We learn today that Gary Oldman has joined Denzel Washington in The Book OF Eli. We get the following scoop from the Tom Jones hideout caves of Yahoo:

Gary Oldman is in negotiations to star opposite Denzel Washington in “The Book of Eli,” an action thriller that returns the British actor to his more villainous side.
It centers on a lone hero named Eli (Washington) who must fight his way across the wasteland of a near-future America to protect a sacred book that might hold the key to saving the future of humanity.

Oldman will play Carnegie, the despot of a small makeshift town deficient of standard necessities, services, and most noticeably, laws. Carnegie is determined to take possession of the book Eli is guarding.

I appreciate a post apocalyptic film more than most and this one is sure to get top billing with Denzel and Oldman on board. With luck this will loose a slew of copy cat films of lesser quality. When bad post apocalyptic films go direct to DVD - magic happens.

This film is said to have a release date of January 2010 so we have a bit to wait, but I look forward to learning of its developments. I wonder if we will all get to read the Book Of Eli through the eyes of Denzel. What message could it contain, what wisdom lurks between the lines?

Another day another remake. we have news today that Samuel L Jackson has been cast as Sho’Nuff in the upcoming remake of The Last Dragon. We get the following scoop from the ritual caves of Yahoo:

Having most recently played a dirty cop in “Lakeview Terrace,” Jackson is set to star as a bad guy again in a remake of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy’s 1985 cult classic “The Last Dragon.”

Jackson will play Sho’Nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, a role played in the original by the late Julius Carry, whose spiel included asking ego-driven questions like “Am I the baddest mofo lowdown around this town?” Each time his gang of thugs answered, “Sho’Nuff!”

I haven’t seen the original film, but it sounds like I need to. This Sho’Nuff character sounds outstanding and I need to see him for myself in all his streetwise glory. I am generally not a fan of remakes, but until I see the original I can’t really have opinion of this one. I am glad that this news has pointed me to the original however.

International Friends - what do you think of this news? Have any of you seen The LAst Dragon - If so what do you like about the film and what are your thoughts on the remake?

Last week’s correct answer was Marilyn Monroe!

And now the game continues with the sixteenth installment of NAME THAT TORSO!

The answer will be revealed next Week. The winner will have bragging rights and garner international respect!

****RULE #1 **** If you find the picture online, please don’t post the link and ruin the game for others

****RULE #2 **** NAME THAT TORSO!

I wanted to offer up a taste of the macabre but all the YouTube videos of Thriller had their embedding disabled in anticipation of mass online sharing on this most auspicious of days where our parents offered up some contradiction and took us out to take candy from strangers.

So instead you get to learn how to do the Thriller dance from a really cheesey dance instructor from the 80s. It was truly the scariest thing I could find online.

Zombie Claw! OOOoooo!

Hulk has destroyed the competition this week and has obtained the gold for rentals and sales. We get the following scoop from the Gamma Caves of Yahoo

“The Incredible Hulk” has painted the home video charts green, debuting at No. 1 on all three tallies.

Four weeks after its release, “Iron Man” maintained an iron-fisted hold on the charts. The summer blockbuster — like “Hulk,” based on a Marvel Comics character — finished the week as the No. 4 seller and renter, while on Blu-ray it held fast at No. 3. It remains the top-selling DVD of the year.

The Hulk rules rentals, DVD and Blu-ray sales. After the success of Iron Man’s release I don’t think this will be much of a surprise to anyone. Comic book movies are pretty popular “must own” films.

Now we wait for the Dark Knight and see what kind of damage it will do.

The inevitable sequel to the Sex in the City movie is not the only thing that is on SJP’s plate. She is headed to tackle a romantic comedy with Hugh Grant.

Coming Soon says:

Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant are in negotiations to star in an untitled Marc Lawrence-directed romantic comedy for Columbia Pictures, says Variety.

They would star as an estranged high-powered New York couple who witness a murder and are placed in a witness-protection program in a small Wyoming town.

I liked this movie better when it was called For Richer or Poorer with Tim Allen and Kirstey Alley. They were bigshots in NY who have to hide out in an Amish villiage while their lawyer tries to solve their tax troubles.

So its not quite exact, but some things I am sure will happen. Hilarity will ensue as the fish-out-of-water NY Powercouple will tell you how much their clothes/shoes/suit costs while being forced into menial labour or smalltown social situations. They will flee NY as a couple on the verge of divorce and through their experience in the simpler life they will rediscover their spark.

Re-using a formula is hardly an offense worthy of burying this. I like Hugh Grant in romantic comedies (he is terribly flawed and easy to relate to) and I don’t hate SPJ, though I find her attractive depending on the outfit/shot she doesn’t always offer up the eyecandy.

So with any luck they will deliver a heartwarming comedy with a few good laughs and a happy ending.

We have a teaser trailer for Angels and Demons to show you guys this Halloween thanks to the good people over at the movieweb:

I want to go to the Vatican one day. The building has so much history within its walls and apparently has rooms with floors of gold. I may even go to mass to see how the pros do it.

We have a sneak peek of Sam Darko for you today thanks to an exclusive from our friends over at moviesonline.

I am not looking forward to this film. I join the majority in saying that Darko should be done at one. Having a sequel seems to be a terrible idea and I feel another Blair Witch 2 coming on.

I will say this however. I like that dress, it mimics the scaled body of a mermaid and is very fetching in a Live Action Role Playing sort of way.

It looks like Spiderman 4 is getting the royal treatment. A pulitzer prize winning playwrite has been blackmailed into writing a superhero film.

Coming Soon says:

Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire (upcoming Inkheart), who won a Pulitzer in 2007 for his drama “Rabbit Hole,” is in final negotiations to write Spider-Man 4 for Columbia Pictures, says The Hollywood Reporter.

I am both encouraged and discouraged by this. On one hand we have undeniable credibility in his profession as a top notch and very capable literary. He is a playwrite, so I have to assume he is capable of telling a story through actors.

But on the other hand, is he familiar enough with Spiderman, the feel, his history? Is this the best choice to get behind a superhero film?

I really want to have hope for Spidey 4 after the slap in the face that was 3. I have faith that those involved are the types that learn from their mistakes and bring us better and better. In the first two they didn’t have a lot of mistakes to learn from, but Spidey 4’s buzz is going to hinge around positive news.

I don’t want to take away anything from this acclaimed writer. But I wouldnt hire Van Gogh to paint my car just because he is a painter.

I am going to flip my coin to positive and see this as a good step for the Spiderman franchise.

Kris Tapley over at In Contention was nice enough to hook us up with the following You Tube video for Slumdog Millionaire. Check it out -

Well this looks like a feel good film about a man who breaks out of the cycle of poverty and becomes a hero for many to follow. All you have to do is reign supreme at trivia and get a spot on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. How hard can it be?

This is a trailer that makes me want to see the film. Films that turn underdogs into champions are always the most motivational.

Happy Halloween! I hope all of you have plans full of fun and candy tonight! In honor of this holiday I have found the new Valkyrie trailer - check it out!

Tom Cruise should keep the eye patch forever.

For those of you who are not Doctor Who fans, you can move along now. This is vaguely movie related, and I am a big geek so I wanted to share.

With Doctor Who is somewhat of limbo with next “season” not really being a season at all but 4 TV Movie events they are calling “Special Episodes”, the big question lingering around has been if David Tenant, the most popular Doctor ever on the series, would return for the planned official season in 2010.

The answer is no.

BBC says:

Tennant stepped into the Tardis in 2005, and will leave the role after four special episodes are broadcast next year.

He made the announcement after winning the outstanding drama performance prize at the National Television Awards.

“When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won’t be with me,” he said.

“Now don’t make me cry,” he added. “I love this part, and I love this show so much that if I don’t take a deep breath and move on now I never will, and you’ll be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair. I’ll miss it”

Tennant is taking the high road leaving the show while he is still popular before being asked to leave. He is the 10th person to take on the mantle of The Doctor.

With any luck this popularity will spill over to his continued career. Many of the previous Doctors were stung with the typecasting which has limited many of their careers. This alone prompted Christopher Eccleston to step down after only one season.

Speculation on the next Doctor includes Paterson Joseph, David Morrisey, James Nesbitt or John Simm.

And because she is intellectually sexy, I wanted to share this Catherine Tate clip, with David Tennant as her character’s new English teacher in a sketch performed for Comic Relief 2007. (When Tate starts reciting her sonnet, it… moves me.)

During the live show today Robert Forest threw out some info regarding “Lemmy”. I will be be keeping my eye open for this one, that is for certain.

We have word about a new Vince Vaughn vehicle called It’s Sunny and 68 today thanks to the good people over at movieweb:

O’Connor, whose Pride and Glory was released this past weekend by Warner Bros., said he and Tambakis wrote the script, a drama with comedic overtones, with Vaughn in mind for the lead character.

Vaughn will play a superstar on the poker circuit whose alcoholism and recklessness cause him to flame out on national television. Wiped out and owing $500,000 to bookies, he heads home to upstate New York for the first time in 20 years, looking to take back cash he’d been sending his mother. Instead, he finds his mother dying of cancer and raising a 5-year-old girl who is actually his daughter. Mom has been positioning his former high school g.f. to become the girl’s eventual caretaker.

This movie sounds like a dramatic buzzkill. If you like films where a character finds out “who they are” - then please treat yourself. I would much rather see the before or the after story. Personal journeys of introspection and life adjustment is always important, makes for boring entertainment.

This sounds like a “chick flick” for dudes with gambling addictions. If this film legitimately helps people with their gambling problems - I think that’s great. I just think that it might suck for everyone that doesn’t. But who knows, I could be reading way too much into the above information. I am a fan of Vaughn, so who knows, he may pull this one out of his ass and surprise me.

Production of this film is schedules for February 2010.

This is good news and just plain common sense. Amidst all the conversation and debate about whether an animated film should be eligible to be nominated for best picture, Disney and Pixar have decided to force the issue and are now officially pushing for Wall-E to get a Best Picture nomination. And well they should. Wall-E is, so far and hands down, the best picture of the year so far.

Hows this:

ON METACRITIC
Wall-E (#2 Best rated movie of the year behind “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” - 93
The Dark Knight - 82

ON ROTTENTOMATOES
Wall-E - 96
The Dark Knight - 94

Please note, I’m not comparing the number to The Dark Knight to bash on it (I loved The Dark Knight), but simply to show how bloody and unforgivably outrageous it would be for this film… the top rated wide release film of the year (much like Ratatouille was) to not be nominated for Best Picture.

And please no one give me any of this “but there aren’t any live actors in it” bullshit. The name of the category is BEST PICTURE, not “best live action picture”. Wall-E is the best picture and should be nominated and recognized. I applaud Disney and Pixar for forcing the issue and not just letting the Academy quietly brush the issue under the carpet and hope that no one talks about it.

Today we have a peek inside Mark Millar’s vision of Superman. We get the following insight through our friends at the movieweb:

Millar revealed that his version would be an 8-hour, three-film series, with the films to be released in consecutive years. He is apparently working with a “big Hollywood action director” who he will not reveal at this time, and he calls this new take, “the Magnum Opus of Superman stories.”

“It’s gonna be like Michael Corleone in The Godfather films, the entire story from beginning to end, you see where he starts, how he becomes who he becomes, and where that takes him. The Dark Knight showed you can take a comic book property and make a serious film, and I think the studios are ready to listen to bigger ideas now.”

I like that this dude has a story arc that he wants to work within. I think that multiple films work best when an arc has already been worked over and the individual stories unfold according to plan. The devil will be in the details, but I’m certainly pleased with Millar’s strategy.

Mark’s promise of a “big Hollywood action director” certainly stokes the fires of curiosity. The proclamation of the director will be a big moment for many, this will probably make or break the excitement some have for this upcoming Man Of Steel restart.

Superman has been in limbo since Routh first wore the pants. I’m saddened that the film didn’t work out for Routh, but hope this next installment is one that will give a bit more than the last outing.

In a recent post with more pictures from the New Star Trek there was a lot of people saying they looked good. I was one of them. I love the new look and I am eagerly awaiting this film.

However among the comments were these TWO concerns that stood out as negatives toward the film and I felt I wanted to address them here so we could discuss them.

Recasting

The feeling is that Kirk can ONLY be played by Shatner, and Nimoy is the only guy who can play Spock. The examples given were of situations where someone would replace the character in a sequel. The problem is that Kirk cannot be in a sequel since he died in Generations. There cannot BE another movie with Kirk in it. And Spock is playing himself, until he meets his younger self. (and Next Generation doesn’t deserve more after Nemesis - stupid Data subplot)

Back in the glory days of the Dukes of Hazzard we got some replacement “cousins” while Bo and Luke were written out of the story (contract negotiations) They were Coy and Vance Duke, and were practical clones of Bo and Luke. They were not accepted by the fans and eventually the original good old boys were back and all carried on as normal.

Recasting failures can be poor choices, but we don’t know that Pine and Quinto are poor choices.

Also, these are the characters in a completely different time in their lives, much like we accepted Daniel Craig in the role of Bond (even though he isn’t the same as the other Bond actors) we accept him for his portrayal of the role because that role IS different from the other Bond eras. They are not REPLACING Kirk and Spock, they are portraying a younger version.

This is not an issue of another actor trying to play Kirk in a sequel with Kirk in it. This is a different Kirk. A younger Kirk. And his life will be different from this point on based on the events of the movie, so this is a new Kirk. It doesn’t have to be the same.

When River Phoenix played a Young Indiana Jones, we were excited to see a glimpse of what Jones was like at a young age. (I would have loved to see a TV series or Movie franchise based around River Pheonix as Jones)

Too Young

Now there is a younger version of Kirk and Spock coming our way and people are automatically discounting them with ridiculous claims of “High School Musical Trek” and “Trek90210″ and that is just grasping for a reason to hate it. These characters are not being played as teens. The actors are not teens. The story is not a kid story, just younger than we have seen them in other incarnations.

It is utterly ridiculous to assume the movie is about those things when it has never once been said that this movie will take place in their teenage years.

Keep in mind that Pine is 28 and Quinto is 31. And they are playing younger versions of a 37 year old Shatner’s Kirk, and Nimoy’s 35 year old Spock.

The argument is that Pine is too young to BE a starship Captain. I don’t recall there being an official guide that says in Starfleet, you have to be a certain age to be Captain. Guess what kids, canon says James Tiberius Kirk received his first Captain’s title at the ripe age of 31. That is close enough to Pine’s actual age of 28. So you have nothing to complain about there. If anything this is an appropriate aged actor to play the part of a Starfleet officer gaining his first command.

As for the rest of the cast. Well they are all older than Pine, so really there isn’t much to complain about there.

Adults playing the parts of adults, depicting a point in Star Trek history peiced together from canon throughout 10 movies. No issues.

Other issues

We don’t know for sure how it will play out, but according to canon Spock already served for 11 years under Captain Pike, which may very well be the case. This movie will start with Kirk getting command of the Enterprise, and perhaps Spock just comes with the command. It is also possible that since we already know that old Spock goes back in time to talk to his younger self. This might result in young Spock seeing Kirk out.

The colour of his shirt. Yeah, Kirk has a Black uniform instead of the deep yellow we commonly see him wearing in the original series. Its a shirt. Seriously. A shirt? If that is all you have to complain about then I would think you should be happy that you don’t have more to complain about.

Overall

In the big picture of it all these are all very minor things to complain about. This is not a remake, it is a sequel. Yes the sequel will mess with the time continuum and change history. But this is the best way to do a reboot and have that reboot become PART of the canon. The original is not ignored, just headed in a new direction.

I predicted this nearly two years ago and I am still waiting for my royalty cheque.

So enjoy Star Trek and save the silly kneejerk reaction to make up things about the movie that just doesn’t exist and we can focus our attention on real concerns. Which I am not seeing much of yet.

And that makes me happy.

Bubba Ho-Tep was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen never to be given a wide release. I remember when the film was making the festival circuit and everyone was raving about it… people online were gushing over it, and all of us wanted to see it. One major problem… no distributor was willing to pick it up for a wide release. AAARRGGGHHH!!!!! When I think about how much total crap get wide releases and then a film like this one didn’t… makes me lose faith in humanity. Anyway…

Thankfully the movie found an audience on DVD and became quite popular. Popular enough that much talk began about the chances of a sequel. Paul Giamatti quickly became attached to the project (which they are calling BUBBA NOSFERATU) and everything looked like it was full speed ahead. Oh… except for one problem… Bruce Campbell decided he didn’t want to do it. AARRGGHHH!!! Why Bruce WHY!?!?!?

There hasn’t been much noise from the Bubba Nosferatu front in some time… until now.

In a recent interview with AICN Paul Giamatti has let the world know the movie is still moving forward… and that they have a new Elvis. RON PERLMAN. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Paul Giamatti: And his movies are amazing. They are totally unique, you know? So then he asked me if I was interested in doing this one and I was just like “You have got to be kidding me. Yeah, absolutely!” I said, “I have a little production company and we can help you guys do this” and he brought me in onboard and now we have got Ron Perlman interested in playing Elvis.

Paul goes on to say that they REALLY wanted Bruce Campbell back in the role… but that Bruce just didn’t want to do it. He said Bruce is totally cool with them doing it without him but they just couldn’t convince him to do it.

Here’s the thing. I want Bruce Campbell back as Elvis. He MADE that movie. Having said that, the movie is bigger than the performer and I’m still pumped to see this… and I love Ron Perlman and I’m sure he’ll do a great job. I’ll miss Campbell, but if Perlman does what he’s capable of doing, I’m sure the film will be just fine.

For those of you who didn’t have a chance to catch Midnight Meat Train (the new horror flick based on the story by Clive Barker) in theaters during its very limited run… good news! The folks over at FEARnet have just put the movie online for FREE and you can watch it now.

Doug Nagy really liked the movie, even though I wasn’t all that thrilled with it. But how can you go wrong with free? You can go watch Midnight Meat Train here.

We have an awesome jack-o-lantern to show you today thanks to slashfilm via In Contention.

Why so serious?

I gotta say, this film continues to interest me more and more. I hate that they have remade the original and wish this film stood on its own….but I’m interested in seeing it none the less. International Friends - what are your thoughts on the trailer?

David Heyman has spilled the milk regarding the Half-Blood Prince release date change. We get the following scoop thanks to our friends at comingsoon:

“I think that there was some people… kids were definitely upset, and I’m really sympathetic to that,” Heyman told us when asked about the decision to delay the sixth installment. “I would love the film to come out in November; we would have been ready, but the fact is partly because of the writers strike and for whatever reason, Warners didn’t have any movies next summer. They had Batman this year which was bigger than they ever thought it would be, so they came to me, and they said, ‘David, we want to move it.’ Warners has been really good to us. They’ve given us lots of money and lots of independence. It defies belief how much independence we have on these films. They give us the money, they read a draft of the script. I choose the director, we make the film, they come and visit. We show them a cut of the film, they say they like it, they give us some notes, we make the changes that we want to make. We test screen it once and show it to them, and then the movie is released. They’ve been so supportive that one has to support… they needed it. It’s a film business.”

Film is a business, but if you have printed posters and promised fans a release date - class dictates that you keep your word. To move it ahead a Summer just to boost next years numbers is ridiculous. I have a hard time thinking that the delayed release will make them more money. I could be way off here, but I think they did this just so next years summer quarter looks as appealing as this years to shareholders.

When it comes to being fair to your shareholders or your paying customers, you should always choose your customers. They are the ones that make the machine run with their money, so the business should be kind enough to return the favor with decency and respect.

We have long supposed that WB made the move for the reasons mentioned above. The word on the street was swirling about and many were upset. I think this was a terrible idea, and has killed buzz and momentum for the film. I am not sure if it will hurt it at the box office, but it will be interesting to find out.

GI Joe producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has spilled some of his guts about the film with the good people over at MTV. Check it out.

“We are in post-production, and it’s looking really good,” promised super-producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura recently, marveling over some of the early “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra” scenes he’s been working on recently with director Stephen Sommers. “It’s going to be really fun, and it’s going to be big.” “There is going to be two or three really large sequences in it that are really going to blow people away,”

di Bonaventura said that he and Summers are cutting their movie with both newbies and loyalists in mind. “I think the core fan base that read the comic book and watched the animated shows are going to feel like we really honored their experience,” he promised.

I am always glad to hear good things about a film that I want to rule. I will not lie to you, it gives me warm fuzzies, and fills me with hope. Then reason kicks in, I remember that I was born to die, and that di Bonaventura will always say good things - because his money’s on the table.

As skeptical as I am about the upcoming GI Joe film, I still want it to be good. It would please me greatly if the film kicked ass. I certainly hope this is the case and anxiously wait for my time to see the film and give it a verdict of my own.

We get word of harsh justice for a Maryland man from the gulag caves of Yahoo this morning.

A Maryland man was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison on Tuesday after he admitted to recording two films in a Washington, D.C., theater, “28 Weeks Later” and “Enchanted.”

Michael Logan, 31, could be responsible for illegally recording more than 100 films from January 2006 to January 2008 in five states and the District of Columbia, the Motion Picture Assn. of America said in a statement.

Sucks for the dude, but 21 months isn’t a bad run in the slammer; a good hobby will chip that time away in no time. With luck, the jailbird will be able to pass the time watching all of them in prison.

International Friends, if you are thinking of recording a film with a camcorder - please don’t.

We have news today that Netflix will now makes its service available for those that have Tivo players. We get the following scoop thanks to the archive caves of Yahoo:

Netflix Inc said on Wednesday it reached a deal with TiVo Inc to further deliver on its goal of offering Netflix’s Web streaming service directly to televisions through many devices. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it calls for Netflix to provide subscribers of its online DVD rental service and many of the 800,000 broadband-connected Tivo subscribers with the ability to stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” service to TVs free of charge.

TiVo, maker of the popular digital video recorder, and Netflix said late on Wednesday they were initiating a test of the new capability in several thousand U.S. households and expect it will be broadly available in early December.

Netflix continues to swing deals in order to make its product available to customers. The XBox 360, Roku, Blu-ray players and now your Tivo box will all get you to the magical land of bounty that Netflix has to offer. With a catalogue of 12 000 online movies to choose from (and growing) the Netflix monthly fee is a pittance for what you get.

Netflix availability adds value to the above units that have the capability. How cool is it that you don’t have to buy another player. With luck a device you already own has, or will be getting the Netflix service. More services on less devices is a good idea.

Gears of War is shaping up to be a visually stunning movie that will meet the excitement for the game franchise. Some encouraging words were shared about the very creative creatures faced in the game and whether they would be included in the film.

MTV Movies says:

“I don’t think you would want to see a movie of this game without them in it,” said Morgan of the likelihood that Corpsers, Seeders and, yes, Berserkers, would wreak on-screen havoc in the much-anticipated video game adaptation.

So what could he tell us about the creatures of the “Gears of War” movie?

When asked specifically whether we’ll see Corpsers and Berserkers getting some screen time, Morgan told MTV, “If I have anything to do with it, you absolutely will.”

“And I do,” he added. “So the answer is ‘Yes.’”

Yeah yeah, blah blah blah, video game movies suck, blah blah. Ok, that is out of my system.

I like that they are intending to keep all the favourite creatures in the movie. Some of the best parts of video game movies (even though they often fall short) is seeing your favourite foes on screen. So as much as it might sound trivial to make a point to say they are going to get screen time, I will remind you of another epic fail in the video game movie genre.

Wing Commander.

I was a HUGE FAN of the Wing Commander series. I was diappointed not to see anything new come out for it since Prophecy, but I was encouraged to see the movie. And a trailer for Star Wars Episode 1 was shown before it.

Anyways, the movie dwelled on the story of the main character NOT played by Mark Hammil, but the master thespian Freddy Prinze Jr and his eternal sidekick Matt Lillard. But what we REALLY wanted to see was some space battles or some fisticuffs with the iconic enemies of the series. The Kil’rathi. Instead the most we see of these foes are a blurred comm screen image of a face, and an arm coming out of the darkness. Their presence in the movie didn’t even rank as a cameo. Stupid.

What the hell? This ruined most of the film for me (Freddie Prinze Jr ruined the rest). I could have forgiven the bad acting and misplaced plotlines if we could have at least got some awesome visuals and some decent action. Then I could have slipped this movie into that awkward level of acceptance that we pocket video game movies into.

So Gears is already looking like it will have some great visuals, and it will have all the iconic foes.

Halloween is just a day away. This festive season brings lots of fun activities and themes. Movie Rental places start running out of slasher flicks, Walmart can’t keep up with costume and mini candy bar sales and after I get my cute overdose and get the kids in bed I will be enjoying loud music in a crowded bar full of people dressed like a porn audition.

So as a special Trick or Treat for the gothic emo swoonfest known as Twilight, presales for tickets will launch tomorrow with a bribe for the uberfans.

MTV Movies says:

Fandango is making advance tickets for “Twilight” (out November 21) available. And just because it’s Halloween, a special trick-or-treat is available with every “Twilight” ticket purchase: a free download of “Bella’s Lullaby (Remix).”

“Halloween is the ideal time to launch advance ticket sales for ‘Twilight,’” Fandango’s Chief Operating Officer Rick Butler told MTV News. “With only three weeks to go, it just makes October 31 an even more exciting day for Twilighters.”

I am not interested in Twilight at all. But I think this marketing is rather clever. Clearly this movie would sell regardless of when it was released, but you would think the spooky Halloween period would be appropriate. So they made sure to have a foot in the door during this season.

Offering a little something extra as incentive to prepurchase your tickets is also a nice touch. With the dawning of the intarweb, we just don’t see the same “wait in line overnight” sort of behavour much anymore. Those that do are mighty disappointed to find they could have got their tickets waiting online instead.

So while it is not my most anticipated film, I do think it is pretty neat that they are offering up a free music download for the fans that were likely waiting for online sales to begin with.

And I know its trendy to offer up a trademarked Kristina “Fuck Twilight” comment, but please keep the comments relevant.

Columbia Pictures has corned the owners of a popular comic from the 90s to secure the rights for a film. That comic was Preacher.

I never read the book, so fortunately ComingSoon.net describes it for us:

Created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, “Preacher,” which ran from 1995-2000, told the story of a down-and-out Texas preacher possessed by Genesis, a supernatural entity conceived by the unnatural coupling of an angel and a demon.

Given immense powers, the preacher teamed with an old girlfriend and a hard-drinking Irish vampire and set out on a journey across America to find God — who apparently had abandoned his duties in heaven — and hold him accountable for his negligence.

So a vampire, a Preacher possessed by an angel/devil thing, and some girl want to find God and give him what for? Yeah, now I remember why I never read this book.

I can deal with supernatural stuff. I even like it a great deal, but when your story comes down to “We are hunting the most powerful entity in all creation” it loses credibility. I don’t want to get all theological or anything, but if they were hunting fallen angels or kicking rogue demon ass, then I might buy in. But their mission is to go give God a shin kickin?

Well it apparently is going to be made into a movie. I don’t mind all these stories being drug up from comics. I think its a great resource for storytelling, but they might just be grabbing at anything now.

I think the new way to get a script read in Hollywood is to make it a comic book.

We have a new Twilight poster for you dudes to check out today thanks to the good people over at moviesonline:

Bask in the romance of undeath!

It looks like Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes is going to be the next film up for a remake. No this is not a joke (sadly). We get the following scoop thanks to our friends at MTV

After a decade of relative dormancy, killer tomatoes are back in a big way this year with an “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” remake planned for release in 2009, along with a brand new comic book adaptation of the original 1978 film hitting stores this week. The re-imagined “Tomatoes” film comes courtesy of Second Wind Entertainment with Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine, creators of comedy Web site “Ask A Ninja” at the helm.

Nichols and Sarine’s remake will reportedly take no prisoners, striking a decidedly darker tone than the original. Though still rooted in humor, the new film is said to be more akin to Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead” series than the late ’70s silliness of the source material.

Fuck this shit. This is a film that stands on its own as a cult classic, and is a movie everyone should see once before they die. A remake is a horrible idea and a “darker re-imagined” take on the story also sucks. If you want to make a shitty sequel - be my guest; but leave the original be.

If the internet community speaks for the general population in any way, shape, or form, then it’s safe to say that everyone is tired of remakes. We have gobs of them coming down the pipe and many announced every week. It is a sad state of affairs in my opinion and a waste of both time and money. With luck, the public will stop supporting remakes with their wallets and the madness will stop. Stop feeding curiosity, and start ignoring remakes. Every time a remake comes out - watch the original.

We get an E exclusive by way of Rope Of Silicon today regarding the retirement of Joaquin Phoenix. It appears he’s dropping out of film and pursuing a musical career. The E interviewer doubts his sincerity, I think he is serious - judge for yourselves below.

Walter the Farting Dog will be sauntering onto the silver screen with the Jonas Bros in tow. We get the following news regarding this film from our friends at movieweb:

20th Century Fox has signed on the Jonas Brothers for their feature starring debut in Walter the Farting Dog, based on a bestselling series of books by William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray.

The title character in the “Walter” books is a fat dog with severe flatulence. The brothers play musicians whose parents are asked to care for the dog by an aunt just before she passes away.

Q: What do you get when you combine a farting dog and the Jonas Brothers?

A: A Pile of shit!

(I’ ll be here all week folks!)

I have heard wind (no pun intended) of this children’s series of books and was surprised that it caught on. I think all things related to farting are disgusting; many however, find it to be hilarious. Whenever I hear a fart from any animal, I can’t help but think of airborne shit wind being recycled by my pink supple lungs…and the thought offends me.

With the Jonas brothers on board and a farting dog in tow, I am certain this project will be fairly popular with the youngsters. We will be sure to keep you posted on the details as they are made available to us.

Good sweet gracious! It appears that the American Pie franchise may come back from the direct to DVD dead to live anew in theaters. We get the following word on the matter thanks to the moviehole via movieweb:

It seems that the franchise that made us look at pie in interesting ways is coming back for another helping. According to Moviehole, it seems that Universal is scrapping its lucrative straight-to-DVD American Pie spinoff’s and moving forward with a fourth theatrical feature film.

It was also said that this fourth film might catch up with Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan’s Jim and Michelle, who were married in the last theatrical outing, American Wedding.

I’m not big on the American Pie films. I appreciate them for having their own take on the teenage hi-jinx film, but I never found them to be all that funny.

It’s strange for a series to return from Direct To DVD to the big screen… I wonder if this is the first time this sort of thing has happened. It will interesting to see how successful another theatre run will be. I am going to guess that they have tied down a few of the original cast members, otherwise I don’t think they would have bothered.

We will fill you in on further updates as the news is made available to us.

Empire has released some more images of the upcoming Star Trek movie.

I am looking forward to this movie with MUCH anticipation. I love that so much tribute is paid to the look and style of the original series, updated to be less blocking and klunky (this is the future) and some people will whine that the bridge looks too futuristic. I for one would despise the look of this film if it were to stick too tightly to the limitations of a 1960s production value. The stylizing looks similiar enough that we get a good look at those familiar faces.

Perfect example is the recreation of the classic Star Trek image of Kirk and Spock that is being used as the cover for Empire Magazine. The new image is just the composite that will later have the magazine title and dialogue on it.

Yes, Kirk is “prettier” but honestly I can see why they chose Pine for the role seeing him so tightly matched with a slightly older version of his character. Zachary Quinto is spot on.

I have heard naysayers using phrases like 90210Trek and I haven’t seen anything yet that would make me think this would be a teenaged focus soap at all. That is just bitter net troll talk. Some people just want to hate this because they are upset that Trek died to begin with. The die hard Trek Fans were not happy with what was left of the Trek universe, so why are they upset that they didn’t make a continuing story? (And this is a continuation without continuing… if you know what I mean)

IESB.net grabbed these from Empire Magazine.

We have a poster to show you for the upcoming evil bank film The International. We get the hook up thanks to our friends at comingsoon:

This poster doesn’t do it for me. I like the hypnotic circles, but the stars of the film are too small in the image to make their appearance worth while. Trailers for this have begun to pop up before films and I can’t say I’m interested. Nothing about this film has hooked me so far.

What do you guys think of the poster?

Vin Diesel will be returning to the XXX franchise with xxx: The Return of Xander Cage, and now get news that it has grown feet and crawled out of the primordial ooze of the rumour stage and given new life in a confirmed timetable.

ComingSoon.net reports:

Now, Collider says that [Rob] Cohen has revealed target dates for shooting and the film’s release:

“Yes, they’re doing it with me and producer Joe Roth. We made the deal recently, it’s named xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. We met the writers yesterday and we’re trying to get into production by late spring, to have it out for the summer of 2010.”

I for one would like to see Diesel return to his action roots. He is no master thespian, and only average at best with comedic timing. What he does well is look badass and intimidating. Put him in a hot car, let him punch stuff, make him blow shit up. That is where I like to see Diesel!

I had lost hope on this Dungeons and Dragons nerd turned action star, but that was mostly due to his choices in films like Pacifier, and though I didn’t see Babylon A.D. I understand that this was back to his action status.

Vicini says when it all goes bad you go back to the beginning.
(There is a Fast and Furious movie with Diesel in it coming too)

We get word today that the graphic novel “Villains” is next up to bat at the adaptation machine. We get the following scoop thanks to our friends at comingsoon:

Universal has acquired the movie rights to Viper Comics’ graphic novel “Villains” and hired Matt Jennison and Brent Strickland to write the adaptation. Sean Bailey is producing via his Idealogy, says The Hollywood Reporter. The graphic novel, by Adam Cogan and Ryan Cody, puts super bad guys center stage and is described as follows:

Nick Corrigan is an aimless 20-something who discovers that his aging neighbor used to be the notorious supervillain known as “Hardliner”, now retired and living in hiding for the past few decades. Rather than turn him in to the authorities, Nick decides to blackmail him in exchange for lessons in the fine art of career super-crime. But the old pro is about to teach his student some lessons he’ll never forget.

We seem to get about a story a week (or so) about another graphic novel being prepped for film adaptation. As always, I will ask our devoted comic book reading friends to please share their thoughts with us about the novel.

The idea of blackmailing your neighbor in order to teach you the ways of a super villain is pretty funny. I like the premise and think it would translate well into a film. I of course have nothing to go on here as I haven’t read Villains - but the premise certainly interests me.

We have news today that Adrien Brody has scored the lead in The Courier. We get the following scoop from the murky sewer caves of Yahoo:

Adrien Brody will be chased by cops and crime bosses as the title character in “The Courier.” The action tale centers on a daredevil courier trying to deliver a briefcase to an underworld figure who can’t be found. Filming is scheduled to begin next January in Louisiana and Las Vegas.

I hope Adrien Brody gets to keep that beard for the film. In fact, I hope he smuggles all sorts of things in his beard. On the movie poster I want to see his beard super imposed over a pile of gold and cash.

From the above description I am unsure if this is going to be a fast paced survival film, chase film or a slower story about a shady courier that discovers who he is while on a job that is falling to pieces. As production begins hopefully more info about the film will be released so we will have a gage of its flavor.