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:

• Mark Ruffalo and Adrian Brody? Yes, please. Read the review of their new movie, The Brothers Bloom, on Cinematical.
• I never saw the original Night at the Museum, but I heard from someone who attended the premiere that the sequel had several actual laugh-out-loud moments. Plus, it takes place at the Smithsonian, and as someone who grew up in the D.C. area, that's kind of cool. Anyway, if you're on the fence about seeing it, check out the trailer here.
• Kevin Smith and Mitch Albom? Now that's a pairing I never thought I would see. But Kevin Smith doing a hockey movie? If you listen to Smodcast and have heard him get moved to tears talking about Wayne Gretsky, then that's not a shock at all.
• They mentioned The Royal Tenenbaums, so this list is okay by me: Cinematical Seven - Favorite Con Men (and Ladies).
• You guys, I love Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. And Die Hard? Come on. The summer of '88 was a good time to go to the movies.

Tom Cavanagh, known for his goofy-but-sweet roles in Ed, Love Monkey and Scrubs, is going all nerdy on us! He's going to host six episodes of a backstage pass-type show for the Smithsonian Institution.

Last year, the Smithsonian announced it is creating a television channel with Showtime that will launch in April. There are at least 60 programs planned, with a few already in the works. One of those few is Cavanagh's Stories from the Vaults. The premise of the 30-minute series is that Cavanagh gets to take viewers behind-the-scenes to check out some of the Smithsonian Institution's coolest and oddest artifacts.

The Smithsonian programming is being offered to cable and satellite profiders as an on-demand channel. Many of the other programs will focus on Smithsonian research, which is not as well-known as its artifacts. So far, no television providers have picked it up.

Boy, the eggheads are certainly pissed about this one, I tell you what!

A deal between Showtime Networks and the Smithsonian Institution has some researchers and historians a bit freaked out. It seems they're fearful that this new agreement could limit or completely cut off their access to the collections and/or the curators of the famous institution. This is due to a clause in the new agreement that states the combined Showtime-Smithsonian has first refusal rights to commercial documentaries that rely heavily on the numerous artifacts the institution keeps in its museums and beyond.

A spokeperson for the Smithsonian, as quoted in an article for The New York Times says that the collections will remain open to researchers and makers of educational documentaries; however, scrutiny will be applied when a commercial documentarian wishes to record certain activity that is a specialty of the institution and will be used in future television broadcasts. For example, why that pendelum at the Museum of American History doesn't stop!