This past Sunday, The New York Times featured a popular City-section story about the first-ever prom held for students of Brooklyn's International High School. In case you don't like to read, you can simply watch the video accompaniment here. And if you don't like to read and you don't like documentary-style videos, and have a lot of patience, you can wait for the feature film, which will apparently be hitting theaters some time in the future. According to New York magazine's Vulture blog, a number of producers are interested in optioning the article, while Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have personally brought it to the attention of Paramount Pictures, where Pitt's Plan B Entertainment has a first-look deal. Supposedly an unnamed non-Paramount studio exec beat us all to the punch by joking that "maybe Maddox and the twins can star in it." Of course, he forgot about Pax and Zahara (and the twins aren't really international).

Actually, the first joke I thought about was the running gag on TV's The Critic about the kid from Easter Island who attends the United Nations School. Then, the second joke I thought of was about Brangelina's adopted children. Then I kept thinking of other things, such as how thanks to Prom Night people might assume this other prom-themed movie is also a horror flick. But that's not so much a joke as it is me trying to think on a studio exec's level (hey, we were synchronous with the Maddox bit) in order to contemplate what they'd call the thing. International Prom? A Prom for All Nations (ala the video's title)? Or will Hollywood appropriately go for one of those song-based titles? Been around the World, perhaps?

After enduring a moderate amount of fuss, our devoted readers can now click here for the Apple-exclusive English-language trailer for Brad Pitt and David Fincher's long-in-the-works The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Apparently made available only in the HD format to correspond with Fincher's expectedly demanding standards, the trailer is indeed that much more striking for it. To borrow my own words for it:

"...while the sparse dialogue clues us in on the surreal nature of the events unfolding, the bigger selling point is the scope with which director Fincher and star Brad Pitt find themselves working. It's as if Fincher tapped into his inner Jeunet, and as for Pitt... well, between this and that Burn After Reading trailer, the man's looking to have one hell of a year, and with any luck, so will audiences."

Benjamin Button is scheduled to hit theaters this Christmas, and when the next trailer for it comes around, we'll be sure to make mention of it once we're certain that everyone can actually watch the thing.

The consensus I've gotten from people after they've seen the red-band trailer for the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading is that nobody understands what it's about, and nobody cares, because everybody thinks it looks awesome. Well, if you thought that trailer was confusing, or at least lacking in plot synopsis, just imagine how moviegoers outside the U.S. feel after seeing this new international trailer.

As you can see, marketing to international audiences is more about selling the stars. Hence the CLOONEY, the McDORMAND, the MALKOVICH, the SWINTON and the PITT titles. As for story, there's even less revealed here than in the red-band trailer. In fact, it's almost a joke how little is said about the movie. Each actor/character maybe gets to slip in one or two words, which actually just serve as response to more intertitles telling us about the other major stars of the film: the Coens.

I always thought those Fight Club public service announcements were all kinds of awesome -- Ed Norton talking about proper movie etiquette, and the fact that no one has the right to touch us in our bathing suit area, and Brad Pitt discussing the emergency exits and drinking your own urine. Whenever the real movie theater announcements would pop up, I'd wish it was the Ed and Brad versions instead.

But oh, the above clip completely beats the other two. Apparently this has made the rounds before, but I've never heard of it, so in case you haven't either, check out the song above. However, be warned: This is a song about penises, so if you don't want to hear Brad Pitt and Ed Norton singing about them at work, don't click! But it would be such a waste, because it's flipping brilliant. It's definitely the best twist on words that I've heard in a while. (Check out the lyrics after the jump ...)

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Scratch that, folks. According to JoBlo.com, the trailer has been taken down at the request of the studio and "Fincher himself." Paramount has then assured the site that the trailer will be officially posted - in all its HD glory - on Apple's trailer site in the very near future. Sorry about that, guys, but we'll keep you posted once they get it posted.

Previously available in either en Español or attached to prints of Indiana Jones..., we can now (cannot quite) bring you the English-language trailer for David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, courtesy of JoBlo.com.

Naturally, it still stands that, while the sparse dialogue clues us in on the surreal nature of the events unfolding, the bigger selling point is the scope with which director Fincher and star Brad Pitt find themselves working. It's as if Fincher tapped into his inner Jeunet, and as for Pitt... well, between this and that Burn After Reading trailer, the man's looking to have one hell of a year, and with any luck, so will audiences.

It 's also worth noting that adapting this F. Scott Fitzgerald story for the big screen is screenwriter Eric Roth, whose own Forrest Gump similarly chronicled the life of a man whose presence managed to manifest itself across several eras of American culture and history.

In what is perhaps a fitting sense of time, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button doesn't open until this Christmas, and yet it suddenly can't seem to get here soon enough.

As if he didn't have enough to do, what with all the films he's signed on to and with all the goodwill he's involved in with partner Angelina Jolie and, most importantly, with twins on the way, Brad Pitt will be co-designing a hotel and resort to be built in Dubai. According to Bloomberg, the actor will be a consultant with L.A. architecture firm Graft LLC, which is designing the 800-room hotel-resort for developer Zabeel Properties. Pitt said in a statement: "Acting is my career; architecture is my passion." He also noted that the hotel will feature environmentally friendly architecture, and will also "embrace [his] career in entertainment," whatever that means. Pitt has already been associated with Graft, which is working with the actor on plans to rebuild a Katrina-devastated neighborhood in New Orleans with 150 environmentally friendly homes.

I was never aware of Pitt's interest in architecture (apparently he's a huge admirer of the work of Charles Rennie MacKintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright and is even friends with Frank Gehry), but if Marvel Studios is still interested in the actor for the role of The Mighty Thor, they might want to alter their plans and focus the superhero film on temporary- Thor-replacement-turned-independent-superhero Thunderstrike, whose alter ego is an architect named Eric Masterson. And Marvel might want to also remind Pitt that Dubai is also the future location of a Marvel theme park, too. Surely there could be some sort of tie-in with the planned hotel-resort.

[via Curbed]

After a brief detour through the more substantial, it looks like the Coen brothers are back in full-on madcap comedy mode with this fall's Burn After Reading. The first trailer has made an appearance here, though since it's red-band, the site requires you to go through a cumbersome process involving iTunes. Among other things, it affords the rare treat of seeing John Malkovich punch Brad Pitt in the nose.

It's always hard to predict how Coen movies are going to come together, but although Pitt might deserve an Oscar for the little dance he does at 1:36, I don't think Burn After Reading will be making an awards run -- it looks very, very strange, sort of in the vein of Raising Arizona. (On the other hand, the fact that the utterly insane O Brother, Where Art Thou? managed a screenplay nomination might mean all bets are off.) I cherish the Coens' comic sensibilities -- Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers were trifles, but they made me laugh, really hard. This looks similarly anarchic and over-the-top.

Burn After Reading premieres at the Venice Film Festival in August and hits theaters September 12th.

Okay, I bought us a little bit of time with that title, but understand the video above won't be around that long. This is the first Spanish-language trailer for David Fincher's new flick The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, though I have a feeling it's just dubbed and not a completely different trailer from the one currently playing in front of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I've been hearing a lot about this trailer in the past 24 hours; so has Peter from Slashfilm, as his readers have been emailing him -- claiming this trailer is the greatest thing in the history of great things.

It certainly looks odd, wild and beautiful -- almost as if David Fincher and Tim Burton had a child; this is what it would look like. The clean, crisp full English-language trailer will probably debut within the next few days online, so feel free to wait for that one or snag a taste from the one above. In case you're wondering, Benjamin Button stars Brad Pitt as a man who was born in his eighties and starts aging backwards. That's all I'll say for now; oh, and it also stars Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Elle Fanning and Julia Ormond.

Let us know what you think -- the film comes out December 19th.

When Marvel officially announced the release date for Thor last week (June 4, 2010), news quickly followed that Matthew Vaughn was no longer directing, a script was being fine-tuned and Marvel was in search of an actor to fill Thor's mighty shoes. Seeing as he's blonde, a very popular actor and has starred in films like Troy, the first name to pop into the minds of fanboys (and girls) everywhere was Brad Pitt. And whaddya know: Latino Review is saying this week that Pitt is at the top of Marvel's wishlist. Who woulda thunk it?

On paper, this does seem like a logical -- and realistic -- choice. Pitt is at a similar point in his career as Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton and even Johnny Depp (who surprised fans by starring in three Pirates of the Caribbean films for Disney). If there ever was a right time for Pitt to take a leap and "do one for his kids," Thor would be that project -- especially since his gal Angelina has already starred in two Tomb Raider flicks. But then the guy would have to sign for at least three films (most likely), not to mention the fact that he'd need to be in phenomenal shape. Plus, perhaps Troy was Pitt's Thor, and maybe he's tired of all those giant blockbusters; maybe he'd rather do some smaller stuff.

However, then you look around Hollywood and, honestly, who else could play the Marvel superhero? Taking into consideration the move by Marvel to hire bigger names for their films, is there anyone else who could muscle-up and play Thor? Or is Pitt the only name that could truly bring this project to the next level?

After the gut-wrenching terror of No Country for Old Men (I haven't been that tense in a movie theater since, well, ever), I can safely say that I am incredibly relieved that the Coens' next film, Burn After Reading, looks like it is going to be a lot more fun. First Showing now has some stills from the Coens' black comedy, and it would appear that the brothers are returning to what I like to call their 'Raising Arizona roots.'

Burn is the story of a CIA agent (played by George Clooney) who is assigned to investigate the case of a former agent named Ozzie Cox (John Malkovich) who has taken his revenge on the agency by writing a tell-all memoir. When Cox's ex-wife (played by Tilda Swinton) steals the only copy and leaves it behind at her gym, the gym's owner (Frances McDormand) and star personal trainer (Brad Pitt) see an opportunity to engage in a little blackmail.

The Coen flick just got the nod to open the Venice Film Festival this year, but Burn will not be making an appearance at Cannes this year (which is a little strange considering the luck they had at the French festival last year). This makes it zero for two for Pitt now that his other high-profile film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, also failed to make the list for Cannes. Burn After Reading is scheduled for wide release on September 12th, 2008.