Well where did this come from? It’s not the greatest quality, but damn if it’s not a comprehensive first look at the upcoming Thor film. This is the footage that screened recently at Comic-Con.

Geoff Boucher of the LA Times Hero Complex blog calls Sucker Punch “one of the most audacious films of 2011.” I think he might be right. Stop what you’re doing and watch this.

When the Avengers assembled at Comic-Con recently, it became pretty evident that in order to play a superhero (or villain), one had to have super-human good looks. That isn’t exactly surprising, right, because who wants the day to be saved by a troll? And it’s not exactly a new trend — Christian Bale as Batman, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, and the list goes on. But considering the fervor for comic-book based films as of late and the interweaving of them as evidenced by the Avengers agenda, the power behind a square jaw and bedroom eyes becomes all the more clear, and seemingly necessary. Here’s a look at 12 recent castings that seem to prove the point.

There is a type of book that only seems appropriate to buy in airports. Typically it’s filled with action scenes, very little character development, writing simple enough that you can skim it, and it has to be something you can leave in the seatback at the end of the flight. Also, often about 50 pages in, you find yourself wondering if you haven’t read it already.

The new Angelina Jolie vehicle, Salt, is the cinematic equivalent of that book. Very little makes it stand out from other spy-espionage-conspiracy films, except its lead star.

With a lead character voiced by Paul Giamatti and a story that surrounds “ghosts, ghouls, skunk-apes with an unnatural hunger for pie, extra-dimensional aliens, and mad scientists,” you can safely count me in for The Goon. This is an early (but healthy) promo for the film, which is based on the Dark Horse comic of the same name by Eric Powell.

I missed out catching Monsters earlier this year at SXSW 2010 and damn if I’m not kicking myself now. The indie creature flick comes out in October, but there’s been little coverage of it for the most part. While the style and themes aren’t exactly ground-breaking, this looks like a solid, taught little thriller.

Dame cougar Helen Mirren must have a thing for playing retired ass-kickers. Earlier this week we glimpsed her in the first trailer for The Debt as an ex-agent of the Israeli Moussad. And now we see her in Red in a similar, but albeit campy role, alongside veterans Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and John Malcovich.

Son of a bitch this is looking good. The new trailer for Tron Legacy out of Comic-Con reveals a bit more of the plot and characters, and makes one even more impatient for the film’s December 2010 release.

Popscorn fave, Sam Worthington, stars in a new thriller, The Debt, out this December. The film surrounds three Israeli Moussad agents from the ’60s, and smacks just a touch of 2005′s Munich. (Ciarán Hinds actually stars in both films, though he’s not so believable as the older version of Worthington’s character.) Judging from the first trailer, The Debt seems a pretty taught story with a great cast, but otherwise feels run-of-the-mill.

Popscorn is quickly going to be saturated with comic-related news as the annual Comic-Con gets underway. The latest tidbits come from Marvel (via Yahoo!)– two artful posters by Ryan Meinerding for the forthcoming Captain America and Thor films. While these are truly fantastic, they somewhat serve as a reminder that the films will surely lack this level of craft and energy. Such is the risk of turning a comic into a movie, though, right?

From those crazy, funny folks at The Oatmeal.

I’m still a bit skeptical about the upcoming Thor film, but I do enjoy the visuals so far. Here are a few photos that have been released over the past few weeks. While I get that the Norse god is part of the larger Avengers story, which Marvel is slowly building, I wonder how these loftier comic tales (such as Green Lantern) will be translated to screen and received by audiences. These characters take the story off world, which is something we haven’t seen in Iron Man, Hulk and Batman — films that arguably have paved the way for these new ones. Is Thor going to be further down the geek spectrum and therefore alienate part of the audience that has continued to support comic movies? I’m thinking yes.

“Set in an office building, five strangers enter an elevator that suddenly stops between floors. As they try to find a way out, even as the building’s security works to free them, strange and inexplicable things begin to happen. As the events increase in violence, the five prisoners realize one of them is the Devil.”

Ever had one of those dreams when you couldn’t wake up, a dream that seemed to go on forever and ever? Welcome to Inception. At 2 hours and 28 minutes it’s not just a blockbuster, it’s a clock buster.

Two years ago, Forgetting Sarah Marshall was a hit not just because of Jason Segel‘s full frontal shot, but because it was a highly entertaining, smart and quirky film. In fact, it was probably in spite of the former that it succeeded. In FSM, Segal’s cute but doughy Peter ends up at a Hawaiian resort with his ex (Kristen Bell) and her new, outrageous singer-boyfriend, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Though mainly as a fop and foil to make everyone wonder why Sarah would pick the flashy performer over the comfortable Peter, Snow was definitely a character that stuck with you. Kind of like an STD. Which is why it’s completely understandable that FSM director Nicholas Stoller is returning to this world as both writer and director for Get Him to the Greek, a film that allows Snow (and Brand) to take center stage.

While some actors seem to rely on being shirtless (yes, I’m talking to you Ryan Reynolds, and you True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten) others utilize it a little more sparingly. Popscorn favorite Jake Gyllenhaal definitely falls into the latter category thus far, but Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time could be a game changer. While the film’s actual quality remains to be judged – and it will be judged – stills from the filming give hope for some shirtless gems to be found in the desert. Until then, here are a couple of movies that will take you back in time to see Jake all over again.

Director Vincenzo Natali, of 1997′s cult hit Cube, was in Washington, DC recently promoting his newly released sci-fi thriller, Splice. To put it bluntly, go see the film. For anyone who can appreciate a thoughtful, transgressive and provocative creature story, you won’t be disappointed by Splice. And not give too much away, but the narrative does leave room for a potential sequel. My enthusiasm for what Natali has crafted doesn’t mean I endorse a follow-on film (most initiatives of which are motivated more by money than story), but I was curious what the director thought of the idea.

Dear Sex and the City fans: Cheers! Everything you could have possibly wanted in a sequel to the first film, as a continuation of the television series, has arrived. So slip on your strappy sandals, pour a cosmo (or two), change your outfit six times, and be prepared to have your every fashion craving satisfied.

MacGruber began as a small Saturday Night Live sketch back in 2007 and has today turned into a feature-length film thanks to director Jorma Taccone (writer on SNL). Suffice to say, if you don’t care for the skit, which parodies the popular MacGuyer character from the late ’80s, you won’t care for the movie. MacGruber solicits audible laughs through absurdity and shock, which is, of course, expected. It’s hard not to chuckle at Will Forte bunny-hopping around nude with a celery stalk up his ass, or Val Kilmer playing a villain named Dieter Von Cunth; and the various occasions to declare that it’s time “to pound some Cunth.” MacGruber is pure blockbuster silliness, executed in a decently (and unexpectedly) seasoned way.

Tarsem Singh is one of my favorite directors, and a guy that seems woefully under-appreciated in Hollywood. His last film, The Fall, is just breathtaking. Despite that film’s harried trip to the big screen and small viewership, it apparently got him enough juice to head his first project that one would consider “big budget,” Immortals (aka War of the Gods).

Robin Hood and Little John walkin’ through the forest … oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly what a bore!

A great deal of nostalgia will be felt for Disney’s cartoon version of Robin Hood after seeing Ridley Scott’s overblown take on it. It’s also going to make you nostalgic for the two and a half hours you wasted in the theater.

There’s not a lot to show here, but it’s nice to finally get a look at Ryan Reynolds on the set of Green Lantern. Much better snap than that which surfaced of Peter Sarsgaard (as bad guy Hector Hammond) earlier this week. Thank ya, MTV.

Letters to Juliet is like a puppy. It’s sweet, cute, and relies on long looks from its big eyes to get away with being bad. And it’s so adorable that you don’t want to be mean to it, but sometimes you have to be stern so it knows that something is not okay.

We first saw a teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming film, Inception, late last year. Since then, there’s been posters, a viral game and other trailers in various stages of undress. What we have now, however, is a full-fledged look at the film ahead of its July release. And damn is it nice. I’m betting Inception will shape up to be one of (if not the) best film of 2010. Mark my words.

A trailer for J.J. Abrams super-secret Super 8 has just hit, and it’s pretty clear the Star Trek director is aiming for another Cloverfield. This cryptic first look was originally supposed to appear in front of Iron Man 2, but it was nowhere to be found when I caught the movie this past weekend.

When Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) takes the stage at an Expo at the beginning of Iron Man 2, he does so in a manner completely befitting his self-assured bravado – by jumping out of a plane and landing on a platform covered with scantily clad dancers. It’s a move that only a man who knows he’s got a hit on his hands could make. Which is also why, though Steve Jobs is too scared to do it, director Jon Favreau can pull it off. He knows that the Iron Man franchise is returning as reigning champ and is going to set the bar for summer movie blockbusters.

Somehow, The Human Centipede (First Sequence) has slithered its way into theaters. Arguably, this indie horror, written and directed by Tom Six, should have never made it out of the damp corners of a genre geek’s hard-drive. But it did, and we have IFC to thank. Or hate. Centipede is surely to draw strong opinions on both sides, but what’s certain is that it’s a film that cannot be unseen.

With a rash of slasher film remakes in the past decade, it was inevitable that Nightmare would get its own update. In the company of more conventional films like Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, and countless imitators, there’s probably no other horror movie of the era more worthy of a fresh look by a new audience.

I guess I can no longer call myself a die-hard Alien fan, since when news broke that Ridley Scott would helm a prequel to the series surrounding the “Space Jockey,” I drew a total blank. Perhaps I saw the first film just too long ago, or simply forgot about the early events of the film. After all, everything that follows the first 15 minutes is the real interesting part.

It’s just too easy. When a film is titled The Greatest and it’s not the greatest, it’s just too tempting to make wordplay of it. But I’ll try to resist.

Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds, looks to be one of the more anticipated films of the fall. Lionsgate gobbled it up shortly after the film’s premiere at Sundance, and seemingly for good reason. The trailer, which we’ve included here as well (since we were remiss in featuring it earlier), is quiet and creepy in the most uncomfortable of ways. Today, thanks to our friends at FirstShowing.net, we have the first teaser poster for the film, and damn is it well-done.

Piranha 3D looks so deliciously bad. Not only do we have killer fish in 3D, but Elisabeth Shue, Christopher Lloyd and Richard Dreyfuss in the fray. I love it that the film releases this summer in August. Perfect timing!

This weekend I popped in a recent favorite, Gentlemen Broncos, from the folks that brought us Napoleon Dynamite. It’s one of the quirkiest sci-fi films I’ve seen. The film’s endearing absurdity and honesty to the genre makes Broncos a fun film to watch over and over. To boot, Sam Rockwell is stellar, particularly as the character Brutus, who he described as a type of “Captain Kangaroo tranny.”

Bearing the title of The Losers, the underachiever of a film — a veritable step-bastard of The A-Team, too, in more ways than one — sets the bar pretty low. The moniker is supposed to be ironic, of course. But after sitting through the 98-minute film, it just proves to be true. That isn’t to say the Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard)-directed film isn’t fun. As anyone who’s been through high school knows, the aimless slackers can be a hoot. The Losers rise to meet such ascribed low expectations, and dodge anything of intelligence or quality like it’s trigonometry — under the cover of bazookas, quips and bullets.

Perhaps in Iron Man 2, that is. Good ole Onion News Network is on their toes and picked up a rather unassuming rumor from Ain’t It Cool News that Gwyneth Paltrow gets socked in her upcoming film. AICN took the original article down for fear that it glorified violence (really!?). But ONN picked up the topic and ran with it. Good for them.

With the summer movie season fast approaching, Tim and I racked our brains about which upcoming releases might blow up our skirt and which probably just blow. Here are 10 films that fall into each category, which are slated for release between May and August.

Can a British black comedy about a family successfully translate to an American comedy about a Black family? Bloody hell, yeah!

The least offensive thing about Kick-Ass is its title. The most offensive? That’s way too hard to pinpoint.

It’s strange that Paper Man is just now getting a theatrical trailer, considering it made the festival rounds mid-last year. Few have probably heard of the film, including myself, which is a shame. Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds (in tights!), Emma Stone and Lisa Kudrow make for a lovely indie cast. I suppose Reynold’s turn as Captain Excellent was the formative experience needed to land the Green Lantern gig. From the trailer, Paper Man looks a lovely, charming film.

The spoiled, middle-aged mistresses are back (and probably much to Tim’s displeasure). Sex and the City 2 hopes to capture the same commercial exploitation of the HBO series the first film achieved back in 2008. While the original movie had reasonable footing in its trip to the big screen (i.e., concluding the storyline in some fantastic fashion), this sequel seems wholly unnecessary.

Is The Eclipse a ghost story? Not completely. Will it haunt you? Absolutely.

Well, not specifically the Green Lantern, himself, but rather superhero Abin Sur a popular figure in the Green Lantern mythology. As most are familiar, the feature film is underway and stars Ryan Reynolds as the lead. Not much about the film has surfaced to date, but some wily character in Madisonville, LA, where filming is underway, snapped the photo and emailed it to ComicBookMovie.com. We’d obviously like to see Reynolds in the signature tights (fan-made art may not be that far off), but I suppose a shiny spaceship will have to do for now.

Zombie balls. The trailer for Resident Evil: Afterlife has hit — the fourth installment in the series — and damn is it bad. We certainly don’t expect an artful mutation in yet another film in the line, but come on. This footage feels nothing like the preceding films and reeks of box-office hunger — the studio baiting the line with 3D this and that. “Filmed with the James Cameron / Vincent Pace Fusion Camera System.” What the fuck? Impossibly, Afterlife looks an embarrassment to the Resident Evil series. Watch at your own risk.

For DC-area moviegoers, Turner Classic Movies has a little treat for you on April 8 (Thursday). TCM is taking its love of great movies to five cities nationwide with the Road to Hollywood tour, a slate of special free screenings building up to the launch of the first-ever TCM Classic Film Festival. The screening at the Avalon of the 1943 classic, The More The Merrier, is the fourth stop on the tour.

We first glimpsed Vincenzo Natali’s upcoming film, Splice, late last year. After a successful showing at Sundance a few months ago, the quirky sci-fi tale is set to release this summer (as /Film reported last month.) The developments keep coming, and now we have the first full trailer. While David Chen’s comments indicating the film is more cerebral than scary comes as a surprise, I’m still very much looking forward to this one.

”Just accept it.” That’s the advice given to Perseus when he discovers a sword from the gods in the forest. There’s no good explanation for it and no explanation is attempted. The same advice holds true for Clash of the Titans. It’s an action movie made for thrills. That’s it. Just accept it. It’s conceivable you might enjoy it.

The Resident Evil series (along with Fast & Furious) is complete cinematic junk-food for me, but I’ve missed all news surrounding the fourth installment. It seems Resident Evil: Afterlife has wrapped already, and Myspace — who uses Myspace anymore? — debuted a batch of photos from the new film, which brings back Milla Jovovich as Alice and Ali Larter (from “Heroes”) as her smokey sidekick Claire Redfield.

If time travel were real, and it were possible to go back in time and change the future, I would return to the moment just before entering the theater for Hot Tub Time Machine and take myself out, Tonya Harding-style, because that would be more humane than sitting through the film. Another alternative would be to go back and stop writers Josh Heald, Sean Anders, and John Morris from scripting the damn thing in the first place.

It’s simply amazing how wonderfully director Atom Egoyan squanders his incredible cast in his latest film, Chloe. He manages to take a sexual thriller like Basic Instinct or Fatal Attraction and turn it into Ishtar.

I really hope Robert Rodriguez and director Nimrod Antal live up to their claim that people need to fear the Predators again. Judging from this first trailer, the out look seems promising. The sneak peak at SXSW gave us a taste, but this clip rounds things out pretty well and sets an unsettling tone (and solid anticipation) for the film.