This is a difficult one. On the one hand, the constant use of jump scares, which last for about two-thirds of the running time, feels like a cheat. The camera closes in on an actor, the music drops, and then, suddenly, WHAM, something appears, screams indecipherably, and a discordant note strikes. Repeat. And repeat, repeat, and repeat. It’s not difficult to do, and director James Wan (Saw) does it so frequently that you start to wonder, fairly early, if he can do anything else.

He doesn’t seem to, since the story is nonexistent for a large part of the beginning, and once Wan finally settles down and tells it, it gets convoluted and downright silly.

What we do get, at least before the spoiler-mark, is a flashback to 1986. Young Josh Lambert (Garrett Ryan) is troubled by spooky visions so his parents call in Elise Ranier (Lin Shaye), a paranormal something-or-other who senses deadly presences and then decides to hypnotize Lambert into forgetting everything. Jump to the present day, where Josh (Patrick Wilson), his wife Renai (Rose Byre), and son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) are recovering from the events of the first film.

Josh starts acting strange, and Renai suspects something’s come back with him (come back from the supernatural place he went in the first film). At the same time, two bumbling ghost chasers, Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson), team up with quasi-psychic and former colleague of Elise, Carl (Steve Coulter), and Josh’s mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) to contact the spirit of (Spoiler for the first film) Elise.

Yeah, we know that picture above is creepy. So was the first Insidious movie. And now, the team of director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell have reunited with the original cast of Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey and Ty Simpkins for a sequel entitled, appropriately enough, Insidious: Chapter 2.

This new movie follows the haunted Lambert family as they seek to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. Quick guess as to how that goes?

We’re gonna guess not that well. For almost everyone.

Look for Insidious: Chapter 2 to arrive in theaters on September 13. Watch the trailer after the break and prepare to be scared.

With Juno, Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman solidified themselves in cinematic history with Cody even winning an Oscar for best screenplay. So it makes sense the duo would try to strike gold again with a whole new gang of wacky characters and off-beat tone in their latest collaboration Young Adult.

That seems to be the plan for the movie, or at least what we can gather from this new red-band trailer. For those who need a bit more other than seeing the amazing cast of Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, and Patton Oswalt, here’s the synopsis:

Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to relive her glory days and attempt to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart (Wilson). When returning home proves more difficult than she thought, Mavis forms an unusual bond with a former classmate (Oswalt) who hasn’t quite gotten over high school, either.

Take a look at the new trailer after the jump in which Theron gets a bit nuts. Young Adult is set to hit theaters on December 9th.

The primetime TV landscape for Fall is almost complete. With NBC, ABC and Fox already releasing their schedules for Fall, CBS now joins in and has announced their primetime schedule for 2011 and 2012 as well.

Some of the changes made by the network for Fall include moving CSI from Thursday to Wednesday nights and launching new drama Person of Interest in its place. In addition, The Good Wife will move to Sundays and Rules of Engagement to Saturdays.

New series from the network include three new dramas and two new comedies. They are as follows: Person of Interest, a crime thriller from executive producer J.J. Abrams starring Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson and Taraji P. Henson; Unforgettable, starring Dylan Walsh and Poppy Montgomery as a former detective with a rare condition that enables her to remember virtually every detail from every day of her life.

In addition, CBS will debut A Gifted Man about a preeminent surgeon whose life changes forever when his deceased ex-wife returns, starring Patrick Wilson and Jennifer Ehle; 2 Broke Girls, a comedy about two strikingly different young waitresses who form an unlikely friendship, starring Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs; and an odd-couple comedy, How to Be A Gentleman, starring David Hornsby and Kevin Dillon, about a refined magazine columnist and his very unrefined personal trainer.

These new series will be joined by 19 returning shows including NCIS, The Big Bang Theory, 60 Minutes, Hawaii Five-O, Mike & Molly, Survivor and The Amazing Race.

Heres the new Fall schedule:

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.

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.

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.

It doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while an independent, small budget comedy ends up establishing cult status almost immediately. It looks like Barry Munday may be setting itself up for that.

Based on the book Life is A Strange Place by Frank Turner Hollon, the film follows the misfortunes of a wannabe ladies man trapped in the suburbs. Munday is penned and directed by newcomer Chris D’Arienzo, who is also attached to write the film adaptation of the musical Rock Of Ages.

The film not only stars Watchmen’s Patrick Wilson as the titular Barry, but Christopher McDonald, Billy Dee Williams, Jean Smart, Missi Pyle, Chloë Sevigny, Judy Greer, and Malcolm McDowell also join the fun.

Check out a brand new clip from the film after the jump, which features Arrested Development’s Mae Whitman (“Egg”) as yet another sexualized character. Between this and her recent role in Scott Pilgrim, we may need to rethink her being cast in an Arrested film.

Be sure to catch Barry Munday in theaters on October 31st.

Come on, we all know the drill with romantic comedies.  Two star-crossed lovers are completely oblivious to the fact that they are perfect for one another, then one or both has an epiphany in the last 15 minutes of the film, usually resulting in a sprint to an airport/train station/cab or other mode of transport to confess their true feelings.  Cue happy ending.

There’s just not that much to it, and the genre has been done to death.  The only thing separating romantic-comedies from one another is the story that articulates how the couple eventually ends up together. Sometimes that journey is dull and joyless, but The Switch was actually a sweet movie that made me want to share the journey with the characters. It was a notch above most romantic comedies, particularly this year’s offerings.

Jennifer Aniston plays Kassie, a New York professional who has suddenly realized that she has a biological clock that is not so much ticking as it is screaming at her to have a baby, stat. Her best friend Wally (who names their kid Wally, for chrissakes?), played by Jason Bateman, warily listens to Kassie effuse about how wonderful it will be to be a single parent, and tries to snap her back to reality.

God forbid someone tell Kassie something she doesn’t want to hear. Kassie dismisses his concern as lack of support, and promptly tells him that she is putting their friendship in a time out (get it, she is already thinking in Mommy terms!)