It’s still nearly twelve months before the as yet untitled Star Trek XI movie by director/ producer J.J. Abrams will be released. Here’s a collection of tidbits about the movie. (Not as good as a trailer, I know.)

1. Zachary Quinto plays one of three Spocks, as does Leonard Nimoy. Check out this CBS video of Nimoy discussing the origins of the Spock character.
2. Winona Ryder plays Spock’s mother.
3. Tyler Perry has been cast as the head of Starfleet Academy.
4. John Cho, who plays Harold from the Harold and Kumar movies, plays Sulu.
5. William Shatner is not currently slated to appear, but the possibility is there. Except any script changes have to wait until the WGA writers’ strike is over.

The movie is the eleventh in the franchise and is scheduled for release on Dec 25th, 2008. So Shatner fans might get a cameo as a nice Xmas gift. We hope.

Abrams’ mysterious monster flick Cloverfield opens January 18th.

Here are the current top ten movies based on box office receipts from the past weekend. We’ve added links to our own posts about each (where available).

1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Nicolas Cage.
2. Juno. Michael Cera, Ellen Page.
3. I Am Legend. Will Smith.
4. Alvin and the Chipmunks. Jason Lee.
5. One Missed Call. Ed Burns.
6. Charlie Wilson’s War. Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts.
7. P.S. I Love You. Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler.
8. The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep.
9. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter.
10. Atonement. Keira Knightley, James McAvoy.

The US National Film Registry chooses twenty-five films each year for cultural preservation. We took the plain list of titles selected for 2007 from BBC News and have added some details from IMDB for each selection, and hunted down video (clips or full-length) and movie posters or stills, when possible. (Note: the following list is not a ranking and the items are numbered only for convenience.)

1. Back to the Future (1985)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale
Release Date: Jul 3, 1985
Awards: 1 Oscar, 11 other wins and 22 nominations.
Actors: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Cripsin Glover, Casey Siemaszko, Billy Zane.
IMDB: Back to the Future.

2. Bullitt (1968)
Director: Peter Yates
Writers: Robert L. Fish (novel), Alan Trustman (screenplay)
Release Date: Oct 17, 1968
Awards: 1 Oscar, 7 other wins and 6 nominations.
Actors: Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bissett, Robert Duvall.
IMDB: Bullitt.

3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Steven Spielberg
Release Date: Nov 16, 1977
Awards: 1 Oscar, 10 other wins, 29 nominations.
Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Francois Truffaut, Teri Garr.
IMDB: Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

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Looking at both our 2008 movie lists (10 Movies to Look Forward to in 2008, 15 Potentially Successful Movies in 2008), as well as all the listings of all the other movies coming out in 2008, it would seem that movie studios cast their net wide. The bigger studios obviously have more capital and put out more movies each year than a smaller studio.

But maybe they never expect every movie they release to be a big hit. Do one or two big hits in a given year pay for all the other flubs? Book publishers operate on this principal. For every Stephen King and J.K. Rowling, there are hundreds or thousands of writers that don’t sell out their first run. It’s a gamble, but it seems to pay off (not necessarily for writers but for publishers).

I’m willing to bet that movie studios do the same thing, that they hold no illusion that they’ll have a ton of hits in a given year even if they were to release twenty movies. That means latching on to trends, including using hot actors and directors while they’re still hot, before they get put into Hollywood’s Most Overpaid Actors sorts of lists.

Ever wonder why, after some scary event over-exposed in the news, a movie gets released that seems too close for comfort and incredibly insensitive? Fact is, it usually isn’t due to insensitivity but for financial reasons already set in motion previously.

Think about it. Some gunman goes nuts and you see it all over the evening news and the papers. And only a few short weeks later - sometimes sooner - there’s a movie that seems inspired by it. It’s not - not usually. Movies take more time than that to make, and they have to be scheduled for release. Not releasing means losing money; releasing means offending people. It’s not an easy job. Check out the Cinephelia post Bang on schedule for a bit more insight.

How do you cast the right person to play Mr. T’s character from the old TV series, Sgt. Bosco “B.A.” Baracus? C. Robert Cargill at Film.com thinks Ving Rhames should play him.  I hadn’t thought of that Does Ving Rhames have hair? Can you just imagine him with a Mr. T-style Mohawk?

If there’s no mohawk, forgot about doing the movie, I say. But Ving Rhames could work. Not sure about George Clooney, Ryan Reynolds and Ryan Gosling in other roles in the movie.

Not that I would go see an A-Team remake. Unless maybe there was a crossover with the Lord of the Rings, like the video clip below speculates.

Film.com has a great list of the top ten badasses of 2007 movies. The top three are:

1. McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) from Superbad.
2. King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) from 300.
3. Machete (Danny Trejo) from Machete/ Grindhouse.

Earlier this Fall, fake ID cards included in shipments of the DVD to Hawaii were taken off the shelves of Wal-Mart stores because theysupposedly closely resembled the Hawaiian state driver’s license.

As you might already know, DVD players and DVDs have a geographical codes that stop consumers from watching DVDs not targeted for them. But cinephiles looking to view foreign flicks still have a few options.

Mick LaSalle of the San Fransisco Chronicle writes about what your options are for viewing foreign movies, as well as gives a list of several he’s discovered.

Basically, it boils down to buying a region-free DVD player from Amazon.com, Samstores.com or elsewhere, then buying foreign DVDs online. The video clips below are some examples of what you could otherwise be missing.

Bravo, Barron Hilton I for deciding to donate 97% of your $2.3B fortune to charity. No doubt you’re fed up with the antics of your granddaughter Paris Hilton and now your 16-year old grandson and namesake Barron Hilton II.

Now this isn’t exactly 100% news because Barron Hilton I had previously indicated that Paris would not be getting her inheritance. That’s probably because of her very public antics. But he’s essentially confirmed that Barron II won’t get much either.

It’s probably because Paris has ruined the family name by essentially becoming a porn star instead of a hotelier as well. Or maybe grandpa saw Paris’ latest movie Hottie and the Nottie and was horrified at how untalented Paris is? And of course there’s the upcoming Repo! The Genetic Opera! (2008; clip below).

It’s interesting to note that when the original Conrad Hilton died in 1979, he didn’t leave any money in his will to descendants. But that was contested and the fortune re-acquired into the family. Maybe Paris’ great-grandpa knew that money would ruin these kids?

Christmas 2007 is gone, but the holiday season has a bit of time left yet and everyone has their own way to celebrate the “festive” season. I, like many people, enjoy watching movies associated with Christmas (despite intensely disliking a once-a-year holiday where you’re supposed to be nice to people you don’t like).

This is merely my own personal short list - ordered alphabetically - of either “Christmas” movies I’ve seen many times or which are on my shortlist to see.

1. A Christmas Carol. Released Dec 16, 1938. Starring Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Terry Kilburn. One of the classic “Ebenezeer Scrooge” movies.

2. Christmas Vacation. Released Dec 1, 1989. Starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, John Randolph, Diane Ladd, Randy Quaid, Doris Roberts. How can you not like the Griswolds and the zaniness of their family Christmas?
3. Die Hard. Released Jul 15, 1988. Starring Nicolas Cage, Bonnie Bedelia. Not released in December but an Xmas flick still the same.
4. Home Alone. Released Nov 16, 1990. Starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, John Heard, Catherine O’Hara, John Candy. A modern classic of kookiness and fun for the holidays.
5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Released Dec 18, 1966 (made for TV, animated). Narrated by horrormeister Boris Karloff. This one is so much more fun for the family than the scary 2000 live-action version with Jimmy Carrey.
6. It’s a Wonderful Life. Released Jan 7, 1947. Starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore. This is it, the classic, and my favorite Xmas flick, as well as tops in my favorite Jimmy Stewart movies. Directed by Frank Capra, father of Frank Capra, Jr.
7. Miracle on 34th Street. Released May 4, 1947. Starring Maureen O’Hara, Gene Lockhart, Natalie Wood. Is this Santa real as he claims, and has to defend himself in court?
8. The Family Man. Released Dec 22, 2000. Starring Nicolas Cage, Tea Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven, Saul Rubinek. Despite being an original story, it’s strongly reminiscent of It’s a Wonderful Life.
9. The Nightmare Before Christmas. Released Oct 29, 1993 (animated). Voices by Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, Paul Reubens. It’s a bit creepy for Christmas, but hey, it’s directed by Tim Burton.
10. The Sound of Music. Released Mar 29, 1965. Starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer. Not sure why it’s such a big Xmas flick as I can’t sit through a whole showing, but I’ve listed it for a dear young friend who loved it and passed away during this season many years ago.

That’s my list, love it or hate it. Maybe some of the new crop of Christmas week movie releases will have place on a “classics” list someday.