TMMC's Weekly Round Up

From the east, to the midwest to the south, chances are you saw snow this week or know someone who was buried underneath it.  While Prez Obama and Vice Prez Biden slipped into their matching leopard print Snuggies and sat by the fire sipping cocoa and watching the latest Maury Povich paternity tests, I hope you took the time on your snow days to catch up on the latest Oscar contenders.  Come on people, there's nothing worse then watching the Oscars with a bunch of people who haven't seen any of the movies!  Plus it'll come in handy when TMMC's Oscar contest rolls around.  Ooooo, ahhhhhhh.

Despite Snowmageddon 2010, Hollywood kept rolling right along like normal...or as normal as it can get with a population of people that can't smile without popping a stitch.  So there was no difficulty in compiling plenty juicy updates for this week's Weekly Round Up.  An interesting tid bit I came across while reading the Hollywood rags this week, Sony Pictures is campaigning hard on behalf of Meryl Streep for Best Actress.  There were ads on nearly every Web site I checked out, lauding her performance as everyone's favorite marble mouth Julia Child and begging Academy members to vote for her.  If Oprah throws her support behind Meryl soon, we all know how that's going to end for poor Sandra Bullock.  Ahhh, I love it when things heat up like this.  Without further ado, your round up.

Just when you thought there were no new ideas in Hollywood, you get a week like this to remind you you're right...

• Everyone's favorite Hobbit Tom Cruise returns for another installment of Mission Impossible.  J.J. Abrams will produce, but not direct, making the movie already less appealing.  If they learned anything from the last three, we'll likely see Cliffs Notes handed out to audiences as they enter the theaters to help explain what the hell's going on.  Read more.
• Remember those great National Lampoon Vacation movie classics?  Ahh the Griswold family memories...Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo and a different set of kids in each installment.  Well, reminisce no more as New Line is bringing back the franchise, for better or worse.  Now Rusty's a dad himself, getting his budding family into a whole new set of shenanigans.  Oh Sparky.  Read more.
• Because something has to keep Orlando Bloom employed, casting has already begun for Pirates of the Caribbean 4: Arrrrrrright Already, Enough!  When in doubt, add some sex appeal...enter Penelope Cruz.  Read more.
• Do you like musicals?  Do you like whores?  What better a remake for both women and men than The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.  The 1982 movie's getting a face lift and a new push up bra and coming back better then ever.  No news yet whether Dolly Parton, her lovely lady lumps, or Burt Reynolds will come back for round two...though I doubt that Universal Studios will be able to negotiate all four of those contracts.  Read more.
• The Disney animation documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty came out this week with a new poster that's caught my interest for sure...and not just because it features a cocktail napkin.  The documentary will cover the 10 years between 1984 and 1994 when the Disney animation went from dire straights to the top of the world and then back to desperation again.  A behind the scenes look at the boxing matches between Roy Disney, Michael Eisner and Jeffery Katzenberg, this one's on the top of my list.  Read more.
• It looks like my beloved and anticipated Alice in Wonderland will be a litmus test for shorter theatrical runs.  All studios have their eyes on this one as Disney rolls the dice and shortens the movie's stay in theaters just so it can turn it around quickly and make a bundle in DVD and VOD sales.  Interesting, we'll have to see how that works for them.  Read more.

 That's all folks.  Don't forget, only a few more hours to vote in this week's poll - do your civic duty and rock the vote.  Have a great weekend!