Remember Broken Lizard's Beerfest? Whatever you thought of that 2006 comedy, it's difficult to dispute how incredibly astute the filmmakers were with rattling genre expectations in just a single scene. See, the American team's greatest beer guzzler, "Landfill", has passed away under shady circumstances, and right when everyone's ready to throw in the towel, in walks Landfill's identical twin brother, who they knew nothing about but who happens to have been told everything about each of them. Better yet, he's more than willing to even adopt Landfill's name, in an effort to bypass that whole awkward 'getting-to-know-you' stage.

It's every end-of-second-act "what do we do now, coach?" dilemma from an inspirational sports movie mercifully condensed to a couple of rapid-fire beats, and even if the rest of the film otherwise adheres to said sports movie formula, it's nice knowing that audience and actors alike were not going through the paces entirely unaware of how clichéd the entire narrative was.

Click poster to enlarge

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.

I can't imagine a more apt title for Lovely, Still than the one it has. This sweet, surprising story about romance between senior citizens is uncommonly lovely, and a serene stillness rests over most of it. Of course, the title works the other way, too: The process of falling in love is lovely, still, even after all these years.

It is Christmastime in an unnamed snowy town, and Robert Malone (Martin Landau) is a lonely old man. He lives by himself in a house that he has occupied for 48 years, a house with minimal furniture and no pictures on the walls. The only gift under his Christmas tree is one he wrapped himself, addressed to himself. He works part-time as a bagger at a grocery store, where the doofy, over-eager manager, Mike (Adam Scott), wants him to invest in the publication of a homemade book of Christmas recipes.

Across the street, a widow named Mary (Ellen Burstyn) and her daughter Alex (Elizabeth Banks) have just moved in. Mary, seemingly smitten upon first laying eyes on the old man, invites Robert to dinner. Delighted by his sudden great fortune, Robert seeks dating advice from everyone he encounters the following day. Has he never even been on a date? Or has it just been too long since the last time?

Soon the two are dating, with Mary taking charge and Robert awestruck by her attention. He cannot believe that love has finally found him, so late in life. For the first time, he will have someone to spend Christmas with.

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.

It is called Fantastic Fest, and porn is pretty fantastic, so I guess it's a perfect match: Kevin Smith's new comedy, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, will have its U.S. premiere as the opening-night film at the raucous genre fest in Austin on Sept. 18. Smith will be there to introduce the film and take questions afterward, so start coming up with good Jersey Girl zingers now.

Afterward, they're holding the Air Sex World Championships there at the Paramount Theater, and audience members are invited to join. Air Sex is like Air Guitar, only dirtier, and requiring less musical ability. If you wanted more proof that Fantastic Fest is not your typical film festival, there you go.

Zack and Miri stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as platonic friends who decide to raise money by making a sex tape; hilarity ensues. Smith has promised that the film is the filthiest thing he's ever done, which is no minor feat. The film opens theatrically on Oct. 31.

Fantastic Fest runs Sept. 18-25. The Zack and Miri gala is part of the package for badge holders, and individual tickets will go on sale this Saturday. Check out the fest's website for more details, then prepared to get really bummed if you can't go. I've only been to Austin for South By Southwest, and while that's always a raging good time, I'm jealous of the Cinematical crew that gets to indulge in Fantastic Fest. Maybe if I ask Scott Weinberg really nicely he'll bring me back a severed-head prop or something.

The most we can hope for now is the unrated director's cut of Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, because the filmmaker has won his appeal with the MPAA and received an R rating, according to the Associated Press. It's been a long road for Smith's movie, which was unsurprisingly smacked with an NC-17 last month -- as if we didn't see it coming due to Smith's track record and the fact that it's a movie about a couple who, yes, that's right, make a porno. Oh, and of course there was that raunchy trailer, which gave us some semblance of the material the movie is dealing with (coprophilia jokes are likely always deemed adults-only content, at least in the initial ratings board screening).

So much for the MPAA and National Association of Theatre Owners' plans to remove the stigma attached to the NC-17. If ever there was a popular filmmaker to usher in a new wave of non-porn adults-only fare, Smith would be that person. And considering that Zack and Miri is about porn, it would be an appropriate gateway for the rating. Last week, when Smith spoke to AICN about the appeal, he seemed fine with the need for an R rating, stating that it's just "part of the process." Of course it is. The process consists of toning down a film to ensure an R and then releasing the original raunchier version on DVD in order for Hollywood to get the most buck for its bang.

Update: When Cinematical reached Smith for a quote, he had this to say on the decision: "I'm very happy with the result of the appeals process. Sadly, however, it doesn't cure my biggest headache: I'm still grossly overweight."

What can you expect from the MPAA when you make a movie with "some some graphic sexuality"? Yup, the kiss of death. Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno has been slapped with a rating of NC-17 by the MPAA, according to a list posted today by The Hollywood Reporter.

The rating was posted on the MPAA film ratings site at least as early as last Saturday, but News Askew noted that it was marked as "pending appeal" and had received the rating for "some graphic sexuality." I just checked the MPAA's site, and now the film doesn't show up at all. What happened? Was the appeal lost? Will cuts be made to secure the R rating? Who made the "some some" typo -- the MPAA or THR?

The ratings tussle is not entirely unexpected. Seth Rogen complained about the MPAA last month because of the film's difficulty in securing an R rating, and Smith took down a raunchy online-only teaser until the MPAA approved it. I would imagine that Smith is contractually obligated to deliver an R-rated version, but I wonder what nightmares he faces to please the MPAA?

As it happens, Smith will appear at Comic Con on Friday evening to talk about his film, and I'm sure he'll have something to say about the rating. Zack and Miri Make a Porno is still due to hit theaters on October 31.

Eddie Murphy. Raw.

That really used to say it all. A comedian known for his brash wit and go-for-broke charm, Murphy used to be willing to say anything to get a laugh. Trading Places. Coming to America. Beverly Hills Cop. Now, he's clearly willing to do anything.

Somewhere along the way, "I believe that children are the future" became not so much a punchline as a personal career credo. He's fallen into the rut of safe family-friendly fare, led on by the likes of Steve "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" Martin and Tim "The Santa Clause 3" Allen, the success of both having come to suggest that the water's quite fine in the kiddie pool. Dreamgirls proved that this man still has a genuine something left in him, and yet, we the world are instead subjected to a little less of that and a little more of Shrek.

Safe. That's what Meet Dave is, and what Murphy never used to be.

Kevin Smith's latest, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, is apparently having trouble securing an R rating from the MPAA, sending star Seth Rogen on the obligatory rant about how the MPAA cracks down on sex while giving virtually all violence a pass. You can check out his full comments at MTV if you like, and no prizes for guessing which torture-happy recent horror franchise he cites as an example of what the MPAA should be targeting instead of pestering his movie. The tongue-halfway-in-cheek kicker from Rogen: "The MPAA? It's my mission to sue the MPAA and take them down. I don't know how to go about doing that. But to me, it seems like it's something that has to be taken care of."

I'm in the camp that thinks the problem lies less in the MPAA's attitudes toward "objectionable" content and more in the stigma placed on the NC-17. For a movie whose marketing campaign has consisted of cheerfully courting controversy -- check out the hilarious teaser if you don't believe me -- it's a bit disappointing that Zack and Miri doesn't run with the harsher rating. The asinine restrictions on advertising that accompany the NC-17 stamp would be a bummer, but the blogs and magazines would go nuts, and I think the movie would do pretty well.

Do watch that teaser (which had MPAA issues of its own) if you haven't already. Among other things, it will make you fall in love with Elizabeth Banks. Uh, if you haven't already.

Updated: Teaser after the jump. (Watch for language; it's R-rated)

The first teaser for Kevin Smith's new comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno will premiere online tonight at Midnight PST (3am EST). To see the trailer, head on over to QuickStopEntertainment and Kevin will unveil it right on time, we assume. But don't worry about this teaser spoiling anything; giving away scenes or ruining the film's best jokes. Over on his site, Smith says, "Don't call it a trailer, 'cause it's not a trailer; it's a teaser. There ain't a frame of footage in this puppy that's in the actual flick, so feel free to watch it without fear of "spoilers". This is just a little something to give you a bit of a feel for the flick."

The film, due out in theaters on October 31, follows two platonic friends (Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) who, hard up for cash, decide to make a porno together. We imagine some trademark Kevin Smith hilarity will ensue. So there you have it. The first teaser for Zack and Miri Make a Porno will debut online tonight at midnight (on the west coast) right over here.

Definitely let us know what you think.