Jennifer Garner’s latest feature film, Butter, might have some people a little bemused and confused by having at its central premise the sculpting of butter – I’d never heard of it before, myself – but it sounds like it does in fact have some potential, and the first clip from the film has been released, courtesy of The Playlist.

In the past few years, Garner’s been tending to stick to fairly light-hearted films, and if you’ve enjoyed her work in films like Arthur, The Invention of Lying, and Juno, then there’s a good chance that you’ll like her in Butter too.

The film has been scripted by newcomer Jason A. Micallef, and directed by Jim Field Smith (She’s Out Of My League), and has a terrific cast that includes Hugh Jackman (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Ty Burrell (TV’s Modern Family), Olivia Wilde (Cowboys & Aliens), Ashley Greene (Twilight), Alicia Silverstone (Clueless), and the young Yara Shahidi (the upcoming I, Alex Cross).

“The story follows Laura (Jennifer Garner), the wife of former butter sculpting champion Bob (Ty Burrell), who tries to take the mantle from her husband only to be thwarted by a young adopted African American girl (Yara Shahidi), who has discovered that she has a natural talent for making art out of butter.”

Whilst I do know a little about American politics, I readily admit that I don’t know enough to fully understand all of the references that Butter will allude to, so I’m embedding a little cheat-sheet from The Playlist about the film:

“[T]he premise serves as an analogy for the 2008 Democratic primaries. In this political allegory, Laura and Bob are obviously Hillary and Bill Clinton, with the the young African girl playing the Barack Obama figure in the story. And in this clip, in which Laura pleads her case to the jury of the butter sculpting competition, the satire is more than apparent. However, Garner’s character also gives a pretty fierce nod to Sarah Palin, and is described on the site as: Wife first, Christian second, American always and Stepmother third.”

The site that the description mentions in the final sentence is the film’s recently launched website, which is thought to be the start of what could well be an Oscar push by The Weinstein Company for Butter, ahead of the awards season early next year. A Twitter account has also been set up under Laura’s name, with some great words of wisdom, like,

“Tip: being thin and pretty is an easy way to quickly and concisely show others that you’re better than them.”

I was a little sceptical of a film about butter at first, but I’m definitely quickly warming to the project now, and this first clip from the film is a great look at what we can expect from it. There’s no word on a release date yet, but if The Weinstein Company do want it to be eligible for the Oscars next year, they’ve at least got to give it a week-long run in Los Angeles, and they’ll either decide to put it on wide release sometime next year, or if we’re lucky, we might see this before this year is out. Without further ado, here’s the great first clip showing Jennifer Garner giving a campaign speech for her butter sculpting. Enjoy.

We all know Dudley Moore’s infamous performance as Arthur in the 1981 original. He was a spoilt, rich, man-child who had no grasp on the real world, and this is exactly what Russell Brand’s character, Arthur, in the 2011 version of this film is like. Unfortunately, because we’ve already seen this character 20 years ago, the fondness to Brand’s acting isn’t there. The reason the original will always override the remake is because you’ve experienced the exciting magic of a new character before. But this doesn’t make the 2011 version a bad film, it just makes it less appealing.

Brand has this incredible way to hold an audience. He’s intriguing to watch and mesmerising to listen to. He’s perfectly English with a cockney twist, and suits the role as Arthur perfectly. However, as you’re watching him, you can only feel it is an impression of Moore’s performance. It is a nice break from seeing Brand play a drug/alcohol addict though. He’s childlike persona is fun and carefree, and when put against the other characters in this film, it’s a strong presence on screen.

Speaking of other characters, they are what turns this film from bad to bearable. Helen Mirren (Hobson) is beautiful, elegant, charming and completely charismatic. She and Brand blend so smoothly together, and as they say, opposites do attract. From watching these two play off each other, you can see the chemistry and fun they must have had on set. Greta Gerwig (Naomi) is also lovely to watch. She’s the right balance between kooky and smart to make her the perfect co-star to Brand. To have these two characters in Arthur’s life, they balance out his dominant persona, keep him grounded and provide other levels to this relatively carefree film. What also provides this is Jennifer Garner’s (Susan) naughty yet sophisticated character who frankly wants money and will do anything for it, which makes Arthur seem almost sensible.

The levels of comedy vary from Arthur’s obvious punchlines, Jennifer’s slapstick approach, and the typical foreign man not understand things from Bitterman (Luis Guzman). We also watch as Gerwig and Brand have a knowledge of vocabulary speak-off with each other, making their conversations golden. We are given ridiculously childish scenes, which are extended in the special features on the DVD. We watch as Arthur puts on various fancy dress costumes, see as Naomi discovers the opposite worlds between her and Arthur, and cringe at statements made towards Hobson.

But it’s not all fun and games, there is a strong sentimental bond between Arthur and his two girls which shows his dependability. The final few scenes prove Brand’s acting abilities, giving him a sentimental touch which almost brings a tear to the eye. It ends with a nice conclusion as you would imagine, bringing the whole experience to a relatively satisfying end.

It’s not groundbreaking or as good as the original, but it’s still a light-hearted fun watch. If you’re a Brand fan you’re bound to be pulled in by the cover of the DVD, and then be pleasantly surprised with the outcome. If you’re not, then maybe you might want to just watch the original.

Arthur is available to buy and rent here.

***~~ (3/5)

Olivia Wilde, best known for playing Thirteen in House, is currently in talks to replace Jennifer Garner in the upcoming indie dark comedic thriller, Better Living Through Chemistry, Variety report.

Garner and her husband Ben Affleck are now expecting their third child, opening up the lead female role for the film, and Wilde sounds perfect for the part. She brilliantly brings out both the good and bad in her characters, and the latter is something she’ll likely be doing a healthy amount of for this project.

Wilde’s popularity has been steadily rising over the past few years, starring alongside Emile Hirsch, Anton Yelchin, and Justin Timberlake in Alpha Dog, becoming one of the leads with Hugh Laurie in House, starring with Garrett Hedlund and Jeff Bridges in TRON: Legacy, and can currently be seen opposite Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Sam Rockwell in Jon Favreau’s fantastic Cowboys & Aliens this summer.

Better Living Through Chemistry would see her working again with her Cowboys & Aliens co-star, Sam Rockwell, who will play a quiet small-town pharmacist stuck in a rut and a loveless marriage, who finds himself in affair with a trophy wife, whom Olivia Wilde is set to play. She introduces him to the recreational side of prescription drugs, and things start to spiral out of control when they start plotting her husband’s death.

Michelle Monaghan (Source Code) will be playing Rockwell’s wife, and Dame Judi Dench is expected to be the film’s narrator. Geoff Moore and David Posamentier will be making their writing and directorial debut with this film, which made it onto the last Black List of best unmade films, and it sounds like it should be excellent when it gets made. I only hope that its indie nature won’t mean that it doesn’t get a UK theatrical release.

Wilde has recently finished filming Butter, with Hugh Jackman and Garner, so it could well have been Garner who put forward Wilde’s name to replace her. She’s been absolutely fantastic in everything I’ve seen her in, and it’s always nice when great young actresses get the attention they deserve.

She’ll next be seen on our screens in The Change-Up, alongside Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds, which is due out on 16th September, and will follow that up with Andrew Niccol’s highly anticipated In Time opposite Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, both of whom she has worked with before on Alpha Dog. (If you’re yet to see Alpha Dog, I cannot recommend enough that you should seek it out.) Things are certainly looking good for Wilde’s career at the moment, and Better Living Through Chemistry is another title we can look forward to seeing her in.

Most of the 2 ½ hour Walt Disney Studios panel was spent with animation, in some form or another.  We got looks at Walt Disney Animation Studio’s new projects including their direct-to-dvd feature spinoff, “Planes” and a new project, the surprise of the presentation, “Wreck-It Ralph.”  We got a look at Tim Burton’s newest Stop-Motion project “Frankenweenie” and spent a good 40 minutes with Pixar.  So when it came time to dive into the live-action medium, people seemed excited.  They started off this segment with a bang.

Besides “The Avengers”, next year also plays host to Disney’s Spring event movie, “John Carter.”   All three of the main actors from the film (Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collin and Willem Defoe) were present on stage and were actually allowed to talk about their characters in some detail.  Because the film is released early next year, this was their moment to shine.  Director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) mentioned that they were still very much in editing mode to get the film completed by March, they were able to show us quite a bit of the film.  All-in-all we were shown 4 individual clips from “John Carter” including a nice behind the scenes featurettes.

Clip 1 – John Carter (Kitsch) awakes to find himself somewhere he’s never been before.  Not unlike what the affects of a long drunken night might cause. However, things are different here.  He stumbles upon a nest of eggs that begin to hatch.  His fears are realized when, out of the eggs, emerge hundreds of tiny, green aliens with six legs.  As he fixed on what’s happening in the nest a small group of fully grown aliens, Tharks, converge on his location, protecting the nest I assume.  John is about to be capture when he discovers the power to leap a great distance.  He leaps into a hiding place amongst the rocks.  Thark Tars Tarkus (Defoe) orders his men to stop and attempts to introduce himself to this creature.  The clip shows a bit of comedy within the film as Tarkus and Carter attempt to understand one another.  Carter introduces himself and claims he is fromVirginia, at which point Tarkus begins to call him Virginia.  Tarkus is impressed by his ability to jump and asks Carter to show him.  Not yet a trusting individual, Carter is happy to oblige as he jumps away from the aliens surrounding him to a weapon on the ground near him, he lands, grabs the gun, rears up and fires a shot as the screen goes black.

Clip 2 – In this second clip we get another demonstration of the humor and skill of Carter on this planet.  Carter is chained in a dungeon guarded by, what I consider, one of the ugliest creatures I’ve ever seen on film.  Think a dog, mixed with a sea lion mixed with a giant caterpillar.  It, like all the creatures of mars, sprouts six legs. Carter is able to free himself from bondage and attempts to slip past the lumbering beast.  As you might expect the creature wakes up and Carter is forced to utilize his new skill.  As Carter bounces up and side of the cavern, the creatures is there is soon as he lands, allowing him little in the way of freedom.  At first it appears that there are several animals in the cave but it’s quickly revealed that these large animals’ six legs allow them to be lightning fast.  The physics remind me of a bee. It’s a creature that shouldn’t be allowed to move that quickly, but does.  The animal grew on me a bit.

introduction to the relationship Carter and Dejah Thoris (Collins) will develop on screen.  Thoris is attempting to recruit Carter to help save her people. He wants to return to Earth but she knows that he can make a difference on her planet.  It is revealed that he has more than just a longing to be back on Earth when it is revealed he is wearing a wedding ring.

Clip 4 – The last scene shows off the action/adventure present in the film.  Tars Tarkus and John Carter have been sentenced to death in the Thark Arena.  Think the arena scenes in  “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” mixed with “Gladiator”.  They are both chained up to a pillar and Tars looks as though he has been seriously injure.  Carter is attempting to help Tarkus and save his own skin.  The foe released into the arena, for the death sport, is called the White Ape.  Aptly named as the creature looks like a 20 ft. tall white gorilla with, yup, you guessed it…six legs.  Carter once again proves that he is more than capable of helping himself. However, with an injured Tarkus, their lives may be in peril more than Carter is equipped.

I’m not sure what it is about this project, but I feel nothing.  It’s sad really because it seems like all of the people involved are really very passionate about the project.  I have never read the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs but that never stopped me from adoring other famous adaptations on film before.  The clips didn’t really sell me on the Martian world or on John Carter himself.  I think the Thark design is really very interesting and the aliens look great.  In that regards, I’m a believer.  It was shown to us that in order to achieve a certain level of realism, the actors who are portraying these 12ft. tall aliens walked around on set in stilts.  That way, the actors could actually look each other in eyes while filming.  Because there aren’t very many 9ft tall actors, many sets utilize the old tennis ball on a stick routine so actors have something to look at for reference.  It’s good to see people are going old school. Again, while I enjoyed the panel tremendously, I don’t see myself flocking to “John Carter.”

The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Jennifer Garner was on stage to present “The Odd Life of Timothy Green”, which stills looks very odd.  She gushed about the unique film and the actor who portrays the title character.  She talked about her role as a mother both on and off screen and how that inspired her role.  I think Disney really needed cover a lot of ground for this project but failed miserably.  They showed the trailer for film which has been out for a couple weeks.  Sure it’s always nice to see Jennifer Garner, but I believe people who had never heard of the project before D23, care even less about it now.

Oz, The Great and Powerful
They followed that up with a quick look at Sam Raimi’s “Oz, The Great and Powerful.”  As they are right in the middle of shooting, none of the cast was present to talk about the project.  However, Sam Raimi sent over a pre-recorded intro and a look at some of the set filming currently taking place.  The story is a prequel to the original Wizard of Oz.  It follows the story of how Oz became the wizard from his point of view.  The cast is as good looking as it gets as James Franco is set to play the great and powerful. The trifecta of witches includes Mila Kunis (Theodora), Rachel Weisz (Evanora) and Michelle Williams (Glinda). We were shown a few concept art from the film including Oz’s air balloon landing in Oz.  The film seems to take a lot of aesthetic cues from the original, always a good sign. I hate when a film is made in a time period similar to an original and they look nothing alike.  I can’t wait to see more from this world, which is weird, because I don’t like “The Wizard of Oz.”

Last but not least, the rock stars of the convention were, without a doubt, The Muppets.  Jason Segal was present along with Kermit to introduce two clips from the movie, neither of them featuring Miss Piggy, a fact that prompted her to storm off stage on a motorcycle.  For fans of the old Muppet movies, this one seems right on track to make you a fan as well.  The story follows Gary (Segal) and his pal Walter (A muppet himself) who are trying to keep The Muppet Theater from being torn down.  In order to save the theater, they attempt to enlist the help of Muppet superstar, Kermit the Frog.  I love the idea that Kermit, and the rest of the original Muppets are celebrities in this world.

When Gary and Walter arrive at Kermits mansion he is not at home.  Just as they begin to leave, a large figure, backed by lights from heaven, approaches the group from the street accompanied by a choir of angels. As the lights of the passing bus of choral singers fade, we see him in all his green glory.  It was truly a classic Muppet moment of misdirection that had the arena howling.   The second clip was a musical number in which all the Muppets have returned to the theater to help whip it back into shape.  Animal goes crazy when he see’s his old drum set.  Fozzie mocks an old photo of himself saying his hairdo back in the 70’s was outrageous, even though he hasn’t changed a bit. Swedish Chef opens up a refrigerator of spoiled animated food that seems to have been there since the original Muppet Movie and quickly takes a blowtorch to it.  All the while the horde of cloth covered characters rock out to “We Built This City.”  This looks like a Muppet movie for Muppet fans. I cannot wait.

Disney’s live action arm hasn’t been matching its animation side in terms of quality and critical success but this new trailer for Peter Hedges’ The Odd Life of Timothy Green has all the appearance of a typical Disney fam-com.

Hedges, whose previous form includes the screenplay of About a Boy and Dan in Real Life, has Jennifer Garner and rising star Joel Edgerton fronting this one and it’ll be interesting to see Edgerton pulling on the family man trousers for a change, particularly as Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix were once suggested as male leads. The trailer is pure Disney, let’s hope the script doesn’t falter in among the sentiment.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green, an inspiring, magical story about a happily married couple, Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton), who can’t wait to start a family but can only dream about what their child would be like. When young Timothy shows up on their doorstep one stormy night, Cindy and Jim—and their small town of Stanleyville—learn that sometimes the unexpected can bring some of life’s greatest gifts.

Here are some production stills from USA Today’s preview,

Here’s the trailer,

and the poster,

Following on from our interview with co-star Greta Gerwig yesterday, we also (briefly) sat down with director Jason Winer to discuss his big-screen debut of the famed 80’s comedy, Arthur.

Winer (who is also an actor and comedian) is perhaps best known for being one of the directors on the award-winning ABC US series Modern Family (which is shown over here on Sky).

We asked him about how he tackled updating the material for a new, modern audience.

The remake of 80’s comedy Arthur is out now in cinemas and we were lucky to grab a couple of minutes to chat with rising star and Russell Brand’s love interest in the film, Greta Gerwig.

The film marks her second role in a big, mainstream Hollywood comedy (she featured in rom-com No Strings Attached earlier this year), but Gerwig is also known for her work within the independent ‘mumblecore’ film movement in the US, where, as well as appearing in front of the camera, she’s also performed writing and directing duties. She talks a little bit about this other side to her career (below).

If you’ve seen the original Arthur, there’s not much (if any) point in seeing this remake. Unless, of course, you’re a diehard Russell Brand fan.

Perhaps the most complained about problem with Arthur, besides the fact that it’s starring Russell Brand, is the tagline “Meet the world’s only lovable billionaire.” A couple of valid points have been made by others and are worth repeating here: firstly – the fact that his mother threatens that Arthur will lose his inheritance of $950 million (note the M for MILLION), and secondly, even if he were a billionaire he’s certainly not the *only* lovable one – what about Bruce Wayne, or that woman that wrote that about a boy who finds out he’s a wizard?

Arthur (Brand) is a wealthy, unemployed alcoholic working his way through his trust fund feeling quite content that he won’t have to work a day in his life, spending his days avoiding his mother (Geraldine James) and being looked after by Hobson (John Gielgud in the original, a role now gender swapped to Helen Mirren) and his chauffer Bitterman (Luis Guzman). Tired of his womanising ways his mother tells him he must settle down and marry ex-girlfriend Susan (Jennifer Gardner) or face losing his inheritance but finds himself falling in love with a beautiful tour guide/writer named Naomi (Greta Gerwig).

It’s always better to go into a film with low expectations and be pleasantly surprised than have high expectations and be thoroughly disappointed. This is something to definitely keep in mind for Arthur.

It’s decent enough to provide some good laughs, but it rarely differs from the original and you’ve got to actually like Russell Brand if you intend to remotely enjoy the film, a task which some people find impossible to achieve.

I did think Helen Mirren was absolutely wonderful and often saved most scenes, in particular a distinctly awkward Alcoholics Anonymous scene and the first time Arthur tried to cook her breakfast is a charming and lovely scene of Arthur for the first time trying to take care of someone other than himself.

However the pros cannot outweigh the cons. Being a fan of Alias I used to like Jennifer Gardner, but now I feel like her choice in films doesn’t quite suit her and I’m a bit tired of her playing the kooky/quirky/a little bit crazy character as can be seen in the “cat sex” scene where she purrs and preens herself. Greta Gerwig is charming but a little too 2D for me to believe and everyone just trails along behind Brand’s one man show to the point that when the film tries to touch upon a serious and emotional point it feels very out of place and not within the tone of the rest of the film at all.

You could pick a worse film to see at the cinema, and if you like Russell Brand or want to watch how to get drunk and drive a Bat mobile you’ll get a few laughs, but otherwise I wouldn’t recommend rushing to the cinema to see it.

***~~ (3/5)

Usually when London is on the world stage for any movie premiere or event, it’ll be freezing cold, windy and raining but it seems that someone paid a pretty penny to have the sun shining down on London’s O2 area. last night for the European Premiere of Russell Brand’s new movie Arthur.

This footage comes from our friends at Upbeat who got to speak with all the main cast which as well as Brand includes Helen Mirren, Greta Gerwig, Luis Guzman, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Garner and is directed by Jason Winer.

Check out the interviews and footage from last night’s premiere in the video below. The movie hits UK cinemas this Friday, 22nd April.

Today’s edition of Entertainment Weekly features the cover story that Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to star in a semi-autobiographical animated television series called The Governator. Today being the first of April, there is unlikely enough salt in the whole of Britain with which to take this allegedly exclusive news story.

Once we had overcome the crushing disappointment that Arnie might not really be taking on dastardly villains – The Gangsters, Imposters, Racketeers, Liars and Irredeemable Ex-cons (or “G.I.R.L.I.E. Men” for short) – for our entertainment, this potential April Fool’s joke (really, it sounds too brilliantly bonkers to be true) got us thinking about which other stories from the last year could have done with a well-timed rug-pool, the consolatory knowledge that it had all been some elaborate joke replacing the uncontrollable anger induced by each. As such, listed below are five news stories from the last twelve months that we wish had in fact been April Fool’s jokes.

Jennifer Garner IS Miss Marple

The last time Jennifer Garner was left to star in her own movie, the world was punished with Marvel’s first truly irredeemable comic book adaptation. The star of Elektra, Garner’s utter failure as a leading lady ensured that she was sidelined for such ensemble projects as Valentines Day, and downgraded to love interest in such movies as The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and The Invention of Lying. That she is now set to play a British pensioner, who solves crimes the local police department can barely raise an eyebrow at, simply screams April Fool’s. Or, sadly as the case may be, doesn’t.

Darren Aronofsky Leaves The Wolverine

It is hardly controversial to claim that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a bit, well, rubbish, so when Darren Aronofsky signed on the dotted line to helm the inevitable sequel, the character’s devoted fanbase breathed a much needed sigh of relief. Promising to return the character to his animalistic roots, and limit the number of superhero cameos to a welcome zero, Aronofsky looked like the best thing to happen to Wolverine since Alkali Lake. Sadly, the prospect of close to a year away from home lead to Aronofsky leaving the project and Fox beginning its search for a new director. With The Wrestler and Black Swan’s combined critical success, however, his The Wolverine will forever live on as one of the most intriguing “what if…” scenarios of recent years.

Michael Bay To Produce “Zombies vs Robots”

Ever since Kramer vs. Kramer dragged the versus concept out of video bargain bins and into the mainstream, there has been a growing insurgence of “vs” movies at the box office. Whether it was Freddy vs. Jason, Alien vs. Predator or Monsters vs. Aliens, the genre has so far proved disappointingly weak, with this year’s Cowboys vs. Aliens and the likely slew of future period drama/zombie mash-ups ensuring the genre’s sway for at least a few years to come. What makes this particular mash-up all the more uninspiring, however, is the news that MICHAEL BAY‘s Platinum Dunes is set to produce it. Isn’t the prospect of a fifth zombie-filled Resident Evil movie enough undead action for one year?

Government to Abolish UK Film Council

One of the fist acts of our coalit-Conservative government was to abolish the UK Film Council, a money saving ploy that hit the Department For Culture, Media and Sport particularly hard with cuts of up to 25% over the next four years – presumably so David Cameron could finance a new estate, fly Nick Clegg into town for some more caviar and sew “Free Hugs” into every hooded-sweater made while he’s in power. Provoking objections from the likes of Emily Blunt and James McAvoy, and earning a letter of protest from Clint Eastwood himself, the ill-advised closure marked the end of an institution responsible for such classics as Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank, Shane Meadows’ This is England and Robert Altman’s Gosford Park.

Buffy Reboot Confirmed, Writer Announced

After early reports and speculation back in 2009, it was confirmed in November of last year that Buffy The Vampire Slayer would be adapted to the big screen sans Joss Whedon, the original cast and anything that might be deemed responsible for making the acclaimed television show such a pop-culture phenomenon. With little known TV writer Whit Anderson having successfully pitched a new take on the source material (read: the laughable Kirsty Swanson vehicle directed by Fran Rubel Kazui back in 1992) to Warner Bros., the scene is now set for an apocalyptic travesty that even Sarah Michelle Gellar and Mr. Pointy may be powerless to stop. Even as an April Fool’s joke this would have been in pretty bad taste.

According to Deadline, Disney have plans to reboot Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple character for the big screen.

Usually portrayed as a dottled old woman, Miss Marple appeared in twelve of Christie’s crime novels as an amateur detective who solved mysteries her local police force couldn’t with an unmatched understanding of human behaviour. Adapted for the screen on a number of occasions, the character’s adventures have been fronted by an array of actresses – from Margaret Rutherford to Angela Lansbury.

The reboot, however, will drop the English spinster angle and reimagine Marple as a vehicle for Alias’ Jennifer Garner (who will also produce), this budding franchise clearly destined to hold as little resemblance to the source material as much of Disney’s back-catalogue does to their respective Grimm’s fairy tales.

With Shia LaBeouf no doubt primed for the role of Hercule Poirot, and Gemma Arterton likely lined up to play Nancy Drew in the wake of Sherlock Holmes’ recent cinematic success, I am open to suggestions regarding how to keep Jessica Fletcher out of the ruinsome hands of Platinum Dunes.

Yahoo have released this new clip from Russell Brand’s new movie, Arthur which is a remake of the Dudley Moore film from 1981. Arthur is directed by Jason Winer and also stars Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Greta Gerwig and Nick Nolte.

Synopsis: Irresponsible charmer Arthur Bach has always relied on two things to get by: his limitless fortune and the good sense of lifelong nanny Hobson to keep him out of trouble. Now he faces his biggest challenge — choosing between an arranged marriage that will ensure his lavish lifestyle or an uncertain future with the one thing money can’t buy, Naomi, the only woman he has ever loved. With Naomi’s inspiration and some unconventional help from Hobson, Arthur will take the most expensive risk of his life and finally learn what it means to become a man.

If you’ve missed the previous trailers or other coverage for Arthur, you can catch up here.

From what we can find, Arthur us released in the UK on 22nd April.

David Slade (30 Days of Night) has been hired by 20th Century Fox to direct a new Daredevil film.

Daredevil, based on the Marvel character of the same name, was released in 2003 to mixed reviews, and starred Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell and Jon Favreau.

The as-yet-untitled Daredevil film was written by David Scarpa and, according to Variety, will continue the story of the first, rather than rebooting it.

Slade had been in talks to direct 20th Century Fox’s Wolverine reboot, but lost out to Darren Aronofsky.

While we were sleeping last night, Warner Bros. Pictures released the second trailer (first here) for the remake of the 1981 Dudley Moore movie, Arthur which this time sees Russell Brand take on the lead role. Arthur is directed by Jason Winer and also stars Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Greta Gerwig and Nick Nolte.

Synopsis: Irresponsible charmer Arthur Bach has always relied on two things to get by: his limitless fortune and the good sense of lifelong nanny Hobson to keep him out of trouble. Now he faces his biggest challenge — choosing between an arranged marriage that will ensure his lavish lifestyle or an uncertain future with the one thing money can’t buy, Naomi, the only woman he has ever loved. With Naomi’s inspiration and some unconventional help from Hobson, Arthur will take the most expensive risk of his life and finally learn what it means to become a man.

This second trailer gives us a much better insight into the storyline of the movie showing the love interest Greta Gerwig who gets in the way of the marriage between Arthur (Brand) and Garner’s character, Susan Johnson.

From what we can find, Arthur us released in the UK on 22nd April.

So, with the release date of the 22nd of April hovering ominously on the horizon I think it’s time we had another look at Jason Winer’s remake of Arthur, don’t you?

The film updates the 1981 film, replacing Dudley Moore with Russell Brand and John Gielgud with Helen Mirren, but keeps the same premise, that of a hapless moneybags having to grow up and find love, himself and a Batmobile.

The trailer came along and was pretty much as you’d expect and if you were a fan of the Dudley Moore film then the sight of Russell Brand usurping your hero may be a little hard to get over, but Helen Mirren should provide the perfect foil to the lanky playboy.

Still no sign of Greta Gerwig, and I’m still not happy about that.

Seven production stills escaped and we’ve got them here, the last one is an tender on set moment.

Pics below – ready your eyes.

Filmofilia had the pics, apart from the last one, which came from Nerve

Warner Bros. have just sent us this brand new poster for their new movie Arthur which accompanies the trailer which we posted last week. The new poster shows Russell Brand in his kingly chair flanked by Hellen Mirren and Jennifer Garner who also star in the movie. I’ve placed a couple of original 1981 posters below too. Hopefully we’ll see some parody posters released if we’re lucky!

Arthur also stars Greta Gerwig and Nick Nolte and is directed by Jason Winer. The 2011 version of the movie is a remake of the classic 1981 Dudley Moore movie and no doubt we’ll see plenty of nods to the legendary actor.

Synopsis: Irresponsible charmer Arthur Bach has always relied on two things to get by: his limitless fortune and the good sense of lifelong nanny Hobson to keep him out of trouble. Now he faces his biggest challenge — choosing between an arranged marriage that will ensure his lavish lifestyle or an uncertain future with the one thing money can’t buy, Naomi, the only woman he has ever loved. With Naomi’s inspiration and some unconventional help from Hobson, Arthur will take the most expensive risk of his life and finally learn what it means to become a man.

From what we can find, Arthur is released in the UK on 22nd April.

Michelle Monaghan (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and Judi Dench (Nine) have been added to the cast of Better Living Through Chemistry.

Monaghan and Dench will star opposite Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) and Jennifer Garner (Juno) in the indie thriller.

Better Living Through Chemistry is David Posamentier and Geoff Moore’s first script, which the duo will also direct.

A straight-laced pharmacist’s (Renner) uneventful life spirals out of control when he starts an affair with a trophy wife (Garner) customer who takes him on a joyride involving sex, drugs and possibly murder.

Production is set to commence in August.

Dench will next be seen in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, while Monaghan stars in Duncan Jones’ Source Code.

Source: Variety

We’ve just been sent the first trailer for Russell Brand’s new movie, Arthur which is directed by Jason Winer and also stars Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Greta Gerwig and Nick Nolte.

Arthur is a remake of the classic 1981 Dudley Moore movie and no doubt we’ll see plenty of nods to the legendary actor.

Synopsis: Irresponsible charmer Arthur Bach has always relied on two things to get by: his limitless fortune and the good sense of lifelong nanny Hobson to keep him out of trouble. Now he faces his biggest challenge — choosing between an arranged marriage that will ensure his lavish lifestyle or an uncertain future with the one thing money can’t buy, Naomi, the only woman he has ever loved. With Naomi’s inspiration and some unconventional help from Hobson, Arthur will take the most expensive risk of his life and finally learn what it means to become a man.

From what we can find, Arthur us released in the UK on 22nd April.

Love this trailer! Shows how silly the movie is going to be and seeing Helen Mirren in a movie like this looks fantastic! I also want that batmobile!

Infinity Media have hired Adrian Lyne (Lolita) to write and direct an adaptation of Tawni O’Dell’s bestselling novel Back Roads.

Andrew Garfield (Never Let Me Go), Jennifer Garner (Juno) and Marcia Gay Harden (Whip It) are attached to star.

Production is set to commence in June.

Below is Amazon’s description of Back Roads:

Harley Altmyer (Garfield) should be in college drinking Rolling Rock and chasing girls. He should be freed from his closed-minded, stricken coal town, with its lack of jobs and no sense of humor. Instead, he’s constantly reminded of just how messed up his life is.

With his mother in jail for killing his abusive father, Harley is an orphan with the responsibilities of an adult and the fiery, aggressive libido of a teenager. Just nineteen years old, he’s marooned in the Pennsylvania backwoods caring for his three younger sisters, whose feelings about him range from stifling dependence to loathing. And once he develops an obsession with the sexy, melancholic mother of two living down the road, those Victoria’s Secret catalogs just won’t do the trick anymore.

He wants Callie Mercer (Garner) so badly he fears he will explode. But it’s the family secrets, the lies, and the unspoken truths that light the fuse and erupt into a series of staggering surprises, leaving what’s left of his family in tatters. Through every ordeal, the unforgettable Harley could never know that his endearing humor, his love for his sisters, and his bumbling heroics would redeem them all.

Source: Variety

The Playlist are reporting that Jennifer Garner will be joining Peter Hedges’ The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green is based on an idea by the film’s producer Ahmet Zappa and is a “modern day fable that centers around a child-prodigy musician and his parents.”

Garner is attached to play the child-prodigy’s mother, while offers have gone out to Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix to portray the father.

No details on when production is expected to start, or whether it’ll come before Garner’s other new project, Better Living Through Chemistry.