Weekly News Roundup: Casting buzz for Superman and Batman!

• Holy Batman! Could Joseph Gordon-Levitt be re-joining his Inception director in The Dark Knight Rises.  We say: Yes, please!  Christopher Nolan himself confirmed that shooting will commence in May.  We'll know before then if Gordon-Levitt is a part of the cast.
• Now that the Man in Steel aka Henry Cavill has been announced, it's time to guess who might be Lois Lane.  The actress shortlist includes Jessica Biel, Olivia Wilde, Rachel McAdams, Malin Akerman and many more.  Expect an press release about this role soon enough too.
• Javier Bardem is seriously being considered for a villainous role in Bond 23.  He is scary good as a villain.  Watch out, Daniel Craig.
• Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand make up the cast of Mother's Curse which involves them going on a mother-son road trip.  Somehow, I can totally pciture them as mother and son already. 
• Until now, Scarlett Johansson was the lone female in the Avengers film.  That may be changing soon.  Deadline is reporting that Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) is very close to joining the Avengers as SHIELD agent Maria Hill.  Word is that she was director Joss Whedon's choice as Wonder Woman too.  Intriguing! 
• After Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp, new Oscar host James Franco's name is being offered as the lead in Oz, the Great and Powerful.  Shame, as I was really looking forward to seeing Robert Downey Jr. interpreting this role.  
• I wasn't sure I read this right, but it turns out that Tarsem Singh wants Julia Roberts to play the Evil Queen in his version of Snow White.  This will be interesting.
• Finally, for all you James Patterson fans, Alex Cross will be played by Tyler Perry.  Is he the right choice for the role?

Countdown to Oscar: The Annie Awards Announced!

Also occurring last night were the 38th International Animated Film Society's Annie Awards which were announced!  DreamWorks Animation had a big night taking most of the big awards.  Understably, since its biggest competition Disney and Pixar had boycotted the awards due to their complaints about the voting methods.   They were nominated, just barely, but in the end, How to Train Your Dragon became the animated film of the night flying through the awards.  But come Oscar night, it's a fight between Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon.  DreamWorks vs. Pixar.  Again.

Best Animated Feature

• How to Train Your Dragon – DreamWorks Animation

Best Animated Short Subject

• Day & Night – Pixar

Best Animated Television Commercial

• Children's Medical Center – DUCK Studios

Best Animated Television Production

• Kung Fu Panda Holiday – DreamWorks Animation

Best Animated Television Production for Children

• SpongeBob SquarePants – Nickelodeon

Best Animated Video Game

• Limbo – Playdead

Animated Effects in an Animated Production

• Brett Miller "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Television Production

• David Pate "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Feature Production

• Gabe Hordos "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Live Action Production

• Ryan Page – Alice in Wonderland – Sony Pictures

Character Design in a Television Production

• Ernie Gilbert "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon

Character Design in a Feature Production

• Nico Marlet "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Directing in a Television Production

• Tim Johnson "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation

Directing in a Feature Production

• Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois "How To Train Your Dragon"  DreamWorks Animation

Music in a Television Production

• Jeremy Wakefield, Sage Guyton, Nick Carr, Tuck Tucker "SpongeBob SquarePants" – Nickelodeon

Music in a Feature Production

• John Powell "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Production Design in a Television Production

• Richie Sacilioc "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation

Production Design in a Feature Production

• Pierre Olivier Vincent "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Storyboarding in a Television Production

• Fred Gonzales "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon

Storyboarding in a Feature Production

• Tom Owens "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in a Television Production

• James Hong as Mr. Ping "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in a Feature Production

• Jay Baruchel as Hiccup "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Writing in a Television Production

• Geoff Johns, Matthew Beans, Zeb Wells, Hugh Sterbakov, Matthew Senreich, Breckin Meyer, Seth Green, Mike Fasolo, Douglas Goldstein, Tom Root, Dan Milano, Kevin Shinick & Hugh Davidson "Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III" – ShadowMachine

Writing in a Feature Production

• William Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders  "How to Train Your Dragon"– DreamWorks Animation

Other notable awards handed out:

Winsor McCay Award — Brad Bird, Eric Goldberg, Matt Groening

June Foray — Ross Iwamoto

Ub Iwerks Award — Autodesk

Special Achievement — "Waking Sleeping Beauty"

The Social Network and Inception take the WGAs!

Here are the winners from last night's Writer's Guild of America.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Best Original Screenplay: Christopher Nolan, Inception

Documentary Writing: Chad Beck and Adam Bolt, Inside Job

Absolutely spot on!  Well done and congrats to all the winners!

Which Star Wars Occupation is Meant for You?

Here's a fun flowchart quiz to try out: Which Star Wars Occupation is Meant for You?

Via: Online Schools

I fall under either a Sith apprentice or Ewok Chief depending on my mood of the day.  I don't know whether to be pleased or insulted.  How about you?

Around the World in Posters: Captain America, Source Code & Hanna

It's been awhile since I put some new posters.  Here are some new superhero flicks and upcoming releases.

Ah, assassins! They grow them younger each year.  Saoirse Ronan as Hanna.

The first poster for Captain America: The First Avenger.  Chris Evans buff enough for you?

The UK poster for Kung Fu Panda 2.  Hi, Po!

I had to include this poster, Tyler Perry's take on Godfather.  Yeah, that sounds about right.

I'm expecting a lot from this film.  A comedy aimed for women from the Apatow-Feig School of Comedy.

Yet another rom-com by Kate Hudson.   She's the person you go to if you don't get Jennifer Aniston.

Nice poster for Scream 4.  Although I don't like incorporating the number 4 in the title.  Make it look it's being sent as a text.

Badly photoshopped poster for Source Code.  Just put a closeup of Jake and I'm so there.

Banner poster for the characters from Sucker Punch.

The adorable gang of Winnie the Pooh and his friends are back.

Teaser poster for X-Men: First Class

Inception and How To Train Your Dragon Clean Up at the VES Awards

The Visual Effects Society Awards were handed out today and the winners are listed below.



Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture: Inception (Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Mike Chambers and Matthew Plummer)

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture: Hereafter (Michael Owens, Joel Mendias, Bryan Grill and Danielle Plantec)

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture: How to Train Your Dragon (Simon Otto, Craig Ring and Bonnie Arnold)

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - Dobby (Mathieu Vig, Ben Lambert, Laurie Brugger and Marine Poirson)

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture: How to Train Your Dragon - Toothless (Gabe Hordos, Cassidy Curtis, Mariette Marinus and Brent Watkins)

Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture: How to Train Your Dragon (Andy Hayes, Laurent Kermel, Jason Mayer and Brett Miller)

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture: Inception - Paris Dreamscape (Bruno Baron, Dan Neal, Graham Page and Per Mork-Jensen)

Outstanding Models & Miniatures in a Feature Motion Picture: Inception - Hospital Fortress Destruction (Ian Hunter, Scott Beverly, Forest Fischer and Robert Spurlock)

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture: Inception (Astrid Busser-Casas, Scott Pritchard, Jan Maroske and George Zwier)

Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Short: Day & Night (Teddy Newton, Kevin Reher, Michael Fu and Tom Gately)

Thanks to the VES Awards for totally making my day and saving awards season for me.  These are winners I can get behind and cheer for.  Even Dobby from Harry Potter got some love.  And How to Train Your Dragon continues to impress.  Don't be surprised if there might be an upset in the Animation Category come Oscar night.  Yes, Inception director Christopher Nolan was also on hand to win the first ever Visionary Award from the VES.  A good day, indeed.  Are you listening, AMPAS?

Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue

It's Oscar season which means it's time for Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue.  It's usually quite prestigious to make the cover, the actors and actresses gracing it are the ones being buzzed about.  There are those who make it more than once and those who fade away.  I love the Hollywood Issue; it's so very classy and to be cliched, so very Hollywood.  Let's a look at this year's cover.