Bye, bye, bye! Well folks, I'm a little bit sad and a little bit elated to be telling you that this will be the last official post of The Screen Rider. Read on and you'll understand...

This has been an amazing outlet for me to talk about, criticize and make fun of everything related to film and television, but I have received a higher calling. No, I'm not talking about Jesus, or Xenu or Steve Guttenberg. But rather, I have been hired as an intern for a production/talent management company in Los Angeles and will be leaving in less than 3 weeks.

While there's a chance that I may have the time to maintain the blog, it would surely be less frequent (which isn't saying much since we've been slacking lately...but that's mostly been due to my upcoming graduation from college and preparation for this gig in LA) and I also have to keep my nose clean, since I will have to sign confidentiality agreements, and don't really want to be bashing and criticizing films so publicly if I'm going to be working for any other film production companies.

Let me just say that it's been fun while it lasted. I loved getting any feedback on our stories, and I've gotten in touch with other great film bloggers as well.

You can still follow me on Twitter (@ScreenRider) as well as the other contributing writers Harry Nelson (@hcnelson), Phil Wrighthouse (@philwrighthouse) and Wes Cummins (@Wes_Cummins). Once again, thanks for reading, and if we make a comeback, you guys will be the first to know. Smoke'em if you got'em.

Two of my favorite character actors have joined Iron Man 2, according to /Film.

Clark Gregg, who recently directed the Chuck Palahniuk adaptation Choke, and can be seen in the comedic goldmine that is The New Adventures of Old Christine is thankfully back as Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. In the first film, Coulson was used to introduce the concept of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is expected to be a very big part of any subsequent Iron Man film. Gregg is so good at this type of role (see In Good Company) and played really well off of Gwenyth Paltrow's Pepper Potts.

And speaking of extremely attractive ladies, Kate Mara (We Are Marshall) is going to play a role that, as of right now, is being kept secret. Paltrow is coming back and the eye candy factor is going to go off the charts with Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, so it should be interesting to see where Mara fits in. Even though Shooter was kind of horrible, We Are Marshall is in my top three sports movies of all time, and Mara was a big part of that in a smaller role.

Iron Man has been my favorite superhero since I was a kid. It was the character that got me into comic books, an obsession that continues to this day. The first Iron Man film was everything I could have hoped for and, from what I've heard so far, the second installment just will add to the awesome hybrid director Jon Favreau has established of comedy, drama, and action film, except without all of the origin story to plow through this time. I will say, though, that I'm extremely saddened by the rumors that the Demon in a Bottle storyline won't be addressed in this film. The story arc, which explores Tony Stark's alcoholism, is one of the best comic arcs I've ever read and should definitely be checked out by anyone interested in Iron Man as a character.

The release date for Iron Man 2 is May 7, 2010 and is shooting right now.

With Angels & Demons fast approaching for release on May 15, it's no surprise Variety reports that Columbia Pictures has jumped ahead about 5 months to begin negotiations for Dan Brown's third novel in the Robert Langdon centered series, The Lost Symbol.

The book isn't set to be published until September 15, but since Sony has the rights to the Robert Langdon character, they are acting fast to finalize a deal. Since negotiations have just began, there's no official word on the return of Tom Hanks, or series director Ron Howard returning, but since this franchise is such a huge investment and payoff for Columbia Pictures, I imagine they will do everything in their power to get them back for a third go-round.

Seriously though, how much trouble can a symbologist get into? I mean it's the same damn problem with something like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. You're investigating a crime scene. How dangerous can that be? Robert Langdon needs to calm down or he's going to get into some Mr. Bean type of trouble here before too long. Oh, he's so wacky!

Angels & Demons releases this summer on May 15. Check out the trailer right here.

Warner Bros. has released what is apparently going to be the final full length trailer for this summer's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This just keeps getting better and better.

The trailer speaks for itself having more spectacular shots of the Death Eaters' attack on London, some dueling between Harry and Draco Malfoy, more dueling between Harry and Snape, and just some all around great shots of what looks to be the most action-packed Potter film yet.

There's also plenty of room for teen angst and hormones as we get an inkling of romance between Harry and Ron Weasley's younger sister Ginny as well as some problematic tension between Hermione and Ron. I've heard some rumblings that there's a lot more of the relationship content film in this one than in the series past. I think we'll be fine as long as the film doesn't come off like a Judy Blume book. Seriously though, if J.K Rowling came out with Are You There God? It's Me, Harry Potter you know it would fly off the shelves.

Anyway, check out the trailer below and get excited when this film gets released two days earlier than previously announced on July 15. You guys think this could be the best Potter yet?

Awhile back we called your attention to a little vote Fox Searchlight was having that allowed you to choose the poster for what looks to be one of my favorite films this year, 500 Days of Summer. Now the votes have been counted and here's the winner for all to see across the world. I'm really glad that one of the designs I liked was chosen. There's tons of pictures of Zooey Deschanel which is always a good start for any poster. And I can't be sure, but there may actually be about 500 pictures of her character Summer on the poster itself, and there don't seem to be any obvious duplicates. Anyway, I can't wait to see this film. If you missed the trailer you can check it out right here.

All right everyone, it's been a rough past couple of weeks. As I'm sure you've noticed, we haven't posted in the past couple weeks. Things have been pretty crazy here in Indiana. The corn is growing too fast to be worried about movie news.

In all seriousness, my graduating college is upon me and there has been plenty to do to make sure that all my loose ends are tied up.
But, now we are back with a vengeance, and will be posting regularly once again. We'll catch-up on some old stories as well as stay up to date with the most recent news.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck around, and will continue to check the site regularly, and for those of you who vocalized your dissatisfaction with our infrequent posting recently, we thank you for your feedback. We now return you to your regularly scheduled movie and TV news.

Here we are with a look at something not-so-Hollywood related, but important nonetheless. This is the ScreenRider exclusive premiere of a short comedy people are calling "shot with a camera, edited on a computer, and on the internet."

But seriously, the title says it all. Just do us a favor and check out this ScreenRider original short film written and directed by our occasional contributor Harry Nelson. As you can see it's called I Think I Fucked a Vampire and it's probably NSFW just to be safe (the language is rocking the f-bombs and more).

The film was shot in one 10-hour day, and will be premiering at a local theater right here in West Lafayette, Indiana this month. If you like it, feel free to toss it around to your friends, on your Facebook, or Twitter or even MySpace. You can watch it embedded below, in HD over at YouTube, or on Harry's official film site for I Think I Fucked a Vampire

I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to leave your comments below or contact Harry Nelson through his Facebook page, or his personal Twitter account.

Earlier this week we played catch up with a trailer that looks like the sleeper comedy hit of the summer. Now we have a full length theatrical trailer for The Hangover that amps up the laughs even more. In case you missed our synopsis before here it is again: A Las Vegas-set comedy centered around three groomsmen who lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures, then must retrace their steps in order to find him. This will be the morning after that none of these guys will forget.

In this trailer we get a shot of the groom-to-be, Justin Bartha (who you may remember as the comic relief sidekick Riley Poole in the National Treasure films) and the lead-up to what will be one chaotic bachelor party. The groomsmen, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis, trace their steps and get more than they bargained for as they find themselves in possession of a baby, a tiger, a police car, but not the groom. Zach Galifianakis is going to blow up after this movie, and I hope everyone gets a chance to discover his comedic genius. The film comes out on June 5, but until then, enjoy the trailer below.

Today, an international Red Band trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen's summer comedy Brüno. The picture above was coupled with the release of the trailer and you'll understand its significance after you check it out.

The trailer plays off of his now famous antics for 2006's Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. While the trailer is funny, I was expecting a bit more. There's no doubt that this will be hilarious, but I was hoping that the first trailer would make a bit more of a splash. But there's some great moments, and if anything, this is simply like a teaser. I remember not being too thrilled when Borat was being advertised, but at the time I was also unfamiliar with Cohen and his characters. If anything I'm still happy because it seems like Brüno is a character who will not be so easily imitated by all of your stupid friends who ruin the movie for everyone else.

Anyway, check out the trailer below, but be wary, because it's Red Band and it's most assuredly NSFW at all. What do you think?

There's really only one way to describe this film. You know when your friend has a really cool story, and it's actually hilarious, and since you're really good friends you're around him all the other times he tells it? Well now that story sucks doesn't it? Welcome to Fast and Furious. I had a chance to catch an early screening of this (at least it was free) and it was less than stellar, even for this type of movie.

The tagline for this film is "New Model. Original Parts." First of all I don't know why anyone would want a new car with old parts, but good try with the cleverness (it's about all the wit you'll see in regards to this film). Second of all, the problem with all the "original parts" coming back (this fourth installment which a friend of mine has dubbed 4 Fast 4 Serious brings back original cast members Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster) and that's where the money went, because it's certainly not in the action sequences. But let's begin at the beginning...

So The Fast and the Furious was a fun little, adrenaline rushed, popcorn flick. No doubt. Aside from the mediocre writing and consistently terrible acting, there's some great races, chases and action, and I even enjoyed the slightly innovative techniques of using footage shot from outside of the car, then in one full move sweeping into the driver's seat of the car, swirling around, and then back out the other side of the car. It's a combination of real footage, CG and green screen work, but it was fast-paced and made for a good edit. All that goes out the window with this one.

Here's the story (and there's a spoiler here, but it has to be said because the spoiler is the inciting incident for the rest of the film): Dominic Torretto (Diesel) and Letty (Rodriguez) are teamed up with some people south of the border and are stealing gas for street races as they work to get closer to some hotshot drug dealer. Long story short, Letty is killed, and Dom is off to find out just who's responsible. Meanwhile, in pursuit of the same drug dealer we find Brian O'Conner (Walker) working for the FBI trailing this same drug dealer, and as we come to find out, Letty had been working undercover for him while in Mexico with Dom. Now in order to actually get face to face with this drug dealer, Dom and Brian, driven by revenge and duty respectively have to enter a street race to try and get a job running drugs back in Mexico. Everything stems from their previous relationship to each other, and the loyalty and strange friendship they have with each other.

The problem with this flick is it's just not as fun as the first one (which is the pinnacle of these films). The races are bland and unexciting. They couldn't even give Brandon T. Jackson (Alpa Chino from Tropic Thunder) any good one-liners during a street race. One of the "action sequences" takes place in a series of tunnels through a small mountain range on the border. It's just simple swerving and no suspense or tense moments at all. And then they revert back to these tunnels for the "climax." It's neither fast (especially in the pacing of the film) or furious.

And while dialogue was never a strong suit in these movies, it's like they're not even trying. It's the most contrived, amateur writing I've heard in a long time. And it doesn't help that Paul Walker is back (who is basically a poor version of Hayden Christensen) or that Vin Diesel still looks and talks like an ape.

There are two midly interesting tidbits about this film. Vin Diesel is working along with some Asian guy in Mexico, and apparently this guy is from Tokyo Drift, BUT when he makes reference to it, it's like he hasn't been there yet (something like "I hear there's some crazy shit going on in Tokyo"). So it looks like this film happens between the second and third movies. But my favorite tidbit is something that I created myself. There's a green Gran Torino, similar to the one in the film Gran Torino, but it's just tricked out. I'd like to think that Thao (the kid who bonds with Clint Eastwood) got caught up in the gang life and tricked out this car, and somehow or another he got killed or lost it in a race. What I'm saying is, the most fun I had in this flick was wishing other things would happen in it. Save your life and save your money, and just put this in your Netflix Queue if you really have to watch it.