A Confederacy of Dunces, an adaptation of John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning comedic novel, has been a would-be since not long after the book's publication.  Over the decades, though, no attempt to get a movie based on the sprawling tale of Ignatius J. Reilly has been successful, with big-time comedic teams trying to no avail.  The latest guys to tackle A Confederacy of Dunces are director James Bobin and Zach Galifiankis, who would play Ignatius.

The first full-length theatrical trailer for The Great Gatsby has landed online, and it'll make you wonder why Baz Luhrmann is just now making a movie set during the Roaring Twenties.  The art deco opulence of the period is just perfectly suited to the director's indulgent, hyper-detailed style.  Add the dramatic meat of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel and a pretty incredible cast, and this adaptation could be something special.

It's been fifteen years since Men in Black first brought a cinematic version of the comic book created by Lowell Cunningham to movie theaters across the world.  The film introduced audiences to an extra-governmental force tasked with covertly carrying out extraterrestrial policing on Earth, and did so with a witty comedic sensibility not as present in the source material.  The result was an international success that captured the zeitgeist in 1997 and helped propel Will Smith to global stardom.

After a decade without a hint of Agents J or K since Men in Black II, the franchise has been revived with a third sequel that sees Smith and Tommy Lee Jones returning to their roles.  Director Barry Sonnenfeld is also back to tell another story of the MiB organization.  For the third outing, an intergalactic biker played by Jemaine Clement travels back in time to settle a score with K and pave the way for an alien invasion.  With no other choice, J must journey back to 1969, teaming up with a younger K, played by Josh Brolin, to save the future.

At the Los Angeles press day for Men in Black 3, IAR Managing Editor Jami Philbrick was present to gain some insight on the latest science-fiction comedy.  Stars Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin were all in attendance to discuss the sequel, their roles, working with visual effects, and prominent ears in 3D.

What if I told you there was a new short film in which Jennifer Garner uses flamboyant lies and occasionally bawdy innuendo to attract the attentions of Alfred Molina as an increasingly exasperated priest?  You'd want to check that out, right?  After all, it's the erstwhile Elektra Natchios and Doc Ock sharing a confessional.

Garner and Molina star in Serena, a short clocking in at just under twelve minutes, during which Garner plays the title character, a woman who is running out her priest's patience, but for fascinating reasons.  Serena is written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, the man behind last year's Oscar-nominated Albert Nobbs and episodes of the HBO series In Treatment and Six Feet Under.

Dustin Lance Black is a screenwriter, producer and director, having won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Milk, the biopic of the late gay rights activist Harvey Milk starring Sean Penn. Additionally, Black wrote the screenplay for J. Edgar, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Leonardo DiCaprio which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Black earned his chops writing on HBO’s Big Love quickly climbing the ranks from staff writer on the series to executive story editor to co-producer. Black’s newest film Virginia, which he wrote and directed, is loosely based on his own childhood experiences growing up in the South and is now playing in theatres.

Virginia stars Jennifer Connelly (Requiem For A Dream, A Beautiful Mind) in the title role as a beautiful yet unhinged single mother who struggles to raise her son Emmett (Harrison Gilbertson) while dreaming of escaping her small Southern boardwalk town. Her longtime affair with the very married, Mormon Sheriff Richard Tipton, played by Ed Harris (A Beautiful Mind, Pollock), is thrown into question when he decides to run for public office. Things are further complicated when Emmett begins a romantic relationship with Tipton’s daughter, played by Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew, Valentine’s Day). Virginia and the town – populated by Amy Madigan, Toby Jones, Yeardley Smith – are full of secrets and everyone knows Virginia can only keep things together for so long. Virginia is a funny, touching drama that looks at the American Dream and what it takes to keep it together.

I recently had a chance to sit down and chat with Dustin Lance Black about Virginia. The Director spoke about Schizophrenia, his southern Mormon upbringing, the American Dream, working with Jennifer Connelly, the exhaustive effort of researching the biopics he wrote, and his upcoming projects.

That sound you hear is Warner Bros. opening the promotional floodgates for The Dark Knight Rises, which is the summer's biggest impending superhero movie, now that The Avengers has broken so many records and cleared the way for Christopher Nolan's climactic Batman movie.  Today, there are no fewer than six character posters for the sequel, two each for the Caped Crusader, the villainous Bane, and the adaptable Catwoman.

This Christmas Day, there are not one, but two different Leonardo DiCaprio movies hitting theaters.  In the one by a certain Quentin Tarantino, he plays a evil plantation owner in the Antebellum South, but in The Great Gatsby, he plays the titular character in a 3D adaptation of F. Scott Fitsgerald's classic novel.  A new still from Baz Luhrmann's lavish take on the novel features DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, and Amitabh Bachchan.

Perhaps sensing the trepidation regarding what many potential moviegoers see as a premature rebootenizing, Sony Pictures has been happy to show off plenty of footage from The Amazing Spider-Man.  Just last week, a four-minute "super-preview" debuted during America's Got Talent, in addition to different trailers and a sizzle reel screened earlier this year.  Now, a selection of folks seeing Men in Black 3 will be treated to a six-minute Spidey preview.

Luckily for all the already-lucky folks hanging out on the Croisette, Lawless is screening at the at the Cannes Film Festival and has been received positively.  Those of us not at Cannes have to wait until late August to see John Hillcoat's adaptation of The Wettest Country in the World.  To tide us over, though, there are two new clips from the film online now, both featuring a rather intimidating Tom Hardy.