If you thought the fact it’s been 18 months since shooting first started on The Hobbit movies means there’s been plenty of time to get the first of the three film ready for release, think again. Peter Jackson has released a new video blog and says “I really need a nap mode,” as he’s so busy getting it ready for its New Zealand premiere on November 28th.

The blog give shows that after the massive scope of the actual shoots, it’s now down to Jackson and his editor holed up in a room putting everything together, and sorting out all the incredibly complex special effects shots. The video shows us the pipeline that produces those effects, with everyone ridiculously hard at work trying to get things finished. It’s well worth a look to see just what a mammoth task making a movie like this is, and that no matter how fatastical the movie, it’s all down to talented people in the end.

The first trailer for the British comedy I Give It A Year has arrived, which teams up the likes of Anna Faris, Olivia Colman, Rose Byrne, Simon Baker, Rafe Spall, Minnie Driver and Stephen Merchant, for a movie that looks at the realities, trials and tribulations of the first year of marriage. Merchant gets the plum role in this promo, giving a truly cringe-inducing best man speech, in a way only he can.

Dan Mazer makes his feature-directorial debut, having spent years writing and producing with Sasha Baron Cohen on everything from Ali G to The Dictator. The film is due to hit UK cinemas on 8th February 2013, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

And while we’re hit, why is it nearly every British comedy in the past few years seems to have been about weddings? It’s not even like they’re inherently successful, as everything from The Knot to The Wedding Video have proved. Maybe looking at the first year of marriage can broaden things out a bit.

Jason Blum has single-handedly cornered the market in micro-budget, mainstream horror, thanks to his Blumhouse Production Company producing the the likes of Paranormal Activity, Insidious and Sinister. One of the movies he’s got incoming is Dark Skies, which takes the family in peril template and gives things an extra-terrestrial spin.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘From the producers of Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and Sinister comes Dark Skies: a supernatural thriller that follows a young family living in the suburbs. As husband and wife Daniel and Lacey Barret witness an escalating series of disturbing events involving their family, their safe and peaceful home quickly unravels. When it becomes clear that the Barret family is being targeted by an unimaginably terrifying and deadly force, Daniel and Lacey take matters in their own hands to solve the mystery of what is after their family.’

The film comes from Scott Stewart, who promised much but delivered far less with Legion and Priest. Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton and Dakota Goyo star. No UK release date has yet been set, but its reaches the US February 2013.

What would you do if a family member went to prison? Most of us would just have to fret and wait for their release, but not The Rock – he’s going into prison himself to help get his son out! This isn’t a prison break, but part of a plan to uncover that his kid was set up by drug dealers. The father is actually working with the DEA, with a deal in place that could see his son freed as long as he can come up with decent evidence.

It’s supposedly based on a true story, although we’d be willing to bet the film version of very, very loosely based on the truth. Susan Sarandon also stars as the hard-assed prosecutor who doesn’t want to let his kid off easy, which results in The Rock agreeing to go behind bars and smoke out the truth.

Ric Roman Waugh (Felon) directs with a release set for early next year.

I can already feel the hackles of right wing anti-environmentalist nutjobs rising as Epic, which certainly suggest we should be nice to the natural world and not indiscriminately destroy it. However I’d imagine this trailer will excite fans of Honey I Shrunk The Kids.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘The creators of ICE AGE and RIO will reveal a hidden world unlike any other in an all new 3D CG action-adventure comedy. EPIC tells the story of a battle raging all around us between the forces of good, who protect nature, and the forces of evil, who wish to see it destroyed. When a teen age girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together with a rag-tag team of fun and unique characters to save their world…and ours. EPIC is released in cinemas May 2013 from Twentieth Century Fox.’

It’s certainly looks like’s it’s going to be a gorgeous looking movie, with a less overtly comedy vibe than most of Fox’s animation output.

It’s taken a long time to get Jack The Giant Slayer to the screen, largely due to the special effects and creation of the fairy tale world. However Bryan Singer’s film is now incoming, with a March 22nd 2013 release date set and a new, fantastical trailer having popped up online.

The trailer certainly suggests this is going to be an overtly family friendly affair, with liberal doses of comedy and a tone that suggests this won’t have the darkness of some recent fantasy movies. The film is a liberal retelling of the classic Jack & The Beanstalk tale, in which the long-standing peace between men and giants is threatened, as a young farmer (Nicholas Hoult) leads an expedition into the giants’ kingdom in hopes of rescuing a kidnapped princess.

Alongside Hoult, the likes of Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Bill Nighy and Ian McShane star. To be honest we’re not entirely convinced by this trailer, as it seems a little silly, but we’ll reserve judgement.