There was rumour surrounding Hurt Locker star Jeremy Renner that he was approached to play Hawkeye in the Avengers after a cameo in Thor.

But Renner himself was faced with the rumour and fessed up. It did happen, and nothing came of it.

Worst Previews quotes Renner:

“That was just one of those things that got blown way out of proportion. It was an idea,” he explained. “I happen to know Zak Penn, who’s writing ‘The Avengers.’ So they thought Hawkeye is an interesting role, and asked me if I knew anything about him. I said no, so they gave me their sort of spiel on what he was, and I thought that it was kind of interesting.”

Renner added: “The only reason it came out this early, because ‘Avengers’ is two years away, is that they’re thinking OK, we may throw him in Thor, we may not, as a cameo. You know what I mean? So there’s truth that we talked about it, but there’s no truth to me doing it.”

It makes sense that they would try to lock down a character like this. Having Hawkeye cameo in some of the films leading up to The Avengers would be cool even if they just had him on set for one day.

If they did this sooner it could have been in Iron Man 2 he could cross paths with Widow. The two share a romantic storyline in their early history together with the Avengers and it was Widow who brings Hawkeye to the fold.

But it seems that it wont be Renner. With all the buzz around Hurt Locker, I think it would be a wise choice but it just doesn’t look like its happening that way.

This has been a slow week for news with Hollywood on vacation, but because I am feeling mildly abusive, I thought I would inflict it on you.

Brendan Fraser didn’t let anyone know, but he is staring in Furry Vengeance, a cute tale of man vs nature. Oh yeah and Brooke Shields is in it too.

Trailer Addict spills:

In this hilarious comedy starring Brendan Fraser, a real estate developer moves his family from Chicago to Oregon when his job calls for him to oversee the building of a major housing development. But when his latest project threatens the homes of the local forest creatures, the animals seek revenge by turning a peaceful cul-de-sac under construction into a battlefield of epic proportions. It’s man versus nature and the fur is gonna fly!

Brendan Fraser showed so much potential, and I used to like him in a great number of comedies. But then he seemed to peak with The Mummy, and did well with Bedazzled. But it was all downhill from there.

I am usually a sucker for family friendly mischief films like this one. Thankfully the trailer already exposed the turning point for us letting us know that Fraser is just an unwitting badguy and didn’t know that the forest creatures had family to defend.

Kids will still want to see this. Might be a rental for the babysitter.

Ok this is just damn funny. Batman rapping about plot holes in “The Dark Knight.” Thanks to College Humor!

Good News International Friends! The Uncut Podcast is back!

TODAY AT 3PM Eastern Standard Time Click here for the Live Stream!

This will be my first podcast since taking over as Senior Editor here at TMB and we will be doing a very special Movie Blog UnCut.

The show will be aired locally on McMaster University’s local Radio channel which can be listened to live via The CFMU 93.3 McMaster Campus Radio website.

We will be doing the show LIVE on the air Friday January 1st from 3-4PM Eastern Standard Time and will be available later here with the shnotes as an MP3 Stream and Download.

For this first Movie Blog Uncut, I will be joined by David A (like Sheena E, but less drums and less boobies) and we will begin by talking up our Top 10 of 2009 as well as our Top 10 Anticipated of 2010.

Then we will be opening things up to a Mailbag Edition to address questions and comments by the International Friends!

Mail me your questions directly at [email protected] with the subject UnCut Mailbag and ask away!

I look forward to getting your emails, and doing the first of many Uncut Episodes to come!

It wouldn’t be a Mel Gibson film if there wasn’t some protests around it. But this one is just silly.

A film is set to return Gibson to Veracruz, (he filmed Apocalypto there) where part of a prison will be emptied to make way for his crew. Protesters are up in arms because they believe that this will cause their loved ones to be temporarily moved to another facility and make it inconvenient for them to visit!

Hollywood Reporter er.. reports:

About 300 relatives of inmates at a Mexican prison where Mel Gibson is reportedly scheduled to make a movie protested outside the facility Tuesday, fearing their loved ones will be moved to make way for the production.

The group of protesters said it would be harder to visit inmates or bring them food if they are transferred out of the Gulf coast city of Veracruz.

One protester held a sign that read “No transfers to make a movie.”

Sorry, but I have no sympathy for the “convenience” of you visiting your criminal relatives. You should thank whatever deity you worship that they even let you visit with these degenerates to begin with!

The prison will clearly be benefitting financially by letting Gibson film his movie there, and that might mean better facilities or repairs that might make your incarcerated relatives stay even marginally less abusive. Maybe not, but that still doesn’t matter.

That they would even fight for the “rights” of these inmates is laughable considering those held inside do not even deserve the basic right to walk freely among their fellow citizens.

Now if they said that his filming would cause inhumane distress on them, or other violations that are unfair even to criminals, then fine. Protest. But that they MIGHT be moved to a different facility to accomodate the film crew is hardly an issue.

Especially since the guy in charge of the Prison said that a section would be cleared, and that moving them to another facility is just a rumour.

And we thought Mel was Crazy. lol

Avatar has come under attack by a number of political and religious criticisms since its come out, but any time one of those organizations has the opportunity to soapbox they will try.

The religious assumptions that this somehow offends Hindus because of the word Avatar (which is descriptive, not specifically holy) and comparisons to Hindu or Native American traditions can be made, but not offended by. This is fiction - not a holy war.

But still we get a wide range of soapboxing online enciting everything from Anti-American assumptions, and even anti-god. Good thing this isn’t a true story huh?

/Film shares some of them with us:

Big Hollywood has a piece which bluntly concludes that “the bad guys in the movie are the United States Marines,” broadly missing the point that the characters in the film are ex-Marines who have been employed by a private company.

Cameron is from Canada, so clearly he has an anti military agenda to his films. Funny that people compare the corporate entity in Avatar to the same theme he used in Alien, but there was no agenda then.

MovieGuide (”A Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment”) review of the film. The quotes in this one come fast and furious but I think we can start here: AVATAR has an abhorrent New Age, pagan, anti-capitalist worldview that promotes goddess worship and the destruction of the human race.

Now MovieGuide is run by Dr. Ted Baehr a hardcore rightwing christian fundamentalist that takes offense to everything that doesnt directly sing god’s praises and therefore this movie is just going to piss him off. Its amazing this guy still thinks he has credibility. (Yes, I have had interactions with this rocket scientist before - while criticizing with me he asked for a donation to his organization so he could continue sending traffic to this site - a classy hypocrite)

AV Club writes: The movie’s most seditious act is to evoke the specter of September 11, only with the terms reversed…Cameron’s willingness to question the sacred trauma of 9/11 is audacious, and his ability to do so in a $300 million tentpole movie is nothing short of shocking. If Avatar has a claim to revolution, that is where it lies.

Yeah, because ANY film that shows a building (or bigass tree) falling down is clearly an offense to the victims of 9/11. Stretch much?

I guess movies are not allowed to have badguys in them anymore, because Zod forbid that they might be identifiable by some sort of negative trait.

At some point people will wake up and realize that fiction is just fiction. Sometimes there is a message in it.. sometimes you GET a message where one wasn’t intended. Sometimes its intended and it goes right over your head.

Now I am not saying that you need to turn off your brain when watching a movie (unless its Jackass - that will upset you if you try to THINK at all during that) but when criticizing its merits, at least make sense.

Its the same generalization we abhor in public life but its now acceptable when reviewing a film? Someone presents an evil heartless military leader and clearly it is meant to represent ALL of one nation’s military mindset?

If I met an Irishman and asked him why he wasn’t drunk and trying to start fights, he would be greatly offended. Just because ONE Irishman did that, doesn’t mean all of them share that trait. So why is it ok to do in a film? A single character is represented as being a heartless military meglomaniac, and suddenly its a statement assuming that the United States military is all like that?

Nice double standard.

Now if James Cameron was quoted in an interview saying “I think all American Military personelle are heartless violent warmongers, and that is what I wanted to present here” then fine. Call it what it is. Otherwise you are just HOPING that is the case so you have a soapbox to start preaching from.

Dreamworks is headed to release the animated adaptation of the book How to Train Your Dragon from the Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III series of books.

A new trailer is online and looks endearingly charming.

Dreamworks has been hit or miss on their animated features, but I enjoy a number of them, and my kids love this book series so I am willing to give it a shot.

That dragon giggle makes me laugh.

Via

Ah more news about Disney and Marvel joining forces. Tomorrow is the day the deal goes official and ink hits paper. But already there is a nervous buzz about what this means to Marvel.

Get the Big Picture offers:

Disney’s Robert Iger told the Associated Press yesterday that the company’s plans for Marvel involve using some of the thousands of lesser-known characters in a variety of ways. “Instead of making a $200 million movie and kind of betting the farm on one character, you can develop a television pilot, a television series,” Iger said of Disney’s designs on its new catalog of goodies.

I can think of three immediate reasons why that’s the way to go. Number one, Marvel isn’t doing that right now. Its video game market is there, the comics still sell, and there are the movies. But TV has lagged behind the others. So this kind of move would bolster that part of the empire.

So all those over reacting fanboys out there screaming on their myspace pages that Disney is going to nerf Marvel comics can just exhale. Goofy is not going to appear in Avengers.

Marvel owns literally thousands of character ideas that have never even seen print. Disney wants to run with those as well as lesser known or less popular characters to make TV Cartoons, video games and other merchandise. Thats what the House of Mouse does.

And frankly Marvel is not exploiting those characters, so why not? Maybe they don’t have the resources to explore them all. Disney does. Maybe they don’t want to take the risk on them? Disney does. Its not about changing what Marvel is already doing. Its about empowering them with an empire of resources to monetize on their products.

But Marvel will always be Marvel. A separate entity that is owned by Disney. Marvel has no intention of taking the existing franchises that are already in motion in print or in film and taking them in new directions or merging the realities. (Though a Kingdom Hearts style game mixing them would be wicked cool)

Sure, they might take some D-Listers and make a TV series, but they won’t do anything to hurt Marvel as a whole. That just doesn’t make sense to them.

Disney only cares about the money. Not branding the product to their flavour.

I always like hearing that there are other stories behind the people who write the stories we love. Its nice to hear those stories too. So with the role of Ian Fleming coming, we get to see the man behind James Bond.

And the man who will play Fleming? Looks like it will be James McAvoy.

Get the big Picture says:

Details are scant at this point, and there’s no director on board as of yet, but based on McAvoy’s age, this will likely cover the period between the war and the very beginnings of the Bond franchise, if it even goes that far.

No, I won’t make a suggestion equating James McAvoy liking his martinis shaken, not stirred. Or even stretch to say James Bond will be bending bullets because that doesn’t make sense.

If this is true McAvoy will be taking on the dramatic role of the man who came to write the James Bond novels. He himself has quite the story, and I would love to see it on screen.

And McAvoy has surprised me a number of times already, so I have higher expectations than I have before.

With a remake of Flash Gordon coming the rumour wheels have already started to roll. On the top of the short list for the title hero is said to be Ryan Reynolds and Sam Worthington. Personally I see Worthington getting it over Reynolds, but they are the new Matt Damon.

Every rumour starts with them being offered the role.

Cinematical says:

Breck Eisner, who’s finishing up The Crazies as we speak, is still in line to helm Flash Gordon off a script from Mike Sazama and Burk Sharpless. Speaking about the project earlier this year, Eisner said, “The thing about ‘Flash’ is, you’ve got to throw away the 80s version of it …”
… “For me it’s about reinventing ‘Flash’ - we’re still staying true to the adventure origins of it, and the adventurous spirit in that movie, absolutely. It’s this man brought to another planet and uniting the disparate groups on Mongo, but there is a gritty, intense, dynamic, active quality to the movie. Very modern. It’s not camp.”

Oh yeah, its basically the Wizard of Oz with more asskickery action, but its a classic story. Could Worthington play a convincing all American football player? Damn right he could.

The accent was all but invisible in Avatar, so that’s not a worry for me. He will be able to do this and bring justice to Flash Gordon.

And it looks like this version is not going to be the hokey tongue in cheek cheesefest and they be giving us a serious kickass scifi goodness. I am sure Worthington can give us that.

But its all rumour from an unreliable source, so time will tell how it plays out.

This series of videos has made its way around the interwebz today and I couldn’t help but share it with you. I would have written sooner this morning, but I was watching these.

Anyways, this guy does a brutal deconstruction.. nay dare I say a violent raping of.. the Phantom Menace. Its 70 minutes long (broken into 7 Youtube vids) but well worth the watch.

You know those bandwagon nerds who hate on the Star Wars prequels? The ones that you ask why and all they can say is that JarJar was annoying? Yeah? This isn’t that guy.
He sounds like your typical troll spouting brainless trashtalk about the film, but he does offer some deconstruction of the series that does offer some great insight and appreciation.

Now a LOT of it is just over picking apart things that are not even wrong with the movie and he just wants to apply hyperbole to a scene cutting it up for no reason as to cut it up. This is purely for comedic effect in which I think he fails. It takes away from the valid points he does bring up in the movie and discredits him.

There is a lot of valid statements, and a lot of talking out his ass, but its still its worth a watch, so here’s the parts:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

So while I still love Star Wars, I can admits its faults too. No, I don’t hate the prequels, but they were not without their flaws.

Via

Some of these are my personal most anticipated, some are just ones that I know I am not looking forward to (Twilight) but I know many of you are.
I know I left a few out and added a few that should not be here, feel free to add your own list.

So without further ado:

10. Prince of Persia

Release Date: May 28th 2010

Based on the video game, which follows an adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world.

9. Clash of the Titans

Release Date: March 26 2010

The mortal son of the god Zeus embarks on a perilous journey to stop the underworld and its minions from spreading their evil to Earth as well as the heavens.

8. Tron Legacy

Release Date: December 17 2010

Sam Flynn, the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn, looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant, father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.

7. Robin Hood

Release Date: May 14th 2010

The story of an archer in the army of Richard Coeur de Lion who fights against the Norman invaders and becomes the legendary hero known as Robin Hood.

6. A Team

Release Date: June 11th 2010

A group of Iraq War veterans looks to clear their name with the U.S. military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed.

5. Toy Story 3

Release Date: June 18th 2010

Woody, Buzz, and the rest of their toy-box friends are dumped in a day-care center after their owner, Andy, departs for college.

4. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

Release Date: March 5th 2010

19-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen’s reign of terror.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Release Date: November 19 2010

Voldemort’s power is growing stronger. He now has control over the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to finish Dumbledore’s work and find the rest of the Horcruxes to defeat the Dark Lord. But little hope remains for them, so everything they do must go as planned.

2. Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Release Date: June 30 2010

Bella and Edward have been reunited, but their forbidden relationship is threatened to be torn apart again with an evil vampire still seeking her revenge. And Bella is forced to choose between her true love for Edward or her friendship with Jacob Black as the struggles between vampires and werewolves continues. But there is still another choice for Bella to make, mortality or immortality?

1. Iron Man 2

Release Date: May 7th 2010

With the world now aware of his dual life as the armored superhero Iron Man, billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) faces pressure from the government, the press, and the public to share his technology with the military. Unwilling to let go of his invention, Stark, along with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) at his side, must forge new alliances — and confront powerful enemies.

And there you have it. I think I am actually looking forward to seeing Clash of the Titans more than anything.

Haven’t heard much about this movie up until now. The movie stars Channing Tatum as Marcus Aquila. Looks very promising.

Here’s the pictures:

In the coming weeks there will be a lot of improvements made to this page, and though slow coming I assure you its on its way.

Here is a little sneak peek at what’s coming

Yes, The Movie Blog community is coming back, as well as continuing the longest running Movie Podcast on the net. The podcasts have been sparse, but will return with a new interactive format.

Come along for the ride!

The New TMB will be built around the sense of community. It was you guys that make this site worth doing, so we want to make sure you can partipate as much as possible.

With that in mind, I have made some TShirt designs that we can share with you:

The site logo for those just wanting a symbol of the Community
The Movie Blog Shirt here!

This one was inspired by a comment by longtime International Friend James (Hazmat) who confessed “This site keeps me away from porn and drugs” so I made him this shirt:
TMB Antridrug Shirt here!

And lastly, some longtime readers might recall a sacred rule around here where TMB Alum Doug made a bet on a podcast saying he would “fuck a squash” if Wild Hogs took #1 at the boxoffice that weekend. Well.. it did. Now we will never forget the potential of a family friendly film on boxoffice results.
Remember the Squash Shirt here!

If you have ideas for a shirt you want to see made that somehow relates to the site (be sensitive of copyrights) make sure to let us know.

If you want merchandise to be available to the International Friends, we can make that happen.

Star Trek was easily one of the biggest surprises for me this year. Not being a huge Trekkie, I didn’t care if they pissed all over canon. The franchise was dead and needed a kick start.

And they did just that. They handled the reboot with class while still making it non-canon and canon at the same time. And I loved it.

But there seemed to be a grand lack of news about a sequel, which I thought was going to be announced before the end of opening weekend. We know its coming now, and while there is no real inkling of a plot, we at least get a hint on the planned production schedule.

Filmonic says:

Zoe Saldana, who played Uhura in Star Trek, recently spoke to MTV while on the rounds promoting Avatar and she gave a small update on the sequel:

“I spoke to J.J. and Bryan Burk, his producing partner at Bad Robot, and they are still in the middle of building the script with Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci, and we’ll probably be going into pre-production around this time next year.”

This is exciting news indeed. Its a bit of a gap (considering current franchise trends) but we could see Star Trek 2 entering production in early 2011, and seeing a film in 2012!

Call me what you want, I still am not a Trekkie, but I feel no shame in saying I loved this film and that I look forward to more.

But JJ? Can we back off the lens flares? Kthx!

A new blog I tripped over today takes a unique look at the parts of the movie that most people don’t notice. The credits.

Art of the Title Sequence posts deconstruction of new and old films which have interesting title sequences.

For me, the title sequence sets the pace of the film, and while it might provide background information to catch you up to speed on the main characters like Face/Off and the Rebooted Incredible Hulk, then they become part of the story. But some might be distracting and pull you out of the story offering nothing to keep your attention while obligatory names are flung across the screen.

There are a number of ways we are used to seeing these credits displayed. Sometimes a hovering line of text fades in and out while the movie is already started, sometimes its a grand display. Other times they just don’t work at all.

One of my favourite comedies is Sylvester Stallone’s Oscar. Brilliant film. But the opening credits consist of a small portly plastacine Italian Opera singer giving a jolly performance of Figaro, while words pop up on the “stage” behind him. Boring. Its a good thing that movie rocks.

Then there are visual adventures like Catch Me if you Can, or the retro pop stylings of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies that give us a thrilling visual experience without actually getting into the film at all.

There is always interesting ways to make you want to watch the end credits too. In most recent history The Hangover did a great job with that, revealing all the mysteries of the film in the form of a digital camera that shows what really happened to them on their drunken romp. This was also reminicent of the franchise recap at the end of Lethal Weapon 4.

So what are your favourite opening sequences? Closing credits?

Thanks to First Showing for introducing me to Art of the Title Sequence

At least the current trend of non smoking Public Service Announcements have some common sense to them. Back in the 80s however it seems that linking pop culture icons to tell kids not to smoke might have been a good idea at the time, but not ver well thought out.

I love my Star Wars, but I don’t know how in a million years in any galaxy far away or near, the decision of a droid to not smoke (that can’t smoke to begin with) would shape my decision.

For me, the ability to breath and not stink was justification enough.

R2’s example in films as to not stick your probe in strange sockets was enlightening, and served me well.

Via

I was starting to wonder when we were going to get news about The First Avenger: Captain America. Well it seems that it is out of deveolpment and on course to be released in summer 2011.

ScreenCrave says:

In the middle of an interview with the director, an interesting piece of info was picked up regarding the film’s time line.

“By the time I got on a plane and arrived, it was three,” recalls Johnston, speaking from the art department of THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA, which he’s readying for a June start. “But at that point, what kind of difference can a week make?”

Since Johnston is dealing with the pre-production details of the film, it’s safe to say it’s out of the development stage.

This is exciting indeed. We have Iron Man 2 around the corner, news flowing like rivers about Thor, and Captain America is still slated for a summer 2011 release! And that means that Avengers is right on its heels!

Now casting news is sure to come for Cap himself. I still think Matthew McConaughey could do it, but won’t be surprised if Sam Worthington gets it.

That Hansel… he’s so hot right now.

Despite understanding a fair bit of French when I saw this version of the Trailer for Inception that was leaked last week, I was still confused.

Seeing it in english didn’t change that much, but I still can’t wait to see this.

I like that Nolan’s money train known as the Batman films has given him free reign to do this. And I am really looking to see what this brings about. Seems the story is pretty surreal, and the mindscape just looks amazing.

A little plot was revealed, and we can guess at how things work, but we don’t know for sure.

This is high on my anticipation list.

Via

I will admit a deep weakness to nostalgic things of my youth being adapted to the big screen. I wasn’t too pumped about GI Joe as I thought I would be, but I still get excited to hear these things get announced.

But the long awaited Thundercats film looks like it won’t be getting made. At all.

Collider says:

I don’t know why this cartoon means so much to me (maybe it’s the cool logo), but I’ve always thought the story of humanoid cats fleeing their exploding world was ripe with potential. Also, Mumm-Ra was awesome. But even though I’d love to see it, I’ve spoken to a few reliable sources and they tell me the movie is no longer happening at Warner Bros. I wish I wasn’t reporting that news.

I was kinda looking forward to Thundercats as well. But I am kinda happy that it wont be getting a live action treatment. I think that would just look silly.

The Thundercats are made of the cool, but it is not something that would translate well into reality. Some of that cool comes from its unreality. But a CGI animated might have been interesting to see. But maybe with this version getting shelved we will see someone else step up.

Maybe enlisting James Cameron’s Avatar Technology and MoCap to make an animated CG feature that looks “real”

Yeah, I would love to see THAT Thundercats film.

Seems there is a lot of confusion on who Black Widow will be in Iron Man 2. Some unfamiliar with the character think she might be a villain, a hero, or a love interest. Well it might be all of them.

Well according to the source material, Natasha Romanoff/Natalia Romanova was a KGB Agent who seduces Tony Stark while on a mission to kill the creator of the Crimson Dynamo armour (a former Soviet scientist who defected to the US and works for Stark). Later Widow would defect to the US herself and joins Shield before inevitably joining The Avengers.

So does the Black Widow become a goodguy? Well it appears that she is going to be a member of SHIELD if this screen capture tells the tale.

Taken from the most recent trailer, we get a medusa looking redheaded spy and a hint of a very familiar badge on the shoulder of her outfit that was missing from previous shots. I have lightened up the image that has been floating around the intarwebs to get a better look.

Now of course this doesnt mean that she is going to start out a member of Shield, but its very possible her story will paralell the comic storyline and she will originally be sent as a Russian Spy and eventually defect to help Tony Stark and Iron Man face off against Whiplash.

While some sites are claiming this is absolute proof (which it could be) it is still possible that she’s just wearing the symbol as part of her spy infiltration to Stark Enterprises and she might be a somewhat villain afterall. But I think they will stick closer to the Comics with her path, even if Crimson Dynamo is not involved.

Via

Latinreview.com is reporting that Mr. T will NOT make an appearance in the A-Team remake. Sort of a bummer for all of us that remember him as B.A. Baracus.

Here’s the scoop:

I think Rampage Jackson is the perfect replacement for the character in spirit, but can he act? I guess we’ll find out.

A nice little featurette has come online of The Creatures of ‘Solomon Kane’. I am very hopeful for this movie and these clips only increase my anticipation.

Looks like a better version of Van Helsing to me.

*Sorry guys, I’ve decided cancel my live show tonight. My best to you all. Live long, watch movies, and prosper*

A few years ago The Movie Blog became the very first film site to run a podcast. Later we went on to win “Podcast of the Year” over “This Week In Tech” (TWIT). In the coming months, The Movie Blog will continue on with that glorious tradition as Rodney capably takes over the reigns. But for new things to start, old things must end.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) will mark the final “Uncut” show that I (John) host. So I thought to myself: “Why not do it LIVE”? So I am.

Tomorrow night at 4pm PST (7pm EST) I’ll be broadcasting my final appearance on The Movie Blog in a LIVE episode of “Uncut”. The show will be streaming live here on The Movie Blog in the side bar.

I’ll be using about half the show to just discuss my “Top 10 Films of the Decade” list, and then the other half of the show to take your questions.

You can email your questions to me live, or email them to me in advance at [email protected] (MAKE SURE TO PUT “SHOW QUESTION” IN THE SUBJECT FIELD OF YOUR EMAIL)

I hope you’re able to join me as we discuss movies together one last time here on TMB. See you tomorrow!

Avatar and Sherlock Holmes along with a few other movies pushed the box office to score the biggest Christmas weekend payday in history.

Numbers in millions:

1. Avatar - $75 million ($212.2 total)
2. Sherlock Holmes - $65.4 ($65.4 total)
3. Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel - $50.2 ($77.1 total)
4. It’s Complicated - $22.1 ($22.1 total)
5. Up In The Air - $11.6 ($24.5 total)
6. The Blind Side - $11.3 ( $184.3 total)
7. The Princess and the Frog - $8.7 ($63.3 total)
8. Nine - $5.5 ( $5.9 total)
9. Did You Hear About The Morgans? - $5.0 ($15.5 total)
10. Invictus - $4.4 ($23.3 total)

This was released a few days ago, but obviously because of the Christmas weekend, it has been pretty slow for news. So here is Mel Gibson’s new movie trailer, Edge of Darkness.

Moviesonline.ca gives us the 411:

EDGE OF DARKNESS is an emotionally charged thriller set at the intersection of politics and big business. Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) is a veteran homicide detective for the Boston Police Department and a single father.

When his only child, twenty-four year old Emma (Bojana Novakovic), is murdered on the steps of his home, everyone assumes that he was the target. But he soon suspects otherwise, and embarks on a mission to find out about his daughter’s secret life and her murder. His investigation leads him into a dangerous looking-glass world of corporate cover-ups, government collusion and murder — and to CIA operative Darius Jedburgh (Ray Winstone) who has been sent in to clean up the evidence. Craven’s solitary search for answers about his daughter’s death transforms into an odyssey of emotional discovery and redemption.

For me, Mel Gibson is as can’t miss as you can get. This looks, meh, good. It will probably be a solid movie, but the trailer doesn’t do much for me.

Since everyone LOVED the Stars Wars facebook status updates, thought we could share the Lord of the Rings facebook as well, which I thought was actually better.

Dazed and confused FTW! Thanks to College Humor

We here at The Movie Blog would like to wish the International Friends a Very Merry Christmas.

No matter what variation of the Holiday Season you are celebrating the meaning is always the same. Family, Friends and Goodwill.

That is what The Movie Blog is built on. Even when we don’t always agree on films topics, The Movie Blog is a safe place to discuss, share and discover news about the movies we all love.

We thank you for coming here every day to check out what’s new, and we have a lot of exciting things coming for you in the new year.

Its a new era with The Movie Blog, and its going to be a hell of a ride!

I have really been looking forward to A Couple of Dicks, but it’s now because that title was considered potentially offensive, its now called Cop Out (which is deliciously ironic).

I have been wanting to see it because Tracy Jordan is in it. I mean Tracy Morgan. Same guy. Since falling in love with 30 Rock I have really grown to like Jordan (previously he just bothered me) as well, this is the first film Kevin Smith is directing that he didn’t write. I really want to see what he has going on there.

Check out the trailer.

The world really needs a new buddy cop comedy and this looks pretty fun. I hear there might even be a plot even though this trailer doesn’t appear to show one.

Repo men, no, not the kind of repo men you are thinking of. These guys set out to retrieve organs from people who can no longer make payments. Looks pretty interesting, has a little bit of Minority Report to it. Company the guy works for comes after him etc..

Collider.com gives us the skinny:

In the futuristic action-thriller Repo Men, humans have extended and improved our lives through highly sophisticated and expensive mechanical organs created by a company called The Union. The dark side of these medical breakthroughs is that if you don’t pay your bill, The Union sends its highly skilled repo men to take back its property…with no concern for your comfort or survival.

Jude Law plays Remy, one of the best organ repo men in the business. But when he suffers a cardiac failure on the job, he awakens to find himself fitted with the company’s top-of-the-line heart-replacement…as well as a hefty debt. But a side effect of the procedure is that his heart’s no longer in the job. When he can’t make the payments, The Union sends its toughest enforcer, Remy’s former partner Jake (Academy Award® winner Forest Whitaker), to track him down.

Now that the hunter has become the hunted, Remy joins Beth (Alice Braga), another debtor who teaches him how to vanish from the system. And as he and Jake embark on a chase across a landscape populated by maniacal friends and foes, one man will become a reluctant champion for thousands on the run.

So what do you think?

Its that time of year when we have a ton on our plate but life doesn’t stop. Between that and Christmas shopping we still have to find time to bit up those movies we are craving to see.

But for me, movies are more at home around Christmas and just in time for Christmas I thought I would present my Top Ten Christmas movies that always make their way into the home theater at this time of year. So this list is the movies that bear repeat viewing and always get a show in my home.

#10 - Christmas Vacation The Griswold Family loves to vacation, but there was no travelling this time around. The family comes to them and as usual nothing goes right. Its a touching tale that not everything at Christmas goes smoothly and sooner or later you end up with some unfortunate circumstances. But you dont get to choose your family, but they are your family.

#9 - The Santa Clause Tim Allen films are a weak spot for me, and I tend to like his family friendly fare. A big popular series in my household is the Santa Clause series. When Santa falls off Scott Calvin’s roof, Scott puts on the outfit while investigating the abondoned Sleigh and Reindeer and inadvertantly triggers the Clause that says if you put on the outfit you will become the new Santa. Hilarity ensues. The sequel was also good, but the third falls flat.

#8 - It’s a Wonderful Life The oldest film on my list, but one that always pulls at the heartstrings for me. Yes, it is a Christmas story, but its not really about Christmas. An influential man thinks he has it tough and an angel out to get his wings presents him with a look at his own world without him. A classic story about appreciating what you have and how you can affect others, is perfect for a Christmas season.

#7 - The Nightmare Before Christmas An stop motion animated Tim Burton classic that takes a stab at Christmas on route to Halloween. Just another reminder of how hard of a job the Jolly Elf has. Its a fun romp in a world of holiday spirits. The music is fun and its a deviation of the regular Holiday mush.

#6 - How the Grinch Stole Christmas I am talking about the original animated TV Special, but the live action one has its merits too. But with classic tradition and nostalgia the original animated, while only 22minutes in playtime is among my favourite Christmas viewings. I still get a little warm fuzzy when the Grinch’s heart grows.

#5 - A Muppet’s Christmas Carol No Christmas tale has been remade more than Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The music is infectiously catchy and Michael Caine as Scrooge is perfect. In the grand tradition of the Muppets playing out the parts in classic stories, Kermit plays Cratchit, which makes the perfect portrayal of Tiny Tim by his nephew Robin.

#4 - Scrooged! Another Christmas Carol adaptation, but a moden twist that is not only hilarious, but magicly touching. Bill Murray is in perfect comedic form and the supporting cast is perfect. Even amidst all its silliness and goofy characters.

#3 - A Christmas Story The ultimate tale of Christmas told from the mind of a young man who’s only concern in the holiday season is the ultimate present- an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle! Its all kids REALLY think about at Christmas, and this was an honest look at Christmas fromt he eyes of a nine year old. A classic that has migrated to the Bluray section of my collection.

#2 - Die Hard Forget all those feel good Christmas movies that have a feelgood theme of goodwill towards man. In this film most of the things coming toward man are bullets, feet, chairs. NY Cop John McClane is visiting his estranged wife to try and save their marriage when the office building in which her corporate christmas party takes place comes under seige and the party people become hostages. McClane risks life and limb inspired by duty and his desire to salvage his marriage. That’s sacrifice and giving. The true spirit of Christmas.

#1 - Gremilins While not a specifically a Christmas movie, it does take place at Christmas. The film revolves around an inventor who brings home a unique gift. A small fuzzy creature called a Mogwai. The creature comes with some rules - Keep away from Sunlight, Don’t feed after midnight, Never get it wet. When these rules are broken, a mischevious legion of Gremlins is unleashed on a small town wreaking havoc. Lots of laughs, cutsey “Awwww”s and a fun ride make this top my nostalgia list for Chirstmas.

So while my less than conventional list of movies wont neccessarily be the same as your Holiday Favourites, this is what graces the screen in my home at this time of year. And while we are busy with the posting and working on the whole new look for the Movie Blog, we are still making time for the movies.

So what’s on your “must see” list at this time of year?

Back when Guy Ritchie was announced as the director for DC’s upcoming adaptation of Lobo, I was more puzzled about how a Lobo movie was going to work. But now we find out that Guy Ritchie refuses to verify or deny getting the gig.

MTV Splash:

However, the reports of Ritchie’s attachment to the project could be a bit premature, as he told MTV News during the recent “Sherlock Holmes” junket in London.

“Is it a matter of fact that I’m doing it?” Ritchie asked when told of reports framing his participation in “Lobo” as a done deal. “I don’t think it’s a matter of fact. In fact, I can tell you it’s not a matter of fact.”

Supremely evasive when asked for clarification, Ritchie seemed intent on keeping the status of “Lobo” — and his involvement with the film — under wraps for the time being.

“Isn’t there a fifth amendment or something?” he laughed.

Seems that he is keeping a tight lip on it. This leaves nothing but wild speculation at this point.

Is he building buzz hoping for the job? His Fifth Ammendment reference suggests that he doesn’t want to say something that might hurt his chances at the job. Maybe he is still negotiating.

I just don’t care about that film at all. The character is just an exaggerated over the top version of Wolverine, and while that might actually appeal to people, I just don’t see the potential there.

But as I said before, ANY film can be made to be good. So while I currently don’t care, they might put out a trailer and I will care again. Or not.

Ridley Scott must want to remind you just how much you loved Gladiator, because this poster looks like it could come from that film. It does allow you to focus on the fact that he has a bow, which is iconic for the Robin Hood character.

We also have the International Trailer too. The first trailer focused almost entirely on Robin’s experiences on the crusades and lead up to the inevitable return to a suffering homeland. This one seems to reveal more of the feel of the movie as a war of Outlaws vs a corrupt Prince John.

This does look epic. And Blanchett looks as angelic as she usually does.

Via

And yes, because nothing is sacred and Beatlemania is making a resurgence in other mediums there is a remake of the Beatles film Yellow Submarine in the works.

It will be done by Robert Zemeckis, so that means Motion Capture animation. So at least that tradition will remain true. How close it might be to the original remains to be seen, but a general casting call has gone out that might give us some hints about the supporting cast.

MovieWeb shares:

Yellow Submarine (additional roles)

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Motion Capture
Studio: Disney

STORY LINE: Follows a singing group of 4 British young men that are asked to help a land that has been overtaken by mean spirited creatures. They are recruited by an escapee to come and bring joy and music back to the land…

This film will be done in the Motion Capture technique that has been used in features such as BEOWULF, THE POLAR EXPRESS, A CHRISTMAS CAROL and MONSTER HOUSE.

[JEREMY HILLARY BOOB, PH.D.] A strange, short, brown-furred man with a blue clown face. An intellectual loner that speaks in puns, riddles, and rhymes. Lives in the Sea of Nothing…CO-STAR AGE: 30-60. STANDARD R.P. ENGLISH ACCENT
[CHIEF BLUE MEANIE] Head of the “Blue Meanies.” A rotund blue menace with erect dog ears, sick yellow teeth, and a bi-polar lashing tongue. Angry, bitter, vengeful. Hates music, Pepperlanders, and The Beatles…CO-STAR AGE: 40-60 YRS OLD - STANDARD R.P. ENGLISH ACCENT

[MAX] Chief Blue Meanie’s fearful assistant / henchman. Executes the Chief’s orders to attack Pepperland. Often the victim of Chief’s jokes, fits, and verbal abuses. Wears a large “M” on his chest…CO-STAR 25 - 60 YRS OLD - STANDARD R.P. ENGLISH ACCENT

[FRED (AKA, "OLD FRED" & "YOUNG FRED")] Captain of the Yellow Submarine. At the request of Lord Mayor, seeks out The Beatles to save Pepperland. Often breaks into fits of excited exasperation…CO-STAR 50-70 YRS OLD - STANDARD R.P. ENGLISH ACCENT

[LORD MAYOR] Mayor of Pepperland. An ancient man with deep creases in his face and a long history with the land and its population. Ancient, Old and Tired voice
.tends to sound like it creaks out of him. Tires easily. Plays the cello…CO-STAR VOICE SHOULD SOUND 80-100 YRS OLD - STANDARD R.P. ENGLISH ACCENT

I am indifferent to the rage by Beatles fans who think this film should not be remade. I would love to have something like this re-introduced to a new generation. I tried showing my kids the original Yellow Submarine and they were bored within minutes. Its a new game out there.

Anything can be remade if its done well. I saw the Karate Kid remake trailer and though I was purely against the idea… it actually looks pretty decent. Not going to win any Oscars or anything, but its not terrible.

A big part of the geek rage out there has come from DC dropping the ball and not giving Marvel a run for their money. We all know they are capable, and it seems that DC Entertainment is holding off their announcement til 2010.

But this is the internet age, and some people can’t keep their mouth shut (thanks for that btw) so we get hints about what this big secret announcement is going to be.

Screen Rant quotes producer Dan Lin, who has some inside information about the big plan.

However, with the formation of DC Entertainment, the original game plan has apparently been altered and DCE/WB will now be following the Marvel blueprint. According to Lin, “it seems like they’re (Warner Bros.) building to Justice League instead of going with the team movie first and doing individual movies after that.”

I think that DCEntertainment has a MAJOR advantage over Marvel that gives them so much potential. All their properties are under one banner.

Marvel Films was created after they had already farmed out some of their major franchises to other studios. DC was bought by Warner Brothers, and while their films had to compete for WB money like every other film on the backlot, they now have their own production dedicated to bringing their comic properties to life. Marvel can’t have a Spidey cameo in X-Men, or even name drop because those properties are currently licensed out. WB has no such limitations!

ANY hero can be made into a great film if they take it serious enough. Giving Green Lantern to Jack Black (I am not kidding - that was going to happen at one point) is not taking your franchises seriously.

I have doubts about Hawkman because he just doesn’t seem to “fit” with the rest of the Justice Leagers that they appear to be building towards. But what if they make a great film around the character? Then suddenly we want to see him in JLA!!

So they cut their teeth on a few more of the core JLA characters in their own films, then make an ensemble cast Justice League movie. In that film they can bring on a few more minor supporting cast, and after JLA they can spinoff into other titles too.

That’s how Marvel is doing it, and its working out ok for them - and their A-List properties are in other houses right now.

I look forward to hearing the official release schedule which I won’t count Hawkman out of. But I am also not caring one bit about Lobo, and that appears to have some buzz too.

This movie actually has me somewhat excited. I was a big fan of open water and this looks to be the same type of story. There has been some pretty good buzz about it already. Take a look at the trailer and you be the judge.

Latino Review gives us the scoop:

Written and directed by Adam Green (Hatchett), Frozen follows three snowboarders (Kevin Zegers, Shawn Ashmore, and Emma Bell) who are stranded on a chairlift when their ski resort shuts down operation for the week. Battling hypothermia, the dark, and the impossible height at which they are stranded, the three must figure out a way back home.

I like it!

And the trailers just keep on coming. Here you have it, for those of you who enjoy the Sex and the City saga.

Not THAT Karate Kid, the remake. I swear if they don’t say “Sweep the leg” I will be disappointed. COBRA KAI FOREVER. “Put him in a body bag, Johnny, yeah!”

Ok we lost sand the floor and paint the fence for “Take off your jacket”.

Its a good thing that Star Wars was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. It explains why they are not taking advantage of earth’s technological advances.

Like for instance, if Star Wars had Facebook, statuses might have looked like this:

This was made of awesome, and came from here.