The Wizard of Oz Focus Group

This bit was a welcome oasis in a desert of Crystaline humor. When they offered the heavy-handed introduction to the skit, I let out a slow audible groan, which was quickly silenced when it became apparent that the troupe tasked with the short were the Christopher Guest players. I’m guessing Parker Posey was in the hospital or something.

Though the skit wasn’t actually that funny by CGP standards, the novelty of seeing these guys gave it a big leg up over the things that came before and after it. Plus, seeing Fred Willard harp on monkeys like some sort of speed freak was almost worth the price of admission all by itself.

Nick Nolte’s Transformation into Rooster Cogburn

One of the best features of Oscar night is your ability to check back in with stars that often manage to stay out of the public eye during their normal lives. For example, Chris Rock. I saw Chris Rock and was surprised by how different he looks. I didn’t see the Ike Turner look coming, so that was a pleasant surprise.

However, Chris Rocks appearance paled in comparison to Nick Nolte’s, who looks like he killed three men on the way to his seat. Also, the slitty little eyes add an element of mystery to a guy who is known to take GHB and just be generally crazy. Crystal’s “mind reading” gimmick fell flat, save for his insight into Nolte’s psyche, which only revealed, “Uhhhhhhhhhhhh.” I was half expecting to see Nolte recreationally gnawing on a dead, intact rabbit, but I guess the camera never caught that part.

I nominate Tintin to replace Harrison Ford at Indiana Jones.

The sequel to Unicorn, Prisoners of the Sun, now has a screenwriter in author Anthony Horowitz, who’s most famous for creating the Alex Rider young adult series. But this doesn’t mean the movie is getting made for sure – Horowitz recently said “if [the first] film is a success and works and gets an audience, I’m writing the sequel to it, Prisoners of the Sun, which Peter Jackson is going to direct.”

So, if you want to see a Peter Jackson-directed, Anthony Horowitz-written Tintin movie, buy lots of tickets to see The Secret of the Unicorn. And don’t you want to know the secret of the unicorn? Come on, you know you do. (Bleeding Cool)

Here’s something special for fans of slow torture. Empire has the first look at Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s joint effort The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. And they’re revealing it really effing slowly. The plan is to release a full image of Peter Jackson and WETA’s postwork this week, but in the meantime, snippets of the image are being teased every few hours. 

Currently, ten of twelve close-up images have been revealed but they give you a good idea of what the film’s texture and realism. So, if you’ve ever wanted to see Tintin‘s Adam’s Apple up close in an ornate frame, brother, I’ve got a treat for you.

Check out the first look(s) after the jump…

When it comes to gifts, what do you get the man who has everything? The answer: a new Muppet movie!

Disney has announced the latest installment from Kermit and the gang will hit theaters on Christmas Day, 2011, just in time for the Christ child’s birthday.

Writen by Jason Segel and directed by "Flight of the Conchords" co-creator James Bobin, the project is aimed at introducing the Muppets to a whole new generation of fans.

According to Variety, the film will be up against Steven Spielberg’s Adventures of Tintin and Cameron Crowe‘s We Bought a Zoo, both of which can kiss my ass. It’s Muppet time, bitches! Wakka Wakka Wakka!

When Guillermo del Toro dropped out of the directors chair for The Hobbit, one replacement immediately came to mind: Peter Jackson. But Jackson seems dead set against directing the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy unless his presence is absolutely necessary.

“If that’s what I have to do to protect Warner Bros’ investment, then obviously that’s one angle which I’ll explore.” This assumes that it’s even possible. He explains, “The other studios may not let me out of the contracts.”

Currently, once such contract has Jackson directing the third installment of the upcoming Tintin series.

Will Tintin, the tale of an effeminate, Nazi sympathizing Belgian and his little white dog, prove to be as lucrative as The Hobbit, the long awaited adaptation of one of the most popular fantasy books in history? Only time will tell. (CinemaBlend)

Joe Letteri has served as visual effects supervisor at both Industrial Light & Magic and Weta Digital. In doing so, he’s had a hand in creating the most innovative and creative visual effects in film history. His career spans from The Abyss to the Tintin trilogy he’s tackling with Peter Jackson.

First up, he discusses what we can expect Tintin to look like:

"We’re experimenting with a number of different looks. When you do 3D you have a range of options to go with, slightly sort of cartoony. You go more Pixar style where there’s realism but still exaggeration. The problem with going completely photoreal with human characters is you want to honor the comicness of it. So we’re still feeling our way around it."

MORE FROM JOE AFTER THE JUMP.

He then went on to describe introducing Spielberg to the Avatar technology used on the film:

"Tintin was a similar process because Peter [Jackson] sort of suggested to Steven the difficulty of doing a film that’s based on a comic character, trying to do live-action is always difficult to cast and to get the feel of the characters properly. So he suggested the idea of trying to do it as essentially a performance capture film. So Jim [Cameron] showed Steven and Peter what we were doing with’Avatar‘ and they shot a couple days on the stage and loved the process. We shot ‘Tintin’ the same way. People are definitely picking up on the process. Jim has shown it to a lot of people. A lot of people came through the ‘Avatar’ set. He was pretty open and happy to demonstrate the whole technique. Because he’s designed it like a live-action set, it’s actually easier to pick up than most people think. From the outside it might look daunting but once you get in there on that stage and start working with it, it’s very much like shooting a live action. That was the whole point. You have all this technology in a way to remove the technology."

He makes it sound so easy. Something must be holding up the works though since we shouldn’t expect to see The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in theaters before late 2011. Spielberg, Jackson, and Cameron probably spend most of their time gathering for regular let’s-rub-our-beards-together sessions. What, you think this kind of technology comes out of thin air?

CAST: Jamie Bell; Andy Serkis; Simon Pegg; Daniel Craig; Nick Frost

SYNOPSIS: Tintin and his friends discover directions to a sunken ship commanded by Capt. Haddock’s ancestor and go off on a treasure hunt.

Sorry literate moviegoers. Peter Jackson recently broke the news that Steven Spielberg’s Tintin has completed filming, but still needs to undergo two years of computer-animation to pull off the creepy, dead-in-the-eyes look that Robert Zemeckis has been all about lately. I guess it sucks to have to wait but the alternative was casting Conan O’Brien and where would we be then?

I don’t have a lot of interest in this film because I’m not familiar with the books. Thoug I am pretty bummed that I’ll have to wait for the impending porno-spoof Tittit. (BBC) 

In an interview with Marketsaw – a blog devoted entirely to 3D filmmaking – Steve Schklair, the CEO of 3ality Digital Systems claims that Lord of the Rings helmer Peter Jackson will be shooting all of his directorial efforts using 3ality’s technologies.  You can read the whole article at Marketsaw. 

Sites like ScreenRant suggest that Jackson’s devotion to 3D from now on will help shift exhibitors over to the 3Dark Side, which they have been reluctant to do because of retrofitting costs and the lack of 3D movies.  Personally, I’m a fan of 3D technology, from the the way UP used it organically in the story to the stuff that’s used shamelessly by films like My Bloody Valentine 3D.  Part of me wishes Drag Me to Hell had been in 3D.  Some of the film’s shock moments are perfect for the third dimension.

Here’s hoping that Jackson considers going into his back catalogue and 3D-ifies flicks like Meet the Feebles and Dead Alive.  I can’t think of a more visceral theatrical experience than an AIDs-ridden rabbit vomiting forth upon the audience in the movie theater and the audience in the film.  That’s, like, sooooooo metaaaaaaaaa…

Meet the Feebles Vomit – Watch more Funny Videos