It was an interesting show for the Oscars this year.  From the “Kanye” moment to Sean Penn somewhat proudly proclaiming he’s not part of the Academy.  Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role (The Blind Side) the very same year she accepted a Razzie for Worst Actress (All About Steve).  And, of course, the gross upset of Avatar at the hands of The Hurt Locker.  With 41 million viewers, this year’s Oscars had something for everyone but, perhaps more interestingly, it best reflected the two sides of Hollywood which exist today.

How fitting to have two hosts on the one Oscar night that would truly exemplify both faces of Hollywood.  For so long many have seen Hollywood as one massive, filmmaking entity but that really isn’t the case.  Now more than ever there’s a division between what I’m calling (for the purposes of this article) “mainstream” Hollywood and “performance” Hollywood.  The names pretty much say it all.

Films in the mainstream category are all the summer blockbusters, tent pole movies studios rely on to turn a healthy profit year over year (e.g. Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Avatar).  In contrast you have the performance pictures, lesser known films with limited release and all too often far less money behind them (e.g. Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, The Hurt Locker).  These are two very different types of films, each vying for the attention of movie goers.

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Box Office Mojo has reported that Avatar added another $16 million to it’s box office on Monday. Considering the soft opening that the movie had over the weekend ($77 Million), due to sold out shows and a snow storm that hit most of the east coast, this might just be the beginning of some staying power for James Cameron’s latest project. Titanic, the previous Cameron film released 12 years ago, managed to stay in theaters for almost 11 months, which helped to make it one of the top box office earners in history.

Compared with one of this year’s other financial heavy-hitters, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which opened to around $102 Million in June but only made $14 Million on the Monday following it’s opening weekend. They’re slightly comparable in that both were released during a time when families and younger fans have more free-time, with Independence Day being the following weekend for Transformers 2, and Christmas coming this weekend, which is Avatar‘s second weekend .

It’ll be interesting to see how well Avatar is able to hold on, between the varied opinions on the film, the positive word of mouth, and the opening of another potential box office smash with Robert Downey Jr. and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Whether or not Avatar proves itself to be the next financial Titanic or not, it’s sure to be an epic clash at the box office this weekend.

I have made no secret about the fact I think both Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were awful.  The scripts were weak, or practically non-existent in the case of the sequel, and editing so bad it was difficult at times to see what was going. Case in point, director Michael Bay kept the fight scenes moving at rapid pace then would cut to a slow motion shot of Shau Lebouf shouting “Optimus!” or Megan Fox running away. Now, as much as I can appreciate Fox’s particular “assets” moving in slow-mo, it would have been better to slow down the scenes I was really interested in, robots fighting.

Be that as it may, I have defended Bay in the sense he knows how to appeal to the masses and can make a profitable film.  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen took in approximately $823 million dollars worldwide and that figure is set to grow even larger based on record setting DVD sales:

“Paramount Home Video sold 7.5 million DVD/Blu-ray copies of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” in its first week of release including 1.2 million Blu-ray’s, making it the year’s highest selling HD title. To put that in perspective, “Twilight” was the years biggest selling title and has sold 8 million copies since March 21st.”

If my math is correct that’s about another $150 million in the bank (using an average DVD price of $20). Not a bad week at all to be Paramount or Michael Bay. Bravo, Mr. Bay!

I may not like your take on one of my favorite childhood toys but I can’t argue with your success. You’re like the McDonalds of filmmaking. The food may not necessarily be a healthy choice, but we all keep coming back for more.

Here’s a list of some of the new movie and TV shows coming to DVD and Blu-ray this week that we’re looking forward to seeing. Also, there’s some classic, and not-so-classic, movies hitting Blu-ray for the first time this week as well.

Of all the new releases, we’re particularly interested in the Blu-ray versions of movies and TV shows such as Blood: The Last Vampire, Easy Rider and the first seasons of Hawaii Five-O and Vega$. Plus, I think some movie with lots of robots, explosions and Megan Fox also came out this week as well.

Check them out.

Movies

Blood: The Last Vampire ~ Michael Byrne, Constantine Gregory, Yasuaki Kurata (DVD and Blu-ray)

Cheri ~ Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates (DVD – 2009)

Easy Rider ~ Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson (Blu-ray)

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In what was undoubtedly not very surprising news, Michael Bay has confirmed on his website that there will, indeed, be a Transformers 3. Not only that, the film will hit theaters earlier than its rumored release of July 1, 2012 and will, in fact, be coming to a multiplex near you in 2011, a full year earlier. But wait, there’s even more — and this, while not entirely surprising, is a bit unexpected.

Not only will there be a Transformers 3 and it will be coming out a year earlier than expected, Bay also confirmed that franchise star Megan Fox will be in the third film as well. Given the seemingly hostile nature of their recent public spat, it appears Bay at least has decided to live and let live. I’m sure the many millions of dollars the franchise has made had nothing to do with it.

Bay wrote on his website that he met with ILM in San Francisco Thursday morning, followed by a flight to Rhode Island with Kruger to meet with Hasbro about new characters. “Well, it’s official: We have a great ‘Transformers 3′ story,” Bay said on his site. “Today is Day One.” This point is not better illustrated by the countdown clock now running at Bay’s site. As of today, it shows 636 days until Transformers 3 hits theaters. So, start planning accordingly.

Even though Bay has publicly confirmed Fox’s involvement in the third film, the beautiful star herself has not, as yet, commented. In addition, Shia LaBeouf was not mentioned by Bay at all, so there’s no confirmation on if he will be in the third film along with Fox. Although, according to other sources, both Fox and LaBeouf are slated to return, as is Exec. Producer Steven Spielberg and co-writer Ehren Kruger. So, we can probably expect announcements from Fox and LaBeouf’s people soon.

Transformers 3: The Blatant Grab for Cash hits theaters on July 1, 2011.

July 4th weekend is said to be the best weekend of the year. It gives studios a whole 5 days of potential profit, as most adults are off work, and kids are usually out of school by then. This is usually a great time to release kid-friendly films, which is exactly what Fox did this year with Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

Last year, Hancock and Will Smith took over the weekend, grossing $66 million, and the first Transformers film had 2007 with$70 million. This year, Transformers 2 didn’t get the coveted weekend, but it still made top of the list in this years box office, grossing $239 million since last Wednesday. With poor reviews probably having something to do with it, Ice Age has already moved to this week’s number 1 spot, and grossed $14 million yesterday, where Transformers 2 only came in with $10 million.

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Last week on The Flickcast, Chris, Matt and Christina discussed lots of different subjects including Megan Fox as Lara Croft, the new Conan, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, the return of Futurama and much more.

This week, the trio takes on some new topics such as the proposed remake of An American Werewolf in London, the Watchmen Director’s Cut, the importance of Comic-Con in San Diego, the box office success of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, changes to the number of Best Picture Oscar nominees and the tragic death of Michael Jackson.

Plus, as they do every week, your favorite team makes some great picks. Matt goes back to his youth with the Ghostbusters video game, Christina learns more about confidence scams with David Mamet’s The Spanish Prisoner and Chris just wants to be scared by his pick Slither, a horror/comedy directed by James Gunn and starring Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

Sometimes, if you’ve been good, you get what you wish for. This is one of those times. Why do I say that? Well, read on. In an interview with Megan Fox the, shall we just say very attractive, star of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, she revealed some very interesting bits of info sure to delight fanboys (And girls too, we’re all equal here).

One such bit of info of particular interest to yours truly was that Fox really wants to go to Comic-Con in San Diego next month and, not only that, being the big Star Wars fan that she is, she would really like to go dressed in a “Slave Leia” costume. Oh boy. You hear that sound? That’s the sound of millions of fanboys (And yes, still girls as well) heads exploding.

I don’t know if Fox is really going to attend Comic-Con dressed that way but now any reluctance I had about going next month has miraculously disappeared. See you in San Diego!

Oh, by the way, Fox also talks about some other stuff in the video but really, she had me at “Slave Leia.”

Check out the full video after the jump.

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Back in 2007, Michael Bay accomplished what seemed to be a miracle in the film community: he took a nearly dead property that was built off of a line of action figures, and made it into a highly successful–and one can even say decent–film for both old and new fans. Sadly, with Revenge of the Fallen, Bay and his team try to top themselves with a grandiose successor, and come up pretty short.

The plot follows Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), two years after the events of Transformers. Sam’s now off to college where he and blah blah blah…does any of this matter? Let’s face it, you’re going to see this movie for one reason, and one reason only: to see gigantic robots beat the crap out of each other. I’m happy to say, you get what you come for, but that’s about it. This movie is pretty much identical to it’s predecessor, now with 30% more character development, mass murder, and zany humor. Oh, don’t forget a brand new track by Linkin Park, which sounds exactly like the last track by Linkin Park.

There are some pretty embarrassing moments for a film of this caliber. One of which is the use of racism in the form of CGI robots. The racism isn’t very blatant, as it is overused stereotypes that are meant to be funny, but come out laughable, and not in a good way. Two characters, Mudflap and Skids, stand out above the rest. They are designated as the “urban” Autobots, donning two gold front teeth and illiteracy. There is also a Mexican ice cream truck at the beginning of the film that sets the bar pretty low. And those who say that Jazz in the original cartoon set a precedent for characters like Mudflap and Skids should know that Scatman Crothers, who originally voiced the character, transcends race.

A major downfall for the film, which seems to be a complaint across the board, is the massive 150 minutes of the film’s length. There is definitely a period where the audience, as a whole, glances at their collective watch. Without knowing the true story, I wouldn’t doubt that the film had a much darker first cut and the studio decided to amp it up with things like jive-talking sidekicks and robot balls (yes, there are robot testicles in the film). There’s definitely a dark film in those 2+ hours, and it would be interesting to see that cut someday.

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If you’ve been dreaming of a new Lara Croft movie and that Megan Fox will take over the role made famous by Angelina Jolie, then you’re not going to be very happy with this post. Still, this post does contain info about both subjects, which obviously you’re fond of if you’ve been having the above mentioned dreams, so read on.

According to a recent interview with the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen star, Fox is not interested in taking on the role of Lara Croft in a Tomb Raider reboot nor has anyone even offered her the role. Speaking after a press conference for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen last week in Beverly Hills, Calif. Fox told a cluster of reporters that it’s a complete rumor. No one has offered her the role of Lara Croft or even spoken to her about it.

Not only that, but even if they did, she wouldn’t be interested anyway. “I think that’s a role that Angelina Jolie mastered, and I would never attempt to take that over from her,” Fox said.

Of course, in Hollywood that could also mean that people are talking with her about it and she is considering it but just playing hard to get. That’s just the way things work sometimes. So, don’t give up hope just yet. You might still end up seeing Fox doing backflips, firing two giant guns while wearing skimpy shorts and a clingy tank top. Its Hollywood, dreams sometime do come true.

With July just around the corner, and half of the big summer blockbusters already out in theaters for the year, questions are coming up on what the “next big thing for 2009″ will be. According to a press release by Fandango, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen looks to be the one to put your money on.

The film is currently outpacing this summer’s Star Trek movie and the original Transformers in advance ticket sales on Fandango at the same point in those films’ sales cycles (one week before release date).

“For nearly two years – since the last Transformers opened – this new movie has been one of the most highly-anticipated films among fans on our site,” says Rick Butler, Chief Operating Officer of Fandango. “Tickets for the new Transformers are already selling fast, so moviegoers should plan on buying their tickets in advance, as many showtimes are certain to sell out next week.”

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With all the trailers, pics, videos and whatnot floating around the Internets concerning Michael Bay’s sure to be a monster sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, I’m starting to get a bit burned out. Sure, I like seeing footage of robots fighting, stuff blowing up, gun fights, car chases and Megan Fox running around all sweaty and glistening. Let’s face it, who doesn’t?

That said, I always start to get a bit concerned when studios trot out so much stuff before a movie’s release. Its as if they’re trying to beat us over the head and convince us the movie is “super cool” by the sheer amount of info we’re being subjected to. Its not like there isn’t precedent for this either. Look at the recent campaigns for both Terminator: Salvation or Land of the Lost.

You couldn’t turn on a tv, browse the internet or ride a bus without seeing either Christian Bale, a Terminator or Wil Farrell and a damn dinosaur. And sadly, even with all that marketing and the extreme “in your face” nature of it, both movies ended up being not so good — especially in the case of Land of the Lost which, you could make the case, basically bombed.

So what does this all mean for Transformers 2? Who knows. Just take a look at this new clip (after the break) and try not to get too jaded about it. Plus, it features Megan Fox quite a bit, so that couldn’t hurt, right?

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