The Marvel Cinematic Universe is entering into untested grounds. While the first phase of films was groundbreaking in its structure, it still had the familiar grasp of forward momentum. Like a wave crashing onto the beach, the momentum is beginning to recede as Marvel gears up for their next big push.

So it falls on the capable shoulders of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man to embrace the narrowing focus of the universe, while still setting in motion the momentum for the next phase of Marvel films. So considering the pressure this film is under, it makes sense that we are seeing an expanded presence from this film’s marketing as the Super Bowl approaches.

We do not have the new TV spot, or a full trailer just yet, but Marvel Studios has just released a beautiful new poster to stroke everyone’s  anticipation glands.

The poster itself is a simple image of Iron Man, or as simple of an image of Iron Man you can get when he is plummeting to his certain doom. A cheery one-sheet that sets the tone for the ringer Tony Stark is set to be sent through.

You can check out the full new poster after the jump.

This week is going to belong to Iron Man and Marvel Studios, today we have the first look at the teaser poster and an actual shot of The Mandarin for you to oogle over. Tomorrow we will get a glimpse of the first teaser trailer for next summer’s blockbuster to be and by Friday all of this will be dissected 1000 times over by the fan community and we will know if the film will suck or not. Things move fast these days.

First up is the teaser poster, which gives away absolutely nothing new. It is just a stylized version of Tony’s hall of armor with an unsuited Stark looking back to stare deeply into the audiences eyes as he ponders ‘what should I wear?’. It is a fine poster and actually ranks as one of the better Iron Man one-sheets to date. Posters is oddly one aspect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has been lacking over the last few years.

The second image for you to feast your eyes on is Sir Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin. For those who are not comic fan boys first, The Mandarin is the arch nemesis of Iron Man and has not made an appearance in the films, but his presence has been felt in the guise of the ten rings syndicate which is likely his criminal force.

Take a look at both after the jump.

Despite what the weather might indicate around most of the country right now, we are knee-deep into October, the month where all the things that go bump in the night get their time to shine. Most people are probably well aware of some of the bigger horror releases taking advantage of this time of year, but there are other independent features that are hitting select theaters soon that your horror fans might want to know about.

One such upcoming film is The Cohasset Snuff film from up and coming filmmaker Edward Payson. For those who have no idea what this film is yet, lets begin with a synopsis:

In 2009, the small town of Cohasset, Massachusetts was rocked with tragedy. A 17-year-old high school senior named Collin Mason murdered three classmates. All the murders were videotaped and uploaded to the Internet via bit torrent sites and for three days, the world viewed the murders of these three innocent teens. 

Through legal action, the parents of the victims were able to remove all footage from the Internet and the town tried to save face by pretending it never happened. Bootleg copies of this footage are still passed around and downloaded through illegal means. The impact of this video is still being felt in Cohasset today. The video has become infamous, and is now referred to as The Cohasset Snuff Film.

It seems an easy leap to take the found footage sub-genre and focus on an infamous snuff film. Hopefully this will work to the film’s advantage as it can heighten the voyeuristic qualities of found footage and could really play with the audience’s sense of morality as they are entertained by horrific acts on-screen.

Check out an exclusive clip, the trailer and more after the jump.

Edgar Wright is a filmmaker who everyone should be excited about. He managed the rare hat trick of having his first three films be very excellent AND rather successful. So when he announced one more go around with the stars of his first to films, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, the world should have stopped for a moment and given the man a golf clap of encouragement.

Alas that didn’t happen so we are forced to go through the motions of a normal movie marketing cycle, starting with an excellent teaser poster coming soon to a theater lobby near you. These days teaser posters tend to be the superior form of film one-sheets, with studios more keen to let simplicity and the concept stand first and foremost instead of ghostly floating heads of the famous people in the movie. The teaser for The World’s End is no exception, this new poster is striking in all the right ways.

The film is about the pub crawl to end all pub crawls, literally, and this poster really nails the tone that the concept elicits. The film should be coming out some time in 2013 so the trickle of news and updates for this highly anticipated comedy should begin to flow more regularly in the coming months.

Check out the full poster after the jump.

Hitchcock is one of those handful of films that in any other year would be at the top of the heap for the award bait season we are about to head into. You have several high-profile actors in a biopic about one of the greatest directors of all time, and nearly everyone is playing someone else famous.

Yet with the huge number of “prestige” films hitting cinemas in the next four months, flicks like this one can get lost in the shuffle. Hoping to avoid that fate, the studio has released a brand new poster and trailer for Hitchcock and it is worth taking a look at. If only for seeing Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, who seems ridiculously perfect for the role.

On the other end of the spectrum is Anthony Hopkins as the titular director. As a still his look seems jarring and distracting, but it will be Hopkins acting that will be the pivot point for this film. If he is not fantastic in the part, the whole thing will probably fall on its face, but if he can nail it, Hitchcock could be a real contender for one of the best films of the year.

That is probably what makes this film so intriguing, even with the film so close to release it could still land anywhere between best picture or bomb of the year. Keep your eyes peeled to The Flickcast for any new updates on this fast approaching project and check out the trailer and full poster after the jump.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is not your average horror franchise. The original film is a true original and was one of the forefathers of modern horror storytelling, and after that the series took a long and twisty road. So it seems appropriate that we end up at the natural extension of the franchise, Texas Chainsaw 3D.

This is a film that is coming out in a few months, yet up to this point in time we have not seem much promotion for it. That was until the new one-sheet popped up online today, and, in all honesty, the poster actually strikes a compelling tone.

The tag line, ‘Evil Wears Many Faces’ offers up an interesting thought, Leatherface would probably have multiple masks he has made out of his victims over the years. Perhaps the new film will dig deeper into what makes the lunatic tick, or it is a throw away concept and the film is really just going to be a pretty young girl in a sweaty, small top running away from her doom for 95 minutes. Yeah we are betting the latter too.

In any event the poster is harmless and much better than they typical teaser imagery associated with 3D sequels to a modern horror remake.

You can check out the full one-sheet after the jump.

I am not a PTA fan, so much so that I feel the need to state that at the top of this news item about the new one-sheet for his latest movie, The Master. I feel it is important for you to understand that context when I tell you how much I really love this poster.

The modern movie poster is a very specific beast. There is a pattern that these designers seem to fall into that can come across as lazy or uninspired. So when some one breaks the mold and delivers a legitimately interesting one sheet, you take notice.

This is not the first time PTA has inspired a rather brilliant poster, There Will Be Blood also had a pretty stellar one sheet design that was both classic and fresh all at once. And again, this is coming from the guy grumpy dude he thinks PTA is just a poor man’s Robert Altman, so I hope you can sense the real appreciation I am heaping on over here.

You can check out the full poster after the jump, and The Master when it hits cinema’s this fall.

Taken is one of those films that just works in every way. From concept, to casting, all the way to the score and even the title, it just all works so very well. Good movies do not go unsequelized in this day and age so of course Taken 2 is coming, and the first UK poster has just hit the web.

The first film revolved around Liam Neeson’s character going after his kidnapped daughter, there was some concern that the sequel might just be some sort of re-hash on the original concept. Based on the poster’s tagline we might be seeing a far more interesting take on the idea:

First they took his daughter. Now they’re coming for him.

It would have been really easy, and lazy, for the writers to have the baddies from the first film exact their revenge by taking more members of Neeson’s family. It makes much more sense to see those baddies go directly after Neeson himself.

As the film is called Taken 2, I’m sure there will be some layer of kidnapping somewhere in the story, but if the focus is less on Neeson using his skills to retrieve another loved one and more on him being the target we could be a in for a quality action sequel on the way.

Take a look at the full UK poster after the jump.

Action Stars? Check. Explosions? Check. More Action Stars? Check. Foreground Flames for no reason? Check. Still more Action Stars? Check, check, check.

Yep, the new Expendables 2 poster hits on just about every note you could possibly expect in an action movie poster. It exudes masculine, muscle-bound machismo more so than any poster for an actual feature film I can recall. Which is exactly the right tone they should be setting in their marketing.

Looking at this poster reminds me of a thought that crossed my mind while watching The Avengers. Projects like these ought not to exist, when we were growing up the concept of an all out action franchise staring just about every icon of the genre was a pipe dream. Now it is a reality.

People still want to worry about the rating, but with the way the MPAA has softened their stance on violence in the last decade I am sure the ‘spolsions and shootin’ wont be too neutered. It is also key to remember Stallone shot the first Expendables to be PG-13 as well, most of the R-rated content was the result of re-shoots.

Take a look at the full poster after the jump, and be prepared to be blown away by pure awesomeness August 17th.

The Dark Knight Rises looms. As The Avengers makes ungodly sums of money and other potential blockbusters come and go, the true tenor of the season wont be determined until Batman has his say.

Warner Bros. has released a new one sheet for the anticipate super hero conclusion, and it really plays up the ‘fire rises’ motif that has been a constant in the marketing. The ad campaign for the sequel has thus far been much less interesting than for The Dark Knight.

The viral aspects seem to cause less of a fervor among fans, there is nothing like those variant Joker tagged posters that popped up in theaters after a few months of the regular ones hanging on those walls. Just on the whole the marketing for this movie just seems to have less impact. Of course this could be on purpose, you don’t need much impact when everyone and their mother saw the last film.It is still interesting to see the different tactics in play.

As for the quality of this particular poster, it is rather nice. Getting a splash of color in there is a good touch, and I like the symmetry of this design and some of the earlier teasers.

Check out the full poster after the jump.

Disney’s big holiday animated project likely hits close to home for many of The Flickcast’s readership. A tale of an 8-Bit villian who tires of his repetitive life of villainy and struggles to find a place for him to be a hero. No it is not the biography of Donkey Kong, it is Wreck-It Ralph.

In the wake of the Pixar merger a few years ago, Disney has had a very successful run of animated films NOT produced by the famed animation studio. While not quite the high water mark of the second golden age, the last handful of years has been a welcome return to quality animation for the mouse house. Hopefully Wreck-It Ralph keeps that newly forged streak alive.

The newest poster for the upcoming film has hit the web today, and its simplistic, 8-Bit design fills us with confidence. Clearly this film knows it’s roots and is being made by people with a genuine love of the video game world. 8-Bit design has found a resurgence in the geek community in recent years, and to see a major motion picture studio plastering the style in theater hallways nationwide is heartening.

You can see the full poster after the jump.

One of the biggest enigmas in the crowded summer blockbuster season is how will the average movie goers take a rebooted Spider-Man so close to the success of the Raimi trilogy. How the reboot is received is going to be an important indicator for the longevity of the comic book movie as we know it.

In the last decade comic book films have rewritten a lot of the rules for how major franchise movies act in cinemas, pretty much demolishing the previous axiom that sequels suffer from standard diminishing returns. Now the success of an event film has much more to do with the reception of the previous film in the series and over all franchise health.

This summer brings two old comic book standards to the big screen, the team-up and the reboot. If these are successful it could signal to other studios that movie going public is keen on these characters, and will show up for a good film starring them even if the story is going back to the beginning.

So a lot is at stake, and as such the marketing push for The Amazing Spider-Man has been going strong for awhile now, keeping ole web head in our minds during the spring and early summer event film season. The newest bit of advertising is a brand new poster featuring some battle damaged Spidy. A really great, simple image that is reminiscent of the Raimi era character posters, while still feeling very much a part of the new tone for the series.

You can check out the full poster after the jump.