The Wrestler - (98% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes)

Looks so nice, we thought we'd pick it twice. Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler finally expands this weekend, and unless you are allergic to movies that critics universally love, then I'd grab ten bucks and head out the door. Critics are saying Mickey Rourke gives a performance for the ages in The Wrestler, a richly affecting, heart-wrenching yet ultimately rewarding drama.

Bride Wars - (11% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes)

When a clerical error causes a clash in wedding dates - two best friends, who have planned out their perfect weddings since childhood, are now to be married on the same date! And someones got to give up their place. Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway play the childhood friends (are they even near the same age) who play the immature game of ruin the other person's wedding. Let's hope this movie is Anne Hathaway's Norbit and she hurts her Oscar stock simply by appearing in crap like this. Good thing about January is great movies begin to expand from limited release just in time for us to avoid the studio's terrible releases, like this.

Gran Torino - (76% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes)

Clint Eastwood, shotgun, racial epithets, what's not to lure you into the theatre? In this Clint Eastwood tells the story of a grizzled Korean War vet's reluctant friendship with a Hmong teenage boy and his immigrant family. Critics are saying though a minor entry in Eastwood's body of work, Gran Torino is nevertheless a humorous, touching, and intriguing old-school parable.

Not Easily Broken - (23% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes)
Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,  and likely Oscar Nominee) stars in this relationship drama about a couple whose marriage is failing. Less than 15 critics have seen it, and it appears as though it might be a studios effort to cash in on Henson's current success.

The Reader - (60% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes)

Stephen Daldry directs this World War II picture about a young German boy who has an affair with a future S.S. Guard, and must stand by while she is put on trial for her crimes after the war is over. Critics are saying despite Kate Winslet's superb portrayal, The Reader suggests an emotionally distant, Oscar-baiting historical drama.

The Unborn - (6% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes)

David Goyer directs this supernatural thriller that follows a young woman pulled into a world of nightmares when a demonic spirit haunts her and threatens everyone she loves. Despite co-starring the ever great Gary Oldman, critics are suggesting this film isn't worth the price of admission. With some suggesting the film is more still-born than unborn.

- Greg MacLennan

The Directors Guild of America has announced their nominations. And here they are:

David Fincher, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Danny Boyle, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Christopher Nolan, THE DARK KNIGHT
Ron Howard, FROST/NIXON
Gus Van Sant, MILK

No real surprises here, but generally speaking you got your best picture contenders here, and though many predicted Batman would make it, it was still far from a lock. Well people, welcome to a world where a man dressed in a rubber suit can win an Oscar.

- Greg MacLennan

Yup, that's Jim Carrey...well Jim Carrey in the same way you thought you saw Tom Hanks in The Polar Express. Carrey will star in the Disney produced, Robert Zemeckis directed A Christmas Carol, in addition to Scrooge, Carrey also plays the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. The whole thing was shot using performance capture, and will be distributed in 3D. Colin Firth plays Fred and Gary Oldman plays Bob Cratchit, Marley and Tiny Tim (because he's so god damned versatile).

- Greg MacLennan

What? You've never heard of this movie? Well you should be keeping tabs on it. Jean Pierre Jeunet director of Delicatessen, City of Lost Children, Amelie, and A Very Long Engagement will direct this satiric comedy set in the world of illegal gun trade. He is also penning the script with his longtime collaborator Gillaume Laurant, who had helped Jeunet with A Very Long Engagement, Amelie, and City of Lost Children.

Holy crap, y'all, finally we know who plays Jacob in New Moon and can finally rest! (Please note the sarcasm...) In a post on her website, Twilight author Stephenie Meyer confirms that Taylor Lautner will reprise his role as Jacob in the hit vampire romance's sequel, New Moon. This news ends months of curiosity about whether Lautner would return. The full text of the announcement, which includes a statement from New Moon director Chris Weitz, is after the jump and at StephenieMeyer.com.

January 7, 2009

Good news about New Moon from director Chris Weitz:

I'm very happy to announce that Taylor Lautner will be playing Jacob Black in New Moon and that he's doing so with the enthusiastic support of Summit Entertainment, the producers, and Stephenie Meyer.

The characters in Stephenie's books go through extraordinary changes of circumstance and also appearance; so it is not surprising that there has been speculation about whether the same actor would portray a character who changes in so many surprising ways throughout the series. But it was my first instinct that Taylor was, is, and should be Jacob, and that the books would be best served by the actor who is emotionally right for the part. I think that fans of Twilight the book and the movie will be surprised by the Jacob Black that Taylor will bring to the screen in New Moon; and I'm looking forward to working with him and the rest of the cast in realizing the film.

very best

Chris Weitz

I'd just like to add that I was very much a part of this decision. My first priority was always what was best for New Moon—what was going to give us the best possible movie. I'm truly thrilled that Taylor was the one who proved to the director, to Summit, and to me that he is the best possible Jacob we could have. And I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he's going to bring to Jacob's character this year.

- Steph

Whew, we don't know about you guys, but we're just relieved this casting hunt is ov-ah. Sad or happy that Taylor Launter will return? Couldn't give two shits either way? Us either...

The ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) nominations are as follows:

Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC (Revolutionary Road and The Reader)
Anthony Dod Mantle, BSC (Slumdog Millionaire)
Chris Menges, ASC, BSC (The Reader)
Claudio Miranda (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button)
Wally Pfister, ASC (The Dark Knight)

Comments - Slumdog was awesome, Benjamin Button was near flawless, and The Dark Knight...well, that dude made magic with an IMAX camera, how can you not give it to him?

The WGA (Writers Guild of America) has nominated the following films:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Burn After Reading, Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Focus Features
Milk, Written by Dustin Lance Black, Focus Features
Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Written by Woody Allen, The Weinstein Company
The Visitor, Written by Tom McCarthy, Overture Films
The Wrestler, Written by Robert Siegel, Fox Searchlight Pictures

Comments - Nice to see the Coens aren't forgotten, and every nomination for a Darren Aronofsky movie is a welcome one.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen Story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord; Based on the Short Story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures
The Dark Knight, Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan; Story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer; Based on Characters Appearing in Comic Books Published by DC Comics; Batman Created by Bob Kane, Warner Bros. Pictures
Doubt, Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley, Based on his Stage Play, Miramax Films
Frost/Nixon, Screenplay by Peter Morgan, Based on his Stage Play, Universal Pictures
Slumdog Millionaire, Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, Based on the Novel Q and A by Vikas Swarup, Fox Searchlight Pictures

Comments - Looks like they got it right for the most part.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story, Written by Stefan Forbes and Noland Walker, InterPositive Media
Chicago 10, Written by Brett Morgen, Roadside Attractions
Fuel, Written by Johnny O'Hara, Greenlight Theatrical / Intention Media
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Screenplay by Alex Gibney, From the Words of Hunter S. Thompson, Magnolia Pictures
Waltz with Bashir, Written by Ari Folman, Sony Pictures Classic

That's right, Jonah Hex will carry on down the production highway until it reaches a silver screen near you. On again, off again, on again star Josh Brolin isn't yet a lock to play Hex for director Jimmy Hayward. However his decision to star was dependent upon whoever they found to direct the picture. Hayward is an ex-Pixar guy who helmed 2008's Horton Hears a Who, and is the latest to be tapped to bring the cynical confederate soldier comic to the big screen.

Fresh off the success of his fairy tale "hit" Bedtime Stories, Adam Shankman is giving a boost to the musical Bye Bye Birdie.

The choreographer and "director" is coming on to develop and produce a long-gestating remake of Bye Bye Birdie at Columbia.

A stage favorite for the past half-century, Birdie centers on Conrad Birdie, a popular singer whose character is based loosely on Elvis Presley. He's about to be shipped off to the army, but as part of a publicity stunt, he agrees to one last encounter with a fan before he goes to war.

The 1958 musical has had several screen adaptations, including an Ann-Margret and Dick Van Dyke version in 1963 and a television movie starring Jason Alexander in 1995.

Columbia has been developing an updated version for a number of years, with the logline at one point re-imagining the title character as a hip-hop star. Several writers also have taken cracks at a new version of the story, with Step Up 2 the Streets director and film student wunderkind John Chu and SNL's Tina Fey attached to write at different points. (Shankman also produced Step Up 2.) No new writer has been attached in the project's current incarnation.

While, okay, fine we did enjoy the Hairspray remake, we're still not sold on Shankman's directing abilities. Maybe he should just choreograph and leave the film stuff to the experts. Case in point: Bedtime Stories...

It's DVD release Tuesday and we are back on track. It appears as though there is a little something for everyone this Tuesday. There is the film buff criterion release, the stoner/pot head action comedy, the movie for the dude who loves shitty movies, the show for your murderous friend, and even something for that one legged hooker in your life. Check it all out over in our DVD Release Section.

Brit thesps Simon Pegg and Nick Frost will play the Thompson Twins in Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg’s two-pic Tintin project. The 3-D performance-capture films, based on Georges Remi's comic books will center on Tintin’s globetrotting adventures as a fearless reporter. In the books, the Thompson Twins are a pair of incompetent, clumsy detectives who can only be told apart by the shape of their moustaches — Thompson, with a “p,” has a flat moustache, while Thomson, without the “p,” has a flared version.

Wait a second, so we're not talking about the '80s band?

Pegg and Frost have worked together often. They came to the fore in cult Brit TV laffer Spaced, before successfully reteaming in box-office successes Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

As previously reported, Andy Serkis will play Tintin’s sidekick, Captain Haddock. Tintin has yet to be cast. Thomas Sangster had been set for the role, but exited the project when it was delayed due to funding difficulties caused by the DreamWorks/Paramount split.