When it was announced that Robert Zemeckis was directing an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” starring Jim Carrey and made with 3D motion-capture, my response was viciously negative.  Zemeckis had left behind movies like “Back to the Future” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”, movies with characters and charming stories, in favor of 3D motion-captured films featuring CG characters who resembled the voice actor except they were trapped deep within the uncanny valley (the place where CG facsimiles of people look like very expensive animatronics).  Throwing Jim Carrey into the mix to have him constantly mug for the camera made the idea of a 3D motion-captured film even more unappealing.  And “A Christmas Carol”?  How many times do we need to see this story?  Seeing it in 3D with Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge was an argument not to make the movie.  (Hit the jump to find out why all these perceived flaws are actually the film’s greatest strengths.)

Yahoo! Movies just ran a new featurette called “Behind the Scenes: Perfect Partnership” for Disney’s animated “A Christmas Carol.”  The Charles Dickens adaptation/remake is the latest film in Robert Zemeckis’ CG stint, following “The Polar Express” and “Beowulf.”  Those last two unsettled audiences by residing pretty safely in some “uncanny valley” territory, but he seems to be avoiding it this time by going a little less realistic.  Consequently, if you ask me, the aesthetics of this new one seem a little too like a video game.  Check out the featurette, with some stellar footage and select quotes from Robert Zemeckis and star Jim Carey, after the jump.

Sometimes you think that you have Hollywood figured out and then they do something so random that it just confuses you.  First of all, I have never heard of this futuristic robot boxing movie named “Real Steel”.  I also didn’t know that it was one of the projects that Peter Berg has been attached to with hopes of directing.  Well, now we have news that Peter Berg will not be directing this cool as hell sounding movie and instead has been replaced by Shawn Levy (”Night at the Museum”, “Cheaper by the Dozen”).  So, yeah, this movie just went from sounding pretty bad ass to sounding kind of lame to me.  You can get the full details when you hit the jump.

I really, really love this Beatlemania 2.0 craze that is happening right now. We have the newly remastered Beatles albums along with the highly anticipated (and so awesome looking) Rock Band game coming out in September. If that wasn’t enough to satisfy our Beatles fanboy needs, we now we have a new Beatles film in the works based off of the Yellow Submarine album and eponymous animated 1968 film. The film will be brought to the big screen in 2012  by Disney and Robert Zemeckis (”Forrest Gump”, “Beowolf”). To find out what Zemeckis has planned for the film and what other two Beatles projects are in the works hit the jump.

There are some great human beings in the world (although there are definitely some douchebags and I might get to them later…) and sometimes, spending so much time at home being snarky towards everything, I forget that.  I met some great folks in line yesterday as I was waiting to get a “Dexter” bag and met some more today while standing in the line for Hall H (a special thank you to Jackson Bishop (best name ever, BTW) and thanks to total saint giving me a special pass, I was able to get a VIP seat and it is amazing.

Hit the jump for more.  Trust me: you’ll want to know about what I saw for Disney’s 3D Presentation of “A Christmas Carol”, “Alice in Wonderland”, and “Tron Legacy” (now the official title).  And please forgive the rapid-fire approach.  I was writing as fast as I could so there are probably typos, bad grammar, and incomplete thoughts.  Finally, I’ll be sure to post pictures later in the day.

The first trailer for Robert Zemeckis’s “A Christmas Carol” has leaked its way onto YouTube and until Disney pulls it, you can watch the trailer after the jump. The only thing to know before watching is, the trailer is in Italian and it was recorded with a video camera inside a movie theater. So…it’s not really the best way to watch the footage for the first time. Saying that, you can still get a good look at what Zemeckis is going for and if you enjoyed “Beowulf” and “The Polar Express”, it looks like he’s doing more of the same. I’d imagine with this trailer leaking, we’ll get the official one any day now. Until then, take a look after the jump:

Walt Disney Studios has just announced their 2009 Comic-Con plans and it’s filled with “firsts”. That’s because Hayao Miyazaki, John Lasseter, Robert Zemeckis and Tim Burton will take part in their first ever Comic-Con. If you’re a fan of any of these guys, it should be a hell of a presentation.

Also, with the abundance of great projects at Disney right now, their footage is going to be some of the highlights of the convention. According to the press release, they’re showing footage from “Ponyo”, all the “Toy Story” movies, “A Christmas Carol”, “The Princess and the Frog”, “Beauty and the Beast in 3D”, “Alice in Wonderland”, and “TRON”! If you thought last year’s “Tron” footage was cool, I promise you this year is going to blow you away.

For more details on what Disney is planning on doing, the full press release is after the jump:

I am probably going to end up liking this new poster for “A Christmas Carol” more than I like the movie.  What a great image of a weird candle-person’s flame providing a flicker of a character’s face.  That appears to have more depth and resonance than a needless, 3D motion-capture movie with Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge in the five-billionth adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.  I guarantee you that other than his visual wizardry, Zemeckis has nothing new to offer this story and while it will be visually impressive, it will ultimately leave you wondering “What’s the point?”

Hit the jump to check out the new poster from dvd-forum.at.  “A Christmas Carol” hits theatres on November 6th.

Since Walt Disney premiered some footage from “A Christmas Carol” at Cannes yesterday, the company has finally started to release some promotional stuff and the first image and footage is below. If you’ve been curious what Jim Carrey would look like as Ebenezer Scrooge, you’re about to get your first look.

While some have not been impressed with Robert Zemeckis’ motion capture movies, I think they’re very cool to see in IMAX, but they’re not the same when you take the experience home.

Will “A Christmas Carol” be the first movie that works as a conventional movie as well as something in IMAX 3-D? We’ll know this Christmas.

Anyway, here’s the first image and the footage.

There was a bit of a deluge in the world of movie posters today.  Today we have the official one-sheet [via Yahoo!] for Robert Zemeckis’ unnecessary motion-capture adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” starring Jim Carrey as a man who mugs for the camera and makes silly voices.  The plot description may officially list his name as “Ebenezer Scrooge” but I’m sure if Dickens’ saw the character, he wouldn’t recognize the resemblance to what he wrote (of course, this would be after the shock to the system of absorbing 130 years of history, technology, etc.).

Check out the poster after the jump.