When a 'Planet of the Apes' Remake Is Not a 'Planet of the Apes' Remake

As a guy who relies on Damn Dirty Apes as the very basis of his movie review system, news about Planet of the Apes will always interest me, even if - as in this case - it's not strictly speaking about Planet of the Apes.

Fox has apparently fallen in love with the story from the Apes prequel Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Its president, Tom Rothman, went on Fox Movie Channel during an Apes marathon and said, more or less, that they were trying to find a script for a new movie. That was Saturday. Sunday, the news came that Scott Frank, who wrote and directed The Lookout, would be hired by the studio to handle those duties on the Conquest remake, once called Apes: Genesis and now called Caesar.Monday, CHUD talked to Frank and he confirmed that he was going to write and direct Caesar, but it's not a Planet of the Apes movie. "(H)is film will not feature talking monkeys," writes Devin Faraci of CHUD, "and it will not end with chimpanzees running wild in the streets, taking over the world."

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Mr. Skin's Top 20 Nude Scenes of 2008

I never thought I'd say this, but I feel sorry for Mr. Skin. I also feel sorry for the Detroit Lions, which I also never thought I'd say, but Mr. Skin has had a rough year.The purveyor of the prurient is back with another list of the best nude scenes of the year, and let's just say it can't compare to 2007, with Maria Tomei in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Natalie Portman in Hotel Chevalier, and Christina Ricci in Black Snake Moan. I mean, I'm not even sure that there are actually 20 nude scenes here, and among those that might be, there aren't a whole lot of big names, the kind of thing that really makes this list worthwhile.So while the list is still worth checking out, the inclusion of porn Frankenstein Jenna Jameson from Zombie Strippers kind of tells you all you need to know, doesn't it?Here's the top ten, according to the expert in the field:1 - Mischa Barton - Closing the RingSays Mr. Skin: "Mischa Barton not only goes topless 26 minutes into this World War II drama, but at the 34-minute mark, the O.C. hottie bares T&A. Mischa’s nude scenes are luscious, lengthy and brightly lit, so they’re guaranteed to turn you into a Barton fink!" 2 - Sophie Monk - Sex and Death 101
3 - Heather Graham - Adrift in Manhattan
4 - Asia Argento - The Last Mistress
5 - Neve Campbell - I Really Hate My Job
6 - Anna Faris - The House Bunny
7 - Amy Smart - Mirrors
8 - Mena Suvari - Stuck
9 - Penelope Cruz - Elegy
10- Angelina Jolie - Wanted OK...Angelina wasn't naked in Wanted, so I don't know what that's about. I mean, did I block that out somehow? I simply don't recall an actual nude scene of any kind there. Of the ones I've seen - because some of these movies never made it to theaters - I'd say your best bet is actually Mena Suvari in Stuck. It's a quality movie and a surprisingly good scene.

Brian Grazer Explains, Spoils 'Nottingham'

I thought it was genius to tell the Robin Hood story from another perspective, that Robin Hood actually was the bad guy. That's a great way to change a classic around. And I thought casting Russell Crowe as the Sheriff of Nottingham was another good idea.

Then, after the production was told to stop in the name of love (or greener foliage), we learned that Russell Crowe would or might play both Nottingham and Robin Hood. And that, again, is a stroke of genius.But perhaps we've given Ridley Scott et al too much credit. Brian Grazer, the high-haired Imagine Entertainment honcho tells MTV that there are certain facts we need to know. I must warn you, this is a pretty sizable spoiler, so if you like it fresh, stop reading.

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Underwhelming New Poster for 'Monsters vs. Aliens'

I'm not going to lie to you: This poster ain't much. I've really, really enjoyed the trailers for Monsters vs. Aliens, DreamWorks' next big animated flick, which kind of modernizes the monster movies of the 1950s, but I think they missed a real opportunity with their first poster, which was loitering over at IMP Awards. See? It's just a pun and a character against a white background. I think there's a lot of potential for better posters, so hopefully the studio figures that out sooner than later. I guess since this is a character poster, we'll see several more just like this before too long. Monsters vs. Aliens opens March 27th and features the voices of  Seth Rogen (well, kind of), Will Arnett, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Hugh Laurie, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, and Stephen Colbert. If you're interested, Jim Dorey has the Russian version of this poster at Marketsaw.

'Justice League' Director Exposed to Kryptonite

The doomed-from-the-start Justice League of America movie has either suffered another blow, or it's now free to start over. According to Dark Horizons, the superhero adaptation has parted ways with director George Miller.But appearing on a weekend chat show, Miller confirmed that he's off the project completely and he believes that if it ever gets going again, he expects it to be re-cast, which could mean no Adam Brody as the Flash and even more confusion about the identity of Wonder Woman.I say good riddance. Not so much to Miller or even any of the actors, really, but rather just the idea itself. Despite the success DC Comics had with The Dark Knight, it's still not in the driver's seat as it relates to comic book movies. Jumping the gun on a bunch of standalone heroes in favor of throwing them all together is a bad idea. Look at it this way: If DC and Warner Bros. didn't like the last Superman movie and they don't like any ideas they've seen for Wonder Woman and Flash is still off in the distance, what sense does it make to put them all together in one movie, especially with a Batman who's not really Batman? Bad idea.I hope that DC hires some really great writers and some directors that can bring some diversity to the genre and develops its individual heroes first. On that point, Marvel has it exactly right; you can't deliver The Avengers before we see all the pieces in play first.