As tragic as the circumstances are, I've been enjoying the flood of candid Jackson photos we've been seeing in the past months. In life, he was notoriously withdrawn from the public eye. It's easy to refer to him now as a "legend" because he was so untouchable and set apart even when he was still with us. So candid photos like the one from earlier this week and the one seen after the break give us a better picture of who Jackson was as a person. He gets pretty silly in today's pic too, wearing a giant afro wig that harkens back to his younger performance days with the Jackson 5.

Remember to check out Brian Warmoth's Twitter-Wood column every day for an early jump on your Daily TwitPic.

Meanwhile, Jason Schwartzman's on his way to the NYC debut of "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which as a Wes Anderson follower, I am anxious to see myself this weekend. Another new release, "Precious," really got a hold of Tyrese Gibson, who said the film's been keeping him awake. Check out their thoughts along with pictures from Peter Facinelli and John Stamos and a Henry Winkler autograph to be jealous of after the jump. It's all in the Twitter-Wood report for November 11, 2009.

Twitter Pic of the Day:
@peterfacinelli Even the Cullens wouldn't hurt these little guys. RT @TeamPFacinelli Peter our veterinarian & whale protector! http://twitpic.com/onr1x
-Peter Facinelli, Actor ("The Twilight Saga: New Moon," "Nurse Jackie")

@gilbirmingham As the son of someone who served in the military, I know the work and sacrifices our soldiers and their families make for this country.
-Gil Birmingham, Actor ("Twilight," "The Twilight Saga: New Moon")

@ralphmacchio Thinking of and honoring all Veterans today. With gratitude and respect!
-Ralph Macchio, Actor ("The Karate Kid," "My Cousin Vinny")

@KatzMoney Is the Harrison Ford medical drama EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES the sequel to the Hugh Grant medical thriller EXTREME MEASURES? Where's Hackman?
-Jeff Katz, Producer ("Snakes on a Plane," "Shoot 'Em Up")

@Tyrese4ReaL STILL: Awake thinking abt that film "PRECIOUS" I'm gonna call Tyler, Oprah, Monique, & Lee Daniels (Director) & Express my Love to them wow!
-Tyrese Gibson, Actor ("Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Death Race")

@JohnStamos http://twitpic.com/p2ci1 - koo koo birds at intermission @b3onbroadway @ryanseacrest... stamos. out!!
-John Stamos, Actor ("Full House," "Knots")

@TheAlexMeraz landed in Miami. Dowloaded Pac-man to my iPhone for the flight. Damn that's still the only game that makes my heart race & my palms sweat.
-Alex Meraz, Actor ("The Twilight Saga: New Moon," The Twilight Saga: Eclipse")

@CoconutRecords in NYC for the premier of Fantastic Mr Fox... opens on Friday. hope you'll all go see it. i'm very proud to be a part of it.
-Jason Schwartzman, Actor ("Rushmore," "I Heart Huckabees")

@dpressman http://twitpic.com/oyu6f - Best autograph ever.
-David Pressman, Actor ("Blades of Glory," "Tropic Thunder")

@rainnwilson My son is attempting a poop in the dark bathroom while wearing my new "MW2" night vision goggles.
-Rainn Wilson, Actor ("The Rocker," "The Office")

Don’t forget to follow @MTVMoviesBlog on Twitter for all the latest updates and colorful commentary from the world of movies.

Written By: Brian Larsen

Tagline: "Believe in yourself or no one else will."

The Story: It's like a return to "Attack of the Clones," but in a good way. Ever since the opening shots of the Clone Wars were fired on Geonosis in the rescue of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala, the Separatist forces there have been shoring up their military assets with help from a newly established planetside robot factory. The key to the Republic's assault on the planet rests in the hands of three Jedi generals -- Skywalker, along with Masters Kenobi and Ki-Adi Mundi -- who are charged with leading an advance force to take out the facility's shields, allowing walker tanks to bring it down with their heavier guns.

Continue, These Clone Wars Do: And it's about freaking time. After chasing a child-abducting bounty hunter around the galaxy and outing a traitorous senator, "The Clone Wars" finally finds its footing again with the things that really matter: grand scale ground combat and blaster-deflecting lightsabers. The action heats up almost from moment one, and it doesn't falter until the credits roll. We see a massive fortress taken down with nothing more than a little Jedi ingenuity (and two backpacks filled with explosives), flying Geonosian solders burned beneath jets of flame and a desperate standoff led by an injured Kenobi.

Deep Cutting: Lots of references and nods flying around in this episode. "There's no such thing as luck," uttered by Master Mundi, ought to bring a smile to fan's faces, as it's a line uttered by Han Solo in "A New Hope" as he scoffs at the Force. We also see early-model Y-Wing bombers doing their thing on the battlefield and Anakin handling his leadership role well. After all, the future Darth Vader is regarded as a military genius. That know-how's got to come from somewhere, right?

Mission Not Yet Accomplished: The ultimate goal for the three generals, along with Padawan Ahsoka Tanno, is to take Poggle the Lesser captive. Stage one of the assault -- bringing down the factory -- is accomplished by the time the credits roll, but Poggle's still waiting somewhere on the planet. What does this mean? We can look forward to more action-packed Clone Wars-ing in next week's episode. Considering the previous episode's focus on romantic intrigue -- which, for the record, did not work throughout the prequel trilogy of movies -- more guaranteed Republic-on-Separatist warfare is only a good thing. Now how about bringing some of those lightsaber-wielding baddies like Dooku or Asajj Ventress back into the mix?

The opening day for Robert Zemeckis' "A Christmas Carol" wasn't exactly worthy of a "bah humbug" reaction, though the folks at Disney might be lacking some Christmas spirit this morning. The 3-D holiday film, which stars Jim Carrey as the infamous grouch Ebenezer Scrooge and a whole slew of other characters, opened to $8.9 million on Friday with a projected $31 million weekend, according to Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke.

"Poor reviews coupled with the 'too dark for kids' attitude may really be hurting the opening," a rival studio executive told Finke about the holiday picture, which was initially expected to earn as much as $40 million this weekend. "Throw that in with the possibility that they just might be a bit too early with the Christmas theme, and you have the possibility of a really lackluster debut for an expensive movie."

While audiences aren't latching onto the preemptive holiday cheer as much as Disney executives had hoped, other studios are enjoying the aftermath of last weekend's Halloween. The Milla Jovovich-starring "The Fourth Kind" earned the second place spot on Friday with a $5 million intake, which could be the result of its similarities to the supernaturally successful "Paranormal Activity." But given "The Fourth Kind's" debut weekend in just over 2,500 theaters, I wouldn't expect this thriller will come close to the increasingly popular "Paranormal Activity," which ended Friday night in fifth place.

Moviegoers not only rejected the early Christmas spirit, but also the allure of Hollywood star power. Despite a star-studded cast including George Clooney, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey, "The Men Who Stare At Goats" only opened to $4.6 million on Friday for a third place finish. Deadline Hollywood estimates that the movie will wind up with $14.5 million by weekend's end.

"Michael Jackson's This Is It," meanwhile, sunk from first place last weekend to fourth place on Friday night with $4.1 million and an expected $14 million weekend. The result isn't quite as bad when factoring in the international success of "This Is It," which has earned just over $100 million overseas. Combined with its domestic intake, "This Is It" has yielded almost $150 million thus far. While that's not quite the $250 million it was projected to make within five days, the Jackson documentary still has time to pick up extra cash thanks to an elongated theatrical run.

Are you surprised by Friday night's box office rankings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or on Twitter!

In honor of this week's Jackson fanfare, today's Daily TwitPic is a very special one for Tyrese Gibson. Said his tweet yesterday: "Here's a pic of the very MOMENT I met Michael Jackson.. (RIH) Rest In Heaven.." It's not the best shot you'll ever see, captured from a high angle and with neither man fully facing the camera. But it's a meaningful one, freezing what must be a very memorable moment for Gibson in time. And hey... isn't that Yoko Ono off to the left?

In the pic below you can see "American Idol" sensation Adam Lambert escorting pop star Katy Perry into the screening. Click right there to be whisked off to our red carpet flipbook gallery.

As a man who straddles both film and television, "Star Trek" is an amazingly good fit for Abrams. And now that he's well and truly nailed the movies side of things, one has to wonder what his plans might be for the small screen. After all, that's really where he defined himself, with series' like "Felicity" and "Alias." So when MTV's Josh Horowitz got to speak with Abrams earlier this week, one of the big questions was obviously what plans might be in store for a "Trek" TV series.

"There’s been talk about it but none of it has been mine," Abrams revealed. "Obviously I’m open to anything. The key to doing another TV show is what would the approach be that would be worthy of the audience. If there’s a good idea that’s fantastic."

Even if the idea of a TV series did enter into serious talks, there's still the question of how to keep the actors around. The new members of the Enterprise crew enjoyed varying degrees of popularity before "Trek," and their pop culture appeal has only grown since then. Asking them to essentially devote a chunk of their careers to a simultaneous film and TV franchise to the exclusion of all else seems like a tall order, even if it is a lucrative one.

Of course, the movie could merely be used as a jumping off point, an in for exploring another part of the "Trek" universe in Abrams' newly established canon. The possibilities are endless really; imagine a diverse group of "Trek"-folk, a la "Lost," scattered across far-flung parts of the galaxy. Perhaps an major event brings them together. Imagine what might come of a storyline in which a Vulcan survivor is forced to work alongside a Romulan. Again... endless possibilities.

It's also important to remember that all of the big screen flash in "Trek" would have to be cut back on for the TV format. Abrams, for his part, is hopeful about the possibilities of a flourishing cross-medium franchise. "Obviously what you do in a film you couldn’t do week to week in a series. The advantage of a series-- when you look at something as good as 'Battlestar Galactica' you see that, despite its great visual effects, there was a level of character and interpersonal drama that never would have taken place had that been a film. [A movie series and a TV series] can definitely co-exist," he said.

There's still a big X factor looming over everything however. "The question is, who runs that show. Whats the vision of it? How does it work?" To Josh's suggestion that the studio would likely approach Abrams before anyone else, he responded in his usual humble manner. "I don’t know. It would be nice certainly."

For all of Abrams' candid discussion, he is quick to point out the bare truth of the matter. "This is something that is in no way in active discussion," he asserted.

Would you want to see a new "Trek" TV series? Would you want it to focus on the Enterprise crew? Another part of the universe?

The centennial anniversary for the Boy Scouts of America is technically not until February. The photo op you'll find after the jump really came about to honor the Senate-approved creation of "Boy Scouts of America Day," the first of which will be on February 8, 2010. While it's great that Schwarzenegger takes the time to honor momentous occasions such as this, I'll be happier when the big lug finishes his term and gets back to what really matters: kicking ass and blowing up robots. Who's with me?

Remember to check out Brian Warmoth's Twitter-Wood column every day for an early jump on your Daily TwitPic.

As the release date draws nearer, fans everywhere are gearing up for one last dance from Jackson. Even celebrities are getting excited, and they're talking to MTV about it! In the video below, you can hear Common's thoughts on the movie and Jackson's legacy.

The lovers, who both ended their lives in 2007, were not household names, but they were important figures in the art world, and they both made contributions to cinema. Duncan, one of the first designers of video games for girls, made an animated short titled "The History of Glamour" (watch it here), and Blake did the abstract interludes seen in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love."

It was first announced a year ago that Ellis would be adapting the artists' story, as written up by Nancy Jo Sales for a Vanity Fair article titled "The Golden Suicides." But Van Sant was merely listed as a consultant on the project. Now Variety reports the two will be co-writing the screenplay.

"Golden Suicides" will be Ellis' second screenplay -- he recently co-adapted his book "The Informers" with Nicholas Jarecki -- and his first not based on his own writing. Van Sant, of course, has a lot of experience scripting some of his own films.

As of yet, Van Sant is not attached to direct "Golden Suicides," likely because he's about to helm the drama "Restless." Hopefully he'll be directing the adaptation of Tom Wolfe's the adaptation of "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" after that.

Who then could adequately direct from a script co-written by Van Sant and Ellis? My first thought was Larry Clark, who previously worked with Van Sant on "Kids." But then I realized Duncan and Blake are a little too old to be the subjects of a Clark film. My second choice, and probably the more appropriate one: Mary Harron, who directed the adaptation of Ellis' "American Psycho."

Can you imagine a movie that comes from the minds of Gus Van Sant and Bret Easton Ellis? Do you hope Van Sant directs? Who else would be a good fit to helm the film?