There has been a lot of heated debate about that second Hobbit film. Many Lord of the Rings fans will take anything Middle-Earth, even if it's two hours cobbled out of appendices. Others see it as a betrayal of the Tolkien canon, and a blatant money grab by all involved. I readily admit I fall into the first category -- but I certainly don't want to see a bad film just to get a visual Middle Earth fix.

No matter what camp you fall into, however, Guillermo del Toro just made a statement that should please everyone. According to Defamer, he promises they are looking at adapting The Hobbit first and foremost -- and that a second film may not even happen. "We believe there is a second movie," del Toro said. "If there isn't, there will not be. If we find it, we will shoot it, but by God, if we do not find it, we will not shoot it. I am anxious to shoot the book, and I'm willing and able to dedicate myself to shooting the [second film]. In the four books that are in the domain of the copyright, there are appendices and ideas and things that can be traced without risk. But I have to be careful not to overstep. We believe there is a way to create this film and make it interesting, but it's too early."

I'm not the most knowledgeable man when it comes to dance, but I'm at least a little familiar with Cyd Charisse. As everyone should be. Next to Ginger Rogers, she was possibly the most iconic female dancer in film history. Even those of us cinephiles who skip out on most dance musicals have at least seen her famous number from Singin' in the Rain (above). A few years ago, when Moviefone counted down the Top 10 Best Dance Scenes, it was #2 (just behind Dirty Dancing).

Charisse has died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 86, and she's hopefully joining old partners Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly for some of the best dance scenes ever seen up in heaven. With the former, she was paired up in The Band Wagon, Ziegfeld Follies and Silk Stockings (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination), and with the latter, she danced in Brigadoon, It's Always Fair Weather, Invitation to Dance and, of course, in Singin' in the Rain.

We have no details at all beyond what you just read in the headline, but THR is reporting that MGM has remakes of Robocop and Red Dawn in the works. (L-Rappe had some buzz on Robocop right here.) Studio chiefs Harry Sloan and Mary Parent must have simply stood up at Cannes and said out loud: "MGM is remaking Robocop and Red Dawn" before vanishing into a hotel or something. So in lieu of additional information regarding cast and crew, I'll just fill a second paragraph with some ranting.

First off, you're never going to improve on Paul Verhoeven's Robocop, which is just about the most spot-on, no-bullsh!t action satire you'll ever see. Unless MGM wants to hire someone like David Fincher or Brad Anderson, I don't have a very good vibe on a Robo-remake. And Red Dawn? Well ... obviously you'd have to update the villains, wouldn't you? Viewed through a socio-political spectrum, John Milius' Red Dawn might be one of the most "outdated" action movies at the video store. Plus, as cool as it looks on screen, the concept of paratroopers invading America is pretty damn hilarious.

So obviously I don't think much of either project at this point. (Sorry, but when I read the word "remake," my brain heads right to the word "lazy," although obviously that's not always the case.) But of course I'll see both of 'em as soon as they come out. I just can't help it. And since it's also an '80s-era MGM title that begins with a "R," I guess you can expect a remake of Road House soon enough.

Gotta love those fan-friendly filmmakers. Next Saturday the Hobbit-makers (Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro) will participate in an online Q&A session -- and you've we've been invited to contribute some queries! Got a question about the cast? The second film? SMAUG??!? Then make sure you're signed up in advance, and get your question(s) ready!

ComingSoon.net tipped me off first, but you can see a full invitation from Mr. Jackson right here. Here's a snip: "We ask all fans with an interest in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings to send one question to this website. Ask us anything! Guillermo and I will select and answer the 20 most common questions, so we can both attempt to address the key issues as best we can ... In addition to answering your 20 questions -- for the entire hour we'll take additional live questions and chat about the projects with anyone who's interested."

(Dramatic pause)

ANYONE WHO'S INTERESTED? Holy macaroni, my geek-meter just overheated. Hell, I don't even need to ask a question (anything I'd want to know would probably be covered by a smarter geek than me), but I cannot WAIT to read the transcription of this chat session. Ugh, I can't believe we have to wait over two years for this Hobbit movie, but what sweet torture it is.

I guess there is always room for another weird form of time travel. A big blue box has been making time travel fun for years on Doctor Who, and now we're getting a wet and wild version. The Hollywood Reporter posts that MGM has picked up a new comedy project by Josh Heald called Hot Tub Time Machine. Doesn't that sound like something right out of the '80s? I could totally see it as a follow-up to Weird Science.

Anyway ... the flick is said to follow "a group of guys, adults who used to be cads back in their heyday, who, after a night of vodka and Red Bulls in a hot rub, travel back in time and set out to rediscover their 'mojo.'" Methinks there will be no room in this feature for time travel rules and paradoxes -- this is sounding like the sort of project that will throw time travel law to the wind ... or maybe not!

MGM exec Cale Boyter says: "We're always looking for ways to stand out from the rest of the pack in today's crowded marketplace, and what better way than to combine hot tub debauchery and the complications of time travel." Oh, the ultimate geek adventure -- perfecting youthful ways whilst trying not to complicate time travel. What I don't get is how this works -- are they going back in time to watch themselves secretly and try to re-tap into their lost lasciviousness? I get the feeling it won't matter; I'm betting this flick will be all about the boobs and booze.

Brace yourselves, genre geeks, because here's some fantastic news: It's official. Dark fantasy master Guillermo del Toro has been officially signed to direct the Hobbit adaptation(s). Obviously we halfway knew this was coming, but it's great to have the news confirmed: We have a few years to wait, but the two-movie MGM/New Line adaptation of The Hobbit ... will both be "del Toro films." That's just awesome.

According to Variety, Guillermo will actually MOVE to New Zealand for four years to work on the two films. How's that for commitment to a project? Although it's not a done deal, it's expected that producers Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens will co-adapt the Tolkien tale together. No word yet on which Lord of the Rings cast members will be invited back for the prequels, but I'm betting we'll soon see Sir Ian donning that wizard's hat again!

And if I could just editorialize for a quick second: Guillermo del Toro has never made a bad movie. And don't say Mimic because that's a really underrated horror flick.

Here I was thinking that the trailer for My Best Friend's Girl was quite possibly the unfunniest thing I had ever had the "pleasure" of sitting through. Then, I stumbled across the trailer for College (see above). Directed Deb Hagen, College is a teen comedy about three friends (who appear as if they were discovered at a Superbad look-a-like convention) on a weekend getaway scouting colleges. In between beer bongs, the boys are recruited by a rowdy fraternity and find love with three girls that are ridiculously out of their league. From then on it's recycled gags from every R-rated comedy you can think of since Bluto first shouted "Toga!"

Drake Bell, Andrew Caldwell, and Kevin Covais star as the three buddies (and here is a little fun fact: Covais was a goody-two shoes American Idol hopeful back in 2006). MGM has slated the film for an August 29th release, which is probably a good idea because it is a relatively quiet time in the summer blockbuster season (the only competition will be Babylon A.D. and Vicky Cristina Barcelona). Judging from the trailer, College is going to need all the help (and free beer) it can get.

In an age ruled by wussy PG-13 horror and sterilized action, the world cried out for a hero. And behold, for it has found one; actually, it has found two. Their names are Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor -- usually credited as just "Neveldine/Taylor" -- and they have come to rescue us from the gutless, joyless, cynical genre films that seem to top the box-office more and more often with each passing year.

So far, Neveldine/Taylor have but two credits to their name: the deranged Jason Statham actioner Crank, and the screenplay for last weekend's twisted, frightening "medical" thriller Pathology. (Here I must respectfully dissent from my co-blogger Jeffrey M. Anderson's thoughtful negative review of the latter.) They've developed a clear m.o. -- gruesome, over-the-top violence, unhinged sexuality, frenetic plotting, a conscious disregard for plausibility -- and a certain contingent of filmgoers are eating it up with a spoon. I don't blame them: movies that don't pull their punches are pretty rare, and it's easy to love these two simply for having the fortitude to go balls-to-the-wall.

Yet another movie withheld from press screenings, Pathology isn't exactly a horror movie, though it does contain a good amount of gore. It inspired me to coin a new subgenre: "secret underground club of life and death" movies. In these films, two or more young people get together and use logic and intellect to cut through the dreary, soul-deadening reality of life and get closer to something more metaphysical, usually involving death or sex or both. Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948) is an early example, in which two students kill a man for sport, and then throw a dinner party with the corpse hidden in the very center of the room, just to see what it would be like. Other examples might include Flatliners (1990), Crash (1996) and Fight Club (1999). (Am I forgetting any?) Unfortunately, in conjuring up these other examples, Pathology quickly collapsed in comparison.

Seems like we bloggers spend about half our time blogging about blogging. Whether it's stories about how blogging is bad for your health (so that's my excuse!), or about how bloggers are replacing newspaper film critics, writers love to write about writers. So the logline for Bobism, a film whose screenplay Variety says MGM has just purchased, made me laugh -- I'm sorry, made me LOL:

"A shy collegian learns that life 1,000 years in the future will be based on his blog."

Ha! That's awesome. And really, it's only fair. Hollywood makes lots of movies about out-of-nowhere athletes who become superstars, thus fulfilling the fantasies of legions of armchair-quarterback viewers who dream about the same thing happening to them. They make plenty of romantic comedies where women live fabulous lifestyles (usually working at a magazine) and wind up wearing the perfect wedding dress as they marry the perfect guy, thus fulfilling the fantasies of millions of female viewers. So it's about time they make a wish-fulfillment movie for us bloggers, where we get to indulge our daydreams of being really, really important!

What in the world is going on now? Valkyrie (recently criticized by Fox's Roger Friedman, who said the film "is set up for not only failure, but ridicule") has just shifted release dates yet again (according to The Hollywood Reporter); this time moving from October 2008 to President's Day Weekend 2009. You might remember that the flick was originally supposed to hit theaters this June, before the first release date shift was made. Some claimed MGM and United Artists were moving the film to the fall in order to line up for possible Oscar consideration. Could all of this early negative talk have convinced them to, instead, target one of the first big holiday weekends of 2009?

Seems like a pretty good decision to me. With everyone trashing Tom Cruise for his non-existent German accent and silly eye patch, there was pretty much no way this film was going to be taken seriously come Oscar time. The cast definitely rocks -- no doubt there -- but if Lions for Lambs proved anything, it's that you should not release a Tom Cruise film in the middle of Oscar season unless it's Thanksgiving Weekend and we're talking Mission Impossible 4. Valkyrie will now go up against a new Friday the 13th film and Confessions of a Shopaholic. Clark Woods, president of domestic distribution, had this to say: "When an opening became available for President's Day Weekend, we seized the opportunity. Moving into a big holiday weekend is the right move."

Let's hope there's still a right move to be made...

It ain't high art and it sure isn't "brilliant filmmaking," but the arrival of Craig Mazin's Superhero Movie is actually a (small) cause for (minimal) celebration. And here's why: Over the last few years, the word "spoof" has become synonymous with the phrase "wretched non-movie." One need only pick through titles like Date Movie, Epic Movie, The Comebacks and Meet the Spartans to see that the spoof movie is one good place to hide if you're very lazy. Just about every movie freak I know was skeptical of Superhero Movie because they've been burned too often by this sort of schtick -- but I'm pleased to note that Superhero Movie actually represents a (slight) upswing for the oft-maligned sub-genre. It's sure as hell no Airplane! -- but it sure as hell isn't Date Movie, either.

Written and directed by Scary Movie(s) scribe Craig Mazin (and produced by two of the guys responsible for not only Airplane!, but Top Secret!, Hot Shots, and The Naked Gun, too), Superhero Movie is a colorful mixture of the old-school spoof style (thank god for Leslie Nielsen) and the more current crotch- and fart-addicted sensibility. It's very broad, very silly, very episodic, and frequently very sloppy, but (and here's a big but) Superhero Movie succeeds over many of its cousins for one simple reason: It's pretty funny.

Not very long ago, Jessica told you that Steve Zahn and Timothy Olyphant had signed up to play in David Twohy's A Perfect Getaway, but it seems like the writer / director was scouting for actresses over the weekend. Looks like Milla Jovovich will be paired up with Zahn (the lucky dog) and Ms. Kiele Sanchez will be hanging with Mr. Olyphant. (Genre fans will remember David Twohy from flicks like The Arrival, Pitch Black, Below, and ... The Chronicles of Riddick.)

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Jovovich and Sanchez join Timothy Olyphant and Steve Zahn in the thriller, which revolves around a newlywed couple on their honeymoon in Hawaii who run into two hikers who turn out to be vicious killers." Call me psychic, but I'm betting it's the Olyphant / Sanchez couple who do the stalking and the Zahn / Jovovich duo who do the running ... although it'd probably be more interesting the other way around.

The whole gang will begin shooting A Perfect Getaway next week in Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Tough gig. As far as the flick is concerned, I'm just a bit skeptical. Haven't we had enough of the Americans Terrorized Overseas thrillers yet? Then again (Chronicles notwithstanding) I'm a big fan of the Twohy, so I suppose one more dose of Passport Purgatory won't be all that bad.

To be honest, I'm always a little surprised that Steve Zahn managed to carve out a dramatic acting career. I can't help but think 'Studs' whenever I look at him, but since Rescue Dawn I'm not the only one who discovered that Zahn can handle the 'grittier' side of life. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Zahn has signed to star alongside Timothy Olyphant (Hitman) in the psychological thriller, A Perfect Getaway.

David Twohy will direct from his own script about a honeymooning couple who become the targets for a pair of killers. Zahn will play the husband and Olyphant (true to form) will play one of the violent psychos. There is no word yet on the partners for each of our leading men, but it's not like its going to be all that difficult to fill the parts of 'Frightened Wife" and "Psycho Killer". Twohy made his name as a screenwriter and has made some good and some not so-good movies. Twohy has directed in the past, but with the exception of Pitch Black, there isn't much to recommend some of his previous endeavors.

Zahn already has three other films in various stages of production. First up will be two comedies, a baseball flick titled Calvin Marshall and then a romantic comedy with the very unfunny title of Management. A Perfect Getaway is set to start filming on location in Puerto Rico and Hawaii starting at the end of this month, but there is no word of a release date. Stay tuned to Cinematical for any news that comes our way.

It was almost a year ago that MGM broke the news that they were planning on updating the classic musical, Fame. Now Variety reports that MGM has finally hired Search for the Next Pussycat Doll dance director Kevin Tancheron to helm the remake. You might remember that back in May, sources had Andy Fickman signed to direct. I guess experience won out in the end, and producers Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi decided to go with someone who really knows their way around a 'pas de deux'.

The story will still take place in the famed New York High School of Performing Arts, and follow a group of students from auditions to graduation day. Part of why Fame stood out as one of my favorite musicals was that it was a bit grittier than your usual song and dance flick. Not everyone looked like a supermodel, and characters dealt with drug problems, abortions, and coercion into porn -- not exactly what you expect from a story about singing and dancing teens.

Casting has not started yet for the film, but open calls are already being arranged on both coasts. Tancheron might not have much directing experience, but he seems to have a soft spot in his heart for the story. Tancheron told Variety, "I grew up in this world; the characters in Fame are me and my best friends. I was the dancer with the number on my chest, I was the choreographer watching my friends dance, and then I produced and directed dancers." Since a remake is inevitable, I guess fans can take solace in the fact that at least it's no longer the guy who made She's the Man at the wheel.