Studio Ghibli's "The Wind Rises" Trailer Debuts

Partially inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's own manga, Kaze Tachinu, the famed animator is back in the director's seat for the first time since 2008's fantastic Ponyo (a personal favorite of mine). Set during World War II, it tells the story of Jiro Horikoshi, the real-life engineer and visionary who designed Japanese fighter planes during that time period. The trailer appears to touch on one man's attempt to balance his personal dreams of flying and that of an empire with completely different intentions.

Previously we were shown a teaser trailer, and just recently the full 4-minute trailer has been released. This new film appears to be following the recent Ghibli trend of following more closely to reality, as opposed to fantasy, with 2012's Up on Poppy Hill coming to mind. While we absolutely loved the fantastical films previously released, it's refreshing to see what appears to be a change of pace. With today (July 20th) being the Japanese premiere date, we can't wait to find out when our local US date will be.

Laika's The BoxTrolls - Teaser Trailer

After the adorable, fun, and exceptionally well-made ParaNorman, we've been eager for the next Laika film. Well, considering the tedious nature of stop motion, we didn't expect to be given a taste so soon.  The BoxTrolls isn't due out until Fall 2014, but already we've been given a pretty sizeable teaser about the story of an orphaned boy who is taken in by a group of misjudged trolls.  It's clearly a very lovely story of tolerance, and we can't wait to see how the plot (and Laika's signature amazing stop motion) turn out!  We'll keep an eye out for the full trailer.

Check out the recently released teaser poster after the break!

Machete Kills - Trailer

It's campy, it's over-the-top, and it's everything I could ask for. Robert Rodriguez's sequel to the fun if not successful 'Machete' is the aptly named 'Machete Kills.'  Obviously our titled hero (badass Danny Trejo) is back, along with Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriguez.  But who else decides to show up for the ride?

That's right: Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas, Lady Gaga and Charlie Sheen- Oh, excuse me, the rebranded actor known as Carlos Estevez.  Robert Rodriguez will have quite the line-up this fall: First this, and then that other sequel (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For). Check out all the currently released posters after the break!

Oz: The Great and Powerful - Trailer

There are a select few franchises/stories that I will forever be faithful to. As I'm sure I've mentioned many times before, the Oz franchise is high up on the list. When I heard about this prequel, I don't know how many months ago, I became instantly enthused, and have been on the lookout for still photos, trailers, ANYTHING. Just in time for San Diego's Comic-Con, Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great and Powerful trailer has been released. Visually, it looks pretty damn awesome.

Otherwise, it's a bit of a mystery to me. While I like the main actors (James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, etc.), I worry about having so many fairly big names in one film. It's a move that, in my opinion, has a so-so success rate: The thought behind that being, "Oh, let's just throw in a bunch of popular actors in there and not worry about it, people will still flock to see it." Perhaps I'm paranoid, and because I know it's not necessarily always the case, I sure as hell know where I'll be March 8, 2013 for my Oz fix.