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Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for A Christmas Tale, directed by Arnaud Desplechin. The emotional French drama centers on a family who, throughout the years, struggle to come to terms with a personal tragedy that changed their lives forever. Reviewing the film from this year's Cannes Film Festival, Kim called it a "tragically comic tale of love, death, and familial strife and forgiveness."

Starring Mathieu Amalric, Catherine Deneuve, Anne Consigny and Jean-Paul Rossillon, this French flick has received nothing but good buzz since debuting a few months back. Toward the end of her review, Kim adds "I hope the film will secure distribution in the United States as well, so that American audiences might also get to appreciate its humor, beauty and depth."

Well, good news is IFC picked up A Christmas Tale and it will arrive in select theaters and On Demand on November 14, before expanding to other cities. Check it out.

There's actually a lot of noteworthy geek news today -- but alas, none of it is amazing enough to really warrant an entire post. Believe me, it makes me a sad panda not getting to devote an entire post to Wolverine. So, let's just get right down to it:

• Producer Lauren Shuler Donner talked up X-Men Origins: Wolverine over on Superhero Hype: "It's closer to the first X-Men in tone because it's a little darker, but there's a lot of action. It's his origin story. It's really good. I've been in the editing room the last couple of weeks and I think that it's good and that audiences are going to like it. But it's a little darker ... You haven't seen this side of him. It's darker and sadder and it's kick-ass. There's a ton of action. It's really kick-ass." She also suggested the film borrows from Wolverine's Victorian youth in one of my least favorite series, Wolverine: Origins.

• The troubled Punisher: War Zone has launched its official site, and it's got all kinds of things to click on. The multiplayer game jammed up my computer so I don't know what that's all about. And IGN has the new poster, which will arrive in your local theaters framed in "real" guns. I must say, that is a pretty impressive piece of marketing.

• David S. Goyer, scribe of The Dark Knight, tried his best to end all these Batman 3 rumors. "It's all B.S.," he told MTV News. "ALL of it. Chris and I haven't even talked about it. He quite understandably is taking a long, long vacation and wants to purge himself." This will dampen the "Guess who's playing Catwoman" rumors for approximately 3.5 days.

• Superhero Hype has 5 videos of Kick-Ass filming in Toronto. Mostly people standing around, and cars being driven on platform trucks. And /film has photos up of Dave "Kick Ass" Lizewski's costume, filled out nicely by his stunt double.

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Cinematical is very stoked to bring you this exclusive poster for Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, which is a documentary we here at Cinematical have been championing ever since the flick blew us away back at the Slamdance Film Festival earlier this year. Never have I experienced so many different emotions while watching a film, and when I left that tiny theater in Utah following the premiere, I vowed to spread this inspired piece of filmmaking as far and wide as I could. We praise and champion a lot of small films here at Cinematical (and hopefully turn you folks on to some great finds), but if I had to throw myself out there for one film this year, it would have to be Dear Zachary.

Since it's better to know as little as possible going into this particular doc, I've posted the synopsis after the jump (for those who want more details). Dear Zachary arrives in theaters on October 31st in New York and on November 7th in Los Angeles and Chicago, before expanding to other cities. Additionally, you'll be able to catch the entire doc when it airs on MSNBC this December 7th.

p.s. How cool is that poster?

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Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for the film Special, starring Michael Rapaport as a lonely meter maid who has a psychotic reaction to his medication and becomes convinced he's some sort of superhero. Back when Cinematical's Jette Kernion reviewed Special at the Austin Film Festival, she called it "different" and "attention-grabbing" -- adding that "Rapaport is riveting to watch as Les, as he transforms from a mild-mannered, easily duped meter maid to a self-identified superhero determined to help fight crime, and even further to his final state at the movie's climax."

As we told you last week, Special is part of Magnet's Six-Shooter Series, featuring six of the more talked-about genre flicks from the past year or so (Let the Right One In, Timecrimes, Donkey Punch, Eden Log, Big Man Japan) -- all of which are heading our way courtesy of Magnet Releasing. Special will hit theaters on November 21, but will be available On Demand beginning November 7.

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Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which took home the Best Documentary award at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. Directed by Gini Reticker, the buzz-worthy doc tells of a courageous group of Liberian woman who came together and stood up to those holding their country hostage in an attempt to bring peace back to the land.

The synopsis adds, "Thousands of women - ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim - came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they took on the warlords and nonviolently forced a resolution during the stalled peace talks. A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverance of the women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations."

Pray the Devil Back to Hell opens in theaters (in NYC) on November 7.

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Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Disney's Bolt, which boasts a voice cast that includes John Travolta and some girl named Miley Cyrus (maybe you've heard of her; looks a little like that other girl Hannah Montana ...). The flick, which will be presented in fully awesome Disney Digital 3D, tells of a heroic dog (Travolta) on a hit TV show who really believes he has superpowers. A nice reality check comes when he's accidentally shipped from Hollywood to New York City (aka the real world) and has to somehow make his way back home with help from an old cat and an overweight hamster.

Written by Dan Fogelman (Cars, Fred Claus), Bolt looks to continue Disney's successful run in the Digital 3D business, joining other films like Meet the Robinsons and the Hannah Montana Concert Tour. It's fun, charming ... and who doesn't love a few solid one-liners from an overweight hamster?

Bolt zooms into theaters on November 21.

We already know some studios (like Universal) are looking to bring our most favorite childhood games to the big screen, including Monopoly, Ouija, Candy Land, Clue (which was already a film), Battleship and a few others. And while at first it might sound rather ridiculous, you'd be amazed to see the types of stories a few clever Hollywood screenwriters could throw together for these. Heck, I can't imagine Candy Land would differ greatly from something like Willy Wonka.

That said, the folks over at Worth 1000 launched a photoshop contest recently in which the idea was to take a popular children's game and create a movie poster for it. The poster above for Monopoly (which director Ridley Scott is apparently developing for real) doesn't make much sense, but I do admire the casting choices. Could you imagine a film based on the Monopoly board game having a cast like that? After settling all their paychecks, you'd have -- what -- fifteen bucks to shoot the thing? Check out a few more of our favorites in the gallery below.

Out of all your favorite childhood games, which could you see becoming the most worthwhile film?



Related: Cinematical Seven: Bad Ideas for Board Game Movies

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Synecdoche: n. A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword). -- American Heritage Dictionary

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Synecdoche, New York, which marks the directorial debut of the great Charlie Kaufman (off a script he also wrote) who's mind and pen have given us some of the more absurd, quirky and beautiful stories of the past decade (Being John Malkovich, Human Nature, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as a theater director who struggles to balance all the women in his life with a new play he's directing -- a play, mind you, that's utilizing a giant, life-size replica of New York City built inside a warehouse.

Knowing Kaufman, that all-too-brief synopsis doesn't even come close to what this film is really about. While writing in from Cannes, Cinematical's James Rocchi called Synecdoche, New York a piece of "inspired brilliance and real humanity." Needless to say, it's on my must-see list. Is it on yours?

Synecdoche, New York will arrive in theaters on October 24. Check out the trailer after the jump.

Their romance in Titanic was one for the record books. Now Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are getting to canoodle once again in Revolutionary Road. The above pic is part of the poster for the film, which has popped up over at USA Today. The guy died too quickly last time, and thus we never got to see what the future had in store for Jack and Rose. So now we get Frank and April -- a young, successful couple in the '50s, who move to France and watch things crumble. Man, it's so much more hopeful when they die young. Now this whole ordeal could be sending Winslet right into the world of Erica Jong and Fear of Flying.

Yay! After waiting months for that elusive deal to finalize, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Oscilloscope Pictures has picked up Kurt Kuenne's Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about His Father. The theatrical release will begin in New York on October 31. Go see it. Please. Don't read anything more. Just go.

In other Big Apple news, Yahoo has got a trailer up for Synecdoche, New York, which I'm dying to see. Besides growing up near Schenectady, where part of the film takes place, it's Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut. And it also has a mind-boggling, a-mazing cast.

Finally a little bit for the rumor hounds -- EW says that now Jude Law might play Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. (Not Colin Farrell or Russell Crowe.) Robert Downey Jr. and Law -- interesting... What do you think?

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A bunch of you have been asking about our Zack and Miri Make a Porno review from Toronto, and don't get me wrong -- we've seen this puppy and she's a funny one. However, we're saving some of our juice for the fabulous Fantastic Fest next week, and so you'll get Zack, Miri and all of that sex machine Kevin Smith in one dirty little package once we arrive in Austin. In the meantime, check out the new domestic poster for Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which features a design that came out after the original was turned down by the MPAA.

Here's how Smith explains it: "Our frustration in getting an MPAA approval on the American poster led to last-resort ideas about showcasing dopey, simple images instead of risque pics of our leads - which, in turn, led to what's now the official American poster for the flick..." I still can't believe that last poster was rejected since there really was nothing blatant about it. Okay, maybe it implied oral sex, but it's not like a) kids don't know what oral sex is, or b) kids who don't know what oral sex is are going to suddenly figure it out by seeing that poster. Know what I mean? Whatevs. You folks are going to dig this one; Smith has made a very funny flick.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno hits theaters on October 31.

In a world where Don LaFontaine will no longer lend his voice to any trailers, and where floating heads and Photoshop skills are what passes for the 'art' in 'poster art', the prospect of Drew Struzan's retirement is almost too much to bear. The guys over at Ain't It Cool News got the initial news from TheRaider.net, and they get the fact that this makes the sun shine just that much less in this industry of ours.

In a message posted there, Struzan said: "Having been working at not working has produced a guy who could never return to illustration again. It took a lot to attempt the idea of retiring from my 40 years of effort and sacrifice but now that I have, I am delighting in life as never before. I had forgotten how to rest, to smell the proverbial roses and to see the future as opportunity. I am grateful and honored to have had the opportunity to do all the work I did. I am well pleased to have been able to give a gift of beauty and peace through my artwork to so many throughout the world. Now I have laid down the burden and have peace and happiness as the reward for my day's labor."

AICN aptly directs readers to Struzan's official site, and even if they hadn't, I'd advise the same course of action in an attempt to appreciate what iconic images he crafted a career out of.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Happy-Go-Lucky (click image to enlarge), directed by Mike Leigh (Vera Drake, Secrets & Lies). The film, which premiered in Telluride and is currently screening at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, stars Sally Hawkins as an eternally optimistic teacher living and working in North London. Apart from the exclusive clip we debuted on Cinematical earlier in the week, Kim had this to say about the film: "All in all, I quite liked Happy-Go-Lucky; it's certainly one of Leigh's more mainstream-friendly films, and will appeal to moviegoers beyond the dress-all-in-black, gloom-and-doom cinephile crowd, while still retaining enough of the Leigh touch to satisfy most of the purists."

Happy-Go-Lucky will arrive in theaters with a smile on October 10.

I might have been raised on the old maxim: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all -- but even I can't keep my mouth shut on this one. A new poster and some stills from the live-action Dragonball have hit the net (along with some official pics from Fox), and it is not looking any better for the anime update. If you are one of the few Dragonball fans left out there with hope for this movie, I'm afraid once you get a look at James Marsters as Lord Piccolo, the dream of a decent flick goes right out the window. Although to be fair, I have to give them credit for trying out a slightly more 'modern' look on the new poster art.

Dragonball stars Justin Chatwin as the mighty Goku (a casting decision that has yet to ever really make sense), a legendary warrior who is responsible for protecting the awesome powers of the mystical 'Dragonballs'. Jamie Chung also stars as Chi Chi (Goku's love interest), along with Marsters as the evil Lord Piccolo (oh Spike, where did it all go wrong?), Chow Yun Fat as Master Roshi, and Emmy Rossum as Bulma.

Just last week, the rumors were silenced that Fox would be scrapping the one hundred million dollar film. The current spin from Fox is that they are 100% behind the project -- but honestly, what else could they say? So whatever you may think about Dragonball, plenty of fans will probably be there on opening day. Who knows? Maybe I'll be one of them. I have been known to enjoy watching a train wreck on screen -- how about you?

[Thanks Coming Soon]

So if you aren't lucky enough to live in the wondrous nation known as Canada (can you guess where I live?), then look to your right, because this is going to be your one and only chance to see the first poster for Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Just when you thought Smith's troubles with the censors were over, the one-sheet for the 'adult' comedy has been given a thumbs down by the MPAA, and will not be displayed in the US. That's right, days before the film is set to premier at the Toronto Film Festival, it turns out the only people who will get to see this poster will be those north of the border.

Zack and Miri follows two childhood friends who are strapped for cash, and come up with the wild idea of making a porn to ease their financial woes. The film stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, but there are also plenty of familiar faces from Smith's usual stable (along with some of Judd Apatow's regulars).

It didn't come as a surprise when the film ran into trouble with the MPAA, and luckily Smith managed to avoid the dreaded NC-17 rating. But in the age of successful 'R' rated comedy, you would have thought the ratings board would move a little more with the times -- for goodness sake, Good Luck Chuck one-sheets made it stateside. Smith told EW, "When you've got the word 'porno' in the title, naturally, the marketing materials are gonna be scrutinized more closely by the MPAA, I understand they've got a job to do, but c'mon...this image isn't that dirty; they're both fully clad." So even though I am on Smith's side in the argument, you have to love his qualifier of 'that dirty'.

Zack and Miri will premier at TIFF on September 7th, and will arrive in theaters on October 31st.