Another director who’s had quite a dry spell between films is William Friedkin. He will take his latest, Killer Joe, to the Venice International Film Festival at the end of August and to Toronto in September and we have the first trailer. Made for a song (a budget of $10 mil), Killer Joe is Friedkin’s first feature since 2006′s Bug, an underrated thriller with Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon. Given Friedkin’s amazing resume (To Live and Die in LA, The Exorcist, French Connection, Sorcerer, The Brink’s Job), anything with his name on it is worth a look.

When a debt puts a young man’s life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance. Matthew McConaughey plays the hitman and I see the the same icy cool that I saw in McConaughey’s Buddy Deeds from John Sayles’ Lone Star, with a touch more malice. That’s what that East Texas twang was made for. Emile Hirsch (Milk, Into the Wild, Alpha Dog) plays the young man, Chris Smith. Written by Tracy Letts (Bug), based on his off-Broadway play of the same name, cinematography is by the great Caleb Deschanel (Dreamhouse, The Passion of the Christ, The Patriot), the cast also includes Juno Temple, Gina Gershon (oh please let her be playing the mother!) and Thomas Haden Church.

****** WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE******

Once it completes its festival run, Killer Joe will hopefully be picked up for a theatrical run. As of right now, there are no release dates available. We’ll keep you posted.

Director Cameron Crowe has a new movie coming out this year. That’s something that no one’s been able to say since the 2005 release of Elizabethtown, his followup to the critically acclaimed Almost Famous. We Bought A Zoo stars Matt Damon and Scarlett Johannson and is due out in December (of course.)

Crowe’s still probably most widely known for 1989′s Say Anything (his first feature) and 1996′s Jerry Maguire, two films that if you weren’t around when they were new, you probably think of them as mere tropes that represented the Zeitgeist of the time. The image of John Cusack holding the boombox over his head while it blares out Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” has become iconic, a part of the pop culture vernacular, parodied so often that if the movie from which it came weren’t so good overall, would have long ago become a joke. Without his nuanced portrayal of  Lloyd Dobler, John Cusack may or may not have continued his trajectory toward full fledged adult actor, merely treading water in a string of frat boy comedies until he got too old for them. Crowe made a star out of Kate Hudson. Until Almost Famous she was merely a 2nd generation Hollywood curiousity (I won’t say whether I think that was justified or not, in any case, Crowe made people take notice.) Do we even need to discuss what Jerry Maguire did for Tom Cruise. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Cruise for Best Actor, his first since Born on the Fourth of July in 1990. It definitely gave an adrenaline spike to the heart of his career. Of course, Cuba Gooding, Jr. won for Best Supporting Actor. What this adds up to in terms of We Bought a Zoo, is that if you’re a fan, a new film is a big deal.

The setup is simple: Set in Southern California, a father moves his young family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo. Sounds kind of hallmark channel-esque no? It’s based on a memoir by Benjamin Mee. I just think in the hands of Crowe, who has such a sharply tuned ear for dialogue (if I can mix my metaphorical body parts) and his writer Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses, Morning Glory), that there could be something more here. Crowe himself has likened the film to Local Hero, perhaps fitting since he has Peter Riegert in the cast.

In addition to Damon, Johansson, and Riegert, the cast boasts Thomas Haden Church, Elle Fanning, Patrick Fugit, Carla Gallo, John Michael Higgins and Angus Macfadyen and I’m guessing lots of animals.  Jonsi of Sigur Ros is doing the score. Jonsi contributed an original song to my favorite soundtrack from 2010, How to Train Your Dragon.

We Bought A Zoo is in theaters from December 23 in the UK, US and Canada.

No, I didn’t mistype the title for a movie about a candy bar. I’m talking about Francis Ford Coppola’s new film (a phrase one does not read nor type every day), Twixt.  Originally the gothic horror film was to be called Twixt Now and Sunrise after the director’s own short story, but that is far too long and clever.

The official synopsis:

“A writer with a declining career arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl. That night in a dream, he is approached by a mysterious young ghost named V. He’s unsure of her connection to the murder in the town, but is grateful for the story being handed to him. Ultimately he is led to the truth of the story, surprised to find that the ending has more to do with his own life than he could ever have anticipated.”

Val Kilmer plays the writer, the ghost is Elle Fanning looking like the love child of Sadie Frost’s Mina and Gary Oldman’s Dracula from Coppola’s version of Bram Stoker’s tale. The film also stars Bruce Dern, Ben Chaplin, Joanne Whalley (Val’s ex-wife), David Paymer and Don (Fr. Guido Sarducci) Novello.

Coppola brought some footage to Comic Con last month, wowing his audience with his plan to take the film around the country for screenings and editing it on his iPad in response to audience reaction. Coppola self-finances his own films (with the profits from his winery) and has always marched to the beat of his own drummer. There is certainly a low-budget feel to this film which I’m guessing is perhaps an ode to 60s low budget, amateurish horror films like those of William Castle or early George Romero.

Twixt will debut at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. No other release dates are known.

A new poster for Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive has come online, along with a few more still images. Now that August has begun, we’re going to start getting a lot more on all of September’s releases, which is great news as far as I’m concerned. (I’m looking at you, Machine Gun Preacher.) It appears that this fall and winter are going to be jam packed and I need to plan!

The film stars Ryan Gosling as “Driver”. Gosling replaced Hugh Jackman and director Refn was a replacement for Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, Centurion). Refn was reportedly hand-picked by Ryan Gosling. This is the director’s first project from a script he didn’t write himself.

Drive follows a stunt driver by day and a wheelman by night with ambitions of becoming a stock-car racer. He begins a tentative relationship with his married neighbor Irene. Their lives are complicated when a heist goes wrong and Irene’s husband is released from prison.

Here’s another look at the red band trailer:

This movie will kick your ass.

Drive opens in the US & Canada on September 16 and 23 September in the UK.

Add this to the very long list of things I wish I were in London for: the Empire Presents: Big Screen! Film Festival. Empire Magazine, which calls itself the “world’s largest movie magazine” and I believe them, is sponsoring the festival August 12-14. Friday night they will host the UK premiere of Craig Gillespie’s Fright Night remake hosted by David Tennant.

We’ve already mentioned that they’ll be hosting the European premiere of Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens, with stars Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde expected to be in attendance.

I am insanely jealous of anyone who gets to go to this thing. Unlike big pop-culture events like Comic Con this one is entirely movie-centric and unlike other film festivals, like Cannes or Venice etc, this one is about the fans. There are seminars or workshops like “The Padewan Learning School: How to Be a Jedi”, an exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at Industrial Light and Magic and their Star Wars special effects, a monster makeup “master class” and a tour of Warner Brothers London featuring a look at the making of the Harry Potter films. There will also be preview screenings of The Help and Rise of the Planet of the Apes ahead of their UK releases and sneak peeks at Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocoland the new Muppets movie.

Now, we’ve just learned, they’ve added another European premiere, that of Marcus Nispel’s Conan the Barbarian 3D on Sunday August 14! And Conan’s (Jason Momoa, as if you didn’t know) gonna be there! *sigh* Since I won’t be, I guess I’ll have to console myself with some more pics:

Redmond O’Neal arrested…again. Celebrity VIP Lounge

‘Little Miss Sunshine’ isn’t little anymore… Tabloid Prodigy

jessica_alba_i_wear_a_girdle_around_my_tummy_from_the_moment_i_give_birth cele|bitchy

The CAPTION THIS Contest For August 2nd!  dlisted

PHOTOS VIDEO BIO Meet Drew Ginsburg of Most Eligible Dallas Starcasm

Kesha Props Catches On Fire Gossips and Soaps

Who Are Hollywood’s Top Paid Actors and Actresses? We Have ‘The Forbes List’ Amore Magazine

Kelly Osbourne Gropes Coco’s ’100% Real’ Booty Amy Grindhouse

Sunday Caption Contest: Spock is Not Impressed  Ayyyy

Miley and Liam Jet Ski Bricks and Stones Gossip

why-does-everyone-hate-jenni-on-flipping-out-video Busy Bee Blogger

Nikki Sixx Attacks Fan During Motley Crue Set Celebrity Smack Blog

Sandra Bullock Was Ryan Reynolds Date At The Change Up Premiere Daily Stab

INTERVIEW: Taylor Swift talks screaming fans, avoiding fails and fave TV shows Wild 949

Happy Birthday, MTV! Dipped in Cream

Rihanna Grinds on a girl at Barbados Festival (Video) Diva Artist

Celebrity Copycat: Kate Middleton’s Look for Less! Fashion Grail

14 Naughtiest Celebrity Cheaters Girls Talkin Smack

Kristen Stewart: I’m Not Hot! Have U Heard

Heidi Montag And Spencer Pratt Admit They’re Broke-A*s Liars Hilary Shepherd

‘Bachelorette’: Ben F. Has Already Moved on From Ashley Hollywood Hiccups

Oscar de la Renta Shoes Fall/ Winter 2011/ 2012 Million Looks

Blake Lively Is Off The Market Notorious News

Harry Potter’s Day Off Raincoaster

Matt Damon Defends Teachers In Heated Confrontation With Reporter (Video) Right Celebrity

Didn’t Mariah Carey have twins just 3 months ago? Seriously OMG WTF

Photo: WENN