If you’re a Hollywood A-Lister, than you have most likely worked with, and have definitely heard of, visionary Costume Designer Colleen Atwood. She’s worked with the best of the best and when you see the upcoming film Snow White and the Huntsman, you’ll know why that is.

Chris Hemsworth is currently throwing down with Mjolnir as Thor in The Avengers, but next month he'll be kicking ass and presumably taking names with a hatchet as the titular woodsman in Snow White and the Huntsman.  He's neither kicking ass nor taking names in a new clip from the fairy tale movie, now available to view online.

Universal has released a new official clip and a poster for Snow White and the Huntsman, both of them selling that the film is not exactly what fans of the fairy tale may have been expecting.  This take on the familiar story is a big action-adventure with many a surreal, fantastic image against a grim and grimy aesthetic.

Synopsis:  In the epic action-adventure Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Oscar® winner Charlize Theron) out to destroy her.  But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth, Thor) dispatched to kill her.  Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White’s beauty and power.

Universal Pictures has unveiled a second domestic trailer for Snow White and the Huntsman.  Not only that, but there's also a five-minute overview of the story floating around online now.  Both feature a whole more of what we've seen from the film so far.  Mostly, that means more Lord of the Rings-style armies, Charlize Theron as the psychotic Evil Queen, medieval combat, Kristen Stewart going from hunted girl to Joan of Arc, Chris Hemsworth chopping stuff, and lots of darkness.

With yesterday's unveiling of a banner for Snow White and the Huntsman, the internet was basically given a heads up that today would bring a whole mess of material from the epic, Lord of the Rings-style take on the fairy tale.  And accurate that heads up has turned out to be today, with the trotting out of four new character posters featuring Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlize Theron as Snow White, the Huntsman, and the Evil Queen.  More importantly, Universal Pictures has also dropped the first official trailer for the film, and if the sight of Snow White in Middle Earth-like armor didn't succinctly inform crowds that this is a different take on the fairy tale, then the thoroughly modern music, soul sucking, and Hemsworth making like Thor (but with axes, not a hammer) should get the job done.

As an audience, we're grown increasingly jaded regarding visual effects in our modern blockbusters.  The sheer number of blockbuster movies with show-stopping visual effects sequences has given us a shorthand, an easy and often unconscious understanding of what works and what doesn't.  The arrival of every new huge spectacular movie brings with it the expectation that the figurative bar will be raised, particularly when that would-be blockbuster is the latest installment in a franchise known for its envelope-pushing digital creations.

Such was the case for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth film in a franchise that has included undead pirates, fish-men, massive maritime battles, and even an ocean goddess.  For the first film in the series not directed by Gore Verbinski, the story saw the introduction of zombies, and more importantly, some truly memorably mermaids.  Aaron McBride has been crucial to the visual effects on all four Pirates films, serving as the art director on the first three and visual effects art director for On Stranger Tides.

In his time at Industrial Light and Magic, McBride has built up a resume that includes the likes of Minority Report, Iron Man, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.  In a roundtable interview with entertainment writers from around the world promoting tomorrow's release of Pirates of Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, McBride discussed the unique challenges and accomplishments of the sequel.  It's an interview that sheds some light on the intricacies involved in creating those visual effects that often flash by in no time at all.

At San Diego Comic-Con, Universal hosted a panel promoting Snow White & the Huntsman, which begins production in the United Kingdom next week.  As our panel coverage established, director Rupert Sanders was on hand, along with producers Joe Roth and Palak Patel, along with stars Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, and Sam Claflin.  Since shooting hasn't yet started, the panel presented a first look at the four stars in costume, as well as a conceptual image of the eight dwarfs who, in this iteration, look like gruff, battle-hardened warriors.  Now, the four images of the costumed principal cast are available for your viewing, and the influence of Peter Jackson's take on The Lord of the Rings is on display, particularly in the case of Snow White herself.

In 1977, Star Wars irrevocably changed the look and feel of cinematic science fiction.  The influence of George Lucas' storytelling and his "used future" philosophy of production design is still evident on any number of huge movies, including Peter Jackson's take on JRR Tolkein's Lord of the Rings Star Wars trilogy.  Much like before it, that fantasy trilogy has changed the way modern audiences perceive the genre, and seemingly every subsequent fantasy film owes a debt to the saga of the One Ring.  As Universal prepares to commence production on Snow White and the Huntsman, the studio prepared a panel presentation for San Diego Comic-Con, and its evident that this film will be a Lord of the Rings-flavored take on the familiar fairy tale.

The panel included in person appearances from director Rupert Sanders, along with producers Joe Roth and Palak Patel, as well as principal cast members Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron (making her second panel appearance after Thursday's Prometheus event), and Sam Claflin. 

For the two people in all of America who were not yet aware that this Friday sees the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Disney has released two behind-the-scenes featurettes on the fourth installment of the swashbucking uber-franchise starring Johnny Depp.  The first focuses on the supporting players, including Penelope Cruz, Sam Claflin and returning actors Geoffrey Rush and Kevin McNally.  The second offers new looks at Ian McShane's Blackbeard, his zombie crew, and the mermaids who terrorize unsuspecting pirates.  Give 'em both a watch and shiver your timbers, whatever that means.