Mega Post of Movie News: Spiderman, The Hobbit, Lincoln, and The Dark Knight Rises

I've been a bit behind lately with the news posting mainly because real life has been catching up and since it's the end of the year there are many things to finish up.  Here's a massive news post of all the goings-on of note in the last month.

• Lots of news to report from the Spiderman reboot/prequel but sadly, still no title.  You're killing me here.  Decide already!  

-Dennis Leary will play the father of Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone).

-Campbell Scott and Julianne Nicholson are in talks for the parents of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield).\

-Irfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire, Namesake) is being considered for a 2nd villain.  Hmm, I wonder who he'll play.

• The Hobbit has its music composer: Howard Shore
• It's confirmed.  The voice cast for the new Cars 2 movie  I'm so excited that Michael Caine is voicing a character and it's an Aston Martin.  Pixar brilliance!
• My favorite director, Christopher Nolan, is set to receive the first ever Visionary Award from the Visual Effects Society (VES).
• Both Christian Bale and Chris Nolan say that the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises would be "it" for the Batman Saga.  Never say never!
• Daniel Day-Lewis will star as Lincoln in the long in the making biopic to be directed by Steven Spielberg. This coming as the same time as the other Lincoln movie, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  Coincidence, I think not.
• Were you amazed by the gorgeous animation of "The Tale of the Three Brothers" in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1?  It was an outstanding little short film within a film and the director, Ben Hibon, is getting the recognition he deserves.  Hibon will direct Pan, a very dark take on the Peter Pan tale.  Kudos!
• This past March, Tom Hanks presented Kathryn Bigelow with Best Film Oscar for The Hurt Locker.  I'm sure he must have whispered to her backstage, Hey, Congratulations and keep in mind for your next film!" What do you know? He's in her next film.  The good stuff goes down only at the Oscars. 
• Hans Zimmer will be the composer for the new Superman: Man of Steel reboot.  It's going to be tough to top John Williams iconic score but I'm sure that Zimmer is up to the the task.  I'm actually curious as to how he'll tackle it.  
• Ricky Gervais and Emily Blunt are the newest names to cameo in the Muppets Movie.  Does anyone remember when Ricky visited Sesame Street?  Keeping my fingers crossed for a repeat.  
• The newest show to get a movie update? That would be 21 Jump Street, and the undercover cops posing as high-schoolers will be Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill.  When did this become a comedy?  
• J.J. Abrams Star Trek was a big hit and everyone is keen to find out what is the next one going to be about.  The writers reveal that they are looking to get inspiration from some old Star Trek episodes for the sequel.  

Finally, the awards update of the week, the Golden Globe nominations are already in the mail and will be announced on December 14th.  What movies and actors do you think will be named?

Article of the Day: A must-read Vanity Fair article on Johnny Depp by Patti Smith.  He discusses Jack Sparrow and how Disney executives were all nervous by his take on the character.