Babes, Bombs, and Blockbusters Movie News Report 11.24.09

Posted by Mike Gorman on 11.24.2009

It’s no Turkey dinner but there are plenty of other reasons to check out this week’s Babes, Bombs, and Blockbusters News Report like a pictorial featuring New Moon’s Ashley Greene, the Top Ten Movie Gadgets I wish were real, and a heaping helping of Hollywood news including even more Thor casting.

Welcome to this week's Babes, Bombs and Blockbusters News Report. I hope that you are having a great week preparing for Thanksgiving, a day of feasting and football. My favorite day of the year! (well, until Christmas…)

More than just a vampire, your Babe of the Week is New Moon's Ashley Greene. If you're not a tweenage girl, you may recognize her from her modeling days and appearances in Maxim magazine.













Check out today's news bombs!

More Thor!
Last week we learned that the Warriors Three were cast (Still kinda irked that they cast a thin guy to play Volstagg, just sayin') and now it seems that Natalie Portman told MTV News about a new addition. Kat Dennings, of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, will allegedly be in the film. Portman did not share what role Dennings will be taking on at this time. It is great to see this long awaited project truly coalescing. Perhaps Dennings will play The Enchantress as we already know that Jaimie Alexander will be playing Sif and Portman herself will play Jane Foster.





You want to talk about werewolves, you say.
The prolific werewolf franchise The Howling is getting a re-boot. The Howling: Reborn is set to begin filming in February with eyes on a Halloween release. There were six films in the original series and the executive producers behind them, Steve Lane and Bob Pringle, are back on board this time around. I blame New Moon. I do.





Speaking of New Moon, well the director…
Chris Weitz, director of New Moon, has announced what his next project will be. Variety reports that he will be helming The Gardener, the story of "a hard-working Mexican gardener who lives in Los Angeles and his efforts to protect his son." …from werewolves or vampires? both? neither? C'mon, where's the fun in that?





Pacey in Space-y?
Dawson's Creek and Fringe star Joshua Jackson is set to star in the big screen adaptation of the 1970's British sci fi series "UFO." According to Variety, Jackson will portray Paul Foster, a test pilot who gets involved with a covert organization that defends Earth from an alien threat. Director Matt Gratzner commented on Jackson's hiring, "Character development is the most critical part of UFO, and Joshua's terrific talent and range is exactly what I need to convey the inner conflict of the character of Paul Foster." Really? Joshua Jackson is the best example of acting depth and range he could think of? I'm going to borrow from a colleague and call "Poppycock" on this one!













How often have you sat watching a movie and saw someone use a really cool gadget or piece of technology that you immediately want for yourself? It happens to me all the time especially at this time of the year when "Black Friday" sales are dominating the air waves. I see all kinds of technological gifts on sale but never the things I truly desire. With that in mind I have put together the Top Ten Movie Gadgets That Should Be For Sale:


10. The Green Goblin Glider
No piece of tech from the Spider-Man films would come in more handy than his arch enemy's mode of transportation. Fast, high flying and packed with weapons are all great descriptors of this awesome item. Spidey might not be late for work himself so often if he just borrowed this little doodad.




9. The Universal Remote
Can you actually imagine how amazing it would be if the remote control from the movie Click existed? Being able to mute that chatty co-worker who never shuts up. Being able to pause an argument in order to come up with a witty retort. Heck, it's Thanksgiving week and who wouldn't want to be able to fast forward through some of those forced family moments that seem to drag on and on? Sure they took the fantasy down a dark road in the film but I think those mistakes could be avoided. And let's face it, I wake up as a fat guy every morning so that would be no terrible shock!


8. The Wonkavator
Having Willy Wonka's magnificent glass elevator at your disposal would be a dream come true, even for an adult. By Wonka's own admission "An elevator can only go up and down, but the Wonkavator can go sideways, and slantways, and longways, and backways ...and squareways, and front ways, and any other ways that you can think of." I would be especially excited to have a Wonkavator if it also went to a magical chocolate factory as it does in the film. Seriously, I want a chocolate river too. And an Oompa Loompa. Or three. Let's just move on.




7. The T-1000
I don't necessarily want to own the ultimate killing machine that is T2's T-1000 but damn it is a cool piece of technology. A fluid body that can morph into any shape it needs to be or repair itself from any damage seems pretty awesome to me. If you could program one to be your assistant/bodyguard then sign me up for one. Think of all the cool things it could do for you, like… well… I mean sure it could annihilate your enemies pretty easily but it could also slip through the cracks and get into your car when you lock the keys inside. Take that AAA!


6. The Hoverboard
Off all the cool gadgets to come out of the Back to the Future film series, the ultimate has to be the Hoverboard from the second film. Talk about thinking green, think of all the gas you'd save if you could just take a Hoverboard to work or school. Also, extreme sports would get a heck of a lot more interesting to watch if the skate boarding stars could truly defy gravity.




5. The Neuralizer
I almost picked the Noisy Cricket as the most fantastic piece of technology to come out of the Men in Black films but then I remembered the Neuralizer! It would be pretty sweet if you could just whip it out whenever you run into a problem with someone. Had an argument with your girlfriend? *Flash!* It's forgotten and she's happy again. Had a TMI moment during a job interview? *Flash!* The job is yours! Sure it may be a bit on the unethical side but if you ever got caught you could make the person forget they found you out in the first place.


4. The Light Saber
If you are a man (or a cool woman!) you have at some point in your life picked up a tubular object, wielded it like a sword and made the "swooshing" sounds of a light saber. This weapon of choice for the Jedi Knights and the Sith Lords is clearly one of the coolest things ever invented. It may not be a totally useful or functional item for the real world but it would just rock to own one. Someday someone will make this happen my fellow Star Wars' fans. I am sure of that if nothing else.




3. The Matrix Brain Jacks
In the world of The Matrix, Neo and friends just needed to plug a cord into their heads and bam, they knew Kung Fu. Or bam, they could fly a helicopter. The idea that all you need to do to learn a new skill or subject is just plug into a computer for a few seconds blows my mind. I would love to be able to pick up knowledge that easily. I would be a kung fu master with a complete grasp of post-modern philosophy in no time. See, I'm only thinking of useful applications. I might also just download every episode of The Office into my brain so I could never lose a quote off too. Just because I could.


2. The Craving Machine
Ever been hungry for something and you're not sure just what you're craving? Happens to me all the time. In fact it is happening to me right now as I write this article. If only I had the machine from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy demonstrated by Zooey Deschanel in the film. You stick your head in and the machine reads your craving then produces the result. So much better than a simple Star Trek replicator. I would probably kill to own this device. Watch out.




1. The Transporter
Cars, boats and plans are so last millennium. What we must have now are the transporters from the Star Trek films and TV series. I can only dream of how amazing it would be to have the ability to be simply "beamed" from place to place. No more spending hours in traffic or the security lines at an airport. No more pesky walking to the store. With a transporter a whole new world would be open to us. Not only could you be transported to different places but you could also use the transporter to bring different things to you. You'd never lose the remote control again if you could just say, "Beam me the remote!" and have it appear in your hand. The possibilities are endless!

What items do you wish were real? Did I miss your favorite gadget? Let me know!




Your Tuesday ‘Tube Bonus Clip

This week I leave you with Part 1 of "Gifted," the motion comic adaptation of Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men. I think it has some real promise:



Say goodnight Ashley…




Until next week watch out for the bombs, catch a good blockbuster and check out a sweet babe or two. Oh, and for goodness sake, bookmark http://www.411mania.com. Are you using Twitter? You can follow me and 411mania's zones on these pages:

twitter.com/Mykelogan
twitter.com/411mania
twitter.com/411wrestling
twitter.com/411moviestv
twitter.com/411music
twitter.com/411games
twitter.com/411mma


One last note…
What better time of the year than Thanksgiving to unleash your inner fat kid and join the hot new Twitter trend:



Have you eaten something particularly bad for you?
Craving a specific snack like it is nobody's business?
Maybe your jeans are tight and you're having a fat day?
Or maybe like me, you a fat guy (or girl) living your life and encountering some unique moments that you know other peeps could relate to?

Post it on Twitter and add the tag "#fatter", then you can check out your post and others from fellow fatties in substance or spirit on my web site at:
http://www.mykelogan.com/fatter




(All information and gossip gathered from Fark.com, Aintitcoolnews.com, Hollywoodreporter.com, Moviehole.net, Reuters.com, Variety.com, MTV.com, IMDB.com, IGN.com WENN news, and Darkhorizons.com)