Lionsgate Sets 'Expendables,' 'Kick-Ass' Release Dates

It's humorous to me how much stock studios seem to put into specific films on specific weekends. It's a pet peeve of mine, actually, that a Marvel hero always opens summer now and Christopher Nolan will have that third weekend in July until it stops working, as if another Batman movie or Iron Man 2 wouldn't be profitable nearly any other time of the year.

And so it was with an ensemble action movie on August 21st. Inglourious Basterds has now turned a profit, minus those extra advertising costs, and it opened very well. So what does Lionsgate do with its upcoming ensemble action movie, The Expendables? Move it from April to August 20, 2010. Because clearly, the only time people will be in the mood for it is on that very weekend.

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Beavis and Butt-Head Discuss the Merits of 'Extract'

Oh, how I have missed Beavis and Butt-Head. Mike Judge hasn't avoided talk of another movie featuring the greatest animated team since...I dunno, Tom and Jerry? And Judge has brought them back to help promote his new film, Extract.

Before you watch it, there are spoilers ahead. I guess I don't care so much, but you might not want to hear what's what. Having said that, we also get a new clip from the film, one that does require a bit of setting up, so just to provide some context, Judge, Beavis, and Butt-Head have to fill in some of the blanks. And if nothing else, it's always good to see these guys.

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Stay Classy: 'Anchorman' Sequel is Happening

The most recent update on a possible Anchorman sequel came last week from Judd Apatow, who co-produced the film before his own stuff became the new school of comedy. Now Adam McKay, co-writer and diretor of the first movie, confirms to MTV that it's on like Donkey Kong.

"Maybe we'll start writing the script during post-production on [The Other Guy]," said McKay. "Movies take a while, so probably the closest you would ever see it happening is two years from now." "But we are definitely doing it," he added. "It's just a matter of when, and scheduling."

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First Look at the New 'Smurfs' Poster

I've said it before and I'll say it again: There's nothing wrong with remakes. We might be in the middle of a terrible hurricane season for them - and who knows when that will be downgraded - but on a case-by-case basis, I have zero problem with a remake, an update, a movie version of a TV show, a new adaptation of classic literature, and on and on. Audiences change. Filmmakers find new influences. Stories have new points of emphasis years later. Interpretation is not a crime.

For example, the Smurfs need a movie, or at least, they need a movie as much as they needed a TV show back in the '80s. It's a beloved product, the parents and grandparents of today's youth were fans of previous incarnations, the technology allows for a new direction, so yes: A new Smurfs movie is good business sense and it gives the audience what it wants. That was also true of Alvin & The Chipmunks; the movie just happened to blow. Here's a new poster, which the crack staff at Latino Review found, featuring one of our first official looks at a Smurf. I don't love it, and yeah, the movie's over a year away so it could change quite a bit between now and then, but I did think they'd be a little more progressive with the animation.

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Scream 2009 Nominees Announced

There is some good and bad with this year's crop of Scream Awards nominees. That's nothing new for any awards show, though. In this case, the good as that Let the Right One In, among of the best films of 2008 in any category, has as many nominations as just about anything else. Can the other teenage vampire movie come home a winner? Certainly in some categories it feels that way.

On the down side, you know you have too many awards when The Spirit receives two acting nominations...and it's not even Jaime King's only acting nomination of the year. The Scream Awards honors the best in horror, sci-fi, comic books, and fantasy, and on the whole, mixes the nominees between TV and movies where applicable, so you'll see True Blood competing with horror movies and Pushing Daisies in the fantasy category with Harry Potter. I kind of like that approach, especially for fan awards and in a climate where TV programming is leveling the playing field with film, which has certainly been the case for several years now. Spike TV puts together the show, and the awards will be handed out on October 17th at the Greek in Los Angeles...but it won't air for another ten days. Well done, Spike. Well done. Check out all the nominees in each of the 32 categories below:

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