The Nightmare Before Christmas

Last week, I alerted you to a few sneak previews for the new Collector's Edition of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and now you can see the discs in all their glory for yourselves!

The stop-motion classic stars Chris Sarandon as the voice of Jack Skellington -- the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown. He gets bored with the town's work of scaring humans on Halloween, and when he accidentally falls into Christmas and sees all the good tidings, he comes back with a plan to nab Santa and have Christmas Halloween-style. This, of course, leads to a whole big mess of kidnapping and stolen paramours.

Being a real Collector's Edition (and not a crappy re-release preying on our collector mindsets), there's a ton of special features to enjoy. There's a commentary, a tour of the Haunted Mansion done up for a holiday tour, a featurette on the seasonal transformation, Tim Burton's original poem narrated by Christopher Lee, and a making-of featurette -- just on the first disc! The second mainly includes the goodies from the previous release. There's Frankenweenie, Vincent, deleted scenes,art galleries and animation tests, a storyboard/film comparison, and a selection of posters and trailers. The blu-ray disc only offers an extra 30-second intro, but the ultimate contains a digital copy on a third disc, plus funky keepsake packaging and collectible extras.

Check out Patrick's Review | Buy the Collector's Edition DVD, the Ultimate Set, or the Blu-Ray disc

Now here's a fun little scoop from IESB.net: Turns out that not only will Jodi "Ariel" Benson be returning to the Toy Story series to reprise her role as the legendary Barbie (such a doll) , but this time she'll be dragging her boyfriend into the story. And according to IESB, that Ken doll's voice will be provided by none other than Michael Keaton. So that's why you cover the press junkets for video flicks like The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning -- so you can score cool information like this.

Best known as Batman, Beetlejuice, Johnny Dangerously, and Mr. Mom, the always-cool Keaton is no stranger to the voice acting business. He recently did some fine work in Pixar's Cars, and his pipes can also be heard in certain episodes of King of the Hill and The Simpsons. Anime fans will remember that Keaton also provided a voice for the U.S. version of Miyazaki's Crimson Pig (aka Porco Rosso) back in '92.

Mr. Keaton would be joining a very familiar crew: Returning for round three are Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, Wallace Shawn, and (of course) John Ratzenberger. Toy Story 3 -- which apparently centers around our favorite playthings' misadventures at a day-care center -- won't hit theaters until the summer of 2010, but if that's how long it takes to make a worthy follow-up to two of the sweetest animated films ever made ... then 2010 it is. Obviously we'll bring you the latest on TS3 as soon as it pops up.

As an opinionated cinephile, Roger Ebert has every right to dislike 3-D movies. And recently, on his blog, Roger Ebert's Journal, he wrote about such disfavor. Basically, in response to accidentally missing the press screening for the new animated 3-D flick Fly Me to the Moon, he admits that, because of a certain prejudice against the format, he likely wouldn't have enjoyed the movie anyway.

My issue here is not to attack Ebert's opinion or his belief that after half a century of dissatisfaction with the format he's never going to change his mind about it. He's free to express both. And while I disagree and am disappointed, I would never claim that Ebert doesn't know what he's talking about. He's certainly smarter about film than I'll ever be, and his opinions are far more respected than my own.

However, Ebert is also one of the most widely read film critics in the world, and therefore he is a pretty influential person when it comes to the subject of movies. And I would hate for moviegoers to dismiss the new wave of 3-D movies simply because of Ebert's stance on the format. So, I merely intend to respond to his opinion with an opinion of my own, as apparently one of the wider read gushers on the topic of digital 3-D.

In what appears to be part of a most thorough campaign to botch Entertainment Weekly's Fall Movie Preview, a recent press release wholly admits that the North American opening of the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, back from November 7th to the 14th marks an effort to capitalize on last week's sudden Harry Potter shift.

Although the removal of the 007th from any coming marketing blitz sure is a shame, it does place this film closer to the release of its predecessor, Casino Royale, which opened on November 17, 2006 to the tune of almost $600 million worldwide. Solace will still premiere in the United Kingdom on October 31.

For those keeping track at home, this now leaves Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and the just now shifted Paul Rudd comedy Role Models on November 7th, and the 14th is now between Bond, Baz Luhrmann's epic drama Australia, and Bernie Mac's final film, Soul Men.

Now, think fast! When does Something of Boris open again?!

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? First you become Tromeo, and now -- Gnomeo. Well, people have been trying to rename you to Gnomeo for a while now. Heck, last time Cinematical wrote about the upcoming CGI feature Gnomeo and Juliet, it was 2006 and Kate Winslet and professional voice actor Greg Ellis were attached to voice the film. Almost two years later, the garden gnome romance is still hiking its way to the big screen, and The Hollywood Reporter posts that James McAvoy and Emily Blunt are in negotiations to voice the leads.

While I'm bummed to see another voice actor lose his work, there are some quirks to look forward to with this feature -- namely Elton John classics. At first, a whole new set of romantic songs were going to be penned by Tim Rice and John, but that didn't work out so we get the good ol' classics. Will Gnomeo fall off Juliet's balcony and sing: "I'm Still Standing"? Will the two dance, canoodle, and sing: "Tiny Dancer"? Will "Candle in the Wind" be adapted once again for the tragic finale? Oh, the possibilities.

Now, it's also said to be a "loose and edgy" adaptation, so perhaps these gnomes will get their happy ending -- although I'd hope it wouldn't stray too far from the original. Whatever the case, it'll be a long wait. The project is currently in the storyboard stage, with plans to wrap up production by 2010.

Earlier today Cinematical managed to grab the adorable and hysterical Anna Faris for a nice, quiet comfy-couch chat about what it's like appearing on the cover of Playboy Magazine, her new movie The House Bunny and a ton of other randomness (look for our interview later this week). While speaking with Anna about her upcoming projects, she did tell us a little bit more about the voice work she's doing for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, based on the popular book by Judi and Rob Barrett. The film follows "a scientist who tries to solve world hunger only to see things go awry as food falls from the sky in abundance."

For Faris this is her first animated movie, and she'll be playing a weather girl who's kind of a tweaked version of her (they've filmed her movements and all that jazz). While speaking to her about it, Faris also revealed that aside from co-star Andy Samberg, Bill Hader and Mr. T will have roles in the flick. No word on who or what they'll be playing, though this marks Mr. T's first feature role since Not Another Teen Movie back in 2001. Ahem, I smell comeback ...

Faris said she's still doing a little work on the film, though most of her stuff is done. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is due in theaters on January 15, 2010. Stay tuned for our interview with my favorite bunny later this week ...

Video taken down at studio's request

It may be bootlegged -- and therefore a limited-time offering -- but from very early on, this trailer for next spring's 3-D animated bonanza Monsters vs. Aliens had me sold and only worked its way up from there.

I like that all of the human characters appear to be related to the Parr family, and that the monsters and aliens on display promise to look even cooler in three dimensions. I dig Stephen Colbert as the President and Keifer Sutherland as General W.R. Monger, not to mention other voices by Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Rainn Wilson, Hugh Laurie, and Paul Rudd. (Oh, and Reese Witherspoon never did anyone any harm either.) Most importantly, the project gives off a saavy sense of humor without relying as heavily on pop culture riffs as Dreamworks used to. A '50-styled sci-fi send-up should hold my attention as much as the little ones, if done right.

Between this, Kung Fu Panda, and Over the Hedge, I think that it's fair to say that Dreamworks Animation has found a reliable niche as Pixar's hipper cousin. With any luck, I won't be proven wrong come March 27, 2009.

With Toy Story (1995), a studio called Pixar blew the lid off of animated movies as we knew them. Thirteen years later, the other studios have yet to even approach that early level of excellence, let alone match the advancements Pixar has made since. Oddly similar to the most recent clunker Space Chimps, the new Fly Me to the Moon looked infinitely more promising in that it was based on an actual idea: the 1969 Apollo 11 mission as seen through the eyes of three stowaway flies -- in 3D! But sadly it proves itself as technically dull and as creatively stifled as Space Chimps as well as nearly every other non-Pixar movie.

After a totally useless, noisy black-and-white prologue, we get a very cool establishing shot. The camera flows smoothly through the back lots behind Cape Canaveral in Florida. It swoops into a patch of dirt and a tangle of weeds, through some bits of discarded junk, to the world where our little flies live (like humans, in little dollhouses). During this and other traveling sequences, the 3D works beautifully, engulfing us comfortably in this tiny world. But as soon as we meet the characters, the movie starts to sputter. In real life, houseflies can zip across the kitchen pretty darn fast relative to their size, but these flies drift lethargically from place to place, and the movie bogs down in their lackadaisical pace.

If Star Wars: The Clone Wars were a simple board game stacked up in a toy store aisle, the side of the box would read: "Ages 7 through Check Your Star Wars Ego at the Door." While the recent onslaught of superhero movies have brought us darker, more complex (and adult) storylines, one of our most beloved franchises has decided to travel in the opposite direction. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's actually somewhat comforting to find a film with the word 'Wars' mentioned twice in the title alone and know that it's suitable for all ages. When I first watched a Star Wars film on the big screen, my feet could barely touch the sticky theater floor -- and so if a fun-filled, action-packed animated adventure story helps usher in a whole new legion of fans -- subsequently turning younger kids on to three live-action movies that came out, like, a billion years ago -- then right friggin' on!

Almost immediately we're clued into the fact that this big-screen Star Wars flick was gift-wrapped by another department store. That classic, drum-hoppin' 20th Century Fox intro is replaced with a much more subdued Warner Bros. logo, and the film's title swings into frame accompanied by different music. In replace of the classic story scroll, we get a newsreel-esque voiceover bringing us up to date on the main characters and their current mission. No one's trying to trick us here -- this is Star Wars for the need-it-now generation, and whereas previous films seemed to spend too much time rolling around in political-speak, Clone Wars is all about the action, the battles and the cheesy one-liners.

It's starting to look like the only way we're going to get the bats out of the top five is to call an exterminator. Chalk up another $26 million for billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne and his war on crime as The Dark Knight hangs on to first place for a fourth week in a row. Seth Rogen's stoner comedy came in respectably at second, taking in only $3 million less than the Batman Begins sequel. Here's the break down:

1. The Dark Knight: $26.1 million
2. Pineapple Express: $23.2 million
3. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: $16.4 million
4. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: $10.6 million
5 Step Brothers: $9.1 million

We've got four new releases this week:

Mirrors
What's It All About: Directed by Alexandre Aja of High Tension fame, Mirrors stars Kiefer Sutherland as an ex-cop turned security guard who discovers something evil in the mirrors of an old museum. This scare flick is a remake of a Korean movie.
Why It Might Do Well: Who doesn't like a good scare, and Sutherland is a strong lead who is familiar to millions thanks to his work on 24.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The momentum for Asian horror remakes must be slowing by now, although every time I say that a new one pops up.
Number of Theaters: 2,600
Prediction: $12.5 million

In all the ComicCon insanity, a pretty cool story slipped under the Cinematical radar -- the news that Pixar had teamed up with Boom! Studios to create comic books and graphic novels based on the Disney/Pixar and Muppet properties. If that doesn't sound exciting to you, get a load of this -- the first series that will be published will be The Incredibles.

The series is confirmed for four issues, but author Mark Waid already has scripts penned for two more, and is hoping the series can continue beyond that. In an interview with MTV, Waid revealed that the storyline just about takes up where the movie left off. The characters aren't any older, and are still dealing with the insecurities and difficulties faced by a family of superheroes.

The four issue arc will center on Mr. Incredible, who starts suffering from heroic impotence. His powers are fading, and he doesn't want to tell his family or go to a doctor. Relgated to house husband status, "He feels terrible," Waid said. "He's calling them on the phone when they're on missions, to give them advice, but what he really needs to do is get his powers back." The Incredibles universe will be further fleshed out, introducing a doctor who practices superhero medicine.

The series will appear on store shelves in April, with other Pixar titles to follow. It sounds like Toy Story is the next in line, and the plan is to have six titles in rotation. None of the books, will deviate too far from the movie path in order not to interfere with possible sequels. And who knows -- we may just see The Incredibles go from the page to the screen for their second outing!

Another day, another George Lucas related kerfluffle. There's an, um, interesting new character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars named Zero Ziro the Hutt. He's purple, covered in sky blue tattoos, sports a peacock feather behind his squashy head, and really digs Cher.

Ok, I made that last one up, but only just barely. Because according to MTV, Jabba's uncle, Ziro the Hutt "is a gay stereotype that makes what Jar Jar Binks represented to the island of Jamaica look subtle by comparison." It's not his look, design, or movements that push him into iffy waters, but the voice: Ziro speaks like Truman Capote.

Why? Because Lucas insisted on it. Director Dave Filoni was one of many among the crew that was caught off guard by the request. "Ziro, Jabba's uncle, originally spoke in Hutt-ese, like Jabba and then he had a different sluggish voice just like Jabba, and then George one day was watching it and said 'I want him to sound like Truman Capote.' He actually said that and we were like 'Wow!' It's a hybrid of it but the inspiration is definitely there on Capote. It's one of those things that takes him from being an interesting character and I think really does put him over the top and does something. He's a favorite among the crew here."

After the first teaser trailer showed up recently for The Princess and the Frog, Disney's return to traditional hand-drawn-style animation, a lot of the blogosphere was labeling the film potentially racist. Hopefully the political correctness circles have died down a bit, though (or are at least concentrating too hard on Tropic Thunder), and we can appreciate some beautiful new artwork from the film without wondering how it might be reflective of stereotypes and whatnot. Over at DisneyAnimation.com, there is a gallery of "visual development" images that give us more of the background depicting 1920s New Orleans and its vicinity. For someone like me, who just recently revisited the Big Easy, the artwork is enough to get me excited about the movie, which unfortunately I must wait for until Christmas 2009.

The Princess and the Frog is a jazzy musical fairy tale based on the classic story "The Frog Princess" and features the first ever African American Disney princess (voiced by Anika Noni Rose). Other characters include a trumpet-playing alligator and a love-sick Cajun firefly. And clearly, from what these new images show us, it's set in New Orleans' French Quarter, as well as the Garden District (or maybe the mansion in this image is further outside the city) and on the bayou, where apparently someone lives in a shipwrecked boat, Swiss Family Robison style. Hopefully, since the story takes place during Prohibition, we'll get to see some swamp-set bootlegging going on.

Be sure to also visit the other project pages on DisneyAnimation.com, for minor info on 2010's Rapunzel and the Phillip K. Dick adaptation King of the Elves, set for a 2012 release. I'm sure there will be more artwork added for those titles in the future, so keep the site bookmarked.

Ever wondered what it would look like if some of our favorite superheroes (and villains) were to show up in random episodes of The Simpsons. Sure, we've already experienced Bart-Man, Radioactive Man, Hulk, Spidey ... and who am I forgetting ... but what if Batman, Joker, Penguin, Superman, Wonder Woman or The Flash popped into Springfield for a visit. (Didn't Batman make an appearance once? I forget.) Over at the blog Springfield Punx, they Simpson-ize a number of our most beloved fictional characters in movies and TV so that we, as fans, get to see what they would look like as Simpsons characters. Apart from Batman, there are a ton of Spidey-related Simpson characters, a little Star Trek, one Neo, a brilliant Arrested Development reference, Donnie Darko, James Bond ... and so much more. Check out a few of their images in the gallery below, then head on over to Springield Punkz to see the rest.