The Simpsons Headed to That Big Couch Gag in the Sky?

If you talk to any Simpsons fan, you're never going to get a definitive answer to that question we've all pondered, "When did you realize it was going stale?" For me, it dates back to November 18, 2001.

I was, and remain, a devoted fan of the rock band R.E.M. and you couldn’t find a more excited person to hear the news Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills would be animated into yellow-skinned, Simpsonized caricatures shooting the shit with Homer. Then the episode, titled "Homer the Moe," aired and despite my initial reaction to friends saying how I liked it, I was in denial.

It was just another "Moe wants to change" episode and the alternative rock band got shoe-horned into the last ten minutes concluding with them and the Simpsons clan enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with environmentally-friendly tofu-Turkey. Jesus, what happened to the show we all quoted right after the end credits rolled? After that, I tuned it out with the occasional viewing out of curiosity (the "Oh what the Hell?" watch, as I call it) with no-better results. The irony isn't lost on me two weeks after the afore-mentioned rock-band announced their retirement (and it coming up on ten years since that awful episode first aired) that we bring you this news.

First broken by the Daily Beast, the pioneering animated sitcom looks like it will shut its doors for good effective next May in lieu of salary-disputes between the cast and 20^th Century Fox. Neither side is budging in their demands. Fox is calling for their salaries to be reduced from $8 million to $4 million a year while the cast is willing to take the smaller checks-that-are-still-more-than-you-or-I-will-ever-earn if they can get a piece of the back-end.

Not the first time the two parties butted heads over money. You may remember them from such disputes as 1998 on the eve of the show's then landmark 200^th episode, 2004 when the actors didn't show up for several table-reads and 2008 when negotiations caused such a ruckus that particular season produced less episodes due to the downtime.

Even if there is a settlement (The actors have until Friday at noon to agree or reject the new proposed deal), The Wrap says the twenty-fourth season would be its season thanks to the high-cost of production (If you've seen any episode in the last few years, the animation’s quality has matched that of The Simpsons Movie from 2007), the above-mentioned salaries of the cast and ratings, which was a long way from its glory-days of being Fox's flagship show.

You know, it's like my feelings on George Lucas and his OCD tinkering with the Star Wars trilogy. I'll always have those classic Simpsons episodes to enjoy (I have the first thirteen seasons on DVD and watch them frequently) and it will forever be in syndication. As long as we all have those shows readily available to watch, laugh and quote, then fine put it out of its misery.

Superman's Newest Secret Identity - A Bum

It was just a couple days ago that we were horrified by jumbo Jor-El wearing a suit of Kryptonian armor way up North in Vancouver. Today we are treated to hobo Henry Cavill with a full on faux beard on what looks like the much talked about "Alaskan Fishing Village" set.

You wonder if Clark Kent doesn't actually travel the world as in "Superman: Birthright", but merely journeys to the 49th state to do some ice fishing and maybe build a "Fortress of Solitude". It's amazing that we have yet to see one picture of Cavill sporting Clark's familiar glasses. Beards first, glasses later?

A Second Clip From Batman Year One

This looks like it's going to be another winner from DC's animation arm, and if it follows the book as closely as it appears to, then that should be no surprise as it is a classic. Harry Knowles has seen it and has been doing his usual hyped up lovefest thing he does when he likes something, on Twitter.

The new clip shows the scene where Batman takes on the corrupt SWAT team as Gordon desperately tries to call them off, the quality of the animation work here is just pure class.

Sneak Peak of the Droids on "Clone Wars"

As if finally getting the Star Wars movies on blu-ray wasn't enough, Season 4 of the The Clone Wars is also in full swing this fall.  This week's upcoming episode, "Mercy Mission" will feature a return of everyone's favorite droids, C-3PO and R2-D2.  You check out a clip from the episode below:

What is it with C-3PO and little Ewok-type creatures?  They seem to love him.

The Clone Wars airs Friday nights on the Cartoon Network.

Final Puss In Boots 3D Poster

Rejoice! the final poster for the absolutely necessary and not at all a cash grab 'Puss in Boots 3D' is here!

MSN got the scoop and you can revel in it's splendor below.

International Tintin Trailer

To be honest I was never hugely excited by Spielberg doing a mo cap movie and I've never had any interest in Tintin, however this trailer just sold me a ticket!

All the classic Spielberg magic looks to be in there, with excitement and adventure for all the family and a little nod to Indy with the bike and sidecar chase.

Real Steel Featurette

Real Steel opens this Friday and has so far been getting pretty good reviews for the most part. I've basically been a supporter of the movie from the first trailer because it takes me back to the kind of movies Spielberg made when I was a kid.

Comingsoon.net has this interesting set of interviews with Hugh Jackman, Shawn Levy and Sugar Ray Leonard, which you can check out below.

Dustin Hoffman Finally Acting Again in HBO's 'Luck'

This was not originally going to be my story for the night.

I was going to write up a piece about today's announcement of Warner Herzog joining the cast of Tom Cruise's One Shot to play the film's villain (which you can read about here).

However, this past Sunday (before I tuned in to watch the season premiere of Dexter), I caught this little promo on HBO and just haven't been able to get it out of my head:

Wow.

I had no idea Michael Mann was doing TV now (let alone an HBO show with Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte) but damn does this look good.  Hoffman looks like he's finally channeling that exceptional acting talent he showcased so well in his younger days, and the corrupt world of horse racing looks to make for a perfect, compelling drama.

I'll definitely be tuning in for the premeire in January.

New War Horse Trailer Grabs Your Heart Just Like the First One

The last time I can recall people getting emotionally-connected to a non-human character in the lead of a major motion picture was Wall-E. You take one look at that little robot and your heart melts, and that all came from the design of his eyes. Steven Spielberg confessed that was the secret to his success with E.T. to the late great Gene Siskel.

Looking at the first trailer for War Horse, you see that all over and that trend continues with the latest trailer. Not too much of a difference with this second go-around of selling the WWI-set drama. It has same the layout, same John Williams-score playing, simply more dialogue and some of the footage we saw from the initial trailer is re-arranged and the same result at the end.

Which is me getting misty-eyed watching it.

Oh Yeah...That Looks Like Russell Crowe as Superman's Dad

It wasn't out of any spite that I didn't initially cover Nuke the Fridge's scoop of just how Russell Crowe would appear as Jor-El, the wise, but royally fucked, father of Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El in Zack Snyder's The Man of Steel. I believed them. I think most did because it sounded too plausible. I was just bitten by the "My day job is killing me and I don't give a shit about movie-news right now!" bug that particular day.

Oh, here the site's exact description:

"Jor-El is wearing a goldish/white armored suit that looks almost like the one in the video game Halo. The suit has the traditional 'S' is the middle of his chest and it blends in with the color scheme of the suit. Jor-EL looks more like a soldier than a scientist.

Crowe’s head is completely exposed and HE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE STAR WARS EPISODE 2's Obi-Wan with the beard and hair. The only difference is that Crowe's hair looks darker. If I didn’t know that Crowe was cast for the part I would have sworn it was Ewan McGregor."

The celeb-stalkers over the Daily Mail grabbed a nice, juicy picture of Crowe (who appears to be following in the tradition of Marlon Brando with a slight gut poking) in costume on the set, now lensing up in Vancouver. That looks pretty much like what they described and check out that sick-looking cape.