Speaking at a Q&A at a Directors Guild of America screening of The Avengers, director Joss Whedon dished about an early draft of the script. Whedon revealed that "there was a very Waspy draft that I wrote," speaking of course about the Marvel character Wasp, A.K.A. Janet Van Dyne, who was a founding member of the Avengers in the comic books.

Whedon added, "I was like, 'She's adorable!' I'm just going to watch her!" Ultimately, Van Dyne didn't make the cut, but perhaps Whedon's affinity for the tiny superhero means that she could make an appearance in The Avengers 2.

Fans should definitely expect some type of lineup change in the second film. Whedon says the he grew up on The Avengers comics, and loved the way they changed the characters in each installment.

With an Ant-Man movie in the works, and Whedon's apparent Wasp-love, maybe all of the founding members--Iron-Man, Thor, Hulk, Wasp, and Ant-Man--will be in the next film. What do you think? Which Superheros should be in The Avengers 2?

A new featurette has dropped for Safe Haven. Take a look:

 

Safe Haven Featurette

Julianne Hough stars as Katie, a mysterious woman who arrives at a small North Carolina town to escape her past. There, she meets Alex, a townie played by Josh Duhamel (New Year's Eve), and the two form a strong romantic bond.

Safe Haven is based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. Cobie Smulders (The Avengers), David Lyons, Scott Porter, and Cullen Moss also star.

Lasse Hallstrom directs the film, which will hit theaters February 14, 2013. Watch the Safe Haven trailer for more.

Following the Elizabeth Debicki and Isla Fisher Great Gatsbycharacter posters released earlier this week, we now have two more, featuring Tobey Maguire and Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty)! Take a look:

Maguire plays Nick Carraway, the narrator of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel on which the film is based. Edgerton plays Tom Buchanan, millionaire wife of Daisy, who is torn between her husband and Jay Gatsby, played by Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained).

Jason Clarke, Adelaide Clemens, Max Cullen also star. Baz Luhrmann directs the film, which opens May 10, 2013, after being pushed from a Christmas Day release.

The trailer for Michael Bay's new film Pain and Gain has dropped. It looks a bit like Bay's take on Burn After Reading. Watch below:

 

Pain and Gain Trailer

Mark Wahlberg (Ted) and Dwayne Johnson star as two Florida bodybuilders who get in way over their heads, involving themselves in a kidnapping and extortion plot with very little know-how.

Anthony Mackie, Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids), Ed Harris, Tony Shalhoub, Ken Jeong (The Hangover), and Rob Corddry also star in the action-comedy.

Pain and Gain will be released April 26, 2013. Also check out the poster for the film below:

Billy Crystal and Bette Midler seem like two birds of a feather, so it’s a surprise that Parental Guidance is their first big screen film together. The legendary duo sat down with Movie Fanatic for a chat about joining forces, singing and dancing together, and what parental guidance they received growing up. They even riff on their love-hate relationship with the tech-nifying of our society.

Movie Fanatic: As the Parental Guidance trailer teases, this film is about what we learn from our folks. What piece of parental advice did you get that stuck with you?

Bette Midler: I didn’t get any guidance except be a nurse or be a teacher, don’t go into show business. Those were the only jobs available to women in those days. Actresses were like tramps and all that kind of thing. My dad was very conservative.

Billy Crystal: My dad died when I was fifteen and he had worked a lot, way too much -- so, much of my influence came from my mother. When I was about 21, just about out of college at NYU and Vietnam was raging and I’m a frustrated musician, she said you should really take clarinet lessons because if you get drafted you can play in the band and you don’t have to fight. Today would be her 97th birthday. That’s a good omen.

Movie Fanatic: Ahh…Tell us what it was like to finally work together, especially on that priceless singing and dancing scene when you two harmonized on Book of Love?

Billy Crystal: Parts of the shooting we would sing for the kids to keep them occupied sometimes because they get a little bored or their mind wanders. We were in the subway in Atlanta that had great echoes. And that's where doo-wop was born, was in high school bathrooms because the echo was good. So we just started singing Charlie Brown and...

Bette Midler:Poison Ivy.

Billy Crystal: Poison Ivy, Yakety Yak, those kinds of great old songs. I turned to Bette and said, "Why don't we find a place to sing together in the movie?" And Bette didn't want to do it right away because you were worried of being, “Oh, it's Bette Midler time.”

Bette Midler: I thought it would break the truth of the character, what little shreds of truth there were [laughs].

Movie Fanatic: The house in Parental Guidance is as high-tech as they come. What tech gadgets can you two not live without?

Bette Midler: You have to keep up and there’s new apps every day that drives you nuts. It’s a boom and a horror show. It’s the devil’s playground. But, some of it is quite interesting. I’ve been doing it for a long time, but I don’t use everything that's available on a computer. Now I’m taking a class, three times a week. I sit there with all the other little ladies [laughs]. I think it’s the greatest thing ever created. I don’t get how it works, but the stuff it can do is incredible. It’s like we were there when the car was built. “You don’t have to ride a horse and don’t have to stand in poop.” It’s unbelievable.

Billy Crystal: The thing about these things (pulls out his iPhone), and I just got one, as a parent and a grandparent you can get called when things happen. That is good. But, I hate seeing families in restaurants and they’re all like this… (looks down at his phone). They even text the waiter what they want [laughs]. They look so sad. The art of conversation is gone.

Bette Midler: Oh my God, they stopped teaching cursive in school. I almost died.

Billy Crystal: It’s not good for your eyes. What kills me also is people walking around town looking down at their phone assuming everyone else is going to stop and get out of the way. We have a world looking down.

Bette Midler: If you’re in the middle of a beautiful day, why not look up and see the beauty?

Movie Fanatic: Lastly, having done everything imaginable, including seeing Billy Crystal hosting Oscars in lights nine times, your character in Parental Guidance never managed to achieve his dreams. You’ve accomplished so many, including recently hosting the Oscars. Do you have any dreams that have yet to come true?

Billy Crystal: Not yet. I’m shocked I’ve done as many things as I’ve done. I’m so grateful for having a long career. And I hope it gets longer. I don’t take anything for granted. I met somebody who I fell in love with when I was 18. I’ve been married 43 years. I have two great kids, four grandchildren and another on the way. This movie was a dream of mine to get made and we wrestled it to the ground and got it made. If I stop now, every dream I’ve ever had is great. I just keep dreaming.

Movie Fanatic: Well, then what is your next dream?

Billy Crystal: My dream is that this baby is born healthy and happy. Everything else is gravy.

Naomi Watts has been down the Oscar buzz road before and she is firmly planted there yet again for her astonishing work on The Impossible. After learning she was one who scored a nomination with the Golden Globe nominations, her odds of an Academy nod grew ever higher.

Watts portrays Maria, the matriarch of a family taking a vacation at the wrong place and at the wrong time. It is 2004 and she and Ewan McGregor's Henry have taken their family to a Thailand beach resort merely hours before the worst tsunami in human history strikes. 

Watts tells us in our exclusive video interview the extra challenge that it is portraying a real human who has lived through an extraordinary experience... as so heartbreakingly felt in The Impossible trailer. She's done it before (as Valerie Plume in Fair Game), but this time it was different. "It's great to have someone to speak to you to get closer to the character. But there's a level of responsibility knowing the level of suffering that they went through," Watts said. "And she's just a small part -- there were hundreds of thousands of lives that were affected."

 

Naomi Watts Exclusive Interview

The Oscar-nominated actress also told us about where all this buzz she's getting for The Impossible sits in her mind and how someone survives the roller-coaster that is awards season.

"Try my best not to [listen to it]. It is a bit of waving the carrot. It's hard not to want it," Watts said and laughed. "It's a road I've been down before, and it's nice to be recognized by your peers."

Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reunite after first hooking up in Knocked-Up for a “sort of” sequel to that 2007 hit. In that film, which starred Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl, Rudd and Mann played a couple with two kids (played by Mann and husband-director Judd Apatow’s real children) trying to navigate the waters of marriage.

In This Is 40, the pair return in the writer-director’s latest that is sure to please his ever-growing legion of fans. Although the film is not autobiographical in terms of how things are at the Apatow household, there were fantasy moments that Mann, for one, got to live out. Apatow further dishes the true life inspiration in a This Is 40 red band featurette.

“It’s what I would fantasize about saying to Judd. Debbie can say these things to Pete, but Leslie can’t really say these things to Judd,” Mann told Movie Fanatic and laughed. “It’s fun to have this character to live through.”

As seen in the This Is 40 trailer, the couple are dealing with the challenges of his fledgling record company, her boutique store bringing in a profit, raising two girls -- one of whom is a teenager -- and oh yeah, they're both turning forty!

When it comes to turning that magical (or is it cursed?) age, both stars have experienced it and have very different views. For Mann, it depends on what she is doing.

“I think every day is different. Some days, I feel fine, and other days I feel like crying all day. I have lunches with my girlfriends, who just turned 40, and some of those lunches, we’re crying and screaming about our husbands, saying we want to leave them and run away,” Mann said.

“And then, other lunches, we’re fine and love our husbands and are happy with our lives. So, I’m not sure. I don’t know. I don’t have any answers. I keep asking women who are a little bit older, ‘When is this going to pass?’ And they’re like, ‘It doesn’t pass. It just gets worse.’”

When Rudd thinks about age, he reverts back to something his father said. "I remember, as a kid, my dad always told me, ‘Getting older beats the alternative.’ Although, now my father actually is the alternative, so I don’t know what he would say,” Rudd said. “He’s completely dead.”

When it came time to name the most difficult scene in the notoriously improv happy set of an Apatow movie, it came from a veteran of one of the filmmaker’s producing efforts, Bridesmaids. “Melissa McCarthy was the hardest one to get through. That was impossible,” Mann said.

“Maybe one time, I’ll crack up, and then I can hold it together, from then on. But with her, it was hours. We could not keep a straight face. Finally, we just gave up. Judd was using more than one camera, so we could just laugh. And the crew was all laughing. It was ridiculous. She’s just the funniest person, ever.”

Rudd agreed. “I’ve seen people on tears before, but that was something otherworldly. People were leaving the room. Crew had to leave. It was impossible,” he said. Clearly, the man is a fan of the Mike and Molly star. “She just kept her composure through all of it!”

The actor, his wife, Apatow and Mann are friends and he reported that many dinners have passed between his last film with its killer Knocked Up quotes and This Is 40 that wound up in the script for the filmmaker’s latest. “We’ve spent years talking about all of this stuff,” Rudd said. “So there are aspects of the character that are very much a part of me.”

Mann, obviously, didn’t have any issues appearing with her own daughters… except for one scene.

“The only thing that made me feel uncomfortable in this movie is that scene where I’m laying in bed with Iris because it felt a little invasive. I don’t know why,” Mann said.

The actress admitted that everything else onscreen she does, she simply lets it fly. But that scene hit too close to home. “For some reason, it felt a little like it was crossing some boundary, just because everyone was sitting there watching me with my little girl, doing what I do with my little girl. I didn’t like that. But, anything else goes. I’m fine with anything else.”

Iron Man is going through some tough times. It looks like he was beaten up by his bookie because he hasn't paid off his outstanding gambling debts. It's an odd direction to take Iron Man 3, but I don't make the movies, I just write about 'em.

Check out the new still from Iron Man 3, showing a bloody Tony Stark with a broken suit:

Robert Downey Jr. returns as the snarky superhero in the third installment of the Iron Man franchise. This time, Stark sets out to find the man responsible for destroying his world.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce (Lawless), Rebecca Hall, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, and Ben Kingsley (The Dictator) also star.

Shane Black directs the film, which opens May 3, 2013. Until then, head to our Iron Man quotes page to revisit the first film.

The first teaser trailer for the upcoming Dreamworks 3D computer-animated feature Turbo has debuted! Take a look:

 

Turbo Teaser Trailer

The film follows an eager snail named Turbo, voiced by Ryan Reynolds, with a love for auto racing. After a freak accident imbues him with incredible speed, he embarks on a journey to race in the Indianapolis 500.

The star-studded voice cast also includes Paul Giamatti, Michael Pena, Luis Guzman, Bill Hader (Pineapple Express), Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong, Michelle Rodriguez, Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids), Ben Schwartz, Kurtwood Smith, Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers), Snoop Dogg. David Soren directs the movie, which premieres July 19, 2013.

When it comes to compiling a "best of" list for the year in movies, lately these top 10s seem to be weighted heavily from the last quarter of the year. Save the summer release of the surprise hit Beasts of the Southern Wild and that superhero collective, known as Joss Whedon's The Avengers, the other eight films in our best of the year countdown all saw the light of day from October or later.

The race to be anointed the best of 2012 seemed a lock for the Ben Affleck directing and starring vehicle Argo when it premiered in October. Then it seemed with each passing weekend a new film challenged it for the top spot. From this weekend's Zero Dark Thirty to Daniel Day Lewis showing us why Lincoln is still relevant... it was a difficult task to put these ten films in order. But, we did it and it is with great honor that Movie Fanatic presents its Top 10 Movies of 2012.

10. Skyfall
Bond was back in a big way as Daniel Craig and company gave audiences the best 007 flick in decades, as stated in our Skyfall review.

Javier Bardem slithered into his role as villain Silva and his vengeance-seeking mission to make Judi Dench's M pay for past misdeeds was nothing short of brilliant. The fact that the franchise scored an Oscar-winning director in Sam Mendes who is also a lifelong James Bond fan only further took this stellar story to new heights. It may be a long shot to score a Best Picture nomination, but Academy members should seriously consider it. Skyfall is simply a great movie... regardless of its genre.

9. The Avengers
Everyone could not have been more excited for a movie as audiences were for Whedon and his The Avengers. After the successes of Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America... the challenge to bring these heroes together (along with the Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow) was immense.

Yet Whedon not only triumphed in a thrilling adventure that pleased general audiences and fans alike, but he crafted an ensemble drama where all of its parts were used effectively and efficiently. He also sprinkled in enough humor to catapult the film onto a best of the year list for its impeccable balance of action, drama and comedy. Want to stare at those superheroes forever? Download our collection of The Avengers wallpaper.

8. End of Watch
The fact that End of Watch is on our Best of 2012 list should not surprise. The writer of Training Day made his directorial debut from a script he wrote about two LAPD cops working the worst of the worst neighborhoods. As Denzel Washington scored Oscar gold for his effort on Training Day, so too should End of Watch star Michael Pena be expecting a nomination come January 13.

Jake Gyllenhaal is equally as terrific as Pena's partner as the two forge a buddy cop tandem that is as pitch perfect as we've seen since... Training Day. Haven't seen it yet? Don't miss our End of Watch trailer exclusive and run out and rent it!

7. Seven Psychopaths
As good as Gyllenhaal and Pena were at being good in End of Watch, the cast of Seven Psychopaths is brilliant at being bad. Of all our Seven Psychopaths, there is not one truly good seed. But, that is exactly why we adore this film from writer-director Martin McDonagh. Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, Colin Farrell and Sam Rockwell turn in the best performances of their careers.

When Walken and Rockwell steal gangster Harrelson's Shih Tzu, Farrell is sucked into his friend's (Rockwell) deliciously gray world. The film crackles with electricity from beginning to end. Humor abounds (it's one of our Top 10 Comedies of 2012), violence and tension permeate and it all adds up to one of the best movie experiences of the year.

Oh, and those cameos from Tom Waits and Harry Dean Stanton only elevate this film's excellence. You would also be hard pressed to find a cuter canine on film in recent memory!

6. Beasts of the Southern Wild
This film proved that a moving and powerful story, coupled with stripped-to-the-bone brilliant performances from its leads, can always find an audience. Beasts of the Southern Wildcame out of nowhere this summer in its tale of a dysfunctional father and daughter trying to survive in storm-soaked, post-Katrina southern Louisiana. Quvenzane Wallis gave a performance decades older than her eight years of life that will firmly plant her at the Dolby Theater come Oscar night.

Using otherworldly themes paired with the stark realism of the poorest of the poor world painted by director Behn Zeitlin, and the film itself should expect a Best Picture nod as well.

5. Life of Pi
There are majestic films and there is what Ang Lee did with Life of Pi. Taking an unfilmable book and bringing it to life in as vibrant a 3D film since Avatar, proved to be the masterwork of a director who already has achieved such greatness. The story of Pi and his travels from his native India to Canada and the shipwreck he survived while being stuck on a life raft for months with a tiger is nothing short of a movie marvel.

And as so effectively teased in the Life of Pi trailer, Lee's film is much more than a lesson in visual vibrancy. The story runs the gamut from a lesson in religion and God, and an inspirational survival tale to a chronicle of the interconnectedness of every soul and natural presence on the planet. And by the way, it must be seen on the big screen. Period.

4. The Impossible
Much has been made of the switching the real life nationality (Spanish) of the family that survived the 2004 Thailand tsunami to the lily white British clan we see in The Impossible. It is hogwash as what's relevant is what these five family members went through. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts and their kin arrive at their Pacific Ocean paradise and merely days later are run over by a wall of water that killed or injured hundreds of thousands of people.

The family is separated and the true story gives us sob-worthy reunions between them on multiple occasions and (without giving away too much) further enhances our faith in fate and the kindness of strangers -- even while their world has been washed away. Hinted at in The Impossible trailer, Watts expresses emotional explosions that run the gamut that should land her an Oscar nod... and she may even win. Also acting years beyond his age is her onscreen son whom Watts spends much of the movie with trying to find help... Tom Holland. Expect to hear a lot from the young actor in the years to come.

3. Lincoln
We knew Daniel Day Lewis was the perfect actor to play Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's epic tale of the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. But, when that first Lincoln clip appeared and we saw Lewis, it was one of those moments where you say, "Just give him the Oscar." Then... we witnessed the film.

Yes, it's very "legislative" and less a biography. But, a biopic is not the film that director Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner sought to make. And thank heavens, as what audiences are treated to is not only a performance for the ages by Lewis, but a story that triumphs human rights and puts the spotlight on what could be argued is one of the most important time periods in our entire history.

2. Argo
At the outset when that first Argo trailer appeared, it was clear that Ben Affleck scored on so many levels. He proved he was one of the best directors working today and showed acting chops that reminded audiences why we first fell in love with his work all those years ago.

The previously unknown story of how a CIA agent (Affleck) used the guise of making a Hollywood sci-fi film to get Americans out of Iran who had managed to escape the takeover of our embassy was tailor-made for the filmmaker's talents -- both onscreen and off. Then, he got a fantastic cast together, including John Goodman, Alan Arkin and Bryan Cranston.

Even though we know what happened, the tension is still thick as it can be as Affleck gets closer and closer to getting those Americans out of a country whose love of the west was at an all-time low. The sign of a good filmmaker is also to know the beats of his film. Affleck tossed in enough humor and self-reflective moments throughout his movie, that the film cooks on all levels until its triumphant conclusion.

1. Zero Dark Thirty
Any other year and Argo would be our top film. But the story of the greatest manhunt in history -- the search for Osama bin Laden -- coupled with the filmmaker behind it, Kathryn Bigelow, and Zero Dark Thirty is as good as it gets on film in 2012. Bigelow, fresh off of sweeping the Oscars for The Hurt Locker, returns with her next stroke of brilliance that does the uncanny. She brilliantly captures a decade-long search for the most wanted man in the world in the span of two hours.

With her opening moments of the film, she gives the audience the reason why a CIA operative (Jessica Chastain) spent ten years of her young life seeking to bring justice to someone who killed thousands of innocents.

We cannot say enough of how Bigelow managed to give viewers just enough information as the film moves forward. But, that is exactly how the U.S. progressed through the search, as teased in this Zero Dark Thirty clip. There were little victories shadowed by hundreds of useless leads. In the middle of it all was a woman who never quit, who kept pushing her superiors to trust her gut. The director executes the penultimate scene -- where in the dark of the night in Pakistan, SEAL Team Six achieved their mission -- with mind-blowing awesomeness.

Sure, we know what happens... but the suspense is nerve-wracking nonetheless. And that is a tribute to a filmmaker in Bigelow, along with her screenwriter Mark Boal, who seem to be just beginning to hit their stride.

Honorable mentions:The Hunger Games, Chronicle, Lawless, People Like Us, Cloud Atlas, Moonrise Kingdom, Looper, Silver Linings Playbook, Cabin in the Woods, Hitchcock, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Check out the new trailer for Admission, starring Tina Fey (Mean Girls) and Paul Rudd (Anchorman):

 

Admission Movie Trailer

Fey stars as Portia Nathan, a college admissions counselor in the midst of a hectic admissions season. When she is summoned on a recruiting trip by the founder of an alternative high school, she learns that a gifted student there may actually be her son.

Michael Sheen (Breaking Dawn Part 2), Lily Tomlin, and Wallace Shawn also star. Paul Weitz (American Pie) co-wrote and directed the film, which opens March 8, 2013.

Quick, can you name all the Dwarves in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey? I know I have to look them up every time I write about it. Well apparently, Bilbo Baggins isn't too great at it either.

A new sketch from UCB Comedy makes fun of both the names, and the pure number of Dwarves in The Hobbit. Check it out:

 

The Hobbit: Too Many Dwarves Sketch

Freakin' Wayne. Always complicating things.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is in theaters now, starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, and many more. Check out some The Hobbit stills, or go to the theater and see the movie, or just watch keep this sketch looping on your phone until Apple releases a new iOS that blocks all third party video.

Marisa Tomei told us in our exclusive interview that she had the time of her life starring opposite screen legends Billy Crystal and Bette Midler. It sure comes through in theParental Guidance trailer! She shared creative joy with Crystal, who also serves as the film’s producer, and even got to sing and dance with the effervescent Midler.

“The Vaudeville ham inside me was really excited,” Tomei said of her song and dance with Midler. She promised more of it on the film’s home video release. “Actually it was longer, but they cut it shorter.”

Tomei appreciated that moment in the film, where she is shopping for a dress for her onscreen daughter with her onscreen mother (Midler). “It was a great scene,” she said. “I have to be a mom, but I’m also being a child… all in that scene!”

With Crystal, Tomei was set to star opposite the comic actor for 1992’s Mr. Saturday Night. But it was deemed she was too young to be his wife. Decades later, she marveled at the experience of finally starring with a true collaborator.

“His being a producer on this film and knowing the material so well having worked on the script, he was an incredible resource and someone I could turn to and ask anything. I trust him. His acumen with rhythm and timing and character is impeccable. I felt so comfortable and a great safety net for him to be there for me,” Tomei recalled.

His years of comic mastery came into play more than once. “If I made him laugh in a scene, or not… he’s right there with another idea. And as a performer, it was fantastic fun -- just so much playfulness.”

Crystal also possesses a keen insight into story that aided the veteran actress on many occasions. “It’s an extra pair of eyes who knows the story so well. He’s so flawless in his sense of timing with what works,” Tomei said.

“Our big moment in the film was in the kitchen where we confront what’s been going on with us. We just worked that out really quickly. We had natural chemistry.”

From the sounds of it, the Parental Guidance set was full of effortless camaraderie. Her onscreen husband is played by Tom Everett Scott and Tomei reported that the two were peas in a pod instantly. “He was really an insight because he’s been married a long time and we could fall into a rhythm easily,” she said. “It was simple. Nothing cerebral, it just fell into place.”

Speaking of family, the three child actors who play Tomei and Scott’s kids -- Bailee Madison, Joshua Rush and Kyle Harrison Breitkopt -- disprove the old adage that actors should not work with children. “They are natural talents, and (director) Andy Fickman is known for being really good with kids and making films for them and with them. He has that down,” Tomei said.

Having played a mother many times onscreen, Tomei herself has a magic touch with how to effectively interact with child actors. “My approach is I’ve found they come to you. When they’re ready to play or connect, that’s when the bonds just sort of happen.”

Tomei has several projects she’s completed or hopes to make that she could not be more excited for audiences to witness. She directed her first movie, a short film that sent her to Ethiopia and aired on PBS. “It came to me out of nowhere. It was something that was based on a story in the book Half the Sky,” she said.

“It’s about women’s plight around the world and how they’re making great strides. It’s a positive thing that women and girls are doing. I got a call that said, 'Can you go to Ethiopia next week?''' she recalled and laughed. “Well, I like an adventure. I didn’t have any time to get nervous. But, I also had no time to prepare!”

Would she return to the director’s chair?

“I would like to do something else, but I’m not actively pursuing it. I think, ‘How much longer is this acting thing going to last?'" she said and laughed. “You never know.”

She is also close to having a film come together called Why Now? -- that will feature her with one of Movie Fanatic’s favorite actors, Sam Rockwell (recently seen in one of our Top 10 Movies of 2012, Seven Psychopaths). “We were supposed to do it in the fall, maybe February,” Tomei said. “I hope it comes together.”

I'm prepared to go on record right now and say there is absolutely no way the world is ending tomorrow. Even if I'm wrong, there will be nobody left to call me on it, so I'm good all around.

Just in case the Mayans were right, however, Sony has released a NSFW red band clip for their upcoming Apocalyptic comedy This is the End, right under the wire. It features a funny intro from stars Seth Rogen and James Franco (Pineapple Express) discussing their end-of-the-world plans. Check it out:

 

This is the End Red Band Clip

Rogen and Franco star as themselves along with Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street), Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride in this comedy about six friends surviving cataclysmic event in Los Angeles. After hiding out as long as they can, they are eventually forced to emerge into the world and face their fate.

Michael Cera, Aziz Ansari, Jason Segel, David Krumholtz, Paul Rudd (Anchorman), and Emma Watson also star. Rogen co-wrote and co-directed the film with frequent writing partner Evan Goldberg.

This is the End will premiere June 4, 2013.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a new magic-themed comedy from Horrible Bosses writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Two character posters have dropped, introducing us to Steve Carell's and Jim Carrey's characters. Take a look:

Carell (Anchorman) plays Burt Wonderstone, one half of a magician team with Anton Lovecraft, played by Steve Buscemi. After Burt injures Anton during on stage, Anton abandons the act, but Burt must convince Anton to return in order to compete with street magician Steve Gray (Carrey).

James Gandolfini, Olivia Wilde, Brad Garrett, Jay Mohr, Gillian Jacobs, David Copperfield, and Alan Arkin also star. Don Scardino directs.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone premieres March 15, 2013.

For The Sopranos creator David Chase, with the chance to direct his first big screen movie after the HBO mafia hit went off the air, he went to his youth. Not Fade Away takes place in 1960s New Jersey and follows a band as they try to make it big after the splash that was the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Bella Heathcote stars as the love interest, and inspiration, for lead singer Douglas (John Magaro), as seen on the Not Fade Away poster. She phoned Movie Fanatic for an exclusive interview where she takes us back in time when rock 'n' roll ruled the world.

“A lot of us of my generation, there is so much of this era that we idealized,” Heathcote said of the 1960s. “There was a lot of change happening. The fashion was great. The music was outstanding. To be able to step into it was fun.”

The era was so rich musically, and with so much of it documented, Heathcote welcomed an introduction to some musicians from that time period that had escaped her radar. “I learned a lot about the music and I became more familiar with bands of that era that I didn’t know about before,” she said.

Chase played the role of music teacher, as well as writer-director. “He introduced me to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band! Hearing that new-to-me stuff was great.”

Before diving into Not Fade Away, Heathcote was partial to the Stones. The film allowed her to discover even more about her favorite band. “I’m now more familiar with more of their work,” Heathcote said. She shared something the studio did to help them find the right notes for the tone of the film. “Paramount was kind of enough to give the lead actors their first six records and record players. To be able to listen to the music on vinyl was pretty special.”

As seen in the latest Not Fade Away trailer, the costumes and set design of the film are impeccable, something that helped Heathcote and her fellow actors close the deal on finding their characters. “Between the clothes and the music, it set the tone so well for us,” she said.

“Cat (Catherine Marie Thomas, costume designer) did so well with the costumes. They don’t feel costume-y or from a BBC drama about the 1960s. I feel really good in those great outfits. They’re all bought from vintage stores that are extraordinary.”

Of course the most treasured aspect of making Not Fade Away was the chance to explore the brilliance of both David Chase the writer and David Chase the director.

“The first time I read David’s script, I had just moved to L.A. and I was reading a lot of stuff. David’s was the first script that really got me. The second time I read it, it was even better. That impressed me so much. Each time I read it, it got better and better,” Heathcote said. “I love the way he writes. I love his dialogue. The characters are real people. I don’t feel they were caricature.”

As for Chase the talented helmer, Heathcote believes that a steady hand leads a successful ship. “He’s so gentle and has a great sense of humor. The way he is with the actors, he knows what to say. I remember the Time Is on Your Side scene, I was really struggling with that,” Heathcote recalled. “I love that he was willing to wait for what he wanted.”

Whether ever-present in his show The Sopranos or the landscape for Not Fade Away, the feel of Chase’s New Jersey home permeates. The Australian-born actress was worried she’d have to learn a new American dialect and Chase told her to avoid the tendency to go for a stereotype.

“I went into it wondering if I would have to do a Jersey accent. David said, 'We don’t speak like the people on Jersey Shore!'" Heathcote said and laughed. “It’s nice to know that this character that has been built up around that place is not necessarily real.”

The Impossible required young UK actor Tom Holland to grow up quickly on the set. He portrays the oldest son to Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor who finds he is fighting for his life after the 2004 Thailand tsunami touches ground and devastates an entire region.

“The amount of lives lost in this horrible event was extraordinary. We needed to do everything we could to make this story and this film as realistic as possible,” Holland said. Judging by The Impossible trailer alone, the cast and crew should be proud.

 

Tom Holland Exclusive Interview

His co-star had nothing but praise for Holland. “We will be seeing a lot of him in the future,” one of the stars told us in our exclusive video Naomi Watts interview.

The young star stated that he learned so much from Watts, it was a priceless education in movie star acting. “There’s so many things, you can’t even account for them all,” Holland said. “The most important one is that everyone is a team member on a film.”

The Impossible is an absolutely astounding piece of work that is both a moving tribute to the perseverance of the Thai people after a tsunami struck its coast in 2004 and a true story of faith and a family of five that survived. It deserved every one of those Golden Globe nominations. Ewan McGregor is Henry while Naomi Watts stuns as his wife Maria. It is 2004 and they have brought their three young children to a paradise known as the beaches of Thailand. Within hours of their arrival, the catastrophic tsunami strikes.

The story initially follows Watts as the wave takes her miles away. Slammed against debris that we learn later cut open her leg, she struggles to stay afloat and survive. When she emerges, clinging to the top of a palm tree surrounded by water, her emotional breakdown is heartbreakingly real. Watts is getting a lot of Oscar buzz for this role, and if she is nominated, please let the Academy show this clip to celebrate her performance.

In those mere moments, the feeling of anyone who was there on that day is captured by the actress with uncanny and otherworldly gifts. As she gets her emotions in check and switches from sadness to survival, we hear the sound of her oldest son's voice.

Tom Holland astounds as Lucas. As seen in The Impossible trailer, when he tells his mother he is scared and she replies in kind, the tone of the film has been set. As the mother and son tandem wade their way through the muddy water and limp in search of safety, their onscreen will to survive is a celebration of the human spirit.

Meanwhile, McGregor is shown -- safely back at the trashed hotel with his two youngest sons. We learn that he emerged from the tsunami and heard each boy yelling from a different tree. If there is anything we wanted more from The Impossible, and it isn't much, Movie Fanatic would have liked to have learned more about McGregor's experience post-wave. But, we are simply caught up to speed on what happened through dialogue.

Henry is determined to find his wife and as trucks take people away to higher ground, he makes a fateful decision to put his boys with a new friend from the hotel on the truck so he can continue his search for Maria. Now, we have a family in three locales in the middle of the worst natural disaster mankind had seen in a century. How on earth will they find each other?

What permeates the subconscious as the audience watches The Impossible is that this really happened. Although the nationality of the family was altered from Spanish to English, it does not lessen the power of their harrowing experience. Some have argued that the film, by centering its story on a privileged family, failed to capture the terror felt by those who call Thailand their home. As a matter of fact, as told to us in our exclusive Naomi Watts interview, the entire team making the film sought to pay tribute to those who were lost. Well, they succeeded.

In fact, it is impossible not to see how the locals had their lives changed by the disaster. This film is not their story, it is the tale of a family torn apart by tragedy and an overall celebration of our species' uncanny will to survive.

Director Juan Antonio Bayona brings the right touch to capturing the horror without exploiting it. The special effects give audiences a tsunami that possesses a monstrous feel that shakes the entire theater. It is a marvel of moviemaking and a necessary one. Had the wall of water not looked as terrifying as it did to those who sat near the beach that day, the horror everyone felt would have been hollow. Bayona never loses sight of his story by getting lost in the suffering seen and felt from every corner of the landscape torn apart by an atom bomb-like wake.

Our The Impossible review closes with a salute to everyone involved in this true tale. By the closing credits, you will want to hug your loved ones just that much more tightly.

This new featurette for Gangster Squad includes scenes from the film, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with the cast. Take a look:

 

Gangster Squad Behind-the-Scenes Featurette

Sean Penn stars as Mickey Cohen, a New York gangster who moves to Los Angeles to take over. In order to combat the new gang, two Sergeants form a squad of cops to subvert the law and use any means necessary.

Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling (Drive), Nick Nolte, Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man), Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi (Ted), Michael Pena, and Josh Pence also star.

Ruben Fleischer directs the film, based on a nonfiction book by Paul Lieberman. Gangster Squad opens January 11, 2013.

We knew immediately upon seeing that first Not Fade Away trailer, that the film is David Chase's ode to the days of rock 'n' roll. It was a period when the battle for the soul of music was waged between the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Chase continues his love affair with New Jersey, that we first discovered on his The Sopranos. The movie takes place in the Garden State as a group of friends form a band in the hopes of being the next big thing.

The story centers on Douglas (John Magaro), who is living at home with his parents -- including his from another era father played by frequent Chase collaborator James Gandolfini.

Chase clearly adores the music of the 1960s and weaves it efficiently through his drama that not only captures the spirit of rock 'n' roll and what it meant to people while still in its infancy, but also the rapid changes that we experience moving from teenagers to adults. Through the sounds and lyrics of the aforementioned bands, plus some that are most likely new to your ears, the emotions onscreen are personified. But, this should not be a surprise. No one intertwined music and drama better than Chase when he was doing The Sopranos.

Band drama permeates, as it should in any film about a group of people who frankly spend a lot of time together. It centers around the emergence of Douglas from being asked to join the band as their drummer to when fate enters one night as their lead singer is injured (in the most hilarious of ways) and Douglas has to step in and sing lead. The band never sounded better. Toss in the fact that Bella Heathcote's Grace is kind of dating the (soon to be former) lead singer and when Douglas sings, he immediate catches her eye.

Unfortunately, the film falters going into its third act. As the audience can start to see where Not Fade Away is going, it is kind of a disappointment when it gets there. The ending is debatable in terms of what it means, yet it also has us wondering if the film is more autobiographical than Chase has ever let on. His affinity for the subject matter is present on every frame and Chase makes a solid jump from the small to big screen. His Jersey stories are welcomed anytime, just look at what he emotes from a simple Not Fade Away poster.

Our Not Fade Away review has to point out that whether the band at the heart of the film makes it or not is not the point. Chase's film is a love letter to a period where musical expression expanded exponentially. It was a time where musicians moved people with their work and some (i.e. the Beatles) even changed the world.