News Time: Red, Green and Blue

With John Carter up and running I'm hoping it won't be too long before either images or footage shows up-of course it will probably be bootlegged and online for an hour before Disney issues cease and desist orders. So how about some news where people are not acting like their planning a military operation?

First up is a trailer for The Red Baron, a biopic of the famous World War I German pilot http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/theredbaron/ I've always been fascinated with the story and this German production looks interesting. That and 300's Lena Headey don't hurt either.

Next up casting is apparently going full speed for Green Lantern with Heatvision reporting that actor Peter Saarsgard (whose credits range from good films like Flight plan and Shattered Glass to the abysmal film version of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh) has joined the cast as Hector Hammond, a more Earth bound nemesis for Ryan Reynolds' Hal Jordan http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2010/01/peter-sarsgaard-green-lantern.html . The casting for GL's arch nemesis Sinestro has changed though. Previous reports linked Watchmen star Jackie Earle Haley for the part but director Martin Campbell told MTV that instead he has talked to Mark Strong for the part. I guess for Strong after Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass, Robin Hood and John Carter of Mars another villain part was necessary. I guess I was rooting more for Haley who was great in Watchmen. For more with Campbell-http://splashpage.mtv.com/2010/01/15/exclusive-green-lantern-director-says-mark-strong-in-talks-to-play-sinestro-confirms-kilowog-more/

Finally in the "you probably already know" arena Avatar took home some prizes this weekend. First it surpassed the original Star Wars in the US for the number 3 position and seems certain to pass The Dark Knight for number 2. And if that wasn't enough the film also took home the top prize at the Golden Globe Awards and won best director for James Cameron (who did mention his ex-wife and fellow director Kathryn Bigelow, nominated for the excellent The Hurt Locker in his speech, saying he thought she would win.) Could Avatar actually break through the Academy Awards' prejudice against such fare and actually win? I guess we'll soon see.