Hilariously Photoshopping Celebrities as Everyday People

From mymodernmet,Celebrities and models alike seem to have everything together. They've got their careers and their perfect bodies going for them. What if that all disappeared and these stars who we're all very familiar with were average people without the glitz and the glam? Photoshop extraordinaire Danny Evans' series of Celebrity Make Unders for his ongoing project titled Planet Hiltron takes us into this bizarro universe where we get a peek at the slovenly alter-egos of A-list celebrities like Johnny Depp, Madonna, and Jennifer Aniston. In the process, the New York-based photo manipulator allows the rest of us to see how celebrities really are just like us.

See more here

2001 A Michael Bay Odyssey

From toplessrobot, Warning: This video is a fan-made video for Stanley Kubrick's 2001, made up to look like a modern sci-fi action film trailer, a la Michael Bay. It is accurately done, and thus genuinely kind of disgusting. The blinding, short-attention span cuts, the techno music, the banal tagline -- the only thing that keeps it from being Bay perfection is the lack of explosions and long, leering shots of a teenage girl's ass, preferably draped over some kind of expensive vehicle. Seriously, if you have any affection for the original movie, you might want to give this a miss. The first time I saw this I threw up in my mouth a little.

Did Heath Ledger base his Joker performance on this 1979 interview with singer Tom Waits?

From toplessrobot, This video of a 1979 interview with singer Tom Waits has been making the round, as it is almost assuredly what Heath Ledger based his performance as the Joker on in The Dark Knight. The voice, the mannerisms -- pretty much everything but the lip-licking, really. Of course, the other possibility is that Tom Waits is a time-traveler, and did this interview after watching a Dark Knight matinee.

Peter Jackson announces a third 'Hobbit' film

From ew, Apparently, when it comes to Middle-earth, director Peter Jackson thinks three is the magic number. Last month at Comic-Con, Jackson teased fans with the idea that he was interested in pushing beyond his planned two-film adaptation of The Hobbit. Today, after weeks of intensive talks with Warner Bros. over how exactly that might be achieved, Jackson announced on his Facebook page that he is, in fact, going to turn The Hobbit into a trilogy.

“It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made,” Jackson wrote. “Recently Fran [Walsh], Phil[lippa Boyens] and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie — and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.’”

How exactly The Hobbit will be turned into a three-film series is still somewhat unclear, though. As Jackson has acknowledged, The Hobbit is a slender story compared with the far more sprawling and complex Lord of the Rings trilogy. But the director is drawing not only on the original book, but also on more than a hundred pages of appendices Tolkien later wrote that expanded on the world of The Hobbit. Jackson is obviously confident that all of this material taken together can sustain three films and hinted in his announcement at what narrative elements will be incorporated to fill out the trilogy.

“We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance,” he wrote. “The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.”

The first installment in the trilogy, subtitled An Unexpected Journey, hits theaters Dec. 14, 2012. The second film is slated for Dec. 13, 2013. The last installment will hit theaters in the summer of 2014.

Happy Birthday, Octo!!!

Awww, look at that handsome guy!  No, not the red head, the other one!  (Oh, I'm kidding.)

Happy Birthday to my wonderful brother whom I love very much.  Can't wait to see you soon!

Skyfall looks awesome

The Legion of Doom break the law

Box office report: 'Dark Knight Rises' wins again with $64.1 million; nobody watches 'The Watch'

From ew, Alright, here are the facts about The Dark Knight Rises:

• Warner Bros.’ $250 million sequel is an utterly huge movie.
• It earned $64.1 million in its second weekend (a 60 percent drop).
• It has grossed $289.1 million after ten days.
• This total is less than the The Dark Knight had earned at the same point in its run ($313.8 million), and that’s fine.
• This total is also less than the The Avengers had earned at the same point in its run ($373.1 million), and that’s also fine.
• Overseas, the film has already grossed $248.2 million, and its headed for a finish between $900 million and $1 billion worldwide.

The reality is that it doesn’t matter if the conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy beats any other film at the box office — The Dark Knight Rises is a truly gigantic hit that will have the suits at the studio very, very happy.

That said, the film is certainly performing below initial expectations. Things looked rather dire on Friday, when Rises had to compete against the widely watched Olympic opening ceremonies and earned $18.1 million — a whopping 76 percent drop from its first Friday. But it stabilized nicely over the rest of the weekend. Rises ticked up 44 percent on Saturday to $25 million and is estimated to earn another $21.1 million today. Altogether, that’s $64.1 million — good for a robust $14,549 per theater average — but a 60 percent drop from the film’s $160.9 million debut.

Full article here

Guesstimating: The (Alleged) Cost Of Being Iron Man

From geekology, Note: This is only the portion for Iron Man's suit, hit the jump for the entire graphic.

Hot on the heels of last week's cost of being Batman infographic comes this one for Iron Man. The total (entirely guesstimated) cost of being Iron Man? $1,612,717,000. Of course, just like in the Batman version, they failed to consider the REAL cost of being Iron Man: all the expensive booze and beautiful women and fancy dinners and tropical vacations and...man, f*** this guy.

Full graphic here

How Prometheus Should Have Ended

Watch The Epic 6-Minute Cloud Atlas Trailer

From giantfreakinrobot, One of the most anticipated movies of this fall is the new film from the Wachowskis, Andy and Lana (Speed Racer, the Matrix Trilogy) and German director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run). We got a first look of actors Tom Hanks, Hallie Barry, Jim Broadbent and Ben Whishaw in Cloud Atlas yesterday.

Now a 6-minute trailer from Warner Bros and Focus Features International has surfaced, leaving more questions than answers of how these story elements will fit together. Watch…

Madonna, er, I mean Lady Gaga nabs a role in Machete Kills, poster revealed

[via cinemablend]

A Bad Omen? Plane Carrying Marriage Proposal Crashes Off of Rhode Island

From time, Ah, yes. The throes of romantic love – it’s enough to make your heart swell — and your engine sputter. New England pilot Mark Simmons was flying a “Will You Marry Me?” banner off the coast of Rhode Island when suddenly, the proposal took a dive. But this wasn’t a problem on the beach, where Mike Flynn was proposing to his girlfriend, Michelle. No, Simmons’ plane was going down.

Ten minutes into his flight, he was heading toward the shorelines of Block Island as the plane’s engine began to fail. Luckily, Mark Simmons emerged unharmed after his plane crashed into Block Island Sound. But that left a pretty nervous proposer waiting on the beach with his unsuspecting belle. “While it was happening, I was pacing the beach,” Flynn told ABC News. “I was really worried.”

Simmons made a distress call to his 8-year-old son, Ethan, who according to ABC News, “heard his dad’s Mayday call over the airport’s radio transmission and initiated the rescue effort by alerting airport personnel and giving them information on his dad’s whereabouts.”

Just a day after his plane crash-landed, Simmons took to the skies again, determined to do it right.

“I wasn’t sure why it took him two days of pacing the beach just to propose to me on the beach,” she said in an interview. “Until I saw the plane.” Despite the anxiety, Michelle said yes.

Five guys take same photo for 30 years

From cnn [excerpt], (CNN) -- When five teenagers sat down and posed for a picture at Copco Lake in 1982, they didn't plan on making it a tradition. But that's what it became.

Every five years for the past three decades, John Wardlaw, John Dickson, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney and John Molony have been meeting at the California lake and taking the same photo.

The first photograph of the high school friends was just happenstance. Wardlaw, known as Wedge in the group, had a family cabin at the lake where the friends gathered in July 1982.

While hanging out on the deck of the cabin, Dickson, or J.D., set his 35-millimeter camera on self-timer to take a group photo.

"For some reason, we all chose to have dark and mysterious expressions on our faces," said Wardlaw. "I'm sure we all thought we were being really cool."

See all the pictures here

Plots from the unaired 8th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation

My friend Mike sent me the link for these today, and I lost count of how many giggles I had to suppress at work. I picked this random sample from over 140 of them.

Great stuff if you were ever a fan of Star Trek: TNG. These made me miss the old gang.

Hulk Disco Song Good

That's the disco version of the Hulk theme used in the episode "Alice in Discoland" accompanied by footage someone spliced together from the TV series that ran from 1977-82.

Crystal and I have been combing through these episodes and I must report that it is sweeter than ever. Those who claim Mark Ruffalo is the superior David Banner needs to shut their stinkin' pie holes because he's got nothing on the late, great Bill Bixby. Sure, Ruffalo was more palatable than Ed Norton or Eric Banana but Bixby had a distinct charm that cannot be matched. His smile is just so damn disarming.

What Does Space Smell Like?

From time, Simply put, space stinks. We aren’t quite sure like what, but we do know that the smell isn’t so pretty. Indeed, it’s so peculiar to astronauts that NASA wants to try and mimic it so that would-be space walkers know what they’re getting themselves — and their noses — into.

Without a strong sample size of folks who have undergone a space walk, they’ve found it rather tough to pinpoint the smell, with some former astronauts having called the odor akin to “seared steak,” “hot metal,” “welding fumes” or even “gunpowder.” Now, NASA has enlisted the help of London chemist Steve Pearce — pro bono, mind you — to recreate the smell, hoping it will help in training exercises.

Pearce isn’t totally foreign to space smells, even though he’s never ventured there himself. He recently recreated the lingering smell of the Mir space station, a concoction of “sweaty feet and stale body odor, mix that odor with nail polish remover and gasoline… then you get close!” he told Discovery. Add in a touch of vodka — because, after all, they were Russian astronauts aboard Mir — to that, and the end result, he says was simply “horrible.”

“It certainly conveyed the sense that it wouldn’t have been nice to be trapped in Mir for too long,” he says. But that smell is only within the comfy confines of the space station. What are astronauts breathing in when they step out into that final frontier. Finding the smell of space may prove a bit tougher.

Mixing anecdotal discoveries together — Pearce says that seared steak and hot metal actually fall in line with each other and “lead us to conclude that the sensation is caused by some high-energy vibrations in particles brought back inside which mix with the air” — with the recent discovery of ethyl formate in space’s dust particles (that’s the same matter that gives raspberries their flavor), and there’s a strong starting point for recreating the possibly sulfurous-like smell of space.

Between the food options, tight quarters and smelly sensations, the life of an astronaut looks less and less glamorous.

The Muppets cut ties with Chick-fil-A over gay marriage, pull toys from kids meals

From celebitchy, One of our most commented-on stories last week was the news that celebrities were calling for a boycott of Chick-fil-A after their President stated firmly, and publicly, that he was against same sex marriage. We’ve previously heard that the fast food chain had donated millions to Christian groups working to block gay marriage, but they handled that news last year by claiming they welcomed all customers and did not have a political agenda. With President Dan Cathy’s latest statement that “We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit,” he had drawn a very clear line in the sand, not just personally but as the representative of a company that served the public. He seemed to be speaking for all of Chick-fil-A’s owners. Many people took sides and decided not to give them their business any more.

Cathy’s statement also cost the company at least one business relationship. The Jim Henson company, whose Muppet “Creature Shop toys” were included in Chick-fil-A kids meals as of last week, has pulled all toys from the chain. They issued a statement that it was due to Chick-fil-A’s stance on gay marriage. The fast food chain has signs up (image above) claiming the toys were removed due safety concerns, but the Jim Henson company has made it clear that isn’t the case. They posted the following statement on their Facebook page:

"The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-Fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors. Lisa Henson, our CEO is personally a strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed us to donate the payment we received from Chick-Fil-A to GLAAD."

Peter Jackson Definitely Wants To Make ‘The Hobbit’ A Trilogy And Talks Have Accelerated To Do So

From slashfilm, It looks like Peter Jackson will be making a third Hobbit film after all. At least, that’s what he’s decided he wants to do, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In the past few days, logistical talks have “accelerated” between the director, his producing partners and Warner Bros., who would be open to the idea if the finances worked out.

Jackson suggested he’d be interested in a third film a couple weeks ago and has since been figuring out when the production would have to come back to do reshoots, how many of the actors would need to come back, when they’d need to come back, and how much all of that would cost. All of that is almost in order. Read more after the jump.

A source told The Hollywood Reporter that if a third film is to be made out of The Hobbit, a decision would have to be made soon but that talks “have accelerated in recent days, with the studio on board if the right financial arrangements can be achieved:”

Read the full article here

Sherman Hemsley is dead at 74

From usatoday, Sherman Hemsley, the actor who made cranky George Jefferson on The Jeffersons unforgettable, has died in his El Paso home, TMZ and local media are reporting. He was 74.

The cause of death was unclear but TMZ cited anonymous sources who said it appeared to be natural causes. TMZ said he was discovered by his nurse, who first thought he was sleeping.

Hemsley did not have a wife or children.

Hemsley, who first played George Jefferson on All in the Family, became a star with the successful spinoff The Jeffersons. He was among the small number of black actors who pioneered leading roles in successful sitcoms. He also played Deacon Ernest Frye on Amen.

Sally Ride, first U.S. woman in space, dies at 61

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sally Ride, who blazed trails into orbit as the first American woman in space, died Monday of pancreatic cancer. She was 61.

Full press release here

[JPX] I met Sally Ride 5 years ago because she was friends with my parents' neighbors. She was extremely nice and she autographed a space shuttle puzzle for my son. She told me not to sell it on Ebay!

Raquel Welch Space Girl Dance!

Because I said so, that's why.

Retro Star Wars Propaganda Posters Urge You To Pitch In

From giantfreakinrobot, When you think of the intergalactic civil war in Star Wars one thing that most people rarely stop to consider is the recruiting aspect of the conflict. This is lengthy, protracted war, we’re taking about, one with multiple active battlefronts at any given time, and a number of theaters of combat. A variety of tactical elements need to be taken into consideration. You have to be prepared for a ground assault, as well as airborne combat. There are the thick forests of Endor, the frozen wastes of Hoth, the scorched deserts of Tatooine, and many, many more environments.

Taken together this means that you need people, lots of them, on both sides. It stands to reason that in the Star Wars universe there is a constant recruiting battle going on behind-the-scenes. Artist Cat Staggs has created a series of retro propaganda posters designed to lure potential soldiers into service.

See more examples here

"Iron Man 3" Concept Art Shows New Suit

From worstpreviews, Today we have new concept art for Marvel's upcoming "Iron Man 3," giving us a better look at Iron Man's new suit that the studio showed at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Marvel already confirmed that Ben Kingsley will be playing The Mandarin in the movie, that's described as "technological crisis thriller." It co-stars Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, James Badge Dale and Jon Favreau.

The new movie is directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and is set to hit theaters on May 3rd, 2013.

'The Dark Knight Rises' makes an estimated $162 million at the box office

From ew, The Dark Knight Rises took in an estimated $162 million over the weekend, reports The New York Times, giving it a slightly better opening than its predecessor, but still less than either The Avengers or the final Harry Potter film. While that number was below some projections of $190 million, it indicates that moviegoers weren’t strongly dissuaded from attending screenings in the wake of the Colorado shooting. (Though pre-sale tickets are certainly a factor as well.)

1. The Dark Knight Rises $162 million
2. Ice Age: Continental Drift $21 million
3. The Amazing Spider-Man $11 million
4. Ted $10 million
5. Brave $6 million

Official box office estimates are still forthcoming on Monday as the major studios declined to disclose figures over the weekend in deference to the victims of the shooting.

Meh - Man of Steel trailer kind of blows

A Series of Emails from Prometheus' New Tech Guy

[From Cracked.com]

Re: Hi Mom!

Hi Mom,

We finally found out the mission today. Apparently we're looking for the origins of life, out here in space. It's weird that no on told us what our objective was until we got out here. Like, they have some punk-rock geologist with a Mohawk and a bunch of tattoos who says he's "not here to make friends" and he's "only doing this for the money." Now, if the Weyland Corporation had just gone on Monster.com or whatever back on Earth and said "We're looking for a qualified geologist interested in learning about the origins of human life," they'd probably get applicants who were generally excited and knowledgeable, instead of just a-holes (sorry!) who are only in it for the money.

Like, if I was making a baseball team, I wouldn't say "Hey everyone, follow me RIGHT NOW, I'm not telling you what we're doing until we get there," and hope for the best. I'd say "Hey, friends, which of you are interested in baseball? Come with me!" And then I'd ONLY get baseball fans, you know? Now they're paying who KNOWS what to some cranky geologist who doesn't even LIKE space or aliens or, (I know it sounds crazy), science. I mean there's only like seventeen people on the whole crew and one of them hates everyone. Just seems like there were a lot of holes in the plan, is all.

Love you lots!

Read the rest here.

12 Murdered At Dark Knight Rises Shooting In Colorado

AURORA, Colorado (AP) – A gunman opened fire early Friday at a suburban Denver movie theater on the opening night of the latest Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others, authorities said.

The gunman, who is in custody, stood at the front of the theater and fired into the crowd about 12:30 a.m. MDT (0630 GMT) at a theater at a multiplex theater in a mall in Aurora.

"Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire," Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said at a news conference.

Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding in to authorities, officials said.

Officers found the gunman near a car behind the theater.

"A gas mask, rifle, handgun at least one additional weapon (were) found inside," he said.

The suspect was taken into custody, but no name was released. Oates said there's no evidence of any other attackers. There was also no immediate word of any motive.

The suspect spoke of "possible explosives in his residence. We are dealing with that potential threat," Oates said, without providing details on where that was.

He said police also checked for explosives in the parking lot and at the Century 16 theater and secured those areas.

Witness Hayden Miller told KUSA-TV that he was inside Theater 16 and heard several shots.

"Like little explosions going on and shortly after that we heard people screaming," he told the station.

Hayden said at first he thought it was part of a louder movie next door. But then he saw "people hunched over leaving theater."

Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates talks to media at Aurora Mall on Friday.
The police chief said 10 victims died at the theater and four at area hospitals.

Two people in critical condition were rushed to a nearby medical center, spokeswoman Nicole Williams said.

She said emergency crews told her staff to prepare for several more patients from the shooting scene.

The youngest victim reported was a 6-year-old being treated at Children's Hospital Colorado, where a total of six victims were taken. Their condition wasn't known.

Their condition wasn't known. Aurora is located on the southeast outskirts of Denver.

Ha ha, 'The Dark Knight' (honest) trailer

"Thor 2" Villains Accidentally Revealed

[JPX] Having never read a Thor comic book in my life this news is meaningless to me, however consider this stuff spoilery,

From worstpreviews,IReviewToo website had the chance to speak to Hollywood stuntman James Grogan (Snow White and the Huntsman, Dark Shadows), who accidentally revealed the villains in Marvel's upcoming "Thor" sequel.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

"The other day I was working on 'Thor 2,'" he explained. "I had a load of stunt guys in and the director Alan Taylor) came in and he said 'Look, we want you all to be elves,' and I was like 'What the hell is an elf anyway?' And he said 'I want you all to walk around like these supernatural animals.'"

Since the full title of the new movie is "Thor: The Dark World," is safe to assume that Grogan is talking about the Dark Elves, which are lead by Malekith the Accursed (pictured), a major Thor villain. In "Thor" comic book #344, Loki forms an alliance with Malekith in order to secure the Casket of Ancient Winters. Tom Hiddleston has already confirmed that he's returning as Loki.

The Casket of Ancient Winters is an artifact from the realm of the Frost Giants and a powerful and deadly weapon. When opened, it releases powerful arctic weather that is capable of freezing anything in its path; killing humans and immobilizing Asgardians. The Casket can only be opened and handled by a Frost Giant; anyone else who attempts to open it would be burned. Its magic is also strong enough to temporarily disrupt the powers of Odin.

‘Lesson of the Evil’ Trailer: Takashi Miike’s Bloody Schoolyard Rampage

From slashfilm, Takashi Miike is one of the most prolific major filmmakers alive, and that leads to the fact that he’s one of the spottiest. When one churns out stories the way Miike does, not every one is going to be great work. But every once in a while he makes a stunner like Thirteen Assassins, or a whackadoo wonder like Gozu or Visitor Q, and then I’m hooked again.

So here’s the first footage from Lesson of the Evil, an adaptation of the novel of the same name that was originally serialized in Japan starting in 2008. The teaser makes the situation pretty clear, even for those who don’t understand Japanese without subtitles: there is a good-looking, popular teacher who also happens to be insane. Teacher-on-student violence ensues, and it looks like a happy ending might be right out of the question.

Excellent! Watch Thomas Jane's Unofficial "The Punisher" Short Film

From iwatchstuff, Marvel recently got back the rights to The Punisher, but is not currently planning to give the character his own film again. But if there's ever an opportunity to bring The Punisher to the big screen, Thomas Jane wants Marvel to know that he would love to reprise the role.

During the San Diego Comic-Con the actor premiered a short unofficial film, called "The Punisher: Dirty Laundry," which stars Jane and Ron Perlman. The short is R-rated and was directed by Phil Joanou (Gridiron Gang) and can be seen below.

"I wanted to make a fan film for a character I've always loved and believed in – a love letter to Frank Castle and his fans," said Jane. "It was an incredible experience with everyone on the project throwing in their time just for the fun of it. It's been a blast to be a part of from start to finish — we hope the friends of Frank enjoy watching it as much as we did making it."

Finding Nemo 2

From iwatchstuff, A despondent Andrew Stanton finally has something to do with himself besides moping around the Disney•Pixar offices, telling anyone who will listen, "Sure, it had its issues, but come on, John Carter had some pretty cool stuff. Did you see not those space apes?"

Reportedly promised another unlikely shot at live-action if he'll sell off his soul to an animated sequel, John Carter director Andrew Stanton has reportedly agreed to come on to direct a second chapter to his 2003 hit Finding Nemo (coincidentally, back in theaters in 3D this fall!). This marks the fourth Pixar property to be turned into a franchise by the once-infallible, increasingly-sequel-hungry studio--they made three charming Toy Story films, a second Cars that won't go away, and a Monsters, Inc. prequel that's arriving next summer--and the first to be directed by Stanton, who also helmed A Bug's Life and WALL-E. No word on plot specifics for the sequel, but if Pixar is anywhere near as smart as the makers of Taken, THIS TIME THEY'RE COMING FOR MARLIN.

Ha ha, Rush Limbaugh belives that "The Dark Knight Rises" is anti-Romney

From huffingtonpost, Just a day after opining that President Barack Obama "hates" America, Rush Limbaugh found a new target in the eagerly anticipated "Dark Knight Rises," which he suggested during his program on Tuesday was part of a liberal media conspiracy:

RUSH: Have you heard this new movie, the Batman movie, what is it, The Dark Knight Lights Up or whatever the name is. That's right, Dark Knight Rises. Lights Up, same thing. Do you know the name of the villain in this movie? Bane. The villain in The Dark Knight Rises is named Bane, B-a-n-e. What is the name of the venture capital firm that Romney ran and around which there's now this make-believe controversy? Bain. The movie has been in the works for a long time. The release date's been known, summer 2012 for a long time. Do you think that it is accidental that the name of the really vicious fire breathing four eyed whatever it is villain in this movie is named Bane?

It might strike some as odd that Limbaugh would direct his vitriol toward a movie franchise whose wealthy vigilante hero arguably contradicts a number of progressive ideals -- even once using a form warrantless wiretapping to nab a villain. Limbaugh does acknowledge that the Bane character sounds more "like an Occupy Wall Street guy" than the financial engineers one might find at Bain Capital. He also points to a Washington Times Communities post that compares Batman to Mitt Romney. Nonetheless, Limbaugh spends several minutes pivoting between a heated critique of Barack Obama and an equally heated dissection of what he sees as the new Batman film's ulterior political motives.

So, anyway, this evil villain in the new Batman movie is named Bane. And there's now a discussion out there as to whether or not this is purposeful and whether or not it will influence voters. It's gonna have a lot of people. This movie, the audience is gonna be huge. A lot of people are gonna see the movie, and it's a lot of brain-dead people, entertainment, the pop culture crowd, and they're gonna hear Bane in the movie and they're gonna associate Bain. The thought is that when they start paying attention to the campaign later in the year, and Obama and the Democrats keep talking about Bain, Romney and Bain, that these people will think back to the Batman movie, "Oh, yeah, I know who that is." (laughing) There are some people who think it'll work. Others think you're really underestimating the American people to think that will work.

"You may think it's ridiculous," Limbaugh added in summation. "I'm just telling you this is the kind of stuff the Obama team is lining up."

Bane, who first appeared in comic-book form in 1993, was also featured in one previous Batman film, "Batman & Robin." His inclusion in the "The Dark Knight Rises" was announced early in 2011, at which point Mitt Romney was just one of many Republicans vying for his party's nomination.

I'm Batman

I've been scouring Targets for the PJs-with-cape sets that were everywhere a few months back; I foolishly got my huge four-year-old a size 4T Superman outfit and the notion of the imminent day when I had to tell him he couldn't wear it anymore was breaking my heart. Lo and behold, at a Tarzhay run near my mother-in-law's house, I found not only the larger Supes outfit but also this slammin' Dark Knight set.



The kicker here, of course, is the cape. When he put these on for bed last night I knew he'd be wearing them to school today, and I tried to coach him that people will eventually tire of him saying "I'm Batman." He must've said it 50 times to me this morning, and I stayed up too late last night, so it was admittedly working my nerves.


I made this purchase despite a recent effort to get him in normal clothes for preschool more often. But I can't clamp down completely. You're only a kid once, so live the dream, right?

Why I have no interest in Comic-Con

Thanks, JSP, for sending me this article!

From slate [excerpt], woke up Saturday morning determined to gain admission into Exhibit Hall H of the convention center. Hall H is the big kahuna—6,500 seats—where all the sparkly Hollywood stuff goes on. The first event scheduled on Saturday was at 11:30 a.m., when Quentin Tarantino would be presenting footage from his upcoming film, Django Unchained. To ensure I'd get a seat, I showed up four hours early to stand in line.

Immediately it became apparent that I should have shown up at least seven hours early. The line was comically long. It flowed into a park next to the convention center, serpentined several times, wound its way through fretful hope, past mournful despair, and then hopped out onto an access road for 750 yards or so before twisting into an entirely different park. It finally terminated on a desolate, cracked-asphalt basketball court not remotely within eyeshot of the convention center entrance, where—and at this point I broke into an incredulous chuckle—it began to serpentine again, such that one had to trace 10 or 12 basketball-court-length switchbacks before making any forward progress.

The guys who fell in line behind me were a cheerful, chubby trio, munching on breakfast sandwiches. One dude wore a "Joss Whedon Is My Master Now" T-shirt, and another wore a shirt that said, "Captain Filipino-America." To pass the time, they named the full casts from every Star Trek iteration. Then they named all the actors who ever appeared on The Wonder Years. Then they began to play the six degrees game.

Full article here

Anthony Mackie May Be Captain America's Falcon Friend

From iwatchstuff, Saving themselves the trouble of paying for Anthony Mackie's ticket to Comic Con, Marvel waited until today to reveal Mackie is in talks to run around with Chris Evans in Captain America: Winter Soldier. The actor is reportedly up for the part of Falcon, a longtime Captain America ally with the ability to telepathically talk to birds and fly on his little wings. In the larger Marvel Universe, I guess he'll be the "grounded" character among the guy who talks to ants and the space raccoon.

The Dark Knight Rises is awesome? (non-spoiler)

From worstpreviews, As we approach July 20th, more reviews for "The Dark Knight Rises" are appearing online. The film currently has a 91% fresh rating on RottenTomatoes, with 33 reviews being positive and 3 being negative.

There are plenty of perfect scores, with the majority of critics believing that the third installment is very heavy on action, special-effects and emotion. It's also considered a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

And despite being close to three-hours, there are already Oscar talks. Check out some of the reviews below.

Empire: With spectacle in abundance and sexiness in (supporting) parts, this is superhero filmmaking on an unprecedented scale. (10/10)

The Playlist: Emotionally inspiring, aesthetically significant and critically important. (10/10)

Mirror: Bleak, black and brilliant. (10/10)

DigitalSpy: Intelligent, heart-pounding spectacle. (10/10)

The Telegraph: Nolan brings the trilogy to a ferociously satisfying close. (10/10)

IGN: The grandest, most emotional and superheroic chapter in their Batman saga.(9/10)

Rolling Stone: The sheer scope of Nolan's vision – with emotion and spectacle thundering across the screen – is staggering. (9/10)

MSN: A very, very good large-scale action/crime movie. (8/10)

Scotsman: Brings the series to an end in a satisfyingly epic way. (8/10)

Guardian: A satisfying saga of revolution and redemption that ends the tale on a note of thunder. (8/10)

The Daily Mail: Special effects drown out the narrative. (4/10)

The One Thing That Brings Jedi, Sith, Rebels and Imperials Together Is "Call Me Maybe" (Obviously)

From mashable, What happens when you mix the music from “Call Me Maybe” with its lyrics lifted from all six Star Wars movies? That’s right, it’s yet another “Call Me Maybe” parody, this one from a galaxy far, far away.

[JPX] Apparently this has been a very popular song for some time now. I'm old so of course I had never heard it before. Below is the original song. Be warned, it's bad but annoyingly catchy.

I'm Not Eating Out Of That : Zombie Head Popcorn Bucket

From geekology, This is a zombie themed popcorn bucket designed by New York ad agency Y&R for Detroit horror convention Motor City Nightmares. The buckets were such a hit they intend to design more and sell them online. "Finally, some decent horror-themed popcorn buckets for movie night" we're all saying to ourselves right now.

Creepy "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D" clip!

'Encyclopedia Brown' author dies at age 87

From ew, Donald J. Sobol, creator of the Encyclopedia Brown series for children, died at age 87 on July 11. Over the course of his mystery writing career, which began in 1959 with Two-Minute Mysteries, Sobol wrote more than 65 books and won a special Edgar Award in 1976.

The Encyclopedia Brown series centers on Leroy “Encyclopedia” Brown, a boy detective nicknamed for his vast knowledge of facts, who helps his police chief father solve local cases, usually by dinner time. Sobol came up with the concept when he came across a book by chance at the New York Public Library. The book had puzzles on one side of the page and solutions on the other, and it occurred to him to write a mystery book in the same style. Since the publication of the first Encyclopedia Brown novel in 1963, the books have never been out of print and have been translated into 12 languages.

He is survived by his wife, Rose; a sister, Helen; three children Diane, Eric and John; and four grandchildren, Gregory, Bryan, Lauren and Nicholas.

'Dinosaur Project' Trailer: Found Footage Finds Some Dinosaurs This Time

From iwatchstuff, With found-footage horror diversifying to handle such topics as porn boxes and Marlon Wayans, some daring filmmakers have decided to stand on the shoulders of Paranormal Activity and see if the genre might also work to shakily re-film Michael Crichton's mid-'90s catalogue. Their dubious results: The Dinosaur Project, an action-adventure in which a group of scientists(?) go into the Congo looking for Africa's "more plausible" Loch Ness monster-type thing and end up finding an entire dinosaur-filled jungle that somehow no one had yet noticed. Thankfully, their footage made it out, and you can see it below and, doubtlessly, forever after on SyFy.

'Oz: The Great and Powerful' Trailer: James Franco and His Hat Enter the World of Widescreen 3D CGI Stuff

From iwatchstuff, Well, looks like Sam Raimi has his Alice in Wonderland. Here's the first trailer for Oz: The Great and Powerful, the director's Wizard of Oz prequel that follows the black & white-to-technicolor balloon flight James Franco rode into fiction's most eccentric dwarf and witch commune. Though you won't see any singing little people in this teaser, you do get a chance to ogle the film's three witches: Mila Kunis's Carmen Sandiego, Rachel Weisz as Legend's Mia Sara (evil version), and Michelle Williams as sexy Masters of the Universe fantasy indulgence. Plus, some monkeys and a hat fly right at the screen! Three Dee!

Box Office: Apparently other people don't care about Peter Parker's origin story either

From ew, Spider-Man has been knocked off…and not by The Lizard.

Fox’s Ice Age: Continental Drift, the fourth film in the animated franchise, won the weekend with an estimated $46 million opening at the box office. The family-friendly flick bowed in 3,881 theaters and earned an $11, 853 per-theater average over the Friday-to-Sunday period. The film has already made roughly seven times that much in foreign territories. Compared to the previous installments in the Ice Age series, Continental Drift fell smack dab between the second and third film’s openings. And thanks to an bullish “A-” grade from CinemaScore, Continental Drift should get some strong word of mouth and hold up well with younger audiences and their parents.

In second place, Peter Parker & Co. spun $35 million over the weekend, a drop of 43.6 percent. If weekend estimates hold, the Sony tentpole will cross the $200 million mark, landing at $200.9 million. Psychologically at least, that’s an important threshold for The Amazing Spider-Man– especially with Bruce Wayne on deck at the multiplex.

Taking the bronze for the weekend was Ted — Universal’s Mark Wahlberg/Mila Kunis/talking bear comedy. The film scored a strong third week haul of $22.1 million, dropping just 31.2 percent — thanks in part to the fact that it added 47 playdates. Its total domestic take is now $158.9 million.

Full report here

Marvelous 'Marvel' news seeps out of the San Diego Comic Con

From slashfilm, The Marvel Studios panel just began in Hall H at the San Diego Comic Con, and president Kevin Feige didn’t waste any time announcing loads of new details. He was preceeded by a video reel that proclaimed “Phase Two Begins Now!” and gave titles to a pair of Marvel sequels, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The Winter Solider.

That Cap sequel title should make a lot of people happy, and tells fans a lot about the storyline of the sequel — pretty much everything we need to know, really. We should see scenes that take place in World War II as we learn the truth about Cap’s sidekick Bucky, and then scenes in the present day in which the seemingly dead soldier is revived as a personality that isn’t exactly friendly to Cap.

In addition to those titles, Endgar Wright showed up to help announce Ant-Man, and that’s going on as I type this. We suspect some test footage will be shown, and Germain will have an update on Ant-Man in a few minutes.

In the meantime, Guardians of the Galaxy will be released on August 1 2014. That’s the logo above, and a concept shot of the team below, along with new logos for the other films.

Iron Man 3 Footage Brings The House Down At Comic Con

From cinemablend, Marvel’s Hall H panel was frontloaded with news, from official titles for Thor and Captain America sequels to test footage to Edgar Wright’s Ant Man. (Which hasn’t been confirmed, but who shoots test footage for a movie they aren’t going to do?) Before the audience was able to catch its breath, the panel transitioned into the reason most people camped out outside the San Diego Convention Center for days to get in.

Robert Downey Jr. The consummate showman. The self-proclaimed “King of Comic Con.” And he proved it once again with rock-and-roll footage from the upcoming Iron Man 3, directed by Shane Black. RDJ made sure his part of the panel kicked right in with original footage. Here’s what we saw:

Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) is in his technical laboratory. He asks Jarvis to cue up some seasonal music, and we get Run DMC’s Christmas in Hollis (confirming yet abother Shane Black movie set at Christmas time). He’s suiting up, and he tries to summon his new armor … with his body. It doesn’t work at first. But then a glove flies over and attaches to Stark’s hand. He gradually calls more pieces, but they come flying at him at a rapid clip. At one point, the back plate hits him so hard that he almost falls over, but uses his gloves to right the ship. The last piece to fall into place is his face mask. To get it on properly, Stark has to fly and flip over, lands in the classic three-point Iron Man pose.

The audience goes crazy.

The next scene is Stark talking with Happy (Jon Favreau), who gets hell from Tony for quitting his job as bodyguard (apparently he was getting too much shit from friends about being the protector of Iron Man). Happy mentions that his grandmother lives in New York City, and jumped out of a two-story window when she saw a giant robotic snake coming out of the sky. So there are a lot of references to The Avengers. Happy even busts Starks chops for being one of “the Super Friends.” Funny stuff.

That’s the longest full scene. The rest is a montage of footage showing Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Rhodey (Don Cheadle). In one of the quick-cut shots, Pepper is picking up a banged-up Iron Man mask from a pile of rubble. We see newcomer Guy Pearce briefly, dressed in a suit, but it’s his powerful voice-over that damn near steals the footage. “Ladies, children,” Pearce says, “Some people call me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher. Lesson number one: there is no such thing as heroes.” We then see a helicopter flying outside of Stark’s Malibu mansion, firing missiles. Pepper and Tony are blown backwards, as the mansion starts tumbling into the Pacific Ocean. The whole house is destroyed. Iron Man suits are blowing up in their pods. And Tony, now in a gold and red suit, is pulled with the wreckage into the sea.

We get the title treatment. Iron Man 3. The screen fades to black. Then we’re back.

Close up of hands, with 10 rings. We pull back a little, and someone’s stroking a grey beard. From behind, we get a shot of this character cocking a pistol. And then it pulls back even further to give us our first shot of a bearded Sir Ben Kingsley in character as The Mandarin.

Boom.

Black confirmed they were halfway finished with filming on Iron Man 3. The footage looked fantastic. The movie opens on May 3, 2013.

Pee Wee overdubs Dark Knight trailer

"Jaws" producer Zanuck dies

One thing that Desroc wanted to do for his birthday yesterday was watch Jaws.  We were successful in that endeavor and MAN, I love that movie.  Saw this article today and thought Mr. Zanuck deserved a memorial post for backing  Stephen Spielberg, if not for all the other cool stuff he was involved in!

Spielberg and Zanuck 

(From TheWrap)

Richard D. Zanuck, the producer of "Jaws" and "Driving Miss Daisy, died Friday in Los Angeles, a spokesperson for his production company told TheWrap. He was 77.
The cause of death was a heart attack.

The son of famed 20th Century Fox head Daryl F. Zanuck, he would make his own indelible mark on the movie business by championing a then-unknown director named Steven Spielberg.
Together their adaptation of Peter Benchley's pulpy novel about a killer shark terrorizing a beach town would usher in a new era of summer blockbusters and fundamentally alter the type of movies that the industry makes. The impact of "Jaws," which at the time was the highest grossing movie of all time, can still be felt in recent tentpole hits like "The Avengers" and "Avatar," cinematic spectacles that entice audiences through a combination of special effects and easily digestible plots.

Although best known as one of the foremost movie producers in Hollywood, he would also have stints as a top executive at Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, where he helped oversee such classic pictures as "The Exorcist" and "The Sound of Music."  As an independent producer, he remained a major boaster of top shelf directing talent. He would discover Spielberg and give him his first feature film job on 1974's "The Sugarland Express," and  would go on to collaborate with the likes of Tim Burton and Ron Howard, producing such hit films as "Alice in Wonderland," "Cocoon" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

In a varied career there were also ventures into quieter dramas, such as "Driving Miss Daisy," a look at the relationship between an aging Southern dowager and her black chauffeur that won Zanuck an Oscar for Best Picture in 1989.  As befitting a son of Hollywood royalty (his mother was actress Virginia Hill), Zanuck made a big splash in the movie business almost immediately after graduating from Stanford University and serving as an army lieutenant.  He joined his father as a story and production assistant on two 20th Century Fox films, "Island in the Sun" and "The Sun Also Rises."

At 24, he made his debut as a full-fledged producer with the feature film "Compulsion," a dramatization of the Leopold and Loeb murder trial that won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for the ensemble work of its stars Orson Welles, Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman.  Just 28 years old, Zanuck was named president in charge of production of 20th Century Fox and became the then-youngest corporate head in Hollywood up to that time. He would inherit a studio still reeling from the big budget disaster of "Cleopatra," which had forced it to sell off its back lot in what is now Century City and enact major layoffs. 
Salvation would come in the form of "The Sound of Music," an adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that won Best Picture and became one of the biggest grossing films of all time. Though the studio, like most of the other major players, struggled to adapt to shifting tastes during the 1960's, under Zanuck's leadership it produced such cultural touchstones at "Patton," "The French Connection," "Butch Cassidy" and the Sundance Kid" and "M*A*S*H."

Zanuck subsequently moved from Fox to become senior executive vice-president at Warner Bros., where he and David Brown, who would go on to become his producing partner, oversaw production of such box office hits as "Blazing Saddles."  Along with David Brown, he formed  Zanuck/Brown Co. in 1971, and as independent producers the pair helped create award-winning and box office hits like "The Sting" and "The Verdict."

Zanuck would go onto form his own production entity, Zanuck Company in 1988. He remained active in the movie business, producing this summer's box office misfire "Dark Shadows," an adaptation of the 1960's soap opera that failed to connect with audiences.  Zanuck is survived by his wife Lili Fini Zanuck, sons Harrison and Dean and nine grandchildren.

A Warm, Gretchy Happy Birthday to The Mr.!

Happy Birthday Dude.

Superhero Silhouettes

From Geekologie: This is a series of illustrations by artist Andy Fairhurst of children's silhouettes as they pretend to be their favorite superheroes. They're awesome -- every single one (and there's 19!). Reminds me of when I was a kid on the school playground, swinging around on the tetherball rope pretending to be Spiderman. *sniffle* Nobody would ever play superheroes with me. "You weren't a very popular kid, were you?" You shit your pants in class ONE TIME.

Octo says: Thanks to my friend Charlie for sending me this! Also, some of these are supervillains, not heroes. See the rest here.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

I am getting the hell out of Rhode Island for a few days and heading up to Vermont, which means that I probably won't be online as much. Please post away and keep Horrorthon awesome!

Official plot summary for The Man of Steel

In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Henry Cavill) is a young twenty-something journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond his imagination. Transported years ago to Earth from Krypton, a highly advanced, distant planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question 'Why am I here?' Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Diane Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner), Clark discovers having extraordinary abilities means making difficult decisions. When the world is in dire need of stability, an even greater threat emerges. Clark must become a Man of Steel, to protect the people he loves and shine as the world's beacon of hope - Superman.

Study Shows Batman Movies Not Entirely Realistic, at Least in Terms of Cape Flight

From iwatchstuff, In 2005's Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan introduced us to a crime-fighting billionaire dressed like a bat but put the guy in sort of a body armor-looking suit, so it looked a little less silly than when we usually get introduced to this crime-fighting bat guy. But still, as GRITTY and REALISTIC as that made things, it seems not everything in Nolan's world holds up to thorough scientific analysis: Remember how Batman sort of flew around on his cape sometimes? Well, turns out that would've shattered Batman's realistically-armored body to pieces.

Full article here

‘Indiana Jones’ Blu-ray Trailer Promises Seven Hours of Bonus Features And More

From slashfilm, For years Steven Spielberg didn’t embrace DVD and all of his classic films stayed on VHS only. Eventually, he had a change of heart. The same can be said for the DVD to Blu-ray conversion. Spielberg was originally tentative to allow his films onto the new high definition format but has since changed his mind. Jurassic Park is already out. Jaws is on the way, as is E.T. The Extra Terrestrial and, most likely, others are too. The most exciting release, though, may be the set of Indiana Jones films which will be released on Blu-ray September 18.

A new trailer for the release has come online showing a bunch of fantastic behind the scenes footage, some of which was reportedly not on the DVD box set released several years back. Check out the trailer [above].

Thank You for Being a Superfriend

From toplessrobot, There's a lot of pre-SDCC announcements and news and things, but at the moment there is absolutely nothing more important than this video of the Golden Girls opening credits with elderly DC superheroes drawn over the actresses. It's the best. For the record, Batman is Dorthy/Bea Arthur, Aquaman as Rose/Betty White, Superman as Blance/Rue McClanahan and Robin as Sophia/Estelle Getty, and the characters are completely consistent throughout the video. DON'T ASK ME HOW I KNOW THIS.

For comparison here is the opening of the Golden Girls,

"I must take a moment to bring us all up to date on PTA's campaign against video games in our community."

Actor Ernest Borgnine dead at 95

(CNN) -- Film and television actor Ernest Borgnine, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a lovelorn butcher in 1955's "Marty," has died at age 95, his manager said Sunday.

The thick-set, gap-toothed Borgnine built a reputation for playing heavies in early films like "From Here to Eternity" and "Bad Day at Black Rock." But he turned that reputation on its head as the shy, homely title character in "Marty," taking home the Oscar for best actor -- one of four awards the film claimed.

Full tribute here

Box office report: 'The Amazing Spider-Man' scores $140 million in six-day debut

From ew [excerpt], Sony’s $220 million reboot The Amazing Spider-Man debuted atop the box office with $65 million over its first weekend and a big $140 million in its first six days. The 3-D blockbuster played in 4,138 theaters and earned a $15,708 per theater average over the Friday-to-Sunday period. Of that $140 million, $14.3 million came from IMAX screens. Worldwide, the tentpole has already earned $341.2 million after two weekends of international release.

The Amazing Spider-Man started off softer than any of the previous web-slinging installments; after six days, 2002′s Spider-Man had earned $144.1 million, 2004′s Spider-Man 2 had earned $180.1 million, and 2007′s Spider-Man 3 had earned $176.2 million — and none of those had 3-D or IMAX ticket prices. But its robust debut put to rest any chatter that Sony had made a grave mistake by rebooting the franchise with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. Clearly, the Marvel character is a major draw.

Like fellow superhero reboots Batman Begins and X-Men: First Class, which started with $48.7 and $55.1 million, respectively, The Amazing Spider-Man may have garnered somewhat smaller numbers while convincing audiences to check out a whole new Spidey iteration, but its run will open the doors for even more successful sequels in the future. Still, The Amazing Spider-Man looks like it will earn a nice chunk of change in its own right. Audiences enjoyed the film and issued it an “A-” CinemaScore grade, which should lead to strong word-of-mouth in the coming weeks — at least until The Dark Knight Rises arrives July 20.

‘RoboCop’ Viral Campaign Reveals the New ED-209

From slashfilm, That image above is a shot of the redesigned ED-209 automated security sentry drone from OmniCorp — you may remember the original ED-209 as the roaring, bullet-spitting hulk that went haywire in a boardroom demonstration and lead to the funding of RoboCop. (The funding of the fictional project/character, that is, not the funding of the original film.)

This image and the video that lies below the jump were revealed today as part of the early viral marketing campaign for Jose Padilha‘s new RoboCop, which will star Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson and Hugh Laurie. The film is set for August 9, 2013, but you can see the new ED, and seemingly a tease of RoboCop, below.

Those with a keen memory for the original film will note that the video [above] seems to position ED and RoboCop as complimentary technology, rather than competing interests. So that’s a bit different than what we saw in the Paul Verhoeven movie. Wonder how that factors in to the new take?

Cruise Dislikes ‘The Master’

From thedailybeast, Tom Cruise was reportedly upset about scenes in Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming film The Master, which portrays a cult leader said to bear a striking likeness to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Anderson, who has worked with Cruise in the past, reportedly showed the film to the actor and prominent Scientologist and got a cold response. A source told the New York Daily News that “Tom Cruise’s people are grumbling” about a line in the movie in which one character reportedly says that the cult leader, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, is “making it up as he goes along.” A Church of Scientology spokesman said, “No one in the church has seen the film, and we have no comment.”

The Hobbit Gets A Beautiful New Comic Con Poster

From cinemablend, Based on J.R.R. Tolkein's first novel and a prequel of sorts to Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, the story follows Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he heads out of Bag End with a troop of dwarfs to rescue a long lost treasure from a dragon named Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). Much of the director's stellar cast from the first film has parts in the new movies, including Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, and Andy Serkis. Evangeline Lilly, Richard Armitage, John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Barry Humphries, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O'Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, and Aidan Turner all have roles as well. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey arrives in theaters December 14th and we'll be reporting every second of their Comic Con panel next Saturday.

First "The Dark Knight Rises" Reviews are Very Positive

From worstpreviews [NO SPOILERS]

"The Dark Knight Rises" hits theaters on July 20th and Warner Bros held the first press screening, which resulted in a standing ovation. Even though we have yet to get any full reviews, the initial reactions have been overwhelmingly positive.

We have now collected some of those reactions for you below. Since there are plenty of spoilers, we cut those out and just left the overall opinions. It seems that almost everyone agrees that this is not only the best installment in Christopher Nolan's franchise, but may also be an Oscar contender.

Here are the reviews:

* Wow. Quite speechless at the moment...."TDKR" was everything I wanted it to be.

* So much awesome... can't wait to see it again. And again. And 9 out of 10 for me. I'd put "Amazing Spider-Man" at a 7.5 and "Avengers" at an 8.5.

* This film was the perfect final chapter in the trilogy.

* I think Bale gives his best performance as Batman and as Bruce Wayne in this one.

* Nolan manages to convey this wild ride into 165 minutes of his best work.

* "The Dark Knight Rises" is not only easily the best Batman movie yet, but now one of my favorite movies I've ever seen. It was unbelievable!

* If this does not break the mold and win Best Picture, no comic book movie ever will.

Awesome: Watch A 32-Year-Old Man Have A Conversation With His 12-Year-Old Self

From giantfreakinrobot, Ever wished you could go back in time and offer advice to a younger version of yourself? Perhaps to warn you of a future tragedy or upcoming event that will change the course of your life. Or maybe you just want to give yourself tips on dating girls. An American man living in Caen, France did exactly that (but not in the cool traveling through time way).

Jeremiah McDonald is the 32-year-old filmmaker who recently made the above Youtube video. The editing looks pretty seamless and quite conversational although it is a bit eerie to see two versions of the same person from different decades talking to each other.

By adding a comical and casual back-and-forth between the two, McDonald has taken something silly we do as children and has made it into something new and exciting. Taking a look back at what you once were is a scary thing to do, you never know what you’ll find or remember but it’s no shock the same kid that made this video 20 years ago is the same person who made this funny Youtube video today.

Pinch me...

Sad news: LA Zoo's baby chimp is killed by adult male chimp

Drag. We were telling some friends about the chimp fight we saw, and they mentioned this piece of depressing news. You can see the three-month-old chimp clinging to her mom in this so-so picture I took. That was on Saturday, the day I half-joked about how glad I was Zack didn't see some chimp blood. Just three days later, zoo visitors did witness something awful, as the baby was suddenly grabbed from her mom's arms and, in the words of one witness, "thrown around." Ugh.

Sorry to bring you down, folks! I felt this piece of the story deserved some ink.