Alan Moore's classic Watchmen comic is coming to the big screen and director Zack Snyder is determined to keep the 1985 setting (with Richard Nixon as US President) intact for the film adaptation. Huzzah!

Los Angeles Times writer Patt Morrison joins the chorus of confused writers addressing the simple question:  Why the hell has Mike Judge's Idiocracy been buried by Fox?  See also...

• Slate's The Movie Hollywood Doesn't Want You To See
• Esquire's Mike Judge is Getting Screwed (Again)
• Variety's Idiocracy Review
  

Apparently, Americans aren't the only ones upset with current president George W. Bush. In Toronto, on September 10, the movie, Death of a President, is a "fictional documentery" featuring the president of the United States's death. I can't wait to see his response, if the movie will even be able to be released in the US, that is.

Traverse City Film Festival had a preview screening of the new Borat movie based on the popular character from the HBO series Da Ali G Show (and UK television before that). Film director and festival sponsor Michael Moore introduced the movie with director Larry Charles (of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm fame).

There's a lovely little film festival in full swing right now in Traverse City, Michigan (full disclosure: I'm a native of Michigan).  Documentary director Michael Moore, Governor Jennifer Granholm and actor Jeff Daniels were on hand Monday to kick it off.  If you happen to be in northern Michigan there are still tickets for sale so come check it out.  

My two big must-see movies for this week are Borat and The War Tapes.  Any other movies in the lineup look interesting?

I've probably seen the original Back to the Future movie more times any other movie.  It was the first movie we owned on VHS and it was years before we bought another tape.  Imagine my suprise when I read that the Michael J. Fox role Marty McFly was originally played by Eric Stoltz (Mask,  Pulp Fiction, 2 Days in the Valley).  The crazy part is that they filmed 6 weeks (6 f**cking weeks!) with Eric Stoltz. 

This is obviously very old news, but it just blows my mind to think about anyone besides Michael J. Fox playing Marty.

Director Brad Bird (Iron Giant and The Incredibles) is helming Pixar's 2007 animated film Ratatouille. 

Check out the Ratatouille trailer here and the Ratatouille iMDB profile here.

Check out the official Transformers Movie site for the goods.  Here's hoping that colossal egomaniac tool director Michael Bay (even his iMBD photo makes him look like an a-hole) doesn't screw it up.

Luke Skywalker comes off as an even bigger wuss in this fairly long cut scene from Star Wars.  Still, it's interesting to see a little bit of Luke's everyday life before he heads out of Tatooine.

According to articles posted at Zap2it.com, the live-action movie version of The Transformers is actually beginning to take flight! Read on my fellow 80s nostalgic bretheren:

LOS ANGELES -- Three more actors will be joining DreamWorks' big-screen live-action adaptation of the futuristic robot adventure "The Transformers."

Tyrese Gibson is still in negotiations to co-star alongside confirmed actors Rachael Taylor and Amaury Nolasco in the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

or at least he saved some folks from a strange series of events. This awesome 8 minute short film will give you insight as to the true power of a turntablist. Check out doubleedgefilms then click on Spin at the top and then click Watch It at the bottom left. Can you say "aww yeah"? Hells yes!

For those of you among the Snakes on a Plane cult following there's a bit of news. The film is being reshot to include a fan favorite line to be delivered by Samuel L. Jackson....

"I want these mother------- snakes off the mother------- plane!"

Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (genuises behind the successful comedy/horror flick, "Shaun of the Dead," as well as the Channel 4 comedy series still mostly unknown to the majority of people in North America called "Spaced.") are now in the production phase of their new movie. The movie is a buddy cop-type in the same... ahem... vein as SOTD. It will star Simon Pegg as police constable, Nicholas Angel and Nick Frost as Danny Butterman. A wide array of popular and talented British actors fill in the rest of the slots and it looks like it should be another great success for the two writers.

Read more on the upcoming movie (set for release in Feb '07) as well as other news on the cast of Spaced at their official website

Star Wars episode IV animated in ASCII?  Someone has a little too much free time...

Either way, it's worth a watch.  Check it out here!  Additionally, Java is needed to view it, which can be found here!

Is this dark picture of Spider-Man supposed to be the alien symbiote costume?  Only time will tell.  

Tad Stones, who is supervising director and supervising producer for the two upcoming straight-to-DVD Hellboy animated movies, continues to update the blog for the projects and has revealed a first look at the animated Abe Sapien. Read the blog for more information on its progress.

Side note: Some character design work was partially done by a great comic artist, Cheeks (aka Sean Galloway), who is also a member at deviantart. Check out his gallery.

You can catch a quick little teaser trailer of Nicholas Cage as Ghostrider here.

Enjoy!

This movie trailer about the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11/2001 has certainly stirred up some controvery in the USA. Is it too soon to be recreating these tragic events?  Will people line up to see a movie where they know all the protaganists are going to die at the end?  How much do we really know about what went on up there? 

Harold Ramis chats about Dan Aykroyd's Ghostbusters 3 script with InFocus magazine.  Ramis says he'd like Ben Stiller added on, but the snippet doesn't mention the other two Ghostbusters -- Venkman (Bill Murray) or Winston (Ernie Hudson). There's also no word on Sigourney Weaver.  Hopefully they'll all be signed on for the third installment.

Growing up in the 80s and being a huge Bill Murray fan the original Ghostbusters was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I had a Ghostbusters t-shirt, the cheesy soundtrack and even a few of the toys from the crappy cartoon spinoff.  Hopefully the new flick will live up to my unrealistic childhood expectations.

The recent Spider-Man 3 villain rumors are apparently grounded in reality... Kirsten Dunst spilled that Venom and Sandman will indeed be the antagonists to our favorite web-slinger. 

I love seeing what other people's favorites are. I guess that's why I'm such a sucker for "top lists" and AFI (American Film Institute) has a slew of them.

• Top 100 Movies (PDF)
• Top 50 Stars (PDF)
• Top 100 Heroes and Villains (PDF)
• Top 100 Movie Quotes (PDF)
• And more...

Please note that XXX films are not very well represented on these lists.  Sorry Ripped Monkey.   

I never know what to believe on these movie gossip sites, but it looks like the villain lineup for Spider-Man 3 is set: Venom, Sandman and Hobgoblin.

Sounds like it could be a crowded movie. 

Sooooo, anyone remember the US is still fighting a war in Iraq (and Afghanistan) right now?  Americans and Iraqis are still fighting and dying and we're all just pissed that gas prices keep getting higher.  

Anyway, here's a preview of the upcoming flick Jarhead which takes place in that other Iraq war.  I'm really excited for the release of Jarhead mostly because Sam Mendes is directing. His last two movies were American Beauty and Road to Perdition -- both great flicks in my humble opinion. 

Courtesy of Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES — James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and motion pictures who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died early Wednesday. He was 85.

Read more

(Thanks to Ensellitis for providing the news flash)

Watch out for a Transformers Movie in 2007.  I'm guessing this will be a feast for the eyes with outstanding special effects, but will they make a lame kid's movie or a movie geared more towards adults?  Hopefully Dreamworks finds a talented director and crew to bring it to life.

Just caught the new Wallace and Gromit movie preview.  What an absolute treat for any animation fan.

As much as I hate Marvel right now for their idiotic lawsuits of the 'City of Heroes' developers, I'm kind of excited to see what they do with their new movie deal with Paramount (up to 10 movies in 8 years).

Check eeeeet.

Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones) will most likely be playing the part of the Juggernaut in the upcoming X-men film. Can't wait to see how they pull that character off on the big screen.

Matthew Vaughn on X-Men 3 & Stardust