Cinematical

There are those actors who somehow manage to raise the 'quality quotient' of any film that they are in -- and Denzel Washington is one of those actors. Whether he can keep that streak alive when The Taking of Pelham 123 opens on Friday remains to be seen, but today for Scenes We Love, I decided to throw a little love towards Washington for his performance in Antoine Fuqua's Training Day. Now just for starters; I have to say that it's not a great film...corny and satisfying? Yes, but great? Not quite. So how did Washington win an Oscar for his role as the corrupt LAPD officer, Alonzo Harris? Well, I think he earned it by taking a role in a paint-by-numbers cop thriller and turning it into an Oscar-worthy performance.

Everyone loves to see the bad guy get their comeuppance, and that's exactly what the final scenes of Training Day deliver. But in this scene, as Washington's dirty cop watches it all slip away, you can see it register on his face as all that power and respect circles the drain. In the hands of a lesser actor, this scene could have just been a cheap thrill of watching the bad guy get what he deserves, but to Washington's credit, he creates a very real moment where 'The Player' finally realizes he has lost the game.

Video and Training Day Fun Facts after the jump...

Honestly, I have no idea why any fan of Twilight would film themselves in full fan-girl mode and put it out into the world to open themselves up for ridicule and contempt on a global scale, but that's is precisely what they have done. To date, hundreds of fans have posted videos of themselves giddy with the prospect of a shirtless Taylor Lautner or a glimpse of the brooding 'deer-slayer' Edward Cullen in the first trailer for New Moon. The trailer premiered during the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, and was released on the net soon after, and the dedicated have been streaming/downloading it ever since. According to MTV, there have been, "4.2 million online views in the first 24 hours, contributing to a total of 7.8 million streams in the first seven days." And those fans are showing no signs of stopping.

I don't know why, but watching these videos is fascinating; I mean, this is like a tween version of the 2 Girls 1 Cup Reactions. You have your choice of seeing girls watch it in stone faced silence (but you know their inner fan-girl is squealing) and then there are those who frankly you just kind of feel bad for them (if you want to see an exercise in humiliation take a look at some of the comments that follow these videos). Personally, I like to play a game where I try and pinpoint the exact moment that Lautner or Robert Pattinson appear on screen by the glazed look that slowly takes over, but I've got a strange sense of humor.

Check out our picks for the five greatest New Moon trailer reactions after the jump ...

Now that Robert Rodriguez won't be making Barbarella anytime in the near future it looks like he has put his live-action Jetson's flick at the front of the pack instead. The director recently told MTV that he hopes to get the film in front of cameras by next year. A script was completed by Adam F. Goldberg (Fanboys) back in 2007, but Rodriguez has been hard at work on a rewrite and keeping quiet about casting prospects.

The Jetsons was the story of a futuristic family living in a world run by sprockets ... and that was about it, really. Each week, George Jetson would get fired, promoted, you name it -- and then head home to his family which consisted of the perfect housewife, a genius son and boy-crazy daughter. Their dog would mispronounce words; the robot maid would get a few wisecracks in and voila! A cartoon classic was born.

I'm not a big Jetsons fan, but I do love to play fantasy casting director, so here are my picks for a live-action Jetsons:

George Jetson: Steve Carell
Despite having a spotty record on the big-screen, Carell proved once before that he can walk away from a TV adaptation with his dignity intact. He not only has the look down, but he can play a lovable loser with the best of them and has a knack for physical comedy. What more could you ask for in a George Jetson?

Jane Jetson: Reese Witherspoon
Jane wasn't exactly a ditz, but let's just say she wasn't the sharpest sprocket in the pile either. Witherspoon has made bank on playing these kinds of characters in the past, and I think she has just the right amount of uptight to be the doting wife (and straight man) to her wackier better half.

After the jump: my final picks...

Well, Spider-Man is back in the headlines and it's official: Kirsten Dunst will be back for another turn as Peter Parker's main squeeze, Mary Jane. Now this might sound odd, but I feel like I've spent a lot of time defending Kirsten Dunst over the years. Not to the population at large mind you, but when you have those discussions with friends or family or maybe even the occasional reader out there about the actors you like or dislike, Dunst always shoots to the top of the Yuck, I So Hate Her list. That's why, today, I'm here to ask the big question of all you haters out there: What did Kirsten Dunst ever do to you?

Do a quick search on the internet for Dunst and stories pop up about stints in rehab (and it didn't help that her name worked so well with drunk), body snark on a level that would make a mean girl blush, and just about every unflattering comment you can think of -- for goodness sake, some of the sleazier wags out there thought the proof of Jake Gyllenhaal's homosexuality was the fact that he was dating her. But today I will come out of the closet and proclaim: My name is Jessica and I like Kirsten Dunst.

After the jump: find out why, and my picks for her top five films...

In spite of the some rather negative early reviews, I plan on plunking down my cash to see Land of the Lost this weekend. It's a silly move, but I can't help myself; I blame my addiction to Danny McBride. Plus, I wasn't around for the original series, so it's not like Ferrell can mess up any childhood memories. But it did get me thinking; sci-fi and comedy are two genres that usually work pretty well together, right? So what does any movie geek do in this situation? That's right, we make a list. So now I present in no particular order, my top ten sci-fi comedies:

1. Hellboy
So technically, maybe not a pure sci-fi flick (it has gadgets...does that count?). But you definitely can't argue with funny; and it made for a nice departure for those of us tired of seeing our heroes 'brood' all the time.

2. Innerspace
Most people I know hate this movie; and to be fair, it hasn't aged well. The F/X are a little creaky, and Meg Ryan is downright annoying, but when I saw this film as a kid it was the height of hilarity -- score one for nostalgia.

3. Idiocracy
How could you not love Mike Judge's vision of a dystopic future where the #1 rated TV show is Ow! My Balls!

4. Ghostbusters
When it comes to sci-fi comedy, Ghostbusters is the granddaddy. To this day I consider it one of the funniest films ever made; and thanks to Bill Murray, I grew up to be the smart-a** that my family and friends know and love.

5. Sleeper
Woody Allen and sci-fi probably aren't two things that most people think would work well together. But Allen transplanted his nebbish New Yorker into the future, and still managed to make jokes about sex and health food stores.

After the jump; the final five...

Is there a more important year for a girl than when she turns 16? It's the first time we start to decide what kind of woman we want to be. Now there is no shortage of examples coming at us from every side, and any girl worth her salt starts to work her way through the categories pretty quickly, right? I want to be the smart girl, the pretty girl, the popular girl; every option is open. For some of us, sweet 16 meant tiaras and coming out parties, but for me, 1991 was the year I learned that I wanted to be a bad girl.

In the summer of 1991, I was stranded in small town Florida for 3 months with little to do except hang out at the mall - you can only wander through Spencer Gifts so many times before catatonia sets in. Instead, I spent my nights at the movies. Now obviously I didn't have time to see everything, but for me; 1991 boiled down to three films: T2, Madonna's Truth or Dare, and Thelma and Louise. So what makes them so special? These were the films that opened up a world of possibilities to my sixteen year old psyche; suddenly I realized I could be a foul-mouthed Fashionista, a feminist rebel, or even a bad-ass savior of humanity.

5/3 -- One Good Cop // Rich Girl
The first week of the summer season was a particularly uneventful one. I mean, did anyone go to the movies this weekend? I will admit to watching Michael Keaton's One Good Cop on VHS, but I'm afraid I stayed home that week.

If I were a more superstitious person, I would start to think that Dimension's Hellraiser remake is cursed. It has been a long time since Clive Barker first signed on to help re-write his original story for the screen ... again, but here we are three years later and not a day closer to a finished product. The last anyone had heard was that Pascal Laugier (Martyrs) had signed up to direct. But, thanks to an update from Barker's Twitter feed, we now know that "Pascal Laugier is regrettably no longer on the Hellraiser remake. I think Martyrs is extraordinary, I don't know much more. I mean why would anyone tell me? I mostly discover these things here or through friends who still buy the trades."

The horror-remake has had a revolving door cast for a couple of years now, and Laugier isn't the first director to walk. Originally, the French directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (Inside / A l'interieur) were supposed to be shooting Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton's script, but Bustillo and Maury soon left the film thanks to "creative differences." Laugier was supposed to be their replacement, and we might be back to square one now that rumors are swirling that Dimension has plans to commission an entirely new script as well.

After the jump: so, will Hellraiser ever get made? Plus some of my fantasy picks for a new director.

I think we can all agree that Han Solo will probably go down as one of the most beloved characters in film history. Granted, he was just an update on an old theme, but we all love a swaggering bad-boy with a heart of gold, don't we? Han has inspired plenty of fan art over the years...not to mention the occasional piece of office furniture, and you would think that fans would have run out of ideas by now, right? Well, not quite, so may I introduce: Han Solo P.I.

Devoted Star Wars fan TheCBVee has created a great little mash-up of scenes of Han Solo repacked as the opening credits for Magnum P.I., and as someone who grew up with the mustachioed private eye, this thing is spot-on (TheCBVee also provided a handy little side-by-side comparison of the original opening and his creation). You've got Alec Guinness filling in for Higgins, Chewie picks up where TC left off, and Luke as Rick, the suave playboy. OK, Luke as the suave type might be a bit of a stretch, but you had to work him in somewhere, right?

The thing I've always loved about Martin Scorsese is that the man lives to tell you a story. He piles on the details and approaches every angle -- and as a result he creates living breathing people -- and thanks to him, his crime flicks are about as close to the mob as I need to get. When Casino was released in 1995, it was considered Scorsese's return to the world of crime after taking a little diversion with films like Age of Innocence and Cape Fear. But, the comparisons between Casino and Goodfellas were inevitable, and unfortunately Casino was branded the inferior film. Now I'm not denying the genius of Goodfellas, but I stand by the fact that Casino is a kick-a** film in its own right.

So, do you want the good news or the bad news first? Well, let's start with the bad news: Its official, the A L I E N reboot has gone beyond rumor and straight into reality. But the good news is that at least it won't be a remake. Just last week, Peter broke the story that Fox was looking to revive the franchise, but at the time, none of the principals involved (original creator Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, or rumored director, Carl Rinsch) had officially commented on the status of the project. Now, though, Collider brings us news that they got the chance to speak with Tony Scott during a press event for The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and he confirmed that Rinsch has indeed been given the nod to direct a prequel to the 1979 sci-fi horror.

Once you get over the fact that a prequel is a particularly goofy idea, it probably wouldn't be that hard to come up with a plausible story. In the original film, the story of the derelict ship that the crew of the Nostromo encountered was never really explained. That element of the unknown was always an integral part of the original film's scare factor, but you have to admit, it wouldn't be all that difficult to fill in the blanks. Scott is looking to get the film into production by the end of the year, but there is still a small matter of a script and a cast before they can think about sticking to a tentative release date of summer, 2011.

After the jump: how do you make an A L I E N prequel? And does it automatically have to star Christina Bale?