Ever since Chris Nolan and David Goyer were announced as producer and writer of the new Superman film, the net has been abuzz with who would don the red and blue tights of the Man of Steel. Then it was revealed that Watchmen and 300 director Zack Snyder would be helming DC Comic’s beloved and most well-known superhero. Well, it’s been a long time coming but we finally have our answer!

Yesterday it was announced that 27 year old brit Henry Cavill was chosen for the duel role of Clark Kent/Superman. Cavill has a few credits to his name including Stardust, The Count Of Monte Cristo and the upcoming Mythology based Immortals, but he is probably best known from his role as Charles Brandon on the TV series The Tudor’s. He was once dubbed the “most unlucky man in Hollywood” after he screen tested and narrowly missed being cast as James Bond, Batman and Superman (in the previous attempts at getting the long troubled production off the ground, before Singer settled on Routh). But he unlucky streak is over as Snyder and Nolan obviously see something in the man that they are willing to place such a huge role on his shoulders.

The fanboys have been buzzing since the news was announced with the majority saying that this is a great casting move. Of course the negatives are there in the groups, but as one person commented you could clone Christopher Reeve and the negative ones still wouldn’t be happy. Personally I haven’t seen enough of Cavill to really say whether he’s a good choice, but I do think it’s the right choice. He’s still kind of unknown to people much like the way Christopher Reeve was. I just pray that Snyder fills out the rest of the cast with the right people.

It’s Royal Rumble night.

7:13 No one is here yet and I’m trying not to eat all the snacks before they get there. The sensor pad has quit on my brand new laptop. It’s not a hardware issue because it works before I log in. So I keep having to move my mouse to my laptop then back to my PC.

7:15 Hugh arrives.

7:25 We discuss spoilers and TNA. Hugh spills chips.

7:30 Here’s Justin. Very little chance of Nicole showing up at this stage.

7:38 Nicole begs off by email.

7:35 Beer #1.

7:41 Hugh gets confused because we are watching the WWE Experience not the PPV preview.

7:47 Ordering pizza becomes problematic.

8:00 We begin. Justin can’t believe I don’t like rum.

8:01 The road to Wrestlemania begins with a promo video.

8:03 Edge starts the show defending his title. Since the champ is coming out first I’ll assume we will hear from Vickie Guererro.

8:05 Yep. Vickie  reminds us the Spear is banned.

8:10 We send Hugh to fetch the pizza to avoid delivery and tip charges.

8:11 Edge is just nto somebody I buy being limited to one move.

8:15 Justin describes an Indian wedding as we await Hugh and food. The match is still in the early stages so there’s not much to say about it.

8:18 The simultaneous Cross-Body taking both men down seems popular lately.

8:22 Pizza makes us miss stuff.

8:26 Some nice false finishes.

8:28 Kelly Kelly attacks Vickie.

8:29 A ref bump allows Edge to hit the Spear.

8:30 The ref wakes up and Edge hits an Unprettier for the win. Nice, but a pretty tame match.

8:33 We’re going right into the WWE title match now.

8:45 None of us like Michael Cole’s persona.

8:50 If a heel brings a lackey that lackey should interfere but I’d like to see Miz get a win on his own.

9:00 Miz tries to walk out. It is not to be.9:02 The Viper is coiled when the New Nexus, minus CM Punk himself, shows up for no apparent reason. Orton actually throws Reilly into the lot of them. Orton hits an RKO but Punk  suddenly appears to hit Go To Sleep on Orton and Miz is able to cover and pin him. Hugh is completely baffled as to the reason.

9:06 Todd Grisham reads a prepared statement from Cody Rhodes.

9:09 Divas time. Two-on-one Handicap Match for the title?

9:11 E-GM pipes up. There are two clowns, literal clowns, behind Cole and even they are telling him to shut up. He changes the match to a Fatal Fourway and adds Eve.

9:15 Lay-Cool come face to face but nothing comes of it.

9:16 Double Sharpshooter.

9:18 Eve pins Layla while Michelle has Natalya pinned too and the ref only sees one so Eve becomes the new champion.

9:19 Beer #2.

9:20 Crap with Dnaiel Bryan, Gail Kim and The Bellas.

9:27 Rumble!

9:28 CM Punk has to come out at #1.

9:30 The Corre show up and surround the ring. The New Nexus comes out to turn it into a brawl.

9:31 Here comes E-GM again. He demands everyone return to the locker room.

9:33 The real #2 entry is Daniel Bryan.

9:34 Cole “Who cares about the Internet?” Justin “The government of Egypt.”

9:34 Justin Gabriel is now out for real.

9:35 Justin misses a 450 Splash and Bryan ELIMINATES him.

9:36 Enter Zack Ryder.

9:37 Bryan takes out Ryder too.

9:37 William Regal.

9:39 #6 Ted Dibiase Jr.

9:41 #7 John Morrison

9:42 john Morrison get thrown out but lands on the ring barrier and jumps back to the ring steps and back into the ring. William Regal gets dumped in the meantime.

9:43 Yoshi Tatsu.

9:44 Husky Harris comes out to join Punk. New Nexus is certainly outshining The Corre so far.

9:46 #10 Chavo.

9:47 #11 Mark Henry.

9:48 Henry takes out Chavito. Then Yoshi Tatsu.

9:48 JTG. When do we see some more good people?

9:50 Another Nexi, Michael Maguillicuddy.

9:51 JTG is out.

9:52 Harris and Maguillicuddy take out Ted Dibiase.

9:52 Chris Masters is #14.

9:53 David Otunga, another New Nexus man, is in the mix to help Punck.

9:54 Punk takes out Daniel Bryan. Then Nexus take out John Morrison.

9:55 Nexus takes out Mark Henry to leave just them in the ring. Tyler Reks has to try to fight them next. He doesn’t last long.

9:56 Vladimir Kozlov. He barely lasts a minute.

9:58 R-Truth. He also lasts a minute.

9:59 Marks the return of The Great Khali. Khali actually fights off the New Nexus and tosses Harris.

10:01 #20 Here comes Mason Ryan the last member of the New Nexus.

10:01 Ryan takes out Khali to return control to The Nexus.

10:02 BOOKER T!

10:04 Spinaroonie! But it gets him dumped almost right away.

10:04 #22 John Cena. This should break Nexus’s dominance. Yep, Cena takes out the whole gang except Punk.

10:07 #23 Hornswoggle!

10:08 Surprisingly, Cena dumps CM Punk and the story of Nexus is done for this Rumble.

10:09 Tyson Kidd.

10:10 Hornswoggle actually manages an Attitude Adjustment on Kidd  who Cena dumps later.

10:10 #25 Heath Slater. Hornswoggle and Cena continue to engage in crazy antics.

10:12 Cena and Hornswoggle’s alliance continues to dominate as they take out Cena.

10:12 Kofi Kingston.

10:14 Lucky #27 Jack Swagger, he’s not going  to win.

10:15 More antics with Hornswoggle.

10:15 Sheamus, who does not like Hornswoggle.

10:17 Sheamus finally takes out Hornsqoggle.

10:17 Rey Mysterio.

10:18 Mysterio takes out Swagger.

10:19 #30 Wade Barrett.

10:20 Dolph Ziggler enters despite losing a title shot earlier tonight.

10:22 DIESEL!!! He kicks ass but no eliminations.

10:23 Drew McIntyre. He and Sheamus team up.

10:24 Diesel has huge heat.

10:25 #34 Alex Reilly, accompanied by The Miz.

10:25 Barrett takes out Diesel and the crowd is not happy. Neither is Hugh.

10:26 Miz joins commentary.

10:26 Big Show.

10:28 Show takes out Ziggler. Not sure why he was in there.

10:28 #36 Ezekial Jackson. McIntyre goes, Zeke dumps Big Show without too much trouble,

10:30 Santino Marella.

10:31 #38 Alberto Del Rio.

10:32 Reilly went at some point while Del Rio was stalling on the way to the ring.

10:33 Orton enters before Del Rio even gets to the ring.

10:34 Sheamus and Drew McIntyre are gone.

10:34 #40 is Kane in his 13^th straight Tumble.

So who is left?

Barrett, Orton, Cena, Mysterio, Kane, Ezekial Jackson and Del Rio.

10:36 Jackson gets dumped by Kane. Mysterio manages to flip Kane out but Wade Barrett knocks him out immediately,

10:38 Cena and Orton finally come to blows.

10:39 Miz and A-Rei combine to take Cena out of the match.

10:41 Was Santino ever eliminated?

10:42 Orton dumps Barrett  and Del Rio dumps Orton! Del Rio is announced as the winner but Santino climbs back into the ring and hits the Cobra! But he can’t get him over the ropes and Del Rio reverses and Santino is out. Nice joke. Del Rio’s ring announcer gets to go wild announcing him.

As much as I love the ending the Rumble wasn’t that much. The two surprises mad no difference whatsoever, the stable wars never emerged and Nexus was out by the middle. Miz ticked off Cena so Del Rio can face Edge while Cena faces The Miz even higher on the card. No sign of HHH or The Undertaker, who I was expecting. The undercard was weak so I’m not that impressed overall. As Rumbles go it just didn’t seem special.

Now to bed.

Last stop before the Royal Rumble by recapping The Corre’s debut and the injury of Teddy Long. Because Teddy Long sells Pay Per Views. Here’s Vickie Guererro and I’m going to have to admit her heat is real, not X-Pac heat. Dolph still needs to turn on her after he loses at the Rumble. Smackdown needs faces and Ziggler needs to get some experience playing that side of the fence too. Vickie is in charge but gets interrupted by Randy Orton. Thank you Matt  Striker for telling Michael Cole he doesn’t count. Randy Orton is actually being polite and thanking Vickie for inviting him to Smackdown. Then he steals her catchphrase to threaten Ziggler and The Miz. Dolph comes out to save his squeeze and demand respect for them both. He needs to earn his respect and taking an RKO is one tiny step closer.

Lay-Cool take on Kaitlyn and Kelly Kelly. They turn the tables on the heels by attacking pre-match but still lose in short order. Drew McIntyre is up after the commercial. Kelly is still at ringside as Drew faces walking stereotype JTG. Drew wins, of course, but walks off before KK can enter the ring to talk to him. Cody Rhodes, facing away from the camera, cuts the promo of his career. His face is destroyed and he’s out of the Royal Rumble but what a hate he has on for Rey Mysterio. Suddenly I want to see these guys fight on a Pay Per View. Wow. Rhodes just shot way up in my esteem.

Michael Tarver is still here. Sidenote: Vince McMahon thinks Skip Sheffield can be the #2 babyface in the company. Alberto Del Rio is here too… but you already know that. Del Rio promises an exhibition Royal Rumble with 39 competitors entering at thirty second intervals. Are they really going to waste 20 minutes on this? No. Del Rio eliminates two ham and eggers then Kane enters third. Del Rio survives until Kofi Kingston shows up fourth and eliminates them both! Kane and Del Rio look to even the score until Rey Mysterio enters fifth. Vickie Guererro steps in to put a stop to this madness and replace it with a tag match with the logical pairings. It’s a good, long, match and the faces win on cohesiveness when Kane walks out on the match.

We need to see the Big Show before the rumble so here he is. Show is used to being the guy people pick to make a name for themselves and The Corre has made him angry. And that draws The Corre out to face him. Show asks them to face him one-on-one. Heath Slater is stupid enough to enter the ring alone and a ref decides to call it a match. Slater is little more than a sacrificial lamb as Show defeats him easily.But Show can’t fight off the other three so the locker room once again starts to empty. Big Zeke holds off challenger after challenger before The Corre is forced to retreat.

So, after what seems like a short time, we come to the main event. The Miz must join Dolph Ziggler to face the reunited team of Rated RKO. It’s a very good match with annoying commentary. Miz is no longer looking like a useless sneak. Edge takes Ziggler down with a Spear and wins the match. So Vickie Guererro bans the Spear by declaring it an illegal move. If Edge uses it at the Rumble he loses the title. Is that really such a big deal? Edge has other finishers from the past he can bust out. Edge Spears Ziggler thrice to be contrary.

A solid go home show before the Royal Rumble. I’ll be live blogging the show but not live updating it. You may not get as detailed a recap as normal but my new laptop should allow me to take down some thoughts as we go. I always love the Rumble. Let’s see if I love the Super-Sized version.

It’s Oscar season everyone! With the nominations announced, now’s the time to get cracking on seeing those movies. Some people strive to see all of the Best Picture noms… some people go even further to see the the Acting, Directing, and Screenplay categories as well. But I go all out…I see everything. I try to see every last nomination from the Best Sound Editing to the Best Animated Short. I don’t always complete my goal, in fact, I’ve never finished every single category. In 2009, I came the closest I’ve ever come and saw every nominated feature except for a few in the foreign film category, and every nominated short except the documentary shorts. This year, I’m aiming to hit everything possible. Note the distinction, as there are always a few “unattainables” that I can’t possibly get to (more on those later). There are 41 feature length films nominated for Oscars this year and I’ve already seen 21 of them. It’s a good start, but I still have a ways to go. In addition, there are 15 shorts to catch and for the first time ever, a Los Angeles theater is screening the Documentary Shorts. This is huge- I’ve never seen a screening of these outside of Academy member only screenings- they’ve always been unattainables. I’m excited to knock out that category this year for the first time.

So if you’re following along or trying to catch some of these movies yourself, here’s a handy little guide to help you find them in your neighborhood:

In Mainstream Theaters – These movies should be pretty easy to find in just about any city:
Black Swan, The Fighter, The King’s Speech, True Grit, Tangled, Country Strong

In Theaters, but Disappearing – These movies have been out for a while, and therefore might be harder to find. Check out the dollar theaters, or big theaters that have a lot of screens to fill:
127 Hours, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part One, Tron: Legacy, Unstoppable (also on DVD 2/15)

In Smaller Theaters and Art Houses – You may have to go a bit out of your way- the next town over, or maybe to a smaller theater you’ve never been to before:
Biutiful, Rabbit Hole, Blue Valentine, Another Year, The Way Back

Big Cities Only – Unless you’re within close proximity of a pretty big city, you’re probably out of luck with these:
Inside Job, The Illusionist, Barney’s Version

Available on DVD – Track it down on Netflix, or buy it in Best Buy, these should be easy to get your hands on. If you have a device that streams your Netflix Instant Queue, I’ve noted those available to stream:
Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, Winter’s Bone, The Town, Animal Kingdom, How to Train Your Dragon, Dogtooth (Netflix Instant), Alice In Wonderland (Netflix Instant), I Am Love (Netflix Instant), The Wolfman, Salt, Iron Man 2, Exit Through the Gift Shop (Netflix Instant), Gasland, Restrespo (Netflix Instant)

In Betweenies – These are awful for someone trying to complete the list. They are movies that have all but dropped out of theaters and will not be released on DVD until after the ceremony. There’s always at least one of them…this year there are 3:
Hereafter (playing in 3 theaters in AZ, FL, MI, releases on DVD 3/15), Waste Land (playing in 2 theaters in FL, releases on DVD 3/29), The Tempest (playing in 7 theaters in OR, AZ, KY, MI, OH, MA, release on DVD TBD)

Unattainable – Just as bad as the In Betweenies are the Unattainables. They are literally impossible to find if you’re not a member of the Academy, or the actual filmmaker. They almost always fall into the Foreign Film category (occasionally the Documentary category) and this year there are 3:
Incendies (US release date – 4/1), In a Better World (US release date – TBD), Outside the Law (limited release in the US in November, but no longer in any theaters, DVD release date – TBD)

There you have it- where to find (or not find, in some cases) all the nominees. This list will change every weekend as theaters scramble to get the nominated films back in their theaters. So don’t give up on movies that may not be playing in your city- they may show up yet.

I hope you’ll follow along with my reviews and updates as I make my way through this list. Good luck and happy movie going!

It’s less than a week until the Royal Rumble and it seems like we need a few more matches on the card still. A FORTY-MAN Royal Rumble could be long but what’s happening with the secondary titles? Melina vs. Natalya is tonight so there are only three matches on the card I can think of. Also tonight, Miz vs. Edge! And here’s Edge now to start the show. Edge want The Miz now but the anonymous General Manager still holds a grudge so he sends out three guys to try to throw Edge over the top rope and earn #40. Tyson Kidd, Drew McIntyre and Jack Swagger all have a shot but Edge takes them all out quickly. I didn’t buy any of those three earning #40 that easily. Edge decides to smash the laptop again but Cole stalls him until New Nexus (it’s like New Coke) decide to show up. The new guy is Mason Gray. Not sure where Edge went but now The Corre is interrupting the New Nexus. This is a bit silly. And just when we set up a rivalry between the two groups E-GM books Punk vs. Barrett and the loser’s stable is out of the Rumble. Did we mention the special guest referee? It’s John Cena.

John Morrison teams with Mark Henry to face Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio. If you have to spit your gum out during the match, John, don’t chew it in the first place. Michael Tarver is back (sigh) and watching this match on the monitor. The best superstar in the match beats the worst. Can you guess who I mean? I’ll give you a hint, the loser taps out to a Cross-Armbreaker.

The Diva’s Championship is next and we better get a rematch Sunday or this is just a waste. You can do a Diva match in ten minutes from intro to finish; they can’t squeeze that on Sunday’s card? Melina’s constant shrieking lost its charm a loooooooong time ago. Melina does do a neat submission move that’s almost like sitting on someone while you are both on the mat. Of course the obvious counter is to stand up and that’s just what Natalya does, lifting Melina off the ground. Natalya locks on a Sharpshooter then keeps going back and rolls onto her shoulders. Melina folds in half in one of the craziest spots I’ve seen in any wrestling, male or female. It gets a submission of course but Lay-Cool arrives to announce they are claiming their rematch on Sunday. Ok, I can live with that. There’s a Diva’s title match on the Rumble card and, though it’s getting stale, it will be better than the match with Melina was. To be fair that match was better than expected and Melina was clearly giving it her all. It’s getting to the point the Divas wrestling isn’t embarrassing any more. Plus, Awesome Kong still to come!

CM Punk is once again shining in the cult leader role and the New Nexus may just start working because of it. The problem is most of these guys show very little charisma. Cena mocks the extra r in Corre until Miz interrupts him. They can get away with rectum on a PG show? And saying someone smells of raw sewage? Are they actually starting to get clever with insults in the PG era? That would be awesome.

Let me get this straight, not only are they giving away a Champion Versus Champion Match on free TV it’s at the 10:00 hour? This should be a much bigger deal than they are making of it. Dolph Ziggler and his cougar join commentary. The problem with the match is Miz still needs to be carried and Edge isn’t great at carrying the other guy. Edge’s ribs are supposed to be injured so I guess that will matter for the rest of the week. Since we don’t really want a conclusive finish Ziggler attacks Edge to end the match in a DQ. But Orton shows up and cleans house. Orton dominates until Miz hits his leg with the briefcase to allow him to grab his title and run.

Josh Matthews interviews Wade Barrett who reminds us he used to talk about a much bigger picture but apparently it just meant Nexus as a whole. He lost sight of that. No longer. Poor Daniel Bryan is bogged down in a six-member tage match with the Bellas as his partners. Of course, Ted Dibiase is stuck with Maryse and Alyssa Fox so he’s no better off. It’s stupid, awful and short. Maryse wins and we get more of her downgrading Dibiase. The Bellas catch Bryan kissing Gail Kim and they’ve been dating for six months. Some good insults among the women and Gail reminds me we don’t seem to be having guest stars any more.

Harris and Maguillicuddy get the tag champs in a non-title match. The entire match is Santino and Harris with the New Nexus picking up a fairly clean win. Santino actually acted like a serious wrestler for most of the match. Somehow I suspect the main event will end in a tie. We shall see. Cena starts out by ejecting the New Nexus. He lets Punk stew for a bit before ejecting The Corre too. When the bell finally rings Cenaa shoves Punk then decks Barrett and threatens to disqualify them if they fight back. They try to fight each other but Cena interferes, signs autographs during covers the disqualifies both men for profanity and rules neither team goes to the Rumble. The GM is not pleased so he lets everyone into the Rumble. Then he demands John Cena apologize. Cena says sorry to both men then attacks them. Saying sorry and not really meaning it? Is Cena Canadian? The stablemates return and are set to go after Cena nine-on-one until Show’s music plays and a score of Rumble entrants fill the ring. Daniel Bryan is in there so I guess he’s in the Rumble not defending his title.

I called the non-finish to the main event. There was also a non-finish to the Champion Versus Champion match. The best finish of the night was the Divas match. So the whole show really didn’t matter. The Rumble is so huge we’re running short on other storyline to fill the show with. So Smackdown stars are imported to face RAW ones and it all feels like filler. And Friday it continues as Ziggler and The Miz will team to face Edge and Orton. I’m excited for Sunday but the journey there is not going all that well.

I usually don’t do this for TV (that is PJ’s department), but there is a lot going on and shows are finally new again!

• Oh god why. Somebody please take away their passports… MTV has revealed that the forth season of Jersey Shore will shoot in Italy. Do we really need these lowlifes making Italy look bad with their antics? Please just cancel this disgusting show.

• Chuck is still the best show on television. If you don’t watch it… you should! Thankfully for you the last couple of episodes can be viewed online!

• I did not see this coming, but Regis Philbin is exiting Live with Regis and Kelly after 27 years hosting the morning program. On the program he said it was due to his age and a desire to retire, but behind the scenes reports point towards his ego and wanting more money when the network wanted to lower his salary after dwindling ratings and increased vacation time. Not for nothing, I think the show could be a lot better without him. He has been “sleep walking” for years. Give the spot to someone like Anderson Cooper, who has always been very entertaining in his guest spots.

• Nathan Lane is returning to the funniest show on TV, Modern Family, on an upcoming episode. In the episode, Lane joins Mitch and Cam on a “boys night out” that Ed O’Neill’s Jay stumbles into. Hilarity ensues.

• Booster Gold and Blue Beetle have been cast for an upcoming Smallville episode (I smell a spinoff!). Sebastian Spence, who has appeared in such TV shows as Battlestar Galactica and Supernatural will be BB and Eric Martsolf, who has appeared on Days of Our Lives and Passions among other TV shows, will be the time traveling hero Booster Gold. I can not wait for this episode, which was scripted by comic book writer Geoff Johns.

• What is your office like? Add class by putting in a Hardwood Floor.

This morning at 5:30 am et, the Oscar nominations were announced! Here they are…

Best Supporting Actor

• Christian Bale (The Fighter)
• John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone)
• Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)
• Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech)
• Jeremy Renner (The Town)

Best Supporting Actress

• Amy Adams (The Fighter)
• Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)
• Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
• Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)
• Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
  

Best Actor

• James Franco (127 Hours)
• Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
• Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
• Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
• Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)

Best Actress

• Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
• Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)
• Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
• Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
• Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)

Best Animated Film

• The Illusionist
• Toy Story 3
• How to Train Your Dragon

Best Director

• Darren Aronofsky
• David O. Russell
• Tom Hooper
• David Fincher
• Joel & Ethan Coen

Best Picture

• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right
• The King’s Speech
• 127 Hours
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter’s Bone

Continue reading for more categories…

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