Out Today: 9

It is a sickeningly slow news day, but it is 9/9/09 and Shane Acker’s 9 is being released in celebration! Woo!

…Actually, it may not be so woo. See what the critics are saying after the jump.

Poster: Michael Jackson – This Is It

The poster for Michael Jackson’s posthumous concert film This Is It has been released in advance of its October 28th opening. The film centers on the months before the entertainer’s death as he prepared for his 50 show comeback in London’s O2 Arena and is directed by Kenny Ortega (High School Musical, Newsies), Jackson’s creative partner and tour co-ordinator. Ortega is calling this “a gift to Michael’s fans” and while I’d be lying if said I wasn’t conflicted about whether the movie is a fitting tribute or will turn out to be just a cash grab, that’s something we’ll have to wait and see. Either way the full poster is after the jump.

Zombie Outbreak Headed For Venice

Woo! Zombies! Romero zombies! And their going to Italy! Its actually kind of a shame. Gondolas and Ciabatta aren’t very useful tools when fighting off the undead.

Warner Bros. Restructures DC Comics

It seems like it’s been a comic-centric week here at Geek on Film, but fresh off a record breaking summer at the box office largely fueled by comic properties, studio heads are making them a top priority.

Deadline.com is reporting that Warner Bros Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov fresh off having his contract re-upped, will be taking direct control of D.C. comics along with Diane Nelson, who runs the management of the Harry Potter film franchise.

Trailer: Up in the Air (Teaser)

Yesterday we showed you a brand new clip from Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air and now, thanks to /Film, we have the brand new teaser trailer for the Walter Kirn adaptation.

Surprisingly, the trailer is more dramatic than it is funny (strange for a comedy), but at the same time the whole thing is kind of deep and it also displays what an incredible cast the picture has, images of Jason Bateman (sporting a beard?), Zach Galifianakis (who I didn’t even know was in the movie), Danny McBride and J.K. Simmons (who is in everything these days) coming one after another all while George Clooney delivers a speech reminiscent of his performance in Intolerable Cruelty.

Praise continues to role in from the film’s premiere and while I am not a fan of Juno, the film seems to be more along the lines of Thank You For Smoking. Teaser after the jump.

Watch It!: George Lucas in Love

Today’s Watch It! segment is a bit of nostalgia. Geeks worldwide have an obligation to, at the very least, appreciate Star Wars (I’m not including the prequels here). It was a movie made in 1977 that completely revolutionized science fiction and filmmaking, amazing audiences worldwide and becoming one of the most successful films in history.

While many feel that Lucas wrote the script for the prequels the day before production, one does have to wonder what the thought process was going into creating such an expansive universe that has launched beyond film into multiple other mediums. Well, in 1999, Joe Nussbaum and Timothy Dowling asked the same question and wrote George  Lucas in Love, the story of George Lucas and the inspiration behind Star Wars. The short is a must for all Star Wars fans, chock full of references to the series, and supremely well done. It is a bit longer than most of our segments, clocking in at about nine minutes, but it is well worth setting time aside for. Hit it after the jump and remember a time where Lucas was a filmmaker rather than a toy mogul.

Trailer: The Princess and the Frog

Here is the new feature trailer for Disney’s The Princess and The Frog, featuring the voices of Terrance Howard (not yet replaced by Don Cheadle), Keith David, John Goodman, Oprah Winfrey, Bruno Campos and Anika Noni Rose. I have to say that I am a bit of a loss as to what to write about, as this is pretty much the first “for kids” trailer we have posted here at Geek on Film. I’ve always held that the 2D animated movies that came out during my childhood (Aladdin, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, etc) were as good as it got for Disney and that it really fell off after that (I’m am most certainly not including Pixar in this discussion, by the way). I’m still surprised Home on the Range didn’t put the division down for the count.

Anyway, the trailer is beyond the jump and is complete with princess, suave male animal, fat dumb animal and obnoxious farting character. You know – Disney characters.