North/South Film: This Week in Movie Trailers: Amazing Spider-Man 2, 12 Years a Slave, The Counselor, The Fifth Estate, Hunger Games, 47 Ronin, & multiple looks at Gravity

Comic-Con was last weekend, and because of it, this week is a big one for new movie trailers –

including #1 on our list: a brief little teaser for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and its main villain, Electro.

I actually quite liked the first one (and the original trilogy for that matter, so a reboot probably was not necessary, but whatever), so I am looking forward to this one as well. Who doesn’t love superhero movies, and Spidey on top of that?

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Paul Giamatti, Chris Cooper, Dane DeHaan, Felicity Jones, plus Sally Field, and Martin Sheen. The film does not hit theaters until May 2014.

Second, is the trailer for 12 Years a Slave, a film very high on my Must See List. Based one of my favorite books I was forced to read in all my college history classes, the true life story of a Solomon Northup, free back man who is abducted and sold into slavery.

The book is great and the story itself is great. The film adaptation is directed by British filmmaker Steve McQueen, whose first two films (Hunger and Shame) are terrific. And, it boasts a truly phenomenal cast, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Sarah Paulson, Garrett Dillahunt, Scoot McNairy, Alfre Woodard, Quvenzhané Wallis, and Brad Pitt. Plus, it was filmed in Louisiana – so consider me sold on all accounts.

12 Years a Slave lands in theaters October 18.

A few weeks ago, the teaser trailer for The Counselor kicked things off. This week, the full length trailer debuted and has gotten me even more excited for the film.

Lots of the same images here as in the teaser, but extended and even more intriguing. As I said before, “A thriller, The Counselor stars Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, and Javier Bardem. Based on an original screenplay by author Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men, The Road, Blood Meridian), the film is directed by Ridley Scott.

It is pretty safe to safe it has the potential to be quite great – sexy, crazy, and violent. Exactly what you would expect from this cast, plus Scott and McCarthy. The Counselor hits theaters October 25."

Next is the trailer for The Fifth Estate, the inevitable Julian Assange-WikiLeaks film you knew was coming sooner rather than later.

A dramatic thriller based on real events, the film reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century's most fiercely debated organization.

The Fifth Estate stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl, Laura Linney, David Thewlis, Anthony Mackie, and Stanley Tucci. The film comes to theaters October 18.

Check out more trailers, including a new one for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the latest Romeo & Juliet adaptation, Keanu Reeves' samurai epic 47 Ronin, and three intense looks at Gravity, after the jump:

This week we got another look at The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the anticipated sequel to the original blockbuster based on the novels by Suzanne Collins.

I did not read the books and was highly skeptical of the first film, but I was pleasantly surprised and am now quite looking forward to this new entry. Plus, I will literally watch Jennifer Lawrence in anything.

Lawrence is joined by Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Lenny Kravitz, Toby Jones, and Donald Sutherland.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire lands in theaters November 22.

Now we have three different, brand new looks at Gravity. And holy crap, does this film look epic and intense.

Do I need to explain anymore why this is my #1 most anticipated film for the rest of the year? I think not. Cannot wait until October 4.

Gravity stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The film is directed by Alfonso Cuarón.

Next, we have two brief clips from the always controversial Lars Von Trier's new film, Nymphomaniac, about a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac who recounts her erotic experiences to the man who saved her after a beating.

Being a Von Trier film, especially one about a nymphomaniac, you can surely expect lots of controversy (and sex, and nudity, and again, knowing Von Trier, probably violence too).

Von Trier is about as polarizing as a filmmaker can get - basically you either love him or hate him. I must admit, I do lean more towards the love side. I really, really like his films Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Europa, and Antichrist (though I did not particularly care for some of his others, like Melancholia). So in the end, I can't really say I am not pretty intrigued by this new film.

Nymphomaniac stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman, Udo Kier, and Willem Dafoe.

Nymphomaniac does not have U.S. release date yet, but you will likely see it, at least in limited release, by the end of the year.

Then there is 47 Ronin, a Keanu Reeves-starring samurai film that is the feature film debut of acclaimed short film/commercial director and Ridley Scott protégé Carl Rinsch.

The film follows a band of samurai set out to avenge the death and dishonor of their master at the hands of a ruthless shogun . . . Kinda looks like Seven Samurai meets Gladiator meets The Last Samurai with Keanu as the "great, white hope." Hmmm, weird, but it actually looks pretty good. Very epic and fantastical, which is not really what I was expecting.

In addition to Reeves, the film also stars Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific Rim), Hiroyuki Sanada (The Wolverine), and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mortal Kombat).

47 Ronin lands in theaters December 25.

So from an English remake of a classic Japanese story to now a Japanese remake of an award-winning American film - Unforgiven. Even the poster have been copied.

I love Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven and I normally hate remakes, but this one does not really bother me. Clearly there is a noticeable difference between the two (not necessarily story, but other factors) and the western and samurai genres have often borrowed from one another to the mutual benefit of both. This new version looks good and a worthy successor.

The film stars Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins, Inception, The Last Samurai, Letters from Iwo Jima). It is due out in Japan in September, but there is no U.S. release date yet.

It must be an unwritten Hollywood rule that every decade or so there has to be a new adaptation of William Shakespeare's most famous play, Romeo & Juliet. This go-round keeps the period setting and brings in a pretty solid/age appropriate cast.

The film features Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, Ender's Game) as Juliet and Douglas Booth as Romeo, plus Paul Giamatti as Friar Laurence, Damian Lewis as Lord Capulet, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Benvolio, Ed Westwick as Tybalt, and Stellan Skarsgård as Prince of Verona.

Romeo and Juliet revisits theaters September 6.

Next, we have the third trailer for director Ron Howard’s Formula 1 racing film, Rush.

The film is based on the real life rivalry between Austrian champion driver Niki Lauda and his British rival James Hunt. Mere weeks after the 1976 crash that almost claimed his life, Landa got behind the wheel to again challenge his rival.

Rush stars Daniel Brühl as Landa and Chris Hemsworth as Hunt, in addition to Olivia Wilde and Natalie Dormer as their wives. As said before, the film is directed Ron Howard and written by Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon). Rush drives into theaters September 27.

Last time, we had a teaser for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom starring Idris Elba as titular hero/humanitarian. This week the full-length trailer was released. Check it out:

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom comes to theaters November 29.

Last week, in my review for his new movie The Way, Way Back, I bemoaned the fact that Sam Rockwell is not a bigger and more respected actor. He is great, and more than proven in both comedy and drama.

His next film is A Single Shot, an atmospheric drama that looks like a blend of A Simple Plan, No Country for Old Men, and Winter’s Bone (which sounds just fantastic to me).

A Single Shot stars Rockwell, William H. Macy, Jeffrey Wright, Ted Levine, Jason Isaacs, W. Earl Brown, and Melissa Leo. The film lands in theaters September 20.

Indie film director Kevin Smith says The Dirties is "the most important movie you will see all year." Of course, he is one of the film's producers, so he kinda has to say things like that. The Slamdance award-winning film has been called somewhat controversial as it follows high school friends making a film to get revenge on bullies, but one of them isn't joking around.

The Dirties is directed by Matthew Johnson, from a screenplay by Johnson & Evan Morgan. It first premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize. Kevin Smith's Movie Club and Phase 4 Films will be releasing the film in theaters on October 4th.

And finally, we have the trailer for the documentary Dear Mr. Watterson, about the impact of the beloved newspaper comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, created by Bill Watterson.