As we've started to get our fair share of trailers for the coming prestige projects -- Frost/Nixon, The Soloist, Zack and Miri Make a Porno -- I was curious as to why we'd yet to get one for Clint Eastwood's period drama, Changeling, if it were set to open by the end of next month. Particularly after Kim's Cannes review, I wanted to get a proper glimpse beyond a brief clip...

Perhaps hearing my prayers or just tiring of my complaints, Yahoo! Movies saw fit to post the trailer (watch it after the jump as well), in which a young mother (Angelina Jolie) in 1928 Los Angeles finds herself standing up against a corrupt police department when her missing son is returned, or rather replaced by a different child altogether.

Even if the same piece of score hadn't been used in both of their trailers, I'd still have felt a need to draw a correlation between this and last October's missing-kids-and-corrupt-cops powerhouse, Gone Baby Gone (of course, it doesn't hurt that Amy Ryan shows up in both of them). From Eastwood's end comes a particular tinge of Mystic River, and so far as I'm concerned, all of those signs point to something substantial waiting for us when Changeling opens in limited release on October 31.

There may not be much footage that we haven't already seen in either the original red-band trailer or the international teaser for the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading, but I noted enough bits and pieces to feel these two new videos worthy of sharing. Plus, for those of you who have a preference, George or Brad, you now have a trailer that fits you best. Personally, I'm hoping that the ladies, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton, get their own character-centric trailers. And while Focus Features is at it, how about individual spots for John Malkovich? Heck, give Richard Jenkins, J.K. Simmons and David Rasche each their own, too. I'm that excited about this movie that I want more, more, more.

Fortunately, we've only got about a month until Burn After Reading opens on September 12.

This may sound paranoid, but I am convinced that Thomas Jane must have made some enemies in Hollywood. The guy is talented, he has great screen presence, he's awfully easy on the eyes; and still he ends up flicks like Mutant Chronicles. If you don't believe me, take a look at the new teaser for the sci-fi thriller over on the actor's personal site, and tell me this movie doesn't look destined for obscurity.

Chronicles is loosely based on the successful role-playing game of the same name from Target Games. In Philip Eisner's (Event Horizon) script, the world has been divided into four corporations who are constantly at war. When a new plague of mutants are unleashed unto the world, an ancient society recruits a battle-hardened soldier (Jane) as humanity's last chance for survival. Joining Jane are Ron Perlman as the mystic Brother Samuel, Devon Aoki as a fellow bad-ass, and John Malkovich as the political leader Constantine.

On paper, the whole thing sounds fine; mutants, elite military squads, and pseudo-mysticism -- what could go wrong? After watching the trailer, the answer would appear to be ... everything. The film was originally announced back in 2006, but other than a quick poster release and a website, there hasn't been much attention paid to the film...and now I'm starting to understand why.

Mutant Chronicles is scheduled for release later this year.

[via Coming Soon]

I would like to punch Variety in the face for writing "preem" instead of "premiere," as in "Spike Lee's WWII pic Miracle at St. Anna will world preem at the Toronto Film Festival." Yeah, I know, they use this sort of cutesy Hollywood "inside baseball" terminology left and right -- I find all of it irritating, but preem? Seriously? That is nothing if not horrible. And it's all of three letters shorter than the whole word.

Anyway, the unnecessary slang obfuscates what I want to write about: Miracle at St. Anna will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September. The other big get Toronto announced yesterday is the world premiere of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, the indie kid romantic comedy starring Michael Cera. I'm much more excited about that one, to be honest. Prestige war movies are a dime a dozen; Michael Cera playing "a member of the queercore band 'The Jerk Offs'" is something special.

Also announced: Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq actioner The Hurt Locker, a drama called Disgrace with John Malkovich, and a few others. This is in addition to the 27 films announced last week.

This will be my first year attending Toronto (back-to-back with Telluride, where I've gone four times now), so needless to say I am aquiver with anticipation.

The consensus I've gotten from people after they've seen the red-band trailer for the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading is that nobody understands what it's about, and nobody cares, because everybody thinks it looks awesome. Well, if you thought that trailer was confusing, or at least lacking in plot synopsis, just imagine how moviegoers outside the U.S. feel after seeing this new international trailer.

As you can see, marketing to international audiences is more about selling the stars. Hence the CLOONEY, the McDORMAND, the MALKOVICH, the SWINTON and the PITT titles. As for story, there's even less revealed here than in the red-band trailer. In fact, it's almost a joke how little is said about the movie. Each actor/character maybe gets to slip in one or two words, which actually just serve as response to more intertitles telling us about the other major stars of the film: the Coens.

Time to play catch up with a couple of indie distribution deals that were completed during the past few days.

In the warm afterglow of Cannes, IFC Films acquired one more title to add to their stockpile, according to The Hollywood Reporter: Italian crime drama Gomorra. Directed by Matteo Garrone, the film is based on a best-selling book and follows five separate stories. "Set in the provinces around Naples," wrote our own James Rocchi, "Gomorra's a sweeping, stirring drama that has the shoot-and-loot tension of the best crime cinema but also has the scope and serious intent of great drama." Gomorra won the Grand Prix at Cannes, which is unofficially considered the "runner-up" prize. IFC plans a theatrical release and will also make it available day-and-date on its video-on-demand service; they are also seeking a cable TV deal of some sort.

Months after it debuted at Sundance, indieWIRE says that Sean McGinley's comedy-drama The Great Buck Howard has finally secured distribution from Magnolia Pictures. Cinematical's Scott Weinberg thought it "might be the most affectionate look back at old-school entertainment since Peter O'Toole boozed his way through My Favorite Year" and called it "a smoothly, strongly appealing comedy." Colin Hanks and Emily Blunt star as an ex-lawyer and a publicist, respectively, trying to help magician Malkovich make a comeback. Magnolia plans a fall theatrical release.

After a brief detour through the more substantial, it looks like the Coen brothers are back in full-on madcap comedy mode with this fall's Burn After Reading. The first trailer has made an appearance here, though since it's red-band, the site requires you to go through a cumbersome process involving iTunes. Among other things, it affords the rare treat of seeing John Malkovich punch Brad Pitt in the nose.

It's always hard to predict how Coen movies are going to come together, but although Pitt might deserve an Oscar for the little dance he does at 1:36, I don't think Burn After Reading will be making an awards run -- it looks very, very strange, sort of in the vein of Raising Arizona. (On the other hand, the fact that the utterly insane O Brother, Where Art Thou? managed a screenplay nomination might mean all bets are off.) I cherish the Coens' comic sensibilities -- Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers were trifles, but they made me laugh, really hard. This looks similarly anarchic and over-the-top.

Burn After Reading premieres at the Venice Film Festival in August and hits theaters September 12th.

Did you know that the beautiful city of San Diego has mean streets? City Lights Pictures announced in Cannes today that it has picked up North American rights to Damian Harris' Gardens of the Night, a drama about two young people struggling to exist hand to mouth on the streets of San Diego. City Lights plans a fall theatrical release, according to a statement released by the company.

Gillian Jacobs (pictured) stars as Leslie, a 17-year-old girl who is still dealing with the trauma she experienced when she and her childhood friend Donnie (Evan Ross) were abducted and held captive by two men nine years earlier. The abductors are played by Tom Arnold (!) and Kevin Zegers.

After the gut-wrenching terror of No Country for Old Men (I haven't been that tense in a movie theater since, well, ever), I can safely say that I am incredibly relieved that the Coens' next film, Burn After Reading, looks like it is going to be a lot more fun. First Showing now has some stills from the Coens' black comedy, and it would appear that the brothers are returning to what I like to call their 'Raising Arizona roots.'

Burn is the story of a CIA agent (played by George Clooney) who is assigned to investigate the case of a former agent named Ozzie Cox (John Malkovich) who has taken his revenge on the agency by writing a tell-all memoir. When Cox's ex-wife (played by Tilda Swinton) steals the only copy and leaves it behind at her gym, the gym's owner (Frances McDormand) and star personal trainer (Brad Pitt) see an opportunity to engage in a little blackmail.

The Coen flick just got the nod to open the Venice Film Festival this year, but Burn will not be making an appearance at Cannes this year (which is a little strange considering the luck they had at the French festival last year). This makes it zero for two for Pitt now that his other high-profile film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, also failed to make the list for Cannes. Burn After Reading is scheduled for wide release on September 12th, 2008.

The pounding beat of a headache, or the sear of a migraine, is something I rarely have to face. That makes me lucky, for the most part, but it also means that when one hits, like today, all I can think of is heads and brains like a zombie in training. Naturally, this has me thinking of movies that focus on the stories of the noggin. Should I go for The Man with Two Brains or other similar brainy fare? Nah.

Instead, I'm going to focus on a man behind the camera, one who brought us two of the best stories of the mind to date: Mr. Charlie Kaufman. It all started with a little Malkovich Malkovich, and then continued with the overwhelming urge to erase love from the mind -- two stories that make a little headache seem like nothing. On this warm Friday, I give you: Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ...

Even though a lot of fans of The Coen Brothers haven't been all that happy with the results of their collaborations with George Clooney (I think I was one of the eight people in the world who actually enjoyed Intolerable Cruelty.), I've still got a good feeling about their CIA comedy, Burn After Reading. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Focus Features will release the dark comedy on September 12th of this year.

Burn has an all-star cast including Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, and Tilda Swinton. I would guess that it's been like 'old home week' on set; we all know that Clooney and Pitt are buddies, and Swinton could be an honorary member of the boys club after her Oscar winning performance in Michael Clayton (and judging by her acceptance speech, she seems comfortable with a little verbal rough-housing).

The comedy stars Malkovich as Ozzie Cox, a CIA vet who gets fired for being an alcoholic, and writes out his revenge in a memoir. His soon-to-be ex-wife (Swinton) accidentally leaves the memoir at a gym, where it falls into the hands of a trainer, Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), and the gym's owner Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), who want to exploit the discovery. It sounds like a pretty 'fluffy' flick, but I think we could all use a break from the Coens' more "intense" point of view, wouldn't you agree, friendo?

One might not expect a sweet, funny and warm-hearted crowd-pleaser from the man who wrote movies like Sexual Roulette, Sonic Impact, and Venomous, but I guess filmmaker Sean McGinly has spent the last eleven years churning out schlock flicks just so he could get to something good. And I'm very pleased to report that his newest offering, a smoothly, strongly appealing comedy called The Great Buck Howard, is definitely the "big break" that McGinly's been working for. Backed by a fantastic performance by John Malkovich -- and some really fine work from young actors Colin Hanks and Emily Blunt -- The Great Buck Howard might be the most affectionate look back at old-school entertainment since Peter O'Toole boozed his way through My Favorite Year.

Hanks is a law student who despises law school, so (directly against his father's wishes) Troy Gable bails on higher education and lands a job as a road producer for a serious has-been of a magician. Formerly quite famous (he's been on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show over 60 times), Buck Howard is a relic of a more innocent time. Magician, mentalist, musician and comedian, Mr. Howard is "old-school entertainment" at its most sincere -- and sincerely forgotten. Troy and Buck strike up a professional friendship, although obviously their relationship is due for a few rocky moments.

George Clooney is one of the busiest men in Hollywood. He's currently promoting his excellent new legal drama Michael Clayton. He's wrapping up acting and directing duties on Leatherheads, a 1920's football romantic comedy with John Krasinski and Renee Zelwegger. He's shooting the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading, a CIA comedy co-starring Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton (so great in Clayton), John Malkovich, and Frances McDormand. In addition to all that, he's got to fly around the world in a jet made of gold and make the women of the world swoon 24/7. So yeah, the guy's got a lot going on. In fact, he's just decided that he has too much going on.

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Clooney has just dropped out of Joe Carnahan's White Jazz, a gritty tale of police corruption set in 1950s Los Angeles. Clooney was set to star in the independent film, which is based on the James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential) novel. White Jazz was expected to begin filming early next year, and was scheduled for a 2009 release date. Grant Heslov, Clooney's producing partner, says "It just simply came down to scheduling. George continues to believe in the project and in Joe." Clooney was set to be a producer on the film, and whether he'll remain involved in that capacity has not been announced. And those of you excited about the film, myself included, might not be too happy with this last sentence. According to a spokesperson at Warner Independent, where the film was set up -- White Jazz has dropped off its slate. Currently, there's no word from Carnahan, who, as of a couple days ago, was pretty pumped about starting production in January.

It's been a great year for celebrity short films. Often, you hear about some celeb offerings that you imagine to be all sorts of great due to the talent involved, but then your expectations rarely live up to reality. Sometimes they're fun, and sometimes they're truly terrible. Recently, I gave you a heads up about shorts from Jennifer Aniston and Maggie Gyllenhaal, but there are also some others that you should keep an eye out for as you lurk the web, itching for a something brief to make you laugh.

First, there's a little short called Lance is a Jerk. Rainn Wilson stars as an over-eager personal assistant who just got the job of his life -- working for the famous Tour de France winner. There's lots of slapstick, and staying true to its title, lots of jerky Lance Armstrong, who is not too shabby as the demanding star. But of course, the real spark comes from Wilson, who makes some typical gags seem fresh. Secondly, for all of you Family Guy fans lurking about, there is a short called Life is Short (you can check out a trailer here). Warning: it isn't the greatest of shorts, and is pretty goofy with all sorts of typical jokes. However, it's worth the 12 minutes to see all the bits with the main man himself, Seth MacFarlane, who guest-stars as the short guy's shrink. (There's also a pretty good surprise cameo from a Buffy alum to boot.) Finally, there's a really brief short that is all sorts of wonderful for its simple, clever premise: Specialized Technicians Required: Being Luis Porcar. Luis is a man who does the Spanish dubbing for John Malkovich movies, and in this short, which is only 2 minutes long, he explains his job, while John Malkovich does the English dubbing. It's simple, and much less intricate than Being John Malkovich, but it's definitely funny and I imagine it will hit the net at some point.

Though we're only a few short weeks away from the debut of the new Coen Bros. pic, No Country for Old Men, at the Cannes Film Festival, all the talk of late has surrounded the casting of their next project, Burn After Reading. Following the news that George Clooney, Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt had signed on to star, comes word from The Hollywood Reporter that John Malkovich is in talks to star as Ozzie Cox, a CIA agent who loses the very important computer disk that holds his memoir. This will mark Malkovich's first-ever appearance in a Coen Bros. flick; personally, I feel this collaboration is long overdo.

With shooting to begin this August, plot details have been kept under wraps. However, word has it that McDormand will play Malkovich's estranged wife, and the person who steals the disk before accidentally leaving it at the gym. That's where Pitt's character (a personal trainer) comes into play; he attempts to use the disk to blackmail Cox. Meanwhile, Clooney will play a hitman hired by the CIA to "clean up" the entire situation. Based on this premise, it sounds like another fabulous Coen Bros. dark comedy, and the cast is as good as they come. No word yet on whether Coen favs Steve Buscemi and Billy Bob Thornton will make an appearance, but there's still plenty of time to announce more names as we creep closer to the pic's start date.