TVSquad

The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

• I just saw a trailer for District 9 in front of Funny People, but I'm not sure if it completely grabbed me. Cinematical says otherwise though. They discuss that movie, as well as Lovely Bones and The Hobbit when they spent an evening with Peter Jackson recently.
• I also saw the trailer recently for Aliens in the Attic. It looked... forgettable. Apparently, I'm not wrong.
• This Fan Rant wants lazy parents to stop blaming the MPAA. I wholeheartedly agree.
• I really don't know why we would need a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but apparently Hollywood thinks we do, and Rob Marshall may direct it.
• When I went to see Funny People last night, the ticket taker said, "Are you sure you want to see that movie? It's not good." I really enjoyed it, and so did Cinematical. What did you think?
  

Even though TV Squad's very own John Scott Lewinski is fighting his way through hordes of overweight Rorschachs and pre-pubescent Chun Lis to get exclusive interviews and scoops on the newest TV news at the San Diego Comic Con, don't forget that our partners-in-crime from Cinematical are also there covering the latest flim-flam in film.

The movie side of the annual pop-culture cavalcade opened with one of the biggest names in the history of film and what could very well be one of the biggest names in the future of film. Director James Cameron screened a solid 25 minutes of his forthcoming sci-fi epic Avatar. Blogger Todd Gilchrist got a hint of the plot and special effects movie-goers can expect when the film hits theaters later this year and said it "promises to be both hugely entertaining and technically groundbreaking." Man, that's got me worried. That's what they also said about Titanic.

Okay, this is strictly in the "rumor" department. In fact, this piece is so unlikely that I hesitate to write it. But, I'm going to anyway. Sci Fi Wire hinted that Doctor Who's David Tennant might be up for the role of Bilbo Baggins in the upcoming two-movie version of The Hobbit, which will be produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Guillermo del Toro.

The logic behind this is that David Tennant will be at Comic Con and the production team of The Hobbit will be at Comic Con. I'll leave it to you to find the gap in that logic.

Now, I love David Tennant as the Doctor, but he's completely inappropriate for Bilbo Baggins. He's too tall. He's too skinny. I'd even say he's too good-looking.

I wouldn't say I'm completely against the concept, but if you're going to cast an actor who played the Doctor as Bilbo Baggins, I recommend Sylvester McCoy.

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King will make its network television debut on December 15th on TNT. The cable network has already aired the first two movies, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers over the last two years. The Return of the King, for those of you living under a rock, wraps up the series. TNT is airing it in HD. It'll be available on VOD beginning Dec. 24th.

As is customary with TNT, The Return of the King will air for three nights in a row. And, on Sunday December 17th, it will be preceded by the first two movies. With commercials, that's more than eleven hours of programming. I pity the fool who sits down to watch that. I mean, yes, Viggo Mortenson and Orlando Bloom are super hot in all three movies, but if you're going to spend that much time watching television, why not just buy the DVDs?

Our regular roundup of what's happening over at our sister blog, Cinematical.

• Check out the new trailer for Casino Royale. This film is going to kick some serious ass.
• Get ready for Mummy 3.
• If they make The Hobbit, will Peter Jackson direct it?
• Mark has info about the Fantastic Four sequel.
• Bruce Campbell talks about Spiderman 3.
• Heath Ledger will play the Joker in the Batman Begins sequel. But who wants to play the Penguin? Bob Hoskins!

Turner Broadcasting just inked a deal with NBC Universal that puts a bunch of movies, including this winter's King Kong, on its networks in 2008. Not sure if the NBC network had the first right of refusal on that movie, but you would think so.

Along with King Kong, Turner also bought the rights to air these movies in 2008:

• The Ice Harvest, starring Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack;
• Doom, starring The Rock;
• Two for the Money, starring Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey;
• Prime, starring Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman.