With two competing Steve Jobs biopics currently in development, it only makes sense that one would be more of a rush job, attempting to capitalize on his death as quickly as possible, while the other would take its time assembling all the talent necessary to make the best movie possible. The Ashton Kutcher film Jobs: Get Inspired is already in production (earlier this week we saw the first images of Ashton Kutcher in character), and seems to be moving forward fairly quickly, while Sony’s own movie based on Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography has been much slower to materialize. Fortunately, this week Sony has made their first major announcement regarding personnel for the project and it’s a pretty big deal: The Social Network and Moneyball scribe Aaron Sorkin has officially signed on to write the script. Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment had this to say about the announcement:

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0:00 – Intro
2:40 – Review: Dark Shadows
31:30 – Headlines: Edgar Wright Teases Ant-Man Movie, Jody Hill to Direct a Dukes of Hazzard Reboot?, Kurt Russell Drops Out of Django Unchained, Argo Trailer, Gangster Squad Trailer
49:25 – Other Stuff We Watched: Saturday Night Live, Kicking It, English Premiere League Soccer, Demons, Demons II, Haywire, Assault on a Queen, The Asphyx, Platform Moon, Face Off, The Silent Partner, Shark Night, Road to Perdition, Ed Wood, Veep, The Pitch, Celebrity Apprentice
1:40:00 – Junk Mail: Too Negative, Director’s Voices + Beakman’s World vs. Bill Nye the Science Guy, Tony Stark Meets the General, Cult / Character Actors in Blockbusters, Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, Being Approached by Film Junk Fans, Nothing But Trouble, Spielberg vs. Kubrick vs. Nolan vs. Tarantino
2:07:30 – This Week’s DVD Releases
2:09:30 – Outro

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With so many big name superheroes flying around in The Avengers, I didn’t expect to see some of the lesser known characters getting a whole lot of screen time. For example, going into the film, I think a lot of us assumed Black Widow was only in the movie to add sex appeal, and that Scarlett Johansson’s character would probably be underpowered and out of her element. However, Joss Whedon actually found quite a bit for her to do in the movie, which in retrospect shouldn’t come as much of a surprise since he has always had a thing for strong female protagonists. Now Whedon is looking ahead to The Avengers sequel and he’s saying that if he has his way, we’ll be seeing a few more women join the team as well. (More than just Cobie Smulders, that is.)

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Although Michel Gondry has had a ton of potential upcoming projects on his plate over the past couple of years, it looks like his follow-up to the Sony tentpole The Green Hornet will end up being a small scale, independent production called The We and the I. The movie is premiering at Cannes this week and the first trailer for the film has also conveniently arrived online at the same time. Strangely, it does not appear to be involve any whismical fantasy worlds or cardboard special effects, but according to some reports, it may actually have something to do with time travel.

The plot revolves around a group of kids from the Bronx who are taking the bus home after the last day of school before summer vacation. The cast is made up of unknowns and it feels like it was partially improvised, which is not that surprising since the project supposedly grew out of his community filmmaking projects that were documented in the book, You’ll Like This Film Because You’re In It: The Be Kind Rewind Protocol. Based on this particular trailer there is no sign of any sci-fi goings on, but it does look like Gondry is putting his documentary skills to good use. It’s somewhat unexpected, but intriguing nonetheless. The We and the I does not yet have an official release date; check out the first trailer after the jump and let us know what you think.

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We’ve got a couple of early 2012 surprises and a handful of 2011 indie releases hitting stores this week, along with a whole slew of catalog titles on Blu-ray, so take your pick! The two biggest new releases are The Grey and Chronicle, both of which are well worth checking out in my opinion, along with the poorly received horror flick The Devil Inside and the Katherine Heigl dud One for the Money. Other smaller but noteworthy titles include Rampart starring Woody Harrelson, Albert Nobbs starring Glenn Close, and the Haruki Murakami adaptation Norwegian Wood. Also out this week we have the first season of AMC’s Western drama Hell on Wheels, and on Blu-ray look for Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900 and a new Criterion edition of Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich. What will you be buying or renting this week? Check out the full list of releases after the jump.

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A new extended “super preview” for The Amazing Spider-Man debuted during America’s Got Talent last night, and if you happened to miss it, you can watch it right here, right now. A large chunk of the video consists of a daring rescue where Spidey saves a kid trapped in a car hanging off a bridge, and I have to admit, it’s the most exciting action sequence I’ve seen from the movie thus far. Of course, they just had to find an excuse for him to take off the mask, didn’t they?

A new viral video also hit the web this week that talks about The Lizard and showcases a bit of Dr. Curt Connors’ transformation. I’m still not sure that this villain will be all that interesting, but I hope to be proven wrong. What do you think, is this shaping up to be the best Spider-Man movie yet or have we simply seen it all before? The Amazing Spider-Man hits theatres on July 3rd; check out the new videos after the jump and leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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If you happen to be a fan of Kevin Smith and you enjoy not only listening to the man speak but also watching him speak too, we’ve got some exciting news for you this week. His Secret Stash-based reality show Comic Book Men has been renewed for a second season by AMC, but even bigger than that is the news that Smith is launching his own internet television network. Many of the personalities you know and love from his SModcast podcast network will be taking part in regular video podcasts and debuting some new shows including Mewes News and ComicHead. The network is now live as of last week and Kevin Smith is continuing to slowly build himself a career outside of filmmaking. Hit the jump for the initial programming schedule and additional details regarding SModcast Internet Television.

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If you’ve seen any of Will Ferrell’s films over the last few years — or indeed, just about any other major comedy — you should know by now who Rob Riggle is. The man has had supporting roles in everything from Step Brothers and The Other Guys to The Hangover and 21 Jump Street, and most recently even scored a gig hosting the 2012 Espy Awards. Now it looks like he will finally get his first shot at a lead role in a new comedy series being developed for HBO by his buddies Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Wahlberg and Chris Henchy. Could this be the big break he’s been waiting for?

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Is there anything more annoying than being forced to watch a bunch of ads and PSAs after starting up a DVD or Blu-ray that you just paid money to own? Okay, maybe a few. Still, I am guessing this news will not win the MPAA any new fans, and it’s further proof that they are going about their quest to end piracy in all the wrong ways. According to Wired, starting this week, new DVD and Blu-ray discs will be forced to include updated anti-piracy warnings that take longer to display and include some additional branches of the government that are now also involved in the fight. John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had this to say about the changes:

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Here’s kind of an interesting box office story that was overshadowed by (and yet also related to) the success of The Avengers over the past two weeks. Back in March, the fantasy / sci-fi tentpole John Carter had already been called a failure by Disney, who quickly owned up to the fact that they expected to lose $200 million on the movie. But just when it had been basically declared dead, John Carter miraculously came back to life again last weekend. The resurgence went largely unnoticed because it didn’t register in the top 10, but it still managed to reach #12 on the box office charts after languishing way down at #34 the week before. This weekend it was also hovering around #16. So how did a movie that had already failed suddenly find its second wind after nine weeks? By hitching its wagon to The Avengers and taking advantage of drive-in double bills, that’s how!

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With a lot of the TV networks recently announcing their 2012-2013 line-ups, we’re starting to see trailers and promos trickle out for some of next year’s big shows. And what would the fall season be without a new show from J.J. Abrams? After batting .500 last season with Person of Interest being renewed by CBS and Alcatraz getting the axe from Fox, this time around he will bring a new show called Revolution to NBC. It looks like a cross between Lost, The Hunger Games, and Life After People and it stars Tracy Spiridakos (Being Human), Andrea Roth (Rescue Me), Billy Burke (Twilight), JD Pardo (90210) and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad).

The premise involves a global blackout that thrusts the world into a new dark age. Fifteen years later, everyone is still without power, technology has been forgotten, and local militias run rampant. When a young girl’s father is killed, she sets off across the country on a journey to reclaim the future. Jon Favreau directed the pilot episode and it looks to have some decent action, but will it be enough for Revolution to succeed where shows like Jericho, FlashForward and The Event have failed? Check out the trailer for Revolution after the jump and see what you think.

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Many Apple fanboys were somewhat displeased to hear that Ashton Kutcher would be playing Steve Jobs in an upcoming biopic. Although the physical similarities were striking, many people felt that Kutcher simply could not be taken seriously as a dramatic actor. The movie has since added a few more cast members, including Josh Gad (21, The Rocker) as Steve Wozniak, and is now in production in Los Angeles.

This week TMZ has the first unofficial photos of Kutcher wearing the trademark black turtleneck and white sneakers. I don’t know that there is anything particularly unexpected about the look, but perhaps these photos will convince a few of the haters that he is right for the part. The movie is being directed by Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote) and is now going under the working title Jobs: Get Inspired. Check out a larger photo after the jump and let us know what you think.

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