Here's something you don't see every day: a high-profile franchise summer sequel just a month out from release getting delayed by a whopping nine months.  Yet that's exactly what is happening to G.I. Joe: Retaliation.  The sequel/sorta-kinda reboot to 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was set for nationwide release on June 29th, but has been suddenly pushed back to a new release date, on March 29, 2013.

Guillermo Del Toro has stated emphatically that he'll never make a movie that doesn't include a monster or monsters.  We've known for some time that his new movie, next summer's Pacific Rim, will involve some bigass monsters wreaking havoc and some equally bigass anime-inspired mecha-bots going up against them in order to save humanity. 

With almost a month to the day until Brave arrives in theaters, you can expect to spend the next thirty-odd days inundated with new promotional material for Pixar's latest, the animation powerhouse's first non-sequel since Up back in 2009.  A new clip, for example, promotes the Disney release with aplomb, hinting at the still-mysterious story whilst sticking to character, character, character.

Lionsgate scored by far the biggest theatrical hit in its history with The Hunger Games, as the film has now grossed $391.9 million domestically and continues to attract repeat viewers.  For the last few months, we've been focused on Catching Fire, the adaptation of Suzanne Collins' second novel in the series set for theatrical release in November of next year. 

While fans have been justifiably upset by the absence of director Gary Ross on the sequel, today brings happy news: The Hunger Games will be available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download this August 18th.

Right now, any discussion of Batman movies is obviously centered on The Dark Knight Rises, the final chapter of Christopher Nolan's much heralded cinmatic Bat-trilogy.  This year, though, Warner Premiere is hard at work adapting one of the most influential comics ever created.  As has long been rumored, Frank Miller's epochal 1986 masterpiece The Dark Knight Returns is getting a DC Universe animated adaptation, and today we have new details.

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.