While the film is already out on DVD here in the states, across the pond Teeth is gearing up for a June 20th theatrical premiere. And to coincide with that, Empire has released a "banned" poster for the horror-comedy about a wholesome teenage girl who learns she has teeth inside her vagina. Of course, these teeth remain a minor issue until our hero decides it's time to start experimenting sexually with the opposite sex. Yeah. I'll let you imagine what happens next.

We're big fans of the film Teeth here at Cinematical, and I also happen to be pretty friendly with the film's star, Jess Weixler, having met and hung out with her on a few different occasions -- so if you're in the UK, go see this when it hits theaters later this week. And if you're in the US, go rent this DVD. Like, today. This new poster is kinda cute and kinda funny, and I can definitely see why it was banned. Does it make you want to see the film? I don't know. But I guess that's what I'm here for, right?

I would have embedded the clip, but I want to make sure no children or men accidentally push play without being either of proper age or sufficiently warned. It's definitely NSFW, and the fact that it features rising star Brittany Snow (Prom Night) repeatedly punching a guy in the crotch makes it a truly uncomfortable moment for males to witness. Sure, it's got nothing on the cringe-worthy castration sequence from Hard Candy or the end of Little Children or most of Teeth or, for that matter, any number of horror films, but it's still pretty painful to watch (and listen to -- the sound effects really make it). So, click at your own risk.

The clip comes from On the Doll, the feature debut of Grammy-nominated music video director Thomas Mignone (Slipknot's "Wait & Bleed"), which opens in New York June 13 and then is released on DVD and online June 17. Snow plays one of several sexual abuse victims whose stories are interwoven throughout the apparently dark and twisted film (see the R-rated trailer here). The rest of the mostly young cast includes relative unknowns Clayne Crawford (A Love Song for Bobby Long), Stephen Sowan (TV's The Riches) and Josh Janowicz (The Chumscrubber), who is best known for being the soon-to-be-ex-husband of Lost star Emilie de Ravin. Fans of the Oceans Eleven series may also recognize Eddie Jemison, who plays a teacher who's propositioned by two of his students.

[via Defamer]

The titles that will probably get the biggest play this week are Todd Haynes' I'm Not There, the indie auteur's take on Bob Dylan that inspired spirited critical debate, and Alejandro Monteverde's romantic drama Bella, which seemed to come out of nowhere to become an audience favorite, playing in theaters for months. Both hit DVD today; I'm Not There is packed with an audio commentary with Haynes, deleted scenes, featurettes, audition tapes, gag reel and more, while Bella has an audio commentary by the director, two featurettes and a music video.

Jess Weixler stars in Mitchell Lichtenstein's Teeth, which inspired no fewer than three reviews here at Cinematical: Scott Weinberg, Kim Voynar and Nick Schager. If that's not enough to lure you in, it's about vagina dentata! Read the reviews to learn more -- each of our reviewers focused on something different that appealed or repelled. The DVD includes an audio commentary by the director, deleted scenes, outtakes and behind the scenes footage.

As a mother of five, Kim Voynar presented a very personal perspective on Abby Ebstein's doc, The Business of Being Born, featuring Ricki Lake. Kim wrote in part: "Epstein does a thorough job of dissecting the cold, hard facts about the history of modern childbirth." Two featurettes are included on the DVD: one takes the viewer behind the scenes, and the other follows up with what happened to the participants.

Among my favorite film books is Michael J. Weldon's two-volume "Psychotronic" film guide. The first was published in 1983 and the second in 1996 (Michael hopes to publish a third at some point). Unlike Leonard Maltin's annual book, Weldon doesn't update an existing guide; each new guide is an entirely new volume. If you want to read about Halloween, you need Vol. 1 and if you want to read about Halloween 4, you need Vol. 2. A "Psychotronic" movie can be fairly easy to define. It's basically any of the "lower" film genres, dealing with the more questionable elements of society: horror, sci-fi, bikers, strippers, superheroes, zombies, kung-fu, vampires, comic books, drugs, sex, action heroes, rock 'n' roll, midnight movies, monsters, witches, cults, serial killers, magic, time travel, robberies, heists, contract killers, gladiators, Spaghetti Westerns, mad scientists, murder mysteries, pimps, voyeurs, etc.

Another long day here in Austin ... but definitely a fun one. Went to see two films today: Mister Lonely and Explicit Ills. I was lukewarm on both films; the first was completely out there -- about a Michael Jackson impersonator who hooks up with a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, as well as a group of impersonators, who live out their days in a house -- together -- in the middle of nowhere. Shot beautifully, I still haven't quite wrapped my head around it, but it was peaceful, meditative and pretty. Four words: Werner Herzog is awesome. Explicit Ills, on the other hand, was a film starring folks like Rosario Dawson and Paul Dano (who's nabbed top billing even though he appears in all of about seven minutes of the flick), and it jumps between several different "urban" stories -- some more developed than others. There's a message there about poverty and health care (I half-expected the film to fade to black with a message to vote for Hilary Clinton), but parts of it were daunting, while Mark Webber did a heckuva good job behind the camera.

From there, I headed over to this party for the film Bi the Way -- a party which took place outside on some sort of hippie commune. I kid you not; there were campfires, face painting and burlesque dancers (who deserve major kudos for taking off their tops in the freezing cold). At one point during the party, this girl walks up to me and goes, "Hey, you interviewed me in Berlin!" I turned and it was none other than the very awesome Jess Weixler (who starred in Teeth) -- apparently she was there hanging with filmmaker Joe Swanberg (whose Nights and Weekends premieres here tomorrow night). I told Jess that I couldn't believe she remembered an idiot like me, but she did ... and we chatted until Joe pulled her away. Great girl, great actress ... and I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up in the next Swanberg film. (But you didn't hear that from me ....)

Finally made my way back to the hotel, and as I was getting in the elevator Seann William Scott was getting out. He's here (I imagine) promoting his new film The Promotion, which also screens tomorrow night. I almost yelled "Stifler!" but unfortunately I was way too tired. Good times, we'll catch you on the flip side.

Oh crap. I just realized it's time to turn the clocks ahead. Thank God -- I actually thought I blacked out for an hour. Phew.

Finally opening in the US after receiving rapturous reviews at Cannes last May and landing atop many critics' top ten lists for the year, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days easily led the field this weekend, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. Shut out of the Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film, the Romanian abortion drama nevertheless drew big crowds to the two theaters where it opened, averaging $24,100 per screen for distributor IFC.

Playing on 61 screens, U2 3D scored an impressive $15,508 per screen average. Opinion has been divided as to whether the possibilities of 3D were effectively used, with our own Christopher Campbell arguing that the film is important to experience, while Nick Schager was more critical. And for anyone concerned about the higher ticket prices charged for the 3D experience, Bono told USA Today: "I'm hoping that all the people in high school or who are college-age and don't have the cash to go see us can go see us for a low price with this film."

Reveling in its Academy Award nominations, Juno soared just past the $100 million mark, increasing its weekly take 3.5% while dropping 108 theaters. It's still playing at more than 2,400 locations in its eighth week of release for distributor Fox Searchlight.

Fellow Best Picture nominee There Will Be Blood fared well as Paramount Vantage continued its roll-out. Now playing in 885 locations, its per-screen average was a healthy $5,522. Best Picture nominee Atonement was down a bit ($2,832 per-screen at 1,400 engagements) and No Country for Old Men was up ($2,261 per-screen at 1,107 locations). Playing on just 58 screens, Best Animated Film nominee Persepolis had the fifth-best per-screen average of the weekend ($6,034) for Sony Pictures Classics.

Among other limited releases, Teeth performed quite well, averaging $4,212 at 16 theaters in its second week out.

At the screening of Teeth that I attended, female journalists squealed with delight at the sight of scumbag men being castrated by Dawn (Jess Weixler), an abstinence-promoting high school girl saddled with a curious case of vagina dentata, that mythical condition in which a woman's nether regions are lined with sharp teeth. A legend obviously rooted in male fears of female sexuality, director Mitchell Lichtenstein depicts it as a tool for female empowerment, as Dawn's efforts to come to terms with her strange and terrifying gift inevitably lead to a realization that it grants her dominion over all the cretins who want to deflower her. Thus, the glee that greeted the multiple severed penises, while disconcerting on a basic level (my god, are women really this tickled by castration!?), makes some sort of sense as a response to years of horror films in which men have exerted violence (often sexual in nature) against women. Nonetheless, their reaction continues to be puzzling, given that Teeth is generally so crude and schematic that it seems the only proper reaction to these climactic images is unsurprised, eye roll-accompanied groans.

An opening message that "No Men Were Harmed During the Making of This Film" immediately reveals not just Lichtenstein's goal to blend horror with comedy but, specifically, the brand of corny-cute humor he plans to employ. Initial glimpses of a nuclear power plant towering over Dawn's neighborhood (seemingly ripped straight from The Simpsons) cast an amusingly eerie pall over the early going, but any promise of a uniquely bizarre atmosphere quickly dissipates as the director introduces us to Dawn, the leader of a Christian youth movement that counsels kids to keep it in their pants until marriage. Dawn is sunny, cheery and attractive, and it's clear from the outset that one of her male classmates also devoted to abstinence -- a recent transfer to the school named Tobey (Hale Appleman) -- fancies her. Lichtenstein thinks that by making Dawn a doggedly chaste individual, his premise is somehow funnier than if she were just an average, everyday teen. Yet the result is the exact opposite, as her transition from snow-white good girl to blood-red avenger is so broad that she feels like little more than a punchline to some dreary bar room joke.

(Note: The following interview was conducted last year when Teeth premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. We are publishing it now to coincide with Teeth's theatrical release this week.)

One of my favorite little gems from last year, Teeth tells the story of Dawn (Jess Weixler); a teen abstinence preacher and all-around lovely girl who, at a very young age, discovers something wrong with her parts down there. It's called vagina dentata, which is Latin for "toothed vagina." Oh yes, it bites ... and it bites hard. Playing Dawn is fresh up-and-comer Jess Weixler, who arrived in this role without much of a big-screen resume. Yet, here, the gal clearly proves she has what it takes to rise up the familiar leading lady ladder, and it won't be long until Jess Weixler is a household name. Following a screening of the film, Cinematical sat down with Jess to talk about Teeth, vagina dentata and how it was playing the woman behind every man's worst nightmare.

Cinematical: You can't exactly go out and meet other women who suffer from vagina dentata. So you read the script, accept the part -- how the hell do you go about researching this kind of role?

Jess Weixler: (laughs) That's why I liked the part. Because there were no rules for how to play the game. Look at this girl Dawn, realize she came from this place of total innocence -- she's very human, someone who doesn't know their body and hasn't opened up yet. And then she gets to learn about life as it sort of attacks her. So she has a very dangerous sexual experience, then instinct kicks in and her body essentially protects her until she learns how to use the teeth. And that's something I had to come to.

There's nothing like a little vagina dentata to make life interesting. If you're like me, you've been dying to see Teeth since reviews started coming out of Sundance. Our Kim Voynar described it as "a fun exploration of feminine sexual power seen through the twisted kaleidoscope lens of a horror-comedy," while Scott Weinberg said that it is "one of the most witty, intelligent and darkly insightful looks at young womanhood since Lucky McKee's brilliant May."

Now the film is finally getting a limited release this week, and the first five minutes of the film have been thrown up on YouTube, which you can check out above. It's got lil tyke v-d, of the dentata variety, some killer eggs ready to devour some sperm, and a really cute girl praising the virtues of sex -- while stealing a glance at a boy who makes more than just her heart go "pitter patter." Oh yeah, and for you Twin Peaks fans out there, you can also check out Lenny von Dohlen (Harold Smith) as the dad of Dawn's first victim. I might just have to do a horror double-feature this Friday with Cloverfield and Teeth... How about you?

Here are some of the latest posters to hit the net:

Though its release date was pushed back yet again (it's not coming out in theaters until this February), a new poster for Teeth has hit the net. I absolutely loved this flick when I caught it in Berlin earlier this year, and even had a chance to sit down and talk with the film's star, Jess Weixler, about how freaked out I was after watching it. She called it the "perfect date movie," and I'd agree, except I'm not so sure this is good for couples who haven't, um, gone all the way yet. Might freak the dudes out a tad. In Teeth, Weixler plays Dawn, a teen abstinence preacher who discovers teeth down in her private area and then ultimately uses them to her advantage. Oh yeah, it gets nasty. Hopefully the Weinstein Co. left the flick as is and didn't chop the hell out of it. (Bonus: Check out the trailer over on Moviefone.)

A new poster for the much buzzed-about Nanking has arrived. Directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, the film tells the real-life story of how, in 1937, invading Japanese raped and murdered thousands of Chinese. Cinematical's Kim Voynar called Nanking a "deeply affecting film," and added: "Twenty-two Westerners stayed in Nanking to try to do something to help, and through their letters and journals we feel the moral dilemma they faced: They could get out and secure their own safety, but what about their Chinese friends and neighbors who couldn't leave? Who would protect them?" Nanking recently became one of the 15 docs shortlisted for an Oscar nod. (Bonus: Check out Moviefone's Unscripted featuring Rosalind Chao and Sonny Saito discussing the film and the book, The Rape of Nanking.)

Finally, there's a new poster out for The Spiderwick Chronicles, based on the popular books, and starring the adorable Freddy Highmore. Film tells of three siblings who find themselves pulled into an alternate world following their family's move into the run-down Spiderwick Estate. It kind of reminds me of the Narnia films on acid. Not bad. It arrives February 15. (Bonus: Check out the flick's first trailer over on Moviefone.)