Simon Pegg, who as far as I’m concerned can do no wrong, stars as techno-geek Benji Dunn in Mission:Impossible – Ghost Protocol. We have a new featurette from the film that basically features Pegg talking about his character, the film and his experience making it.

I have to say, I’m with Pegg. Much like 007's theme, whenever I hear the theme for Mission:Impossible, in any of its incarnations (all variations on Lalo Schifrin's theme for the iconic television series), I know I'm in for a wild ride, and I admit, there are certain situations when it does run through my head as well.

Mission:Impossible-Ghost Protocol  looks like all kinds of badass cool. It starts with someone blowing up the Kremlin! Of course, Ethan and his team are implicated, causing the team to 'go rogue' (sorry that phrase has been ruined for me) to clear their organization's name. It may well end up being the best in the series. as well. As I’ve said before, Tom Cruise, crazy or not, is not only the benchmark that other actors of his generation should strive for in terms of aging gracefully, but for proving that you're never too old to kick some ass. The lengths he goes to for his films, especially for an actor with his status is astounding. You’ve seen the clip of him scaling the Burj Khalifa, right?

This time out the IMF team, includes Jeremy Renner as Brant, Paula Patton as Jane Carter, Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell as well as Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn. Lea Seydoux, Josh Holloway, Tom Wilkinson, Michael Nyqvist, Anil Kapoor and Vladimir Mashkov round out the cast. MI4, which I’ve chosen to call the film, opens in IMAX on December 16 and comes to regular theaters on December 21. Don’t forget, attached to Mission:Impossible – Ghost Protocol will be the first six minutes of The Dark Knight Rises, so don’t skip the previews!

Avengers assemble! And apparently they have! The cast of Joss Whedon's The Avengers may be the best ever put together for a comic book movie and they’ve all been given their own character posters and then those were combined into cool looking banners.

I swear this movie is just bursting at the seams with testosterone filled goodness and they’re all just teasing me.  Chris Hemsworth as Thor with his hair rippling in the breeze, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Chris Evans as Captain America and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, all looking at the camera and giving it the sexy ‘Victoria’s Secret, over-the-shoulder (well, Evans is peeking out from behind his arm) come hither stare’. Jeremy Renner who plays Hawkeye and Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man looking at nothing and exuding macho, Mark Ruffalo who plays The Hulk (in Bruce Banner mode), he’s touching those glasses so we remember that smarts is sexy, right before he rips them off and goes all Hulk-like, Oh and then there’s Scarlet Johannson as The Black Widow in her skintight black leathers and big guns. I’m sure there’s someone out there stoked about that.

I’m still unclear on just what this movie’s about, other than “The S.H.I.E.L.D. agency brings together a team of superhumans to help save the Earth from annihilation by extraterrestrial invaders.” Oookay… Oh well, just keep giving us pretty pictures to look at and we’ll stay interested.

The Avengers is set for release on May 4, 2012 virtually everywhere. 

In this new clip from Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the first that doesn’t feature star Tom Cruise in any way, Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn is outlining a part of their plan, in an effort to clear their IMF team’s name, that involves Jeremy Renner’s Brandt making a jump inside a supercomputer. Of course the computer has been switched off so will essentially be as hot as an oven and will feature a 25 foot drop. But Benji will catch him.

In the latest installment, which comes fifteen years after the first film in the franchise (boy do I feel old), the IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremilin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new IMF team to go “rogue” to clear their organization’s name, initiating “Ghost Protocol”: No help. No backup. No choice

Mission:Impossible – Ghost Protocol also stars Cruise, Paula Patton, Josh Holloway, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Lea Seydoux and Anil Kapoor star. It opens in  IMAX on December 16 before all other theaters in the US and Canada on December 21^st and 26^th December in the UK. (If you needed another reason to see this, don’t forget about the six minute prologue to The Dark Knight Rises that will be attached to this.)

Okay these I like. Sure, it’s always nice to see Tom Cruise glowering out from beneath a hoodie, but we’ve been looking at that image from Mission:Impossible – Ghost Protocol for months. Who else ya got? Well, as we’ve known for some time, they’ve got Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Anil Kapoor, Michael Nyqvist, Lea Seydoux and some guy in a blue suit that I can only assume is Vladimir Mashkov. Okay, where’s Ving Rhames’ poster? Or Josh Holloway’s?

Well I guess it’s a start. These came from the film’s UK Facebook page, so it’s possible we’ll get more. In the meantime, What’s very cool about these is that we can kind of figure out who everyone is from their poster and the subtle differences in the tag lines. The IMF team of Ethan Hunt (Cruise), Brandt (Renner), Benji Dunn (Pegg) and Jane Carter (Patton) all get “No Plan. No Backup. No Choice.” Makes sense since we know from the trailers and clips that the team has been disavowed and are being framed for bombing the Kremlin and trying to kill the Russian President. All in a day’s work.

But then, on the posters for Kurt Hendricks (Nyqvist), and two other people who apparently have no names (at least according to imdb), the characters belonging to Lea Seydoux and Vladimir Mashkov, all have “No Plan. No Backup. No Mercy.” Are we to take from that that they are the villains? And where does that leave Brij Nath (Kapoor) whose poster says “No Plan. No Backup. No Secrets”? Are there no secrets because he knows them all? Is he a double agent of some sort? Hmmm…

The goodies are coming at us nearly nonstop now that the wait is thankfully getting shorter. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens in half the world (starting with Dubai where it will open the Dubai International Film Festival) between December 14-16, including US IMAX on the 16^th before opening wide in the US and Canada on December 21. The UK gets it on the 26^th.

We’ve got a new TV spot for Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. No Tom Cruise doing the human fly routine this time, although there are hints. It’s only a lot of stuff blowing up and then a lot of finger pointing. That’s fine. This movie looks like it’s going to kick major amounts of ass and be the best in the franchise since the first one. It will definitely surpass it in the action and special effects departments. Cruise, of course, returns as operative Ethan Hunt. He and his entire team must fight for a way to clear their names after they are disavowed along with the rest of the agency when the President initiates "ghost protocol," essentially erasing them from existence. 

Directed by Brad Bird, best known for The Incredibles and making his live action debut, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was filmed last year in Dubai.  It was just announced that the flick will have its world premiere as the opening night selection of the 8^th Annual Dubai International Film Festival on December 7.  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens in IMAX in the US on December 16 and regular theaters on the 21^st. The UK gets it on 26 December.

Much like 007's theme, whenever I hear the theme for Mission:Impossible, in any of its incarnations (all variations on Lalo Schifrin's theme for the iconic television series), I know I'm in for a wild ride. Judging from everything we've been given thus far, I'd say that will be true ofMission:Impossible-Ghost Protocol as well. Say what you want about Tom Cruise, there is no question that this 49 year old is not only the benchmark that other actors of his generation should strive for in terms of aging gracefully, but for proving that you're never too old to kick some ass. The lengths he goes to for his films, especially for an actor with his status is astounding. (Despite how ever the finished product turns out. I think we can safely place the blame forthe bomb that was Knight and Day on someone other than Cruise.)

Take a look at this second trailer for Mission:Impossible-Ghost Protocol (Can't we just agree to refer to it as MI4? That's easier to type.) In any case, with this trailer we get a closer look at the new players on Ethan Hunt's IMF team, including Jeremy Renner as Brant and Paula Patton as Jane Carter and IMF vet Benji Dunn played by Simon Pegg. We also get a few glimpses of Josh Holloway's Trevor Hanaway. The best part is the clues we're given about the plot. The trailer opens with someone blowing up the Kremlin! Of course, Ethan and his team are implicated, causing the team to 'go rogue' (sorry that phrase has been ruined for me) to clear their organization's name.

Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol opens in IMAX on December 16 and in normal theaters on December 21

Natalie Portman looks so cute in her little dress rocking her baby bump at this afternoon’s 26th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards held at the Santa Monica Beach. She looks like a little doll. Everyone looked like they were being blown about when they arrived in their limos to a very chilly Los Angeles afternoon.

Jeremy Renner’s body positioning is funny in all of the pictures. It looks like he saw Christina Aguilera and is making a run for it. Rumour had it that she arrived at a party of his (uninvited), bombed out of her tree and proceeded to sleep in his bed. Classy.

Nicole Kidman looked gorgeous in her red dress but it was her accessory that I think is most gorgeous: husband Keith Urban.

And as you can imagine, Black Swan swept the awards taking home four. Do you think they will do well tomorrow night at the Oscars? What a stupid question, no?

Don’t forget to visit us as well will have tons of pictures of the (hopefully) beautiful gowns on the red carpet.

The list of winners tonight:

Best Feature: Black Swan
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Best Male Lead: James Franco, 127 Hours
Best Female Lead: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Supporting Male: John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Best Supporting Female: Dale Dickey, Winter’s Bone
Best First Feature: Get Low
Best Screenplay: Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right
Best First Screenplay: Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture
Best Cinematography: Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Robert Altman Award: Please Give
Best Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Best Foreign Film: The King’s Speech
John Cassavetes Award: Daddy Longlegs
Acura Someone to Watch Award: Mike Ott, Littlerock
Aveeno Truer Than Fiction Award: Jeff Malmberg, Marwencol
Piaget Producers Award: Anish Savjani, Meek’s Cutoff

Lots of pictures after the break

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The gorgeous and super-talented Famke Janssen, 46,  has landed herself the role of leader of witches in ‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’.  Cast so far in the Paramount Pictures movie in the title roles are Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton.

Famke Janssen & Licorice In New York

Famke Janssen @ Radiohead Haiti Benefit Concert

The movie is described as:

Title characters who, 15 years after their narrow fairy tale escape from the gingerbread house, become specialized bounty-hunters looking to take down the witches that almost killed them

Gary Sanchez is set to produce the movie but no word on when it will be released.