Not three weeks ago, I made first mention of a brief and bland teaser for the forthcoming horror film, Mirrors. Now, along comes IGN Movies with a red-band trailer that, at first, didn't do much for me. Blah blah blah, Jack Bauer as security guard for old department store, blah blah, former guard grew obsessed with surrounding mirrors, blah blah -- look, even Amy Smart is yawning after all that exposition.

Oh, did I say 'yawning'? I meant 'tearing off her own jaw'. Yes, while we still seem to be saddled with a fairly ridiculous premise that's seen better and worse days, there's modest comfort to be taken that the R rating ain't exactly being shied away from. Let's face facts here, people: all it takes sometimes is a couple of nifty death scenes to make movies like this that much easier to stomach (well, some might argue the opposite).

Directed by Alexandre Aja and starring Kiefer Sutherland, you can see Mirrors (bah-dum-cha!) on August 15th.

Ever since the first details have slipped out about Mirrors, Alexandre Aja's follow-up to High Tension and The Hills Have Eyes, I can't say there's been any vested interest on my part to see the end result. After all, those films were grisly pieces of work, and while I would respect Aja for deciding to mix it up with something a bit more psychological, the central premise of "vengeful reflections" is one that I've yet to see the suspense in, particularly in the wake of a certain SNL Digital Short (attached after the jump for your enjoyment).

The film's new teaser trailer has shown up over at Yahoo! Movies, and as unfair as it may be to judge a full-length feature on the merits of these whopping forty-five seconds alone, there's nothing here that indicates to me that the oh-so-spooky reflections of Kiefer Sutherland, Amy Smart, and Paula Patton are going to send chills up my spine come August 15.

Then again, it doesn't help that a demotion to the role of mall security guard doesn't stop my mind from automatically associating Kiefer with his gun-toting, voice-raising '24' hero, Jack Bauer. As such, feel free to wake me up if Aja opts to bring either Elisha Cuthbert and/or a cougar into the works. Now THAT's suspense, my friends!

Now that we know the storyline for Crank 2: High Voltage is going to be a little wacky, it might give these latest behind-the-scenes photos some context. The Bad and the Ugly scored some pictures of the returning Amy Smart in all her topless glory (the pics are a little NSFW, so consider yourself warned), along with Jason Statham, and Corey Haim (rocking one heck of a mullet) hard at work on the action thriller.

Picking up where the last film left off, Statham returns as Chev Chelios, the hitman with a need for adrenaline. This time, though, he's got a busted artificial heart that requires jolts of electricity to keep it pumping. There is also something about a 100-year-old gangster named Hu Dong, but it all gets a little confusing after that.

Earlier in the week JFX Online paparazzi had taken some photos on set (mainly of Smart), but had been asked to remove them (the photos are still all over the web, so JFX has since put them back online). Their reporter even took a few cheap shots at the production, but has since retracted those comments. Writer-directors Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine have already taken their fare share of criticism for the first film, but I know for a fact there are plenty of people who couldn't care less about the critics, and they can't wait until Crank 2 hits theaters in 2009.

Prior to her film's premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, writer-director Tracey Hecht found time to answer a few questions about her film and her process for Cinematical. Life in Flight stars Patrick Wilson as a successful architect with the "perfect family" who, after a chance encounter with a young urban designer (Lynn Collins), begins to second guess his entire life. We published our review of Life in Flight this morning, where Joel had the following to say regarding Hecht's direction: "Hecht does a nice job invoking a sense of place in Life in Flight; she must know New York well, because she shows or mentions aspects of it that most visitors just never see, like the birds that fly out over the BQE. The visuals suggest a filmmaker who not only is in love with New York, but insisted on making sure there was no doubt that the film was made there instead of somewhere in Toronto."

Cinematical: You previously said you wanted to make a film about fear. Seeing as this is your feature debut as a director, I imagine making this film brought about a certain fear from within you?

Tracey Hecht: Yes, definitely. But I'm less afraid when I'm doing something than when I'm waiting to do it. So I think the leading up to making the movie was worse for me. Once I was actually in there, I really had a amazing time.

Cinematical: What do you think people are most afraid of these days?

TH: Oh, wow, I have no idea. I imagine that list is long. But I think the trick is to really find and know what it is inside of you that makes you afraid, and not let yourself just project your fears out onto other things.

Life in Flight should prove to any aspiring screenwriter that you don't necessarily have to have an original story in order to get a screenplay made. In the film, which debuted at Tribeca on Sunday, first-time writer / director Tracey Hecht tells the tale of a man who's supposedly living the good life, but it's not the one he wants. And it takes meeting a young, vivacious woman for him to fully realize it.

Heard that story before? Sure you have, probably dozens of times. You've seen it in goofy romantic comedies from The Seven-Year Itch to Joe Versus the Volcano as well as "indie" dramas like Garden State. But good writing and acting always trumps originality of story, and Life in Flight has both, though there's still room for improvement.

As Scott told us last October, there's a sequel to Crank on the way. This might seem surprising, considering the ending, but movies can make just about anything happen. This one will somehow take the seemingly finite ending and continue the story without the use of "dream sequences or long-lost twin brothers." Now, months after Jason Statham signed on for more Crank action, we've got the supporting cast for Crank 2: High Voltage. Variety reports that Chev's girlfriend, Amy Smart is back, plus Dwight Yoakam and Efren Ramirez. But that's not all -- Bai Ling has also signed on, along with Clifton Collins Jr., who will play Chev's nemesis.

This time around, "Chelios faces a mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart and replaced it with a battery-powered ticker that requires regular jolts of electricity to keep working." If it's not low heart-rates and poison, it's mechanical hearts and electric jolts. He should ditch Eve and hook up with Gwen from Angel -- a girl with electric hands could come in handy for this action tale. I guess Clifton is the mobster, but there's no word on who Bai Ling will play -- perhaps a butt-kicking henchwoman.

The sequel kicks into production on April 28 in Los Angeles.

Maybe it's just me, but when I hear that there is going to be a new horror movie about crazy mall mirrors, I imagine something goofy, with a battery of up-and-comers who hope this stint will be their catapult into bigger and better roles. Then again, Mirrors is Alexandre Aja's remake of a Korean horror film. For some reason, horror remakes from overseas usually seems to get higher-profile names. The Ring had Naomi Watts, The Grudge had Sarah Michelle Gellar and The Eye will have Jessica Alba. Hmm, I guess Mirrors didn't want to follow the "the" pattern, besides changing it up with a male lead.

Previously, I brought you word that Kiefer Sutherland was attached to star as the mall security guard trying to find the origin of the evil in the mirrors. Then, Ryan Stewart posted Paula Patton's addition to the cast. Now Bloody Disgusting has the rest of the cast list, that is headlined by The Butterfly Effect and Crank star, Amy Smart. Now, there is no word on her character, but the IMDb cast list has got her, Sutherland and Patton having the same last name -- along with a few others. Patton was previously said to be the 24 star's disbelieving fiance, so either Smart is a kid he had at an extremely young age, or maybe an ex-wife and mother of his kids? Obviously, this is some sort of family affair. Production is currently in full swing over in Romania, and we've got just a little bit more of the plot to flesh things out -- Kiefer's character is investigating mysterious deaths that happen at a department store, in front of the mirrors, and finds out "that there are murderous reflections out for revenge." Well, that makes a little more sense.

Hey, remember that fad about ten years ago to bring swing music back? Well, the music and the dancing may return to the spotlight once again thanks to a film called Love N' Dancing. The independent project, which begins shooting this summer, is being produced by a four-time U.S. Open Swing Dance Champion named Robert Royston (check out his pic!), along with Sylvia Caminer. Written by Tom Molloy, who will also co-star, the film follows a bored English teacher who partners with a West Coast Swing dancer in order to win a world title. Of course, she has a workaholic fiancée, who she likely abandons in order to fall for the dancer. Amy Smart (The Butterfly Effect) has been cast as the teacher.

Much of the popularity of swing back in the '90s was due to the success of Swingers, so there's a chance that this film could rejuvenate the past-time (look around L.A. and NYC -- swing isn't dead; it's only sleeping). However, if this means that we have to suffer through neo-swing garbage like "Zoot Suit Riot" again, I might have to kill someone. Love N' Dancing is being helmed by choreographer-turned-director Robert Iscove, whose American Idol-spawned From Justin to Kelly should give good evidence for why this new music-based film will not be the success that Swingers was. That and the fact that Vince Vaughn will not be in it.

I'm sorry (and I don't mean to be rude), but with so many talented, beautiful, undiscovered actresses out there, how in the world does Amy Smart keep landing roles? Her casting in a film reminds me of a baseball trade, where one or two good players will be traded, along with some useless minor league player. Yup, Amy Smart is that minor league player. She's familiar filler, and brings absolutely nothing to the table. Rarely do I go off on an actor like this (face it, what do I do -- I blog for a living), but this girl just gets to me. And I sincerely hope I'm not the only one who realizes this. End rant.

With that said, Smart has been cast opposite Patrick Wilson in the indie drama Life in Flight, written by Tracy Hecht (who will also be making her directorial debut on the film). Pic revolves around an architect (Wilson), his "perfect" wife (Smart) and their cute little son. However, and here's where the plot description gets real lame, "an unexpected meeting with an urban designer (Lynn Collins) reveals the weak foundation upon which his life is built and forces him to reassess his life." See, he's an architect and, well, I'm sure you get the connection.

It will be interesting to see Smart upgrade from girlfriend to wife status, and Wilson seems to be tapping into a little bit of Little Children (talk about another boring performance) with this role, so should I assume this film will put us to sleep within -- say-- the first ten minutes?

Less a movie than a blunt instrument, Crank is an explosion of sex and violence, set to a deafening soundtrack and cobbled together by a crazed editor. From the look of it, first-time directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor wanted to make a compact film -- it's only 83 minutes (they're long, long minutes) -- but refused to leave out a single one of the insane images and visual flourishes they'd been collecting in their heads in preparation for their cinematic debut (both men come from an advertising background). As a result, the film has a terrible case of ADD: Scenes are chock-full of unnecessary visual touches that, while striking and interesting if used judiciously, quickly lose their power when they show up in every scene -- several times.

Jason Statham plays Chev Chelios, a hitman with possibly the most absurd name in the history of cinema. He awakens one morning with blurred vision -- the handheld camera shows us his point-of-view -- and in extreme physical pain, but with no idea what happened to him. Careening around his huge, warehouse-style apartment, he comes upon a DVD resting on his (of course) giant flat-screen television. And from the obscenity scrawled on its face, we can assume the disc wasn't there when Chelios went to bed. The star of the DVD is Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo), a cringingly stereotypical Latino Villain who chews through the limited scenery as he gleefully tells Chelios he's been poisoned with "some Chinese sh*t", and has just an hour or so to live. So the movie opens with its central character already dead (much like D.O.A. did way back in 1950 -- and then again in 1988), and the bad guy's confession already out of the way: Forget solving a crime (already done) or avoiding danger (no point): Chelios gets to spend the whole movie trying to track down and kill Verona before his time runs out. Needless to say, blood will be spilled, limbs severed and cars crashed in the process.