While researching my post on the Metropolis missing footage that's been discovered in Argentina, I missed a vital tidbit of information. (My brain is still leaking, sorry.) The tidbit? Kino International officially confirmed to The Digital Bits that their upcoming Blu-ray of Metropolis will include the newly-discovered footage, and that a standard definition DVD would also be released. Ta-da!

One of our readers, Eric, noted that Kino's Restored and Authorized Edition DVD, released in 2003, "actually makes sense," plot-wise, and recommended it highly. (Thanks, Eric! I've already ordered my copy.) By coincidence, Kino announced in May that they would begin offering their titles in Blu-ray in 2009, and then said that Metropolis would be their first title offered in the high-definition format, per High-Def Digest, though they did not provide details on a release date, technical specifications, or supplements.

In the UK, Eureka released a Region 2 DVD edition in 2005. DVD Beaver did a detailed comparison between Kino and Eureka and found the Eureka release to be superior: "This appears to be a classic example of PAL-NTSC ghosting derived from improper conversion." If you know what that means, you'll want to read their entire article before making a purchase decision -- and note, of course, that you'll need a region-free DVD player for the Eureka version. Film critic Glenn Kenney recommends the Eureka edition, by the way.

Others will choose to wait for Blu-ray, but whatever your decision, now would be a good time to get caught up with Metropolis so you can fully appreciate the new missing footage. If you need any more convincing, check out the clips and trailer at Kino's site.

Finally! This is the day you've all been waiting for (well, maybe not all of you -- but I'm sure there's a few of you, if not one or two of you ... or maybe a few imaginary readers too). Our friends over at Warner Bros. sent over a whole group of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince photos so that we can strap them all together and show them off in a big, bright shiny gallery. So, it is with great joy that I introduce you to Cinematical's official Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince photo gallery!

(I'll let you catch your breath from screaming so loud ....)

Done? Good. Below you'll find 16 gorgeous images from the film, all of which feature your favorite characters from the Potter universe. Me? All I want is a pair of those Luna Lovegood sunglasses. What's up with those? Maybe Warners will hand them out at Comic Con so I can run around, freaking people out. So trippy. So cool. Me want. Check out the gallery below.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince arrives in theaters on November 21.

Yeah, he's been around the Judd Apatow world for a while now, between Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, but I think it was The 40-Year-Old Virgin that really solidified Seth Rogen's stock. He stole pretty much every scene he was in, and now he's hotter than hot. In a recent discussion with Moviehole, Rogen talked up all those projects we've been hearing about for a while.

At the top of the current buzz is The Pineapple Express, so of course, thoughts are already spinning about a sequel. Rogen mentioned refusing to put a "2" at the end of Superbad, but says of the drug movie: "But this one, it's not a precious coming-of-age story like Superbad, it's a weed action movie and if it did well, and they gave us like $50 million (as opposed to the $26 million we got for this one) we could benefit from that." More Huey Lewis? Sign me up!

As for The Green Hornet, they're currently on the hunt for a director, to start shooting early next year, and to be released in 2010. Funny enough, he also didn't seem to know until he started working on the film that Kevin Smith had taken a stab at the story.

But then there's that untitled project with Judd Apatow, which is now called Funny People. He discussed adding Eric Bana to the mix, which Eugene discussed here. As an added perk -- Cinema Blend got a peek at a small part of the script, if you're curious.

Strangers are staring at me. No, I'm not paranoid, and I'm not a beautiful person. But ever since I saw Linda Linda Linda, a sweet yet perceptive film about the dreams and aspirations of high school girl musicians, the title song has been stuck in my head. The toughest part? It's sung in Japanese. So now I find myself singing "Linda Linda. Linda Linda Linda" and humming the insistently memorable tune over and over again. It's just so darn catchy. (Check out the clip from the movie.)

I don't really mind, though, because I loved the movie, which follows three Japanese girls who recruit a Korean exchange student to become their singer so they can perform at an important school function. And I'm not alone in loving the song, which was originally recorded by the seminal punk band The Blue Hearts in the 1980s. (Watch this clip for evidence.) Japanese pop culture expert Patrick Macias says on the DVD that the song is still a karaoke favorite and that learning all the words makes foreigners instantly cool (or words to that effect).

Songs from movies have gotten stuck in my head before. Way back when, I found myself constantly singing "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and then I became a John Williams freak, humming and tapping my fingers to music from Jaws, Star Wars, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I hated disco, so I worked very hard to keep all those songs from Saturday Night Fever out of my head.

Though we're still a couple weeks away, you can't deny a certain level of excitement in the air right now. It kinda smells like chicken ... with a twist of kick ass! The 2008 San Diego Comic Con will slowly release their schedule over the next couple days, and up first is Thursday. We'll run through a few special, must-see events, and you can see the film-related schedule after the jump and the entire Thursday sched on the official Con website.

Thursday, July 24:

• 10:00-11:00 Masters of the Web-For the second year in a row the biggest genre and movie websites are coming together to discuss how new media have affected movie making, what it takes to run a popular site, and much more in a panel discussion and Q&A session. Participants include Robert Sanchez (IESB.net), Garth Franklin (Darkhorizons.com), Mike Sampson (Joblo.com), Erik Davis (Cinematical.com), John Campea (TheMovieBlog.com), Brad Miska (Bloody-Disgusting.com), Eric "Quint" Vespe (Aintitcool.com), Devin Faraci (CHUD.com), Paul Christensen (Movieweb.com), and Kellvin Chavez (Latinoreview.com). Moderated by directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank 2, The Game). Room 32AB
• 11:30-1:00 20th Century Fox: The Day The Earth Stood Still and Max Payne- Stars Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly, plus director Scott Derrickson and producer Erwin Stoff, present an exclusive look at The Day The Earth Stood Still, Fox's contemporary reinvention of its 1951 classic. "Max Payne" himself-Mark Wahlberg-will be on hand with Mila Kunis, Ludacris, and director John Moore to discuss turning the game's noirish, hard-hitting, and complex world and characters into a movie event.
  
• 1:15-2:45 Summit Pictures-Summit Entertainment presents a sneak peek of exclusive footage of some of its upcoming major film releases: Push (Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Djimon Hounsou, Camilla Belle and director Paul McGuigan), Knowing (Alex Proyas), Twilight (Director Catherine Hardwicke, author Stephenie Meyer, and the cast-including Robert Pattinson (Edward), Kristen Stewart (Bella), Cam Gigandet (James), Rachelle LaFevre (Victoria), Edi Gathegi (Laurant), and Taylor Lautner (Jacob))
• 2:00-3:00 Red Sonja: One-on-One-Robert Rodriguez (Sin City), Rose McGowan (Grindhouse), Doug Aarniokoski (2nd unit director, Resident Evil 3) and David White.

So much more after the jump ...

I had to make such a tough decision last week when offered to attend a screening of either Tropic Thunder or Pineapple Express this coming Wednesday. What the hell does one do in that kind of situation? Both films look hilariously awesome to the tenth degree. I mean, if I could split my movie brain in half and send each part to a different screening, I totally would. But I can't. So I had to make a decision. I won't say which flick I picked right now, because then you won't tune in later this week when I spoil everything! That's right! Every last minute of the movie, right down to the order of the credits. Spoiled!

But anyway, check out a new international trailer for Tropic Thunder up top (or over on the film's official international site). Since it's from our international friends, it might be a little beyond a green band trailer, so keep that in mind office folk. There's not much else to say about this one -- watch it for yourself and tell me it doesn't look out of control. Stiller worries me sometimes because he could be a little too "stupid," but with Downey Jr., Steve Coogan, Nick Nolte, Bill Hader, Justin Theroux, Jay Baruchel and Jack Black in there, I think we'll be okay.

Tropic Thunder blows its way into theaters on August 15.

Have you ever wondered what The Dark Knight might look like written by someone other than Christopher Nolan? Perhaps in your deepest, darkest, dissatisfied-with-Batman-Begins level of consciousness, you wondered what it might look like if tackled by another director. One who had more action movies on his resume. Someone like ... Michael Bay.

Well, look no further. A few pages of his rejected script have appeared online, courtesy of Spill.com. I think one of my biggest problems with Nolan's Batman films is their absolute celibacy. Batman is a red-blooded American male in the comics; he romances many of Gotham's loveliest ladies. Rachel Dawes would never have been so coldly shoved aside in the comics -- and thankfully, Bay looks to be rectifying this. Plus, I really like his take on Dawes. She knows that she can be sexy and smart without being any less of a woman. And she isn't just a D.A. either! She's a skilled mechanic, and is able to fix the Batmobile when its owner can't. Just judging from the few pages, Bay has put her in the center of the action, and not relegated her to the sidelines like Nolan did.

All right, I can't really keep this up. You'll have to just go read it yourself and have a good laugh at all the talk of toned stomachs, beads of sweat, and AC/DC songs. And please, Mr. Bay -- don't hold it against us here at Cinematical. We have a Megan Fox gallery and we'll all go see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I promise.

[Thanks, Matt, for sending this to me.]

Will you be attending San Diego Comic Con later this month? Would you like to check out a super secret screening of Hamlet 2 AND take home a bunch of groovy movie merch? Cinematical is happy to officially launch this Hamlet 2 Comic Con Contest where ten lucky fans will win a pair of tickets to the aforementioned sneak screening of Hamlet 2, as well as the t-shirt pictured above, Hamlet 2 wrist bands and a Rock Me Sexy Jesus doll ... for those times when, well, you really need a Rock Me Sexy Jesus doll.

The actual screening will take place on Saturday July 26th in San Diego, and the only way to get in is to either win tickets or by finding a Sexy Jesus walking around at Comic Con. (Note to self: Get photo with Sexy Jesus while at Comic Con.) Please be aware that you will need to be in the immediate San Diego area on July 26th in order to win these tickets, so do not leave a comment on this post if you will not be in San Diego on the day of the screening. Your tickets, assuming you win a pair, will be mailed to you prior to the convention.

To enter, leave a comment telling us why you want to attend the Comic Con screening of Hamlet 2. Check out the official rules for this contest after the jump ... and good luck!

Hamlet 2 dances its way into theaters on August 22.

Repeat after me, in a drone-like voice if necessary: "I am very happy that my friends, colleagues, and thousands of complete strangers will be attending Comic-Con while I am stuck at home, pining away pitifully on my battered old laptop." Seriously, even though I won't be in attendance, I am eager to read all the cool movie news that should be emanating from San Diego starting on July 23.

Erik has already detailed the events arranged by 20th Century Fox, and now Cinematical has gotten a look at what Warner Brothers has planned -- and it looks pretty good, my friends. Panels have been scheduled for Watchmen, with director Zack Snyder, Terminator Salvation, with the always entertaining McG, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, with director Dave Filoni, producer Catherine Winder, and, I'll bet, a large army of Storm Troopers trampling the unwary.

Jeremy Piven, Ludacris (AKA Chris Bridges) and Mr. Madonna (AKA Guy Ritchie) will talk RocknRolla, while Rain (AKA Korean sensation Ji Hoon Jung) will excite fangirls -- though I can't guarantee he'll dress the part -- as Ninja Assassin, with director James McTeigue and fellow star Naomie Harris. The new version of Friday the 13th will also be spotlighted, with Jared Padalecki and Derek Meaks ready to talk Crystal Lake and hockey masks.

As always, film talent is tentative, but the Cinematical talent is confirmed and will be on hand to provide great coverage that should make us all wish we were there.

I've been keeping my eye on this one for awhile now for fear it was an elaborate fake, but apparently it's totally true ... and totally way too expensive for my cheap ass. Yes, Nike has produced 350 pairs of these limited edition Nike Hyperdunks in honor of the pair Marty McFly wore in Back to the Future, Part II. No, they do not have automatic laces ... but they're, um, light blue and white. And they kinda look just like the sneakers worn in that film. And the tissue paper inside the box displays the words, "Great Scott!" So, yeah, seems like something a nutty film geek or a major BTTF fanboy (like myself) would want to have in their collection, right?

Well, have fun finding a pair. Over on eBay, these suckers are going for upwards of $2,000. Yup. Two grand for a pair of sneakers that don't even feature automatic laces. Now, if they did feature automatic laces (and how hard could that be? I don't know, I'm not in the sneaker business?), then I'd think about shelling out the cash. But two grand for a pair of light blue sneakers? No thanks. And even if you did buy them at two grand, how could you tell someone else without them thinking you're absolutely out of your mind? I don't know. I'm fully aware of that petition back in the day, and I totally dig that Nike went ahead and made these for the fans, but either sell them in mass quantities or make them much cooler than they are now.

Check out the gallery below and let us know what you think of the new McFly sneaks ...



[via Gizmodo]