Hot Topic

Forget vampires and remakes of retro TV shows, Hollywood's latest trend seems to be rebooting franchises before the dust has even settled on their namesakes.

Following news that the 'Spider-Man,' 'Planet of the Apes' and 'X-Men' series are all expecting 'Star Trek' style reimaginings, New York Magazine is now reporting that the eponymous Brangelina vehicle, 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith,' is facing a facelift too.

Here's our top picks for the new couple to step into Brangelina's thigh holsters and create some suburban carnage.

Another year in the NFL, another exciting Super Bowl featuring an unheralded comeback for the storybook underdog, The New Orleans Saints. Even Brangelina had a good time. But of course, we're more interested in what happened during the commercial breaks in between the game action, as studios reeled out tons of never-before-seen ads for some of their high profile film releases.

For the most part, the film spots were quick and furious, but the clear trend is that the rest of 2010 will show us new versions of the old classics. We saw fresh approaches on Robin Hood and the Wolfman, Jake Gyllenhaal's take on a beloved video game franchise, and Jennifer Lopez doing... well, we're not quite sure what.

The Oscar nominations were announced on Feb. 2, and this time around, there were 10 Best Picture nominees instead of the usual five. It was a move designed to make sure that more popular movies were nominated -- but what it also means is, there are now five MORE movies you'll have to see before the Oscars roll around on March 7.

Well, break out that To Do list, because we're forming our very own Moviefone Oscars Movie Club. It's sort of like a book club, except with movies (and sorry, you'll have to bring your own snacks).

As Kathryn Bigelow celebrates her much-deserved Best Director Oscar nomination for 'The Hurt Locker,' it's mind-boggling to realize that she is, in fact, only the fourth woman director ever to be nominated.

While the Academy has honored a female composer (Rachel Portman), editor (Thelma Schoonmaker), and screenwriters (Diablo Cody, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala), no female director has won an Oscar in the past 81 years. If Bigelow breaks through, as her fellow female directors hope, it will be a tribute to how far women directors have come.

Here's a look at the only three other female directors to score Oscar nominations in the history of the awards.

With all the excitement surrounding the Oscars and, of course, Razzie noms, we thought we'd turn to our loyal Moviefone fans on Facebook and ask: What do you think is the #worst movie ever?

Some responses were expected ('Battlefield Earth'!), while others were admittedly shocking ('District 9'? Really?). But at the end of the day, it's the moviegoers who buy the tickets. So take a look at the flicks that Moviefone's "academy" members wish had never been made, then fan us on Facebook or follow @Moviefone on Twitter and tell us your own picks for the least-coveted title of all: #WorstMovieEver.

Not since Goliath looked down at David in the Valley of Elah has the favorite in a fight faced a sassier undersized opponent than James Cameron's 'Avatar' against his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow's 'The Hurt Locker' in the battle for the 2010 Best Picture Oscar.

By March 7, when the Oscars are handed out, 'Avatar' will have expanded its box office records by scores of millions of dollars; by contrast, 'The Hurt Locker' was played out in mid-November with a dismal $16.1 million in worldwide ticket sales. And it's been available on DVD and Video on Demand since Jan. 12.

The Golden Raspberry Awards (aka, the Razzies), founded in 1981 to offset the Academy Awards, honor the worst in cinema each year. There are 11 different categories, from Worst Picture to Worst Leading Actor to Worst New Star. No one in Hollywood paid much attention until 1987, when Bill Cosby became the first person to accept his Golden Razzie for his film 'Leonard, Part 6.' After that, several actors have shown up at the awards to take their lumps. Halle Berry brought her Oscar and held it as she accepted her Razzie for Catwoman (2004).

In honor of this year's nominations (tough break, Sandra Bullock), we've decided to honor those who've received the most Razzie nominations throughout the award's history. (Note: The Razzies will nominate one person for multiple roles in a year and only use one slot -- for example, in 2003, Ben Affleck was nominated for Worst Actor with 'Daredevil' / 'Gigli' / 'Paycheck', so we only counted that as one nomination, not three.)

This morning's list of Oscar nominations had more than a few surprises, but no acknowledgment threw Oscar prognosticators for a bigger loop than the inclusion of 'The Secret of Kells' for Best Animated Feature.

How does a movie that no one has seen get nominated in a major Oscars category? I'm not an Academy member, but I did see the film with my children at the Los Angeles Irish Film Festival last year. The humor in 'Kells' is gentle, and some of its hero's adventures are frighteningly fantastical -- it's not for kids who are squirmy or squeamish. My kids are both, and for that reason, we didn't make it to the end of 'Kells.' The movie's ideal audience seems to be preteen and older (and it doesn't hurt to be Irish!).

Certainly among animation insiders, 'Kells' has made an impression. It's already up for a Best Feature Annie Award, considered the Oscars of animation. Yet it wasn't on the radar of Oscar watchers, many of whom thought 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' and/or 'Ponyo' would nab a spot. 'Meatballs' was a hit, while 'Ponyo' was created by the revered former Oscar winner Hayao Miyazaki ('Spirited Away,' 'Princess Mononoke').

As I have been predicting here for weeks, the decision by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to double the number of Best Picture nominees from 5 to 10 would put some unworthy movies on the ballot -- and the mischief was worse than I imagined. Among the 10 movies that will forever be identified as Academy Award nominees is 'The Blind Side,' one of the lowest critically rated movies ever to appear on the ballot.

On Metacritic.com, where the nation's leading professional movie critics' reviews are gathered and weighted, 'The Blind Side' scored just 54 out of 100. Sandra Bullock's nomination for Best Actress for 'The Blind Side' was a generous enough nod to that audience-pleasing blockbuster.

The Oscar nominations are less than 24 hours away, and by now, most of the races have been decided. (Don't believe us? Check out Jack Mathews' comprehensive Oscar predictions.)

Still, one of the best parts about waking up early to watch the noms is the element of surprise. Every so often, voters will throw us an unexpected curveball -- a Keira Knightley in 2005 or a 'City of God' in 2003 -- to keep us guessing through the final stretch of the race.

Will it happen again this year? We'll find out tomorrow. In the meantime, here are five longshot contenders that would make us very happy, should their names be called in the morning.