Zac Effron is Jason, a 20-or-so book-cover designer living in New York with his best friend and co-worker Daniel (The Spectacular Now‘s Miles Teller) and other best friend Mikey (Michael B. Jordan). Mikey discovers his wife canoodling with the lawyer who will eventually handle their divorce, and so he and Dan and Jason make a pact to remain single. However, Jason meets Ellie (Imogen Poots), they hit it off, but he’s reluctant to tell his friends because of, you know, the pact.

And Dan meets someone. And Mikey hooks up with someone. And they keep those trysts secret, too, because, again, pact. And to go any further meet be a spoiler, but so then would be any wild stab-in-Central-Park conjecture as to what happens.

That Awkward Moment isn’t a difficult movie to review, because it’s not very good. The dialogue plays like any mid-90s attempt to imitate Pulp Fiction — which is basically sitting around a table dwelling on the minute, trying to sound clever.

Jason, for example, believes it an incredibly profound insight that, when coming from a girl, nothing good ever follows the word, “So…” as in “So, where is this going?” a phrase I’m certain was the film’s title in at least one stage of development (but then they couldn’t say “Based on the popular meme!”), and yet, who reading this has not had an awkward break in the conversation when “So…” has led to intercourse?

So far as I’ve seen, the kerfuffle surrounding the funding and production of Promised Land has received more attention than the film itself. So in case you haven’t heard, the film portrays the process of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” in a negative light. People such as Phelim MacAleer, director of the documentary FrackNation, and residents of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, where much of the movie was filmed, have accused the producers of exaggerating if not totally fabricating the dangers of fracking.

However, the biggest bombshell came when the Heritage Foundation revealed that one of the film’s backers is connected to OPEC, sparking outcries that there’s a conflict of interest. OPEC, of course, being a supplier of oil would have a lot to gain if the U.S. outlawed fracking altogether or at least had a good amount of public resentment.

Though anyone actually interested in following the story will see that the connection is dubious, and even if it were ironclad, so what? As much faith as I have in people not to get their information from a fictional film, I’m more confident that not many will see it. For that matter and despite all the hoopla, fracking really isn’t that big of a plot point. It’s discussed, and some dangers are touched on, but the larger villain is the old standby, Big Business.

I originally was going to write that Moonrise Kingdom was, at 94 minutes, among Wes Anderson’s shortest films, but after researching the running times of his previous work, it actually is right in the middle–shorter than The Life Aquatic (119 minutes) and The Royal Tenenbaums (109 minutes), but longer than Rushmore (93 minutes) and Bottle Rocket (92).

I think the difference is in the pacing (though all of Anderson’s films seem longer to me when they’re not on the big screen), because it didn’t feel lagging at any point. As good as Bottle Rocket and Rushmore are, I felt both started strong and then quickly slowed down, only to start rolling again in the third act. Moonrise is funny, engaging, and delightful all throughout.

The time is 1965, the place is a secluded New England island where the narrator (Bob Balaban) gives us a quick rundown of its history and the typical way of life–nothing much happens, and the mail is flown in every so often via waterplane. The inhabitants are the Bishops: Walt (Bill Murray), Laura (Frances McDormand), their sons, and their daughter Suzy (Kara Hayward); and the Khaki Scouts, something like the Junior Woodchucks but without the guidebook.

There is a fantastic new trend in the world of film music, more and more main stream artists are bringing their talents to feature films.  These artists are crafting music that serves to make the films better and stand on their own. Last year two of the best scores were written by Trent Reznor for The Social Network and Daft Punk for Tron Legacy, the line between film composing and main stream music is blending, and we all win for that.

The latest established act to venture into the cinematic music world is the Chemical Brothers. The long standing electronica duo lend their considerable expertise to the film Hanna, an action adventure movie that is high on adrenaline, and they deliver a score to match.

The music sounds very much like The Chemical Brothers would make. That is to say that we don’t get an orchestral hybrid, or their best impressions of John Williams. What we do get is music that pumps and flows with all the frenzy and furry expected from a standard Chemical Brothers album.

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.

Many people believe Channing Tatum is a one-trick pony. To the contrary, the man has plenty of range. We’ve seen him as a soldier leading the fight against villainous terrorists, a soldier who carries his love through letters with Amanda Seyfried and a relieved soldier who is sent back into duty. Now, we’re getting something totally different as Tatum stars as a soldier on a mission to fight his father….in Ancient Rome.

A story like this is pretty epic, so we won’t take anything away from the official synopsis.

In 140 AD, two men – master and slave – venture beyond the edge of the known world on a dangerous and obsessive quest that will push them beyond the boundaries of loyalty and betrayal, friendship and hatred, deceit and heroism…The Roman epic adventure THE EAGLE stars Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell and is directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald. 20 years earlier, Rome’s 5,000-strong Ninth Legion, under the command of Flavius Aquila, marched north carrying their treasured golden Eagle emblem.

They never returned; Legion and Eagle simply vanished into the mists. Hearing a rumor that the Eagle has been seen in a tribal temple in the far north, Flavius’ son Marcus (Tatum), determined to restore the tarnished reputation of his father, is galvanized into action. Accompanied only by his slave Esca (Bell), Marcus sets out into the vast and dangerous highlands of Scotland – to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father’s memory, and retrieve the hallowed Eagle.

Along the way Marcus realizes that the mystery of his father’s disappearance may well be linked to the secret of his own slave’s identity and loyalty – a secret all the more pressing when the two come face-to-face with the warriors of the fearsome Seal Prince (Tahar Rahim).

Plus side? Donald Sutherland. Check out the full trailer for the film after the jump and catch The Eagle in theaters on February 5.

Hit men and assassins are a dime a dozen in Hollywood.  They are primarily used as an incidental plot device.

The assassin’s lifestyle is typically portrayed as being glamorous. There are no shortage of women to choose from, and traversing the globe to all sorts of exotic locales is a job requirement.  If you’ve got nerves of steel and a steady hand, you’ll be rolling in money in no time.

In The American, this conventional portrayal is turned on its ear. The American is a pensive, stark film that peels back the facade and exposes the realities of such a life. There’s no glamor, no partying, and no peace, ever. It’s a somber, isolated, lonely existence.

George Clooney plays Jack, the tortured man who has chosen this lifestyle. He spends most of his time out of the public eye in hotels, cabins or other temporary domiciles. He’s in a perpetual state of paranoia, because anyone he meets could be the person who has been sent to kill him.  Therefore, he spends most of his life obsessively scanning his surroundings and sleeping with one eye open.

You know how you feel when everyone is in on the joke but you?  That’s how I felt about A Serious Man, the latest film from the talented Coen brothers (most recently known for the Oscar winning No Country For Old Men). Dubbed their first “Jewish” film, this movie begins with a Yiddish parable about a dybbuk.

So you don’t know what a “dybbuk” is? Neither did I, because I’m not Jewish. The film doesn’t tell you what that word means, I had to go look it up later.  I’m not going to go so far as to say you won’t enjoy the movie if you are not Jewish, but I think you will have an inherently better understanding and appreciation for the movie. I found it frustrating that the Coen brothers seem to take at face value that you know all about Jewish traditions and mannerisms, and I felt a little left out.

I admire the fact that the prolific brothers clearly wrote this film as an homage to their Jewish roots, and I got the sense that there was definitely a biographical component to the film. Essentially, this is a modern-day retelling of the Book of Job, which is one of the books of the Hebrew bible.

Last month, we brought you an exclusive interview with director/producer Timur Bekmambetov where he talked about his plans for a sequel to last year’s comic book adaptation of Wanted. We also got to speak to the director of such great horror films as Nightwatch and Daywatch about working as producer with Tim Burton on 9, which hits theaters today.

For those unaware, 9 started off as an award-winning animated short, which peaked the interest in a few agents. One of which, happened to be the agent of both Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, who were both eager to bring the project to the big screen as a full length feature.

Check out the video after the jump, as we discuss how 9 came to be, Timur’s journey along the way, and what his initial thoughts were on Shane Acker’s short. Be sure to keep it here in the coming weeks for more with director/producer Timur Bekmambetov.

We’ve been bringing you news of Shane Acker’s upcoming film 9 for some time now. Previously, we showed you the new poster, the film’s brand new website, some character posters, a brand new clip from the movie and much more. Now, we’ve got even more from the film to share with you, in the form of four brand new pictures depicting various scenes from the film.

These new images give us more insight into just how cool and interesting this film is going to be. They also show us some detail on two of the main characters in this fantasy world and a preview of a pretty scary monster as well. In case its been some time or you don’t actually know, the film concerns the character 9, who finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world where all humans are gone. It is only by chance he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth trying to destroy his kind.

9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must go on the offensive to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they’ll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them. Be sure to click through for the large versions of these photos.

9, from Focus Features and featuring the voices of Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, John C. Reilly and Jennifer Connelly, hits theaters next week on September 9.