I’m not a fan of musicals. In theory. When I start thinking about filmed stories that ask me to be emotionally invested in people who inexplicably burst into song, my brain gets cranky like a baby who hasn’t had its nap. Why are they bursting into song? Why are all these songs so obnoxious? Are these people talking to themselves? If so, why do other people know the melody they were singing during the reprise later? Then my brain starts angrily waving its arms until it gets its bottle, which, as I overextend this metaphor past the point of comprehension, is a genre movie of some kind.

In practice, I always end up enjoying musicals, especially movies. I loved “Moulin Rouge” for its bombast and excess. It’s hard not to enjoy at least a few Disney classics, like “Aladdin.” Musicals in contemporary settings tend to lose me though. “Fame” would seem to fall into the category of too-modern musicals for me, but it does interest me. How many remakes of film musicals are there? And say it’s successful. Know what that will mean? More film musicals and more remakes. This could be good and bad. Here are some wishes for the future of screen musicals. Read more...

-- "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" director Chris Nolan was all set to direct an adaptation of the weird UK TV series, "The Prisoner." That is no longer the case, according to producer Barry Mendel. The project is still in the works, and there's even a script from David and Janet Peoples -- the "Twelve Monkeys" writers -- but the man who revived Batman for the modern era is no longer a part of it. (CineFOOLS)

-- Disney has announced the lineup for their D23 Expo, where fans will be able to lay their hungry eyes on all manner of upcoming properties from the Mouse House, including Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" and Jerry Bruckheimer's "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time." I'm most interested in the "Muppets update" presentation, whatever that may be. (/Film) Read more...

Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis showed off Disney's new 3-D motion capture technology that will be used in November's release of "A Christmas Carol" starring Jim Carrey.

Everyone in the audience was given a pair of 3-D glasses as they entered Hall H, most of them coming from a long line in anticipation of the "New Moon" panel this afternoon.

Created as a motion capture animated feature, "A Christmas Carol" sees Jim Carrey playing eight roles, including the aged Ebenezer Scrooge and all three Ghosts of Christmas -- Past, Present and Future. Read more...

Buried in the depths of Disney's massive San Diego Comic-Con press release today is the news that "Beauty and the Beast," a highlight of the studio's late-20th century renaissance, will be enhanced with 3D digital effects for a February 12, 2010 theatrical re-release. The timeless story continues to be revisited even today, with the upcoming "Beastly" offering a contemporized reimagining of the unlikely love story. Disney's "Beast" is notably the only animated work to ever receive a Best Picture Academy Award nomination.

The press release states that "Beauty and the Beast" will be featured as part of Disney's animation panel, which will feature special guests Hayao Miyazaki and John Lasseter. The duo will join animation vets Lee Unkrich, Kirk Wise, Ron Clements and John Musker in a presentation of upcoming Disney Animation releases, including the soon-to-be-3Dified "Toy Story"/"Toy Story 2," "Toy Story 3," "The Princess & the Frog" and Miyazaki's "Ponyo." The panel will be moderated by none other than Patton Oswalt. Read more...

by Jett Wells

New York press and movie critics got their first glimpse at an animated Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge in a presentation of 3-D footage from Disney's "A Christmas Carol" at the Regal E-Walk Theatre this week.

Two scenes were shown from the performance capture-driven film, directed by Robert Zemeckis ("Polar Express"), along with a montage of clips and a teaser trailer. Publicists were showing the footage every half hour from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with Christmas cookies and pastries on offer outside the theatre after each showing. Read more...

I admit it, I'm a sucker for a good animal movie. They can be about dogs, horses, lizards, penguins or anything else with sub-human intelligence and I'll happily watch it. Then I'll claim I've got something in my eye in order to maintain my hard-hearted reputation when the tears start to flow. So the idea of a movie about the famous Triple Crown winner Secretariat fills me with all kinds of nostalgia for my horse-loving youth, and the fact that it's attracted such a classy actress as Diane Lane makes me hope for the very best.

Variety reports that Lane is set to star in Disney's "Secretariat," a film that will portray the story of the horse and his owner, Penny Chenery. While Secretariat was born to be a champion, Chenery was thrust unexpectedly into the world of horse racing. Read more...

Are any of you readers actually old enough to remember seeing Disney's "Flight of the Navigator" (1985) in theaters? I am, and I did. It was one of those childhood sci-fi classics for me, like "SpaceCamp" or "Explorers." I can't really imagine a remake, but AI 'navigator' Max (voiced by Paul Reubens in the original) certainly gives the warbling Wall-E a run for his money in the lovable robot department.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed this morning that Disney is returning once again to the story of a boy and his pet alien spacecraft. In the original, young David Freeman (Joey Cramer) disappears for eight years. He is found near the site of a crashed alien spaceship, having not aged a day and with no memory of the intervening years. A series of events subsequently leads David to board the ship, where he learns from the robot navigator Max that his time away was spent there. Read more...

There are many, many reasons to love Pixar. First and foremost is that they’ve made nine consecutive instant classic films – a streak that will go to ten when the amazing “Up” opens later this month. But another is that they know what geeks want, and often insert Easter eggs and in-jokes for us fans.

Now, we’ve got the scoop on a top-secret “Up” bonus for eagle-eyed viewers: Pixar’s first peek at a never-before-seen character from 2010’s “Toy Story 3.”

“On ‘Monsters [Inc.]’, when Sulley is putting Boo back in her room, and he’s going to say goodbye to her, she hands him all these toys,” saidd Pete Docter, a director on “Up” and “Monsters,” and a writer on the “Toy Story” films. “One of them was this fish – which was Nemo – but nobody knew it at the time, because ‘[Finding] Nemo’ hadn’t come out yet. We have a similar thing [in ‘Up’].” Read more...

The Jonas Brothers aren't the only teen sensations with a movie coming up -- insanely popular Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus is also hitting the big screen for the appropriately titled "Hannah Montana: The Movie." And now we have our first look, as the first trailer has officially hit the web.

Featuring a new song (the film will have 12 new song total), the trailer shows exactly where this movie is heading, and that's to Miley's hometown in Tennessee. With Hannah Montana's status -- and ego -- getting out of control, Miley's dad (played by her real-life pops) decides to ship her back to her hometown to humble the star. Toss in a good-looking cowboy and a full-on battle with Tyra Banks, and you've got yourself a movie. Check out some screenshots of the trailer below, and then click here to watch it. "Hannah Montana: The Movie" hits theaters April 10.

(More photos after the jump) Read more...

Even for someone who's grown up in the fresh-faced Disney-verse playing good-girl parts, the allure of becoming a werewolf is hard to deny -- so Christy Carlson Romano is putting in fangs and freaky-looking contacts for "Wolvesbayne."

"It's really cool," she said. "The special effects are huge, and the people who did the 'Buffy' makeup," Drac Studios, who also handled the upcoming "Watchmen" movie, "did it, so the makeup is looking great."

Known for her parts in the Disney shows "Even Stevens" (co-starring with Shia LaBeouf) and "Kim Possible," Romano is trying to step out from her kid-friendly past. "Now all my fans are in college and they're happy to see me do stuff like this," she said. Read more...