The new comedic drama What to Expect When You're Expecting isn't based on the most likely source material.  Sure, the book of the same name by Heidi Murkoff has consistently topped bestseller lists since first being published in 1984.  In three subsequent editions since then, it has sold almost 15 million copies and become the go-to handbook for modern pregnancy.  That's what makes it an unlikely movie: it's a self-help text, a practical guide filled with information and tips on the different stages of pregnancy and early childhood.

The film version, Kirk Jones and co-written by Heather Hatch and Shauna Cross, incorporates Murkoff's applicable advice into a narrative feature by telling five interconnected stories of pregnancy, each with their own couples and circumstances.  That means What to Expect When You're Expecting stars a sprawling ensemble cast, including Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Elizabeth Banks, Rodrigo Santoro, Chris Rock, Brooklyn Decker, Matthew Morrison, Anna Kendrick, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ben Falcone, Chace Crawford, Rob Huebel, and Joe Manganiello.

IAR Managing Editor Jami Philbrick attended the press day for this Lionsgate release in Los Angeles, where Murkoff and Jones, along with much of the all-star ensemble cast, enthusiastically discussed the book, making the movie, drawing from real-life experience, and working with lovely, talented ladies.

Synopsis: Inspired by the perennial New York Times bestseller of the same name, WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING is a hilarious and heartfelt big screen comedy about five couples whose intertwined lives are turned upside down by the challenges of impending parenthood. Over the moon about starting a family, TV fitness guru Jules and dance show star Evan find that their high-octane celebrity lives don't stand a chance against the surprise demands of pregnancy. Baby-crazy author and advocate Wendy gets a taste of her own militant mommy advice when pregnancy hormones ravage her body; while Wendy's husband, Gary, struggles not to be outdone by his competitive alpha-Dad, who's expecting twins with his much younger trophy wife, Skyler. Photographer Holly is prepared to travel the globe to adopt a child, but her husband Alex isn't so sure, and tries to quiet his panic by attending a "dudes" support group, where new fathers get to tell it like it really is. And rival food truck chefs Rosie and Marco's surprise hook-up results in an unexpected quandary: what to do when your first child comes before your first date? A kaleidoscopic comedy as universal as it is unpredictable, WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING finds humor and uplift in all the unexpected trials and triumphs of welcoming a child into the world. The film stars Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, Rodrigo Santoro, Ben Falcone and Joe Manganiello.

After an almost comedically abrupt hype-building glimpse last week, the first teaser for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 has arrived online in full.  It's probably a moot point, though, since this trailer was attached to The Hunger Games, and it looks as though pretty much everybody in America went to see that novel adaptation, meaning y'all have probably already laid eyes on Kristen Stewart as the now-vampiric Bella Swan.

Just yesterday we saw a trailer for a happily morbid stop-motion animated feature about a young boy whose peculiarities have an impact on the entire community around him.  That trailer was for Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, but today we have a brand new trailer for a similarly themed stop-motion tale, the original story ParaNorman. 

The film looks like a funny and phantasmagoric ride, as seen in previous trailers, but this new preview gives a fuller idea of the film's plot.  Basically a young introvert who sees ghosts has to prove himself as a hero when an undead invasion arrives in his town.  That was the driest possible description I could provide, so watch the trailer to get a feel for just why ParaNorman is a movie get jazzed about.  Plus, there's a new official poster, too.

Five new character posters from What to Expect to Expect When You're Expecting pretty clearly convey that the movie is about pregnancy by showcasing the five lead actresses in varying stages of knocked-upedness.  Elizabeth Banks, Cameron Diaz, Anna Kendrick, Brooklyn Decker, and Jennifer Lopez are all present and accounted for, and each also gets a little quotation to give you some insight on their character and let you know that the movie is agreeably lighthearted.

Hey look, it's an international trailer for ParaNorman, the 3D stop motion feature from Laika Entertainment.  Laika, if you're unaware, was responsible for 2009's Coraline, the wonderful 3D take on Neil Gaiman's awesome story.  Everything we've seen from ParaNorman so far suggests that the original film will effectively incorporate a unique, spooktacular comedic tone,  Plus, the stop-motion looks faultless, absolutely smooth yet still retaining that hand wrought charm inherent to the style.  This trailer zeroes in on the basic concept, laying out the notion that young Norman, voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee, can see and communicate with ghosts, but in a good way.  His skill comes in handy when zombies and all manner of ghoulish creatures surround the town, making young Norman the only one who can save the day.

In 2005, author Stephenie Meyer's first novel kicked off what would become a massive pop-cultural sensation across multiple media with a simple story aimed squarely at young adult readers.  Meyer played with erotic vampire tropes that go back further than Bram Stoker's Dracula, upending them for a tale of quasi-symbolic sexual repression and idealized, melodramatic love that allowed the love story of vampiric Edward Cullen and human Bella Swan to become a publishing sensation well beyond its original audience.

By the time Twilight arrived in theaters in 2008, fans were already displaying an unusual fervor for the material, and the film series from Summit Entertainment caused both the breadth of the audience and its passion to increase exponentially.  Since that first film became a surprise hit, its sequels, New Moon and Eclipse have arrived in consecutive years and the franchise has grossed over $1.8 billion dollars globally, making international superstars out of the young cast pretty much overnight.  The teenage romance became a commercial juggernaut, one that has proven polarizing even as it pervades the culture and rakes in massive amounts of money.

Now, the penultimate installment of the franchise, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, is about to debut, and fans are characteristically ecstatic.  The new film, adapting roughly half of the final novel in the series by Meyer, is directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter Bill Condon, and takes the story in both more outrageous and more mature directions, as Bella and Edward finally get hitched, forcing them deal with the unforeseen consequences of their union, including a vampiric pregnancy and some very angry werewolves.  At the Los Angeles press day for Breaking Dawn - Part 1, Myer and Condon were present to discuss this latest entry in the series, as were stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner.  Read on to discover their thoughts on this sequel, shooting two movies simultaneously, vampire birthing, imprinting on newborns, and the impending end of the series.

We're now mere weeks away from the November 18th release of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, and the penultimate vampire-on-human love story is about to become a ubiquitous presence in all our lives, as the marketing behemoth that has lain dormant since last year's Eclipse is now stretching out in preparation for a marathon few weeks.  Summit Entertainment has released a new behind-the-scenes featurette from Breaking Dawn.  It begins with about a minute of relevant material from the previous installments, from Bella and Edward's first meeting through their tumultuous love affair, then rolls out a whole bunch of new footage from Part 1.  Also included are interview snippets with all the major players, from Kristen Stewart to Bill Condon to Stephenie Meyer and most of the sprawling cast.

So far, promotion for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 has centered on the fact that the film contains the much-anticipated end to three movie's worth of cinematic blue balls, as Bella and Edward get hitched and finally get their righteous swerve on.  It'll no doubt be a lavish wedding and a passionate night of honeymoon lovemaking, but Summit Entertainment has released two new clips from the penultimate Twilight, and both focus on the story's darker side.  The first has Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as the newlyweds making the discovery that Bella's womb is now home to a rapidly-developing vampire spawn.  The second takes place down the line, when Bella's on the verge of death due to said vampire spawn, as Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, and Elizabeth Reaser (as Jacob, Carlisle, and Esme, respectively) discuss the impending birth and the threat of some pissed-off werewolves.

What with the big happenings like interspecies marriage and vampire baby-making, so far the marketing for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 has been focused squarely on Bella Swan/Cullen and Edward Cullen, the newlyweds played by Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.  Yesterday, for example, the first official clip from the film teased their honeymoon, with their pre-coital arrival at a South American love nest.  Today, though, Summit Entertainment has dropped a promotional spot that puts the focus on werewolf also-ran Jacob Black, played once again by erstwhile Sharkboy Taylor Lautner. 

Mostly, Jacob is making like a downtrodden Charlie Brown in this spot.  Understandable, given that his lady love is gets a) hitched and b) knocked up by a filthy vampire with inferior abdominal muscles.  Towards the end, though, he starts getting his righteous werewolf on, going toe to toe with some other murderous werewolves.