The last time we saw Denzel Washington on screen, he was sporting a gut and a sweater vest as a lowly subway dispatcher in "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3." When MTV News caught up with the Oscar-winner last June, though, he happily declared of his paunch, "It's gone now!"

Why? The 55-year-old had to get into serious fighting shape for his starring role in "The Book of Eli," a post-apocalyptic western in which he busts skulls and attempts to save humanity in the midst of an anarchic wasteland.

"I'm knocking dudes around in this one," the actor said proudly when we chatted with him again at last year's Comic-Con. Read more...

FROM MTV.COM: Welcome back to the apocalypse afterparty. As always, the landscape is blasted and barren and drained of color; and the road that runs through it, littered with long-abandoned vehicles, goes on forever. Traipsing down this lonesome highway is a solitary, dust-crusted figure. He's armed with a shotgun, a pistol and a really big knife. He's also packing ... an iPod? Wait a minute ...

"The Book of Eli" is a movie that attains perfection, of a sort — it's perfectly ridiculous. In the 30 years since the war that trashed the planet, Denzel Washington's enigmatic Eli has been making his way, on foot, toward the West Coast. (America's a big country and all, but really — 30 years?) Along the way he encounters the usual post-apocalyptic annoyances — bands of roving cannibals, gangs of feral bikers. But although Eli is a man of peace, much given to Biblical mutterings, he is also, when pressed, a formidable butt-kicker, dispatching scumbags by the herd.

Continue reading 'The Book Of Eli': Armageddon Again, By Kurt Loder

"Menace II Society" certainly doesn't seem like the work of immature filmmakers. Though the 1993 film tells the story of teens living in Los Angeles, there is nothing juvenile about the searing portrait it paints of violence, fellowship and survival, nor of the cinéma vérité style in which it is told.

But according to Allen Hughes, who, along with his twin brother Albert, filmed "Menace" when he was just 20-years-old, the directorial duo hadn't made a mature film until "The Book of Eli," their upcoming post-apocalyptic Western starring Denzel Washington.

"We were blessed and cursed to have our first film green-lit at 17, and that sets you back in a personal way," Allen told MTV News. "I think the 'Book of Eli' is our first grown up film." Read more...

Warmoth is out of town, covering something for @multiplayers. So you Twitter-Wood-ers are stuck with me, your friendly neighborhood MTV Movies Blog editor. My picks aren't usually as structured as Brian's are, and today is no different. Still, there's plenty of fun, funny and fascinating pulled together for you after the jump.

First up is "Harry Potter" star Tom Felton, who's spending some vacation time with Universal Studios and Scrabble. Then we've got "Jennifer's Body" writer Diablo Cody coining a new phrase and Rob Corddry asking a ridiculous question. Also, Kevin Pollak offers a hilariously descriptive rundown of his preparations for a coming colonoscopy. Plus, sound advice from Denzel Washington (take note, Kanye-haters), observations on the female anatomy from Michael Ian Black and "The Office" star Rainn Wilson's steamy night... alone. I'm @geminibros and this is your Twitter-Wood report for September 16, 2009. Read more...

-- Along with Summit Entertainment's announcement that "Eclipse," the third movie in the "Twilight" series, has started shooting comes confirmation that Jodelle Ferland will play Bree and Julia Jones will play Leah. (Hollywood Crush)

-- Rosario Dawson has joined the cast of Tony Scott's "Unstoppable," joining Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. The story of an out-of-control train loaded with toxic chemicals is currently set for a Fall 2010 release. Also, Heather Graham will star in Harold Becker's "Vengeance: A Love Story." (Production Weekly Twitter feed, via ComingSoon) Read more...

Look out Will Smith, you have some friendly competition in the race to play our first African-American president. When we caught up with Denzel Washington at Comic-Con for his new movie "Book of Eli," we couldn't help but ask him about rumors that he might play Barack Obama.

Watch him address that in the video below, and then be sure to check out the rest of our Comic-Con video interviews with Anna Faris, James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez, Andy Samberg and more.

Dust off your rocker switches and joysticks, because Hollywood seems to be all about video games this week -- well, video games and comic books. Today's Dailies feature gaming's most famous vampire hunter, as well as plenty of news from Comic-Con, with "Roger Rabbit 2," "Alice in Wonderland," and much more.

-- James Wan, who helped launch the wonderful world of the "Saw" movies now gets to bring famous vampire hunter Simon Belmont to theaters, as he writers and directs a film version of the classic Konami video game "Castlevania." (Blood Disgusting)

-- Producer Lornezo di Bonaventura says his team has "crafted a really strong, deep mythology" for their film adaptation for the really classic video game "Asteroids." (IGN) Read more...

It seems that not even movies are safe in our troubled economic times. We saw Sony let the air out of "Moneyball" days before it was to start filming. Now Fox has put the brakes on "Unstoppable," Tony Scott's directorial follow-up to "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3."

The studio was leery of the film's big action-heavy budget, and The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Scott, Denzel Washington, and Chris Pine had not yet signed to the film. All three were simply operating under the assumption that they'd be shooting in the fall. Now, Variety reports that Washington has formally left the project, and is looking for another film to fill his fall schedule. Read more...

Aah, the Fourth of July. It’s the perfect weekend for barbecuing, enjoying your family… and watching Rambo rip a man’s Adam’s Apple out with his bare hands?

We have tons of Christmas movies, Halloween movies; hell, there’s even a “Groundhog’s Day” film. But what do we watch when we gather around the TV on Independence Day? To help solve the problem, here are the top 10 films we’d recommend as must-see holiday viewing. Read more...

Dive in, because I've got behind-the-scenes commentary from Jon Favreau, Ashton Kutcher, and Jeremy Piven in today's handpicked crop of Twitter-Wood tweets. Favreau offers some praise up for Mickey Rourke's work thus far in "Iron Man 2," and Kutcher shares his thoughts on the foreign dubbing process for his new film "Spread," while Piven points out the common links between his new movie "The Goods" and this summer's box office success story "The Hangover."

I also rounded up a few thoughts from film folks about yet another entertainment industry death, comedian and impersonator, Fred Travelena, as well as Bernard Madoff's sentencing today, and Denzel Washington's latest post about Michael Jackson. You find all of these, a picture taken by "Buffy" actress Amber Benson at one of my local Chicago comic book shops, and much more in the Twitter-Wood update for June 29, 2009, after the click. Read more...