This is why I love Seth Rogen. The guy stands up for his friends (and makes a good point, in doing so).

In an interview with Shortlist magazine, the 29 year-old actor defended his “Pineapple Express” co-star James Franco, who has been denigrated for months after hosting this past year's Oscar ceremony, saying the Academy wanted a younger and more hip kudos but delivered a script that was anything but refreshing.

"I think when you agree to do something like that, you put a certain amount of faith in the institution, hoping that they'll take care of you, and I feel like they didn't,” Rogen says.

"Why hire James Franco and then give him Billy Crystal’s monologue? It was like, 'Oh, we'll hire these young hosts and then we'll just do the same shit we do every fucking year'.”

Woody Harrelson reteams with "The Messenger" director Oren Moverman in the L.A. cop drama "Rampart." Pic, which co-stars Ned Beatty and Ben Foster, is playing in select cities.

And now a holiday chuckle. EmpireOnline has compiled the ten worst Nicolas Cage posters for your pre-Turkey enjoyment. (I, personally, would've inserted "Trespass" but they did a pretty bang-up job).

Via Empire

Disney/Pixar have released a full-length trailer for “Brave,” the Scotland-set CGI pic starring Kelly McDonald and Emma Thompson. Marking Pixar's first ever femme-driven feature, “Brave” centers on an impulsive princess (Macdonald) who aims to shed her royal ties and become the world's first, great female archer.

"Brave," which will also be released in 3D, hits theaters June 15, 2012.

Well, what do you think?

On Monday, Lionsgate released the first full-length trailer for "The Hunger Games," the studio's highly-anticipated new pic based on the bestselling series from Suzanne Collins.

Starring Jennifer Lawrence and directed by Gary Ross, "The Hunger Games" could be a Twilight-like hit for Lionsgate. The studio has already dated the sequel, "Catching Fire," for Thanksgiving 2013 and could admittedly use a lift after a string of recent B.O. disappointments.

"The magical thing about the 'Hunger Games' trilogy is that the books have such a vastly broad appeal," said Lionsgate COO  and president Joe Drake in a recent interview.

Set in a dystopian future, "Hunger Games" tells the story of a young woman named Katniss (Lawrence), who joins a survival contest to save her community.

Pic , which opens wide March 23, 2012, co-stars Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, and Elizabeth banks.

Watch trailer:

The farest Snow White of them all?

Universal has released the first trailer for its fantasy pic “Snow White and the Huntsmen” and it looks pretty awesome.

Starring Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and evil queen Charlize Theron, “Huntsman” is a darker take on the fairytale, with the cutesiness and blushing dwarves subbed for battle armor and an epic Lord of the Rings vibe.  

Directed by Rupert Sanders, “SWATH” (check Twitter) tells the story of a huntsman sent to kill Snow White but instead becomes her mentor and protector. Joe Roth and Palak Patel are producing through Roth Films. Evan Daugherty wrote the script with Hossein Amini doing the most recent script polish.

Relativity also has a horse in the Snow White race.

Dubbed “Mirror, Mirror” and starring Lily Collins and Julia Roberts, Relativity’s Snow White opens in March, three months earlier than “Huntsman” (June 1, 2012), although judging from the SWATH trailer, advantage: Universal.

 Watch teaser:

The Duplass brothers unveiled their new dramedy “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” on Tuesday at the AFI Fest.

Starring Jason Segel and Ed Helms, the duo’s follow-up to “Cyrus” tells the story of a 30 year-old stoner (Segel) who is trying to determine his fate from his Mom’s basement in Baton Rouge. Susan Surandon co-stars.

“This movie is twenty percent better than ‘The Godfather,’” Mark Duplass wryly promised the Mann's Chinese audience.

The Duplass siblings, who have long dominated the indie circuit with such films as “Puffy Chair” and “Douchebag” admitted the Paramount pic was a rather daunting affair, particularly one action sequence that involved the Coast Guard, bridge jumping and a number of actors submerged underwater.

“That scene alone was harder than all of our previous movies combined,” co-director Jay Duplass confessed during a post-screening Q&A. “We (always) work in controlled chaos.”

“There was an alligator in the water an hour before shooting that!” said Segel, who sat and watched the film with his parents.

While much of Tuesday’s conversation was filled with laughter, Jay Duplass was eager to stress the importance of being true to one's self as a filmmaker.

“In our twenties, we wanted to be the Coen brothers,” he said, “but we quickly realized they’ve got that shit locked up.”

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