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Is nothing sacred from Hollywood and their “remake machine”? If it’s not un-necessary sequels to classic film series (Rambo, Die Hard, Rocky), Hollywood seems to be getting their grubby little paws into remakes more-and-more.

And horror seems to be getting most of the remake treatment. We’ve seen plenty of horror remakes in the last few years such as The Amityville Horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Ring. It’s worth mentioning that a good majority (let’s say 80%) of these horror remakes have been practically unwatchable.

And to re-assess that percentage in the future, we have the following horror remakes penned for release in the 2 years (I’m not even gonna bother inserting the IMDb links for them.. I’m sure you can find them if needs be):

• One Missed Call (January 2008)
• Day of the Dead (February 2008)
• The Eye (February 2008)
• Funny Games (February 2008)
• Horror High (March 2008)
• Prom Night (April 2008)
• April Fool’s Day (April 2008)
• Scanners (October 2008)
• The Stepfather (November 2008)
• The Changeling (November 2008)
• A Tale of Two Sisters (November 2008)
• Battle Royale (November 2008)
• The Crazies (TBA 2008)
• Friday The 13th (TBA 2008 / 2009)
• Hellraiser (TBA 2008 / 2009)
• The Brood, Cannibal Holocaust, Don’t Look Now, and The Thing (TBA 2009)

And today, reports are circulating of Michael Bay planning ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ remake. Now I’d assume he’d just be acting as producer in the project (unless they bring in transforming robots, numerous wild car chases, explosions and 2 wise cracking cops). And also talks for remakes of ‘Friday The 13th’ and Hitchcock’s classic ‘The Birds’. Full story can be read on Zap2It.com.

Will this trend of horror remakes continue long into the future? By the number of releases penned for the next 2 years, it’s looking likely.

Faith in the movie industry - dwindling… dwindling..!

According to JoBlo.com, Guillermo del Toro has indeed entered official talks to direct two back-to-back installments of ‘The Hobbit’.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Guillermo del Toro has entered official talks to direct the two back-to-back installments of THE HOBBIT. Should things get resolved quickly with the WGA strike, HOBBIT would be del Toro’s next film after wrapping up HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY. Because of that pesky strike, New Line and MGM haven’t set a writer to adapt Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” into two films but del Toro and Peter Jackson would “oversee” production of the script. The studios have already set a 2009 start date for the movies, which have been budgeted at $150 million a piece (wowsers). Sam Raimi was an early rumored name for the directing gig after it became clear that Jackson would be too busy to return as director. But it became clear to fans (and obviously studio heads) that del Toro was the man for the job. He brings passion for the material, visual flair and experience in the fantastic.

They’re provisionally scheduled for release in 2010 and 2011. Quite a wait but it’ll be worthwhile given del Toro’s impressive back-catalog as a director (although to be perfectly honest, I only REALLY noticed how talented he was when I saw ‘Pan’s Labyrinth‘).

As the JoBlo article above mentions, ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ director Peter Jackson will “oversee” production of the script.

Absolutely fantastic news if it is confirmed… which it possibly will be at Sundance where del Toro is busy promoting ‘The Orphanage‘ (in which he is a producer of).

So.. best start counting down to Christmas 2010!

Someone’s been doing their research..!

Below is a chart comparing the kills in all 4 ‘Rambo’ movies and it’s clear to see that ‘Rambo‘ (the fourth film in the series) is by far the most violent.

So, the Academy announced their Oscar Nominations today. And it’s all a bit unsuprising to be perfectly honestly though one or two suprises - am personally very suprised that ‘Juno’ got nominated at all.I’m predicting ‘Atonement’ will win practically every category it’s nominated it in.. it’s an absolutely dreary and vile film - though the Academy will EAT IT UP!

Really hope Casey Affleck wins the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ Oscar as he was fantastic in both ‘The Assassination of Jesse James..’ and ‘Gone Baby Gone’ but not a chance of him winning it unfortunately. Philip Seymour Hoffman will probably get it.

‘Once’ deserves the best ‘Original Song’ Oscar without a doubt, but disappointed that ‘Juno’ wasn’t nominated for it’s score (mainly contributed by Kimya Dawson).

Daniel Day Lewis has the ‘Best Actor’ in the bag.. and well-deserved as he was absolutely phenomenal in it. I now forgive him for his over-acting in ‘Gangs Of New York’.

Anyways, the nominations are below and the ceremony takes place on February 25th.

BEST PICTURE

• “Atonement”
• “Juno”
• “Michael Clayton”
• “No Country for Old Men”
• “There Will Be Blood”

BEST ACTRESS

• Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
• Julie Christie, “Away From Her”
• Marion Cotillard, “La Vie en Rose”
• Laura Linney, “The Savages”
• Ellen Page, “Juno”

BEST ACTOR

• George Clooney, “Michael Clayton”
• Daniel Day-Lewis, “There Will Be Blood”
• Johnny Depp, “Sweeney Todd”
• Viggo Mortensen, “Eastern Promises”
• Tommy Lee Jones, “In the Valley of Elah”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Cate Blanchett, “I’m Not There”
• Ruby Dee, “American Gangster”
• Saoirse Ronan, “Atonement”
• Amy Ryan, “Gone Baby Gone”
• Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Casey Affleck, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”
• Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”
• Hal Holbrook, “Into The Wild”
• Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Charlie Wilson’s War”
• Tom Wilkinson, “Michael Clayton”

BEST DIRECTOR

• Paul Thomas Anderson, “There Will Be Blood”
• Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men”
• Julian Schnabel, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
• Tony Gilroy, “Michael Clayton”
• Jason Reitman, “Juno”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Diablo Cody, “Juno”
• Nancy Oliver, “Lars and the Real Girl”
• Tony Gilroy, “Michael Clayton”
• Brad Bird, Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird, “Ratatouille”
• Tamara Jenkins, “The Savages”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Paul Thomas Anderson, “There Will Be Blood”
• Christopher Hampton, “Atonement”
• Ronald Harwood, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
• Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men”
• Sarah Polley, “Away From Her”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• “Beaufort” (Israel)
• “The Counterfeiters” (Austria)
• “Katyn” (Poland)
• “Mongol” (Kazakhstan)
• “12″ (Russia)

BEST ANIMATED FILM

• “Persepolis”
• “Ratatouille”
• “Surf’s Up”

BEST ART DIRECTION

• “American Gangster”
• “Atonement”
• “The Golden Compass”
• “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
• “There Will Be Blood”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” Roger Deakins
• “Atonement,” Seamus Mcgarvey
• “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” Janusz Kaminski
• “No Country For Old Men,” Roger Deakins
• “There Will Be Blood,” Robert Elswit

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• “Across the Universe,” Albert Wolsky
• “Atonement,” Jacqueline Durran
• “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” Alexandra Byrne
• “La Vie En Rose,” Marit Allen
• “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street,” Colleen Atwood

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• “No End in Sight”
• “Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience”
• “Sicko”
• “Taxi to the Dark Side”
• “War/Dance”

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

• “Freeheld”
• “La Corona” (”The Crown”)
• “Salim Baba”
• “Sari’s Mother”

BEST FILM EDITING

• “The Bourne Ultimatum,” Christopher Rouse
• “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” Juliette Welfling
• “Into the Wild,” Jay Cassidy
• “No Country for Old Men,” Roderick Jaynes
• “There Will Be Blood,” Dylan Tichenor

BEST MAKEUP

• “La Vie en Rose”
• “Norbit”
• “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• “Atonement”, Dario Marianelli
• “The Kite Runner”, Alberto Iglesias
• “Michael Clayton”, James Newton Howard
• “Ratatouille”, Michael Giacchino
• “3:10 to Yuma”, Marco Beltrami

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• “Falling Slowly” from “Once”
• “Happy Working Song” from “Enchanted”
• “Raise It Up” from “August Rush”
• “So Close” from “Enchanted”
• “That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted”

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

• “I Met the Walrus”
• “Madame Tutli-Putli”
• “Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)”
• “My Love (Moya Lyubov)”
• “Peter & the Wolf”

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

• “At Night”
• “Il Supplente (The Substitute)”
• “Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)”
• “Tanghi Argentini”
• “The Tonto Woman”

BEST SOUND EDITING

• “The Bourne Ultimatum”
• “No Country For Old Men”
• “Ratatouille”
• “There Will Be Blood”
• “Transformers”

BEST SOUND MIXING

• “The Bourne Ultimatum”
• “No Country For Old Men”
• “Ratatouille”
• “3:10 to Yuma”
• “Transformers”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• “The Golden Compass”
• “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”
• “Transformers”

From Sky News:

Absolutely terrible news I think everyone will agree!

An always impressive actor - in everything from ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ to ‘Brokeback Mountain’ to (what would have been his career defining role) in ‘The Dark Knight’.

Brad Renfro’s death last week was a shock.. but this is even more shocking considering the publicity and acclaim he’s currently getting (from seeing trailers alone) of his performance in ‘The Dark Knight’.

RIP Heath.