After a morning packed with Christmas presents, consider this Movie News Cheat Sheet a bit of an after dinner drink to the main meal. Okay, not every item on this week’s list will bring you comfort and joy, but the good most certainly outweighs the not so good. Not a fan of 3D? It pains me to report that both The Avengers and Star Trek 2 will go under the post conversion knife. On the bright and unrelated side, the big screen adaptation of Ender’s Game just snagged a slew of new cast members including Harrison Ford and Abigail Breslin. In other casting news, Lovelace picked up four and might…

Every year my family sits around the Thanksgiving table and tells each other what we’re thankful for, which winds up being the same thing four times over – family. Sure, that’s very much true and will remain so my entire life, but as the movie industry is such an essential part of my life, there’s no denying that the business’ highlights genuinely have an impact on my year. Following in the footsteps of my colleagues Karen, Joe, Melissa and Monique, I bring you five film industry achievements I’m most thankful for in 2011. 1. Lionsgate Seems to be Doing The Hunger Games Right: I wouldn’t call the casting process a…

Well the promise of a sequel has finally come true. It was only just a matter of time. Now, Deadline is reporting that the new “Star Trek” film will have a release date of May 17th 2013. That’s right! In only a year and a half from now, we’ll be sitting in a movie theater watching the sequel to the widely popular re-boot/re-launch of the “Star Trek” franchise. And not only will we be sitting in a movie theater, we’ll be wearing 3D glasses, ready to enjoy the movie. Along with the release date, an announcement of the sequel being released in 3D, which seems like a common practice these…

The theme of this week’s Cheat Sheet? Casting. Well, for the most part. We’ve got the best of the best including J.J. Abrams’ hopes to cast Benicio del Toro as his villain in Star Trek 2 as well as a slew of potential recruits for Warner Bros’ Akira. It’s been confirmed that Jennifer Lopez is producing a Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego movie, but now the question is, will she star in it, too? Then there’s Andy Serkis who just earned a solid paycheck for signing on for Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2 as well as subsequent Apes films. Yes, this Cheat Sheet is certainly…

Title: Puss in Boots Director: Chris Miller Starring (voices): Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris, Constance Marie Puss in Boots takes the titular character introduced in the Shrek movie franchise and tells the adventurous feline’s story in 90 minutes of 3D animated glory. Yes, the animation executed by DreamWorks Animation is once again splendid and crisp. Do you need to shell out the extra cash for 3D ticket prices? Not at all. There’s plenty of scope in the traditional 2D screenings and the kiddies will be entertained just the same. The character is a cunning cat version of Zorro set in a screenplay that blends…

Title: Pina Director: Wim Wenders As much as I love documentaries and the work of Wim Wenders, I find huge faults with his latest effort “Pina”. A documentary exploring the work of legendary choreographer, Pina Bausch, but from the perspective of this film, we learn nothing about why she’s legendary and why she’s important. To the films credit, it illustrates how she’s legendary. But expanding the film to 3D automatically makes it cinematic but this would only be the feature to consider this film as such. The film starts when you put on your 3D glasses, a stage presentation takes you to her company as they waltz in a line…

Title: The Lion King 3D Director: Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff Starring the voices of: James Earl Jones, Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, Johnathan Taylor Thomas, Whoopi Goldberg, Rowan Atkinson, Nathan Lane, Jim Cummings Seventeen years ago, The Lion King roared into theaters and warmed hearts all over the world. It also earned Disney a nice a chunk of change. But apparently they need more. After years of Pixar and CGI, the 3D treatment on the 1994 animation isn’t going to do much. In fact, only two or three scenes effectively make use of the gimmick of the last couple years, which will only get a response from the younger viewers….

While the Cheat Sheet is normally packed with the usual suspects – The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight Rises and Twilight, just to name a few – this time around, we’ve got some rather unique stories to share. Unfortunately for Howard Stern, he’s part of the bunch as a hole in his team led to the leaking of Super 8. Another punch to the gut also goes out to 3D technology, as a recent study proves the extra dimension does nothing to enhance a story, rather only offers the potential for discomfort. On the brighter side, Kenny Ortega snagged a dream of a gig, as he’s been recruited to direct…

Title: Final Destination 5 Directed By: Steven Quale Starring: Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Ellen Wroe, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, PJ Byrne, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koechner, Courtney B Vance, Tony Todd There’s no beginning this review without setting the scene from a personal standpoint; I am a diehard Final Destination fan. I’ve seen them all countless times and love them all to death (no pun intended), that is until The Final Destination tainted my beloved franchise. Sure, it’s tough to keep a plot fresh four times over, but drowning it in 3D technology is no way to spice it up and Final Destination 5 proves it. No, it doesn’t solidify…

Title: The Smurfs Director: Raja Gosnell Starring: Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris, Sofia Vergara, Jayma Mays (voice cast listed below) Thank you Hank Azaria for continuing to bring your A-game even if everything else around you is a Smurfing mess. His portrayal of the sinister wizard Gargamel is the life-force that will keep the adults involved. The only other aspect to keep the generation that grew up with “The Smurfs” attentive is to count how many subtle sexual innuendos are coming out of Smurfette’s mouth (voiced by Katy Perry); something the movie enjoys addressing every so often (or I was just that bored creating things to entertain myself). Other than…