During the first year of The Flickcast, we urged our readers to head to Child’s Play to help make the holidays brighter for kids who were stuck in the hospital over the holidays. Back in 2009, the guys at Penny Arcade had set a goal of $1,000,000, which they were able to achieve.

Now, we are asking again for our loyal readership to help out those going through the terrible ordeal of spending their holidays in a hospital instead of being at home with their loved ones. With the economy being in worse shape than three years ago, Child’s Play has set an even higher goal for themselves of $2,500,000, which has been topped already with still almost two weeks until Christmas.

But that doesn’t mean we should stop giving. There are still lots of children who could use a bit of Christmas cheer that having new games to play and DVDs to watch can bring.

This week’s Christmas pick is the 1987 buddy cop classic Lethal Weapon. The film stars Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, and Gary Busey.

Being the first film in the successful movie franchise, Lethal Weapon is not just a classic action film, but it’s also a Christmas film as well. The film centers around two L.A.P.D. detectives who are reluctantly partnered together in order to solve a murder that was disguised as a suicide.

Roger Murtaugh (Glover) is an aging officer who has just celebrated his fiftieth birthday and is looking forward to an early retirement. Martin Riggs (Gibson) is a burnt out, borderline psychotic officer who is grieving over the recent death of his wife.

After an undercover drug bust in which Riggs’ life was in jeopardy, Riggs’ superiors have him transferred to homicide where he is partnered with Murtaugh who is aware of Riggs’ illustrious reputation. Both men see this new partnership as an inconvenience and are less than thrilled to work with one another.

The crew are taking a much needed break over the Thanksgiving holiday. We’ll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming. Of course, if something big breaks, we’ll bring it to you.

Otherwise, if you’re in the US of A (or just like to celebrate our holidays) Happy Thanksgiving! If not, enjoy your Thursday and Friday.

See you on the other side.

Pixar has set into a pretty stead pattern of releasing one film a year. This summer we have Brave to look forward too, and next year brings us Monsters University. But what about 2014 and beyond? Worry not, Pixar is not letting up anytime soon.

Variety is reporting that Pixar has come clean on several projects targeted for 2014 and 2015:

Pixar has announced its latest project in development, setting a 2015 release target for a toon based on the Mexican holiday of Dio de los Muertos… Other Pixar news from Las Vegas: The studio has titled its dino pic “The Good Dinosaur,” set for May 30, 2014; and has dated its “Untitled Pixar Movie that Takes You Inside the Mind” for June 19, 2015.

So The Good Dinosaur for 2014 and a potential double dip in 2015. What is most exciting is the news of the newly announced film that is based on the Day of the Dead. There is a wealth of culture and history to be mined out of the Mexican holiday, and of all the studios willing to go down that hole, Pixar is by far the most capable of giving it the proper due.

We here at The Flickcast will keep a close eye on this future project, but in the mean time we can all brace for the potential awesomness that is Brave this summer.

Merry Christmas to all the fans of Monday Picks. This week’s pick in celebration of the holiday season is Scrooged. Richard Donner (The Omen, Superman I & II, Lethal Weapon series) directs this modern comedy version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Bill Murray stars as media mogul Frank Cross, the head of IBC Networks who has risen to the top of the company by being a cynical, conceited, and cruel individual. Frank is in charge of a forty million dollar production of a live television broadcast that is to air on Christmas Eve.

When company executives show Frank the latest commercial for the broadcast, Frank belittles and insults his staff and shows them an incredibly offensive and violent commercial he has produced for the broadcast, which he plans to air in place of the original. Corporate executive Eliot Loudermilk (Bobcat Goldthwait) confronts Frank on the commercial saying that the ad is in poor taste and will frighten people. Frank goes along with Loudermilk’s suggestion and then has him fired just days before Christmas.

Here we are, less than a week away from Christmas, and you’re without a clue for those last two folks you have yet to buy presents for. What’s a loving friend to do? That’s where we are here to help, with some awesome gifts that will be a hole in one for that special geek in your life.

For Him

Sure, there have been plenty of cool gifts out this year, but what about the one that speaks to his inner TV, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi geek? Here’s a good start

Love a good gag? Then the Prank Pack gift box set is for you, complete with practical joke boxes like the iArm, Dream Griddle, or the Beer Beard. Definitely worth a laugh or two on Christmas morning. – $19.99 for 3

HBO has got some great ideas for you to fill those stockings as well. Here are some of the great ideas for guys.

Wish you were Kenny Powers? Then this baseball cap with built-in mullet is for you. – $29.99

Open letters like a true king with this Game of Thrones sword letter opener. Mail is coming. – $19.99

It’s rare that a truly original film comes through the system and actually make us take note. The upcoming animated film from Dreamworks, Rise of the Guardians (formerly Guardians of Childhood) is just that.
With an all-star cast an a premise we haven’t liked this much since Nightmare Before Christmas, this flick could be our new favorite from Dreamworks. Here’s the premise:
 
More than a collection of the well-known childhood legends, Rise of the Guardians tells the story of a group of heroes — each with extraordinary abilities. When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world. This epic 3D adventure stars Chris Pine as Jack Frost, Alec Baldwin as North (Santa Claus), Hugh Jackman as Bunnymund (Easter Bunny), Isla Fisher as Tooth (Tooth Fairy) and Jude Law as Pitch (The Boogeyman).
 
With a scheduled release of November 21, 2012, you can expect this one to be the big hit of the 2012 holiday season (provided The Hobbit doesn’t steal our hearts). Take a look at Santa looking bad ass after the jump.

This week’s Monday Pick is the John McTiernan holiday action classic Die Hard. It stars Bruce Willis as tough New York cop John McClane who arrives in Los Angeles during the Christmas holidays to reconcile with his estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) who works as an executive with the Nakatomi corporation.

As McClane and his wife try to patch up their troubled marriage, the Christmas party is crashed by a group of thieves demanding that the CEO of the company open the vault which houses over six hundred and forty million dollars in barrow bonds. Alone and outgunned, McClane maneuvers through the building bumping off as many terrorists as he can while he tries to find out what their real plans are.

Seasons greetings! This week’s pick is a comedy holiday classic from the successful National Lampoon’s Vacation series. Chevy Chase stars as Clark W. Griswold in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

This third installment of the series follows the Griswolds and Clark’s quest for the best family Christmas. The film’s opening sequence follows the family into the wilderness in the ultimate quest for the perfect Christmas tree. As Clark and the fam enter a clearing a beam of light falls on the perfect tree.

Like the two previous films, Clark’s expectations exceed the rest of the family’s and he is completely oblivious to everything. As they gather around the tree, Rusty asks if Clark brought a saw. Clark’s toothy smile turns to an immediate frown as he realizes his first mistake. In the last scene the tree is strapped to the roof of the car, completely torn from the ground, roots and all. Ridiculous yet brilliant.

As the in-laws and assorted family members arrive at Clark’s home for Christmas, things begin to go horribly awry, especially when cousin Eddie (Quaid) and his family arrive unexpectedly. Greatest line ever when Eddie asks Clark if he’s surprised to see him “Eddie if I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet I wouldn’t be more surprised than I am right now.”

In celebration of the holiday season, this week’s pick is the 1984 cult classic Night of the Comet written and directed by Thom Eberhardt. Night of the Comet is a terrific throwback to 1950’s horror and sci-fi with a unique 80s spin to it. The film stars Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, Robert Beltran, Mary Woronov, and Geoffrey Lewis.

With Christmas right around the corner, the world prepares for the arrival of a comet that predicts a stellar light show that will be seen all around the world. As billions gather to await the arrival of the comet, a group of scientists have secured themselves in a secret research facility in the California desert fearing that the last time a comet like this arrived on Earth, spelled extinction for the dinosaurs.

Stewart stars as Regina Belmont, a movie theater usher who awakens the morning after the comet passes over a deserted LA. Things seem amiss when Reggie gets locked out of the theater and discovers that her boyfriend, who went to pick up some rare film cans belonging to the theater, has not yet arrived back.

Reggie sees Larry’s (Michael Bowen) motorcycle still parked in the alley and she is attacked by a zombie in overalls. Regina fights him off and takes off on the motorcycle.