There's a continuing debate about whether or not computer-animated films should be eligible for visual effects awards. But despite the fine line seen by some, others are quick to point out that many effects artists have the same function on Surf's Up as they do on Spider-Man. To them, it should come as quite a triumph that the Oscar shortlist for the visual effects category includes two animated films, Ratatouille and Beowulf. According to the Hollywood Reporter, they join 13 other effects-heavy movies, including definite front-runners Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Spider-Man 3. The trade points out, however, that this is not the first time animated films have joined the effects race. Back in 1994, The Nightmare Before Christmas was one of the three nominees (against Cliffhanger and obvious winner Jurassic Park).

The animated effect issue is different now, though, then it was 14 years ago. Animated films now have their own Oscar category, and it's fair to say that is the place to recognize Ratatouille and Beowulf (actually Beowulf shouldn't be recognized at all). Typically movies nominated in the visual effects category are popular blockbusters that wouldn't otherwise receive notice from the Academy. Until there's an Oscar for best sci-fi/fantasy or action movie, this is one of the best ways for a little movie like Transformers to be put in the spotlight. Sure, I'm being sarcastic, but nonetheless I like the category being the place for those movies actually seen by the majority of Oscar telecast viewers.

The story of Noah and the flood will be told a million more times in some medium or other. But following the disappointment of Evan Almighty, it seems a little soon for a new movie version. Sure, Evan wasn't exactly a strict adaptation of the Bible tale, but it was based enough on it to make audiences not so hungry for another Ark adventure. Yet, according to Variety, Unified Pictures (Don't Move) has announced plans to do a computer-animated Noah's Ark, which will be scripted by Philip LaZebnik, who has worked on Dreamworks' Biblical kids film The Prince of Egypt and Disney's Pocahontas and Mulan. Religious films, whether live-action or animated, can be hit or miss, but like Evan Almighty, this new project is not a straightforward telling of Noah and the flood; instead it will focus on the story from the point of view of the animals.

Personally, I love the idea. But I'd love it much better if it was coming from Nick Park and Aardman Animation. It would be like Creature Comforts ... on a boat. The connection between Unified and Park exists: the indie studio has worked many times with Northern Arts Entertainment, which distributed a lot of Aardman shorts, including Park's Wallace and Gromit films. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like that dream will happen. Unified seems pretty set on making a CG pic that resembles those made by the big studios. The best way of doing that, of course, is to get some familiar comedic voices involved. If this pic is more successful than Evan Almighty, perhaps we'll then get to see a greenlight on Darren Aronofsky's own Noah's Ark movie, which he's been interested in doing since he was 13.

Summer's nearly over, school is about to begin and Hollywood is counting its money. Looking back, we could assume the studios made bundles this season; almost every weekend seemed to deliver a new record-breaking blockbuster. In order of enormity, there was Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Transformers 1 (it will have sequels), Harry Potter 5, 300, Ratatouille and finally another threequel, Bourne 3 (which should gain on at least that numberless Pixar movie). According to Box Office Mojo, the grosses for 2007 are up 7.2% over last year, and 13.7% over 2005 (aka the year of the slump).

Now, normally about this time of year, we can also look back and see a number of disappointments, bombs and otherwise failed releases. In fact, Entertainment Weekly should be giving us its annual rundown (my favorite) any week now. But Business Week has already announced the biggest losers of the season: Evan Almighty and Stardust. And as dishonorable mentions, it points to The Invasion, Grindhouse, The Reaping and The Number 23. Of course, the latter three were released much earlier in the year, and shouldn't be counted -- they seem to be thrown in as other mistakes of the year in general.

The people over at Universal Pictures are smart, sneaky buggers. Evan Almighty just opened in the UK, and everyone was ready. You see, the company hired a special PR firm just to make sure Christian organizations knew about the film -- namely ministers, publications and websites. They held a number of "priest screenings," and also offered suggestions for just how these people could incorporate the film into their work. For example, they could take this super-handy route: "God: The Hollywood Years," and talk about God on the big screen. Or, there was "Noah and 9/11," where they could chat about religious extremism.

Wow. Do you think these people would take to being spoon-fed angles by a Hollywood company? Apparently, they ate it up like candy. Rev David Birt says: "I've encouraged my flock to see the film. It has interesting subjects -- like whether we want a God who is judgmental -- and I've used it in two sermons already." Reading that, I can't help but imagine churches getting PR press releases that they then slide into their sermons. A publication called Christianity changed its cover at the last minute, and added a feature inside to discuss the themes that Almighty covered. Simon Jenkins, editor of rejesus.co.uk says: "It's not a hugely significant film, but it is unexpectedly religious. Hollywood and Christianity have an interesting relationship but this time they're singing from the same hymn sheet."

I'm not so bothered by priests, ministers and those in religious organizations citing a Hollywood movie, but am pretty creeped out that they're doing so after a solid PR campaign. It's a brilliant and successful move for Universal,
but what does it say for the content that comes down to devout followers? It's kind of eerie to imagine that what you hear in the church could be that easily influenced by a company. Sure, Evan Almighty is religious, but where will the churches draw the line between discussing religious phenomenon outside the church, and being told what to say by the companies behind said phenomenon?

The weekend gross for Evan Almighty was $32.1 million, far below the studio's projections and less than half of the opening weekend of it's predecessor, Bruce Almighty, in 2003. The film opened on over 3,600 screens and according to Nikki Finke, was well-received in the South and Mid-West, did fair business on the West Coast and Mountain regions, but did poorly on the East Coast and in Canada, where religious-themed movies don't seem to go over quite as well. Interestingly, Evan Almighty wasn't the only big story this weekend -- Stephen King had his biggest opening weekend ever with 1408, which sailed on good reviews and word of mouth into a second-place position, bumping off Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer with $20.1 million.

The biggest loser of the weekend might have been R-rated horror films. 1408, which is PG-13, had one of the biggest horror openings in a while, and was noticeably more successful than Eli Roth's torture-fest, Hostel: Part II. Roth recently ranted on his MySpace page that R-rated horror was in jeopardy, and that if movies like his weren't supported, they would go away. The studio lemmings will not miss this weekend's 1408 surprise, and, if they are persuaded that PG-13 is the wave of the future, they might put the kibosh on any number of R-rated horror films in the works. The next big test for R-rated horror will likely be Rob Zombie's Halloween, which is opening in late August. If that movie tanks as well, you can probably say goodbye to real horror for a long time.

Morgan Freeman is about to embark on one of the best film roles of his life. Freeman will be portraying his long-time friend Nelson Mandela in The Human Factor. The film is a drama that will be produced by Freeman's production company Revelations Entertainment and was written by South African screenwriter Anthony Peckham -- who also wrote Don't Say A Word starring Brittany Murphy and Michael Douglas.

The Human Factor will follow the life of Mandela from the release of his 27-year imprisonment and after the first democratic election in South Africa following the fall of the apartheid. Mandela is most recognized for his work on South African reconciliation when his most pivotal and widely watched efforts were during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. South Africa was the host of the games when Mandela asked the black South Africans to support the widely-hated team the Springbok. The team won the world cup as Mandela revolutionized and began to unionize South African races by presenting the cup to Francois Pienaar; the captain of the rugby team.

I feel so accustomed to seeing Morgan Freeman in similar roles, best described as the ethereal voice of reason and aptly portrayed in Bruce Almighty and today's release of Evan Almighty, the God-like roles. It will be breathtaking to see Freeman portray one of the most influential and stunning public figures of our time. The film is based off the book The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed the World, written by John Carlin. I, for one, have a great amount of confidence in this particular piece of work. Freeman is one of the greater actors of our time and Nelson Mandela is one of the most influential and renowned purveyors of community and peace throughout the world. A film about a great man and portrayed by a great actor should be, at the very least, good.

If what Nikki Finke says is true -- that Evan Almighty needs to clear $500 million worldwide to really get into the black -- then I guess it's no wonder that director Tom Shadyac has embarassed himself so mightily during the film's promotion. The interview he did with Christianity Today, posted on their site on Monday, is pandering on an almost superhuman level. It's so fascinating to read, in fact, that I'm going to give you an official spoiler warning right here: don't read any further if you want to savor every line for yourself. In response to the fairly straight-forward question "What do you want people to take away from Evan Almighty?" Shadyac responds "Hopefully they'll walk away entertained. But also, I think we all have this 'idolatry of magnitude,' thinking that if we don't do something huge for the world that we haven't done anything. We forget the story of the widow's mite ..." Yes, he parable-checks.

He also offers up the following: "Someone asked me the other day, 'What's the biggest influence on your filmmaking career?' And they started naming filmmakers. I went 'Naw, it's Jesus actually.'" I guess, now that he mentions it, I do see the comparison between the two. Jesus included a lot of Ace Ventura-style slapstick in his early films, and some of the camerawork in The Nutty Professor is very Christ-like. Most of the rest of the interview is a lot of painful-to-read jousting, as the interviewer keeps trying to get Shadyac to label himself and the film as sort of 'by Christians, for Christians,' and Shadyac keeps trying to slip away with hippie-dippie statements about Jesus being his hero, and so forth. He says that he responds to the Sermon on the Mount, "to this guy who talked about loving your neighbor and loving your enemy. I know what's moving me and I know what I want to be true to in my work. And if people pigeonhole me for that, I don't really care." Brave, dude. Brave.

And by "so-so," I mean on the higher end of things. I have to admit, I paid almost zero attention to the Bruce Almighty remake. Even with Steve Carrell, the thought of Evan Almighty did nothing to excite me. Then, I went out to see Knocked Up and saw the animal-frenzied trailer. I actually giggled and some parts seemed cute. Wonders never cease! Granted, I feared that all the cuteness was wrapped in a bow for the trailer, but maybe not. Over at AICN, a few readers have sent in their reviews of the film, and while they both recognize that this isn't some stunning, comedic achievement of family filmmaking, it seems to be smile-worthy fluff.

The biggest complaint between both reviewers -- the words behind it -- "Bottom line, the plot is silly and stupid, with obvious comedy beats throughout," and "Pretty much everything in the movie is a stereotype of what you've seen before... The script is lazy." While one would imagine words like that would be the kiss of death for the flick, that's not the case. "It doesn't really deserve the shame and derision it seems destined to get." While there are stereotypical characters and tired plot, the actors seem to make the most of their roles: "No one in this thing is really stretching themselves, but everyone plays the thing sincerely and with plenty of bonhomie and good humor."

Topping that off, the special effects are supposed to be really decent, although I have a big beef with how much they show in the trailers. (Trailer powers that be -- stop being idiots and showing the whole flipping movie!) When it comes down to it, the movie seems to be what the trailer was -- something that isn't too great, but leaves you feeling a little happy. The Rev says: "Since I saw it, I can't shake the feeling that it made me a little happy... Maybe it's just the spirit of it... You can't deny that charm and you can't help but smile from time to time." The movie will come out on June 22, so we'll soon see if they're right.

When you're the producer/director of a movie that's been widely reported as wildly over-budget, you're going to get a little testy when the release date starts to roll around. But according to Nikki Finke, Evan Almighty maker Tom Shadyac recently through threw a mega-nasty hissy fit during a meeting of Universal execs and marketing folks. The director's main gripe seems to be that Uni is scrimping on the TV advertising on Evan in a way to save some of the money that was tossed into a flick that (some say) cost over $200 million.

"I'm not seeing any ads, and I don't know why. I'm not getting answers. People are giving me information that isn't true ... I'm only hearing about all the other summer movies, and nothing about mine," is what Mr. Shadyac complained about, according to Ms. Finke's unnamed source. The filmmaker even went as far as firing his long-time marketing consultants over the issue. Sounds to me like someone's getting his "this is why the movie flopped" excuses ready.

Tom Shadyac's other movies include Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, Patch Adams, Dragonfly and Bruce Almighty. Evan Almighty, which stars Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham and more CGI animals than you've ever seen before, opens on June 22.

Get ready to proclaim the good news, all ye fans of Steve Carell, The Office and Bruce Almighty. Tomorrow night (Thursday, March 29) at 9PM EDT Moviefone will be debuting the brand-new full-length trailer for Evan Almighty, aka the sequel to Bruce, right here. Sensitive folk that we are, we understand that 9PM tomorrow night sounds like it's eons away to some of you Carell junkies. To this end, we're offering an exclusive glimpse at the poster for Evan Almighty right this minute. Behold it in all its godly glory below (double-click on the image for a larger version).

In this sequel to the 2003 box office hit, Carell reprises his role as Evan Baxter, but he's come a long way from competing with Jim Carrey for the job of news anchor at a Buffalo, New York, TV station. Newly elected to Congress, Evan is determined to serve his country -- that is, until God (Morgan Freeman) charges him with the task of becoming a modern-day Noah (complete with gray beard and Iggy Pop-length hair), building a new ark and perhaps saving all of mankind. Remember to check out Moviefone tomorrow night for the premiere of a trailer so funny you just might exclaim -- as Evan did in Bruce Almighty -- "I like-a do the cha-cha like a little sissy girl." Evan Almighty sails into theaters June 22.

Watch the teaser trailer | See photos