THE WAY, WAY BACK - Trailer

A funny thing happened at last year's Oscar ceremony, when the man previously known as "the guy who plays the creepy Dean in Community"  stood up, collected his Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Descendants and flashed a bit of leg. A star was born.

As well as returning to his signature role on Community, the Dean, AKA Jim Rash, has kept busy (along with his creative partner Nat Faxon who bagged an Oscar along side him) by directing The Way, Way Back; a coming of age tale starring Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell.

Nothing to do with The Way Back, the Colin Farrell/Jim Sturgess prison escape drama from a few years ago, this film tells the story of Duncan, a typically shy teen who is forced to accompany his mother to her boyfriend's beach house where he meets pretty, cool girl AnnaSophia Robb. So far so Youth in Revolt, but the trailer also shows a healthy dose of Adventureland and Dazed and Confused in the mix too.

With appearances by Allison Janney, Maya Rudolph and Rob Corddry; not forgetting writer/director's Nat Faxon (as a creepy lifeguard) and Jim Rash (as a creepy... well, I don't know what he is but he looks creepy), when it gets released later this year, The Way, Way Back is sure to offer up many awkward reminders to those of us who spent their teenage summers wishing Sam Rockwell would turn up to act as their spirit guide and help them get girls.

Liberal Arts Trailer

Following his debut as writer, director slash actor with Happythankyoumoreplease, Josh Radnor, the sometime Ted Mosby, is back with a new film but the same director's beard. When Jesse, a teacher in New York, gets invited back to Ohio to visit his old professor (Richard Jenkins), he meets and falls for a 19 year old student called Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen).

Although his character Ted in How I Met Your Mother has skated dangerously close to becoming the 'Dawson Leary' of his own story, I'd argue that away from the show Josh Radnor's film career is the one to envy. He may not have the Judd Apatow connection like Jason Segel or the eye-catching showmanship of Neil Patrick Harris (most recently seen in The Smurfs), but he's a man in charge of his career, both in front of and behind the camera.

In his directorial outings (Liberal Arts and Happythankyoumoreplease), he's made some smart casting decisions, surrounding himself with talented character actors who'll raise the quality of any movie by at least two notches. Richard Jenkins AND Allison Janney? Mr Mosby, you're spoiling us. But perhaps the most intriguing piece of casting is Elizabeth Olsen, able to free herself from the shackles of familial expectations with her performance in Martha Marcy May Marlene. Incredibly watchable and precisely the kind of girl a 35 year old teacher would fall for, her presence makes this one of the must watch indies of the autumn.

Liberal Arts is in cinemas September 14th (US) and October 5th (UK).