This week we found out that Machete Kills, the sequel to 2010's exasperatingly over the top Machete, is tentatively set to begin production in April under the direction of Robert Rodriguez, who is partnering with producer Alexander Rodnyansky on the sure to be ridiculous enterprise. 

Danny Trejo is in talks to reprise the title role, and today there's further proof that Machete Kills is close to becoming an actual movie, thanks to some sales artwork that's made its way online.

Way back in July of last year, Robert Rodriguez made mention of a couple sequels during his panel at the San Diego Comic-Con.  The endlessly-discussed Sin City 2 came up, of course, but the man behind Troublemaker Studios also said that we'll soon be seeing a sequel to 2010's Machete, and it will be the second in a planned trilogy that culminates with Danny Trejo's one-man army venturing into space.  Now, it looks like Machete Kills is coming together, with an April production start tentatively planned.

Opening in theaters on November 4th is A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, the third chapter in the beloved stoner franchise following Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. The movie is helmed by first time director Todd Strauss-Schulson and reunites the previous films stars John Cho (Star Trek), Kal Penn (Superman Returns), and of course ... Neil Patrick Harris (The Smurfs). The film also includes performances by Thomas Lennon (Bad Teacher), Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille), Paula Garces (TV's The Shield), Elias Koteas (The Thin Red Line), Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie), David Krumholtz (TV's Numb3rs), Bobby Lee (Pineapple Express), and Danny Trejo (Machete). 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with funny man Thomas Lennon to discuss A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. The comedian spoke openly about the new film, joining the franchise, babies on cocaine, Occupy Wall Street and how life sometimes imitates art. 

Opening in theaters on November 4th is A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, the third chapter in the beloved stoner franchise following Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. The movie is helmed by first time director Todd Strauss-Schulson and reunites the previous films stars John Cho (Star Trek), Kal Penn (Superman Returns), and of course ... Neil Patrick Harris (The Smurfs). The film also includes performances by Thomas Lennon (Bad Teacher), Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille), Paula Garces (TV's The Shield), Elias Koteas (The Thin Red Line), Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie), David Krumholtz (TV's Numb3rs), Bobby Lee (Pineapple Express), and Danny Trejo (Machete). 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with Todd Strauss-Schulson to discuss A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. The director spoke candidly about his new film; its claymation sequence, making a Christmas movie, Neil Patrick Harris, stoned babies, lesbian nuns, Danny Trejo ejaculating on America, and 3D. 

A new red band trailer for A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas has debuted online, and rest assured, this trailer does not waste time getting down to business.  Often, red band trailers are almost identical to their all-audiences counterparts, but with a dollop of profanity added.  That's not the case for this preview of the third stoner adventure starring John Cho and Kal Penn as the title characters. 

The trailer starts with Santa Claus taking a hit from a candycane bong, then proceeds through an orgiastic collage of absurdity that includes a babby happily getting high off no less than two illicit substances, nudity, spurting blood, over-the-top 3D shots, beer pong, lost grills, bad language, a claymation phallus, Jesus on the phone to God, and Neil Patrick Harris in a heaven of mammaries and sexual favors.  If any one of those things sounds like your cup of tea, watch the red band A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas trailer right about now.

Warner Bros has released a big ole' batch of new character posters from A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, the third film in an improbable franchise that began with the munchies back in Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle in 2004.  I must say, without even a hint of snark or irony, that I really appreciate how completely both the film and its marketing are embracing the gimmickery inherent in 3D and a Christmas-themed sequel.  So often the 3D format is sold as an immersive, Avatar-style world-building tool, but the trailer and the last round of character posters promise stuff flying out at your face amongst lowbrow holiday hijinks.

The posters, which debuted over at Yahoo! Movies, include Kal Penn and John Chu, of course, along with Neil Patrick Harris as the sex-addicted, balls-tripping id monster version of himself he's played in all three films.  Also getting the character poster treatment are Santa Claus, Thomas Lennon and a baby, a robot, Danny Trejo in a holiday sweater, and Jake M. Johnson as Jesus.

Slapping "3D" into a movie's title will inform audiences in no uncertain terms that the movie is presented in three dimensions, but what if a marketing team also wants to assure moviegoers that the film is also a happily coarse holiday-themed comedy?  For A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, the answer is simple: a massive, unambiguously phallic candy cane pointing directly at the viewer, suggesting both ribald vulgarity and gimmicky dimensionality.  In a brand new series of character posters, Neil Patrick Harris holds the aforementioned candy-phallus, while Harold and Kumar themselves, John Cho and Kal Penn, enjoy a rifle and some herb, respectively.  A final poster brings them all together in holiday merriment.

The last time we saw the prostitute-loving, car-thieving, balls-tripping alternate universe version of Neil Patrick Harris in the sequel Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, he was meeting a most unfortunate but inevitable fate.  Rest assured, however, it wouldn't be an installment of the improbable franchise without the man known affectionately as NPH, and he will once again run into John Cho and Kal Penn as the title characters in A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas.  In order to give a weary, fearful populace a beacon of light towards which to strive, NPH is included in the first image from the upcoming sequel, flanked by Cho and Penn in Nutcracker garb.

Very few character motivations are as propulsive and immediately involving as revenge, and none lend themselves as well to pulpy, grindhouse-style fun and mayhem.  Sushi Girl, the feature directorial debut of Kern Saxton, is a story with revenge right at its center, as a convict emerges from prison after six years for robbery; during all six years he uttered not a peep about his co-conspirators, none of whom spent a day in jail. 

Upon his release, his compatriots invite this man, named Fish, to a sushi dinner with the meal served on the naked body of a beautiful woman who remains absolutely still,even as the night spirals out of control.  The official Sushi Girl trailer and a potentially brutal clip are now online, showcasing the film's eclectic, geek-friendly cast.

If you could send this first trailer for Spy Kids: All the Time in the World back in time to 1996, moviegoers just out of From Dusk Till Dawn probably wouldn't believe that the upcoming franchise rejiggering was directed by Robert Rodriguez, the same guy behind El Mariachi and Desperado.  And not just because of the dueling novelties of 3D and Smell-O-Vision-style Aroma-Scope.  There's also the matters of Ricky Gervais inexplicably voicing a robot dog and Jeremy Piven playing a time-stealing villain with a terrible goatee.  All these things and more are on display in the first Spy Kids 4 trailer, along with Jessica Alba as a superspy stepmom.