiently employs a variety of weapons and booby traps to thwart their efforts.  It is clear that this is no ordinary citizen, you see Frank is classified by the CIA as RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous.)

After he has time to get his wits about him, Frank rushes to Kansas City to rescue/kidnap Sarah, because she will be targeted l if the unknown assailants check his phone records.

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