What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly column that combines movie news remainders and interesting links, but at the moment it’s a column that can’t remember what day it is. Is it Thursday? How about Saturday? It’s had a rough week, and that’s putting it lightly. Anyway, lets do the news. After months of posturing, casting and even getting us all worked up over the prospect of Armie Hammer riding on ole’ Silver, Disney has put a bullet through The Lone Ranger. According to a Deadline report, the Mouse House didn’t like the $240 million dollar budget turned in by director Gore Verbinski, nor did they appreciate that 43% of it was to be used for Johnny Depp’s eyewear. With any luck, the project will get re-shopped, re-chopped and still happen. I did like the idea of that Winklevoss guy in the lead.

Now that the Academy Awards have told us that the best film of 2010 is The King’s Speech the next few months of DVD releases are bound to be filled with mediocrity and bitter disappointment until Tom Hooper’s directorial tour-de-force hits shelves. Speaking of unappealing and visually disturbing movies, Burlesque comes out today! 127 Hours and Love & Other Drugs are probably the week’s highest profile releases, but the best actually come courtesy of of Acorn Media with their British TV titles The Norman Conquests and Murder Investigation Team. One is a bitingly funny and smartly written comedy of manners and the other is about a team that investigates murders. Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock Haven’t seen this one yet, but I was sold on the title. I hadn’t even heard of it before looking at a list of this week’s releases, so I checked out the DVD’s web site and discovered it’s actually a pretty popular character in the realm of children’s entertainment. The songs are catchy and dreamy in equal measure, like a Peter Gabriel-led Genesis (if you can imagine such a thing), and what it lacks in educational appeal it looks to more than make up in sheer pop entertainment. I may have to borrow a kid to justify the purchase…

The moment that Ricky Gervais secretly waits for every year is upon us. The nominations for the 31st Golden Raspberry Awards are in. The Razzies is a different kind of awards show, not one that heaps false praise on people that it doesn’t respect, but one that dishonors the worst work of the year. No, their nominees for Worst Picture aren’t quite as bad as the Golden Globe nominees for Best Picture – Comedy or Musical, but it’s still generally considered an insult to earn Razzie recognition, and God forbid you actually win. Looking over this year’s nominees has left me in a confused emotional state. The only film I’ve seen that on here is The Expendables. Does that make me a bad film fan or a smart consumer?  Can one truly appreciate the good if he hasn’t waded through most of the bad? In 2011, I solemnly vow to see more bad movies.

I love the Golden Globes despite never wanting to watch them. They are irrelevant in a way that’s completely freeing – meaning that the host can get drunk, the honorees can get drunk, and a lot of yelling can take place during the celebration. I imagine it’s a lot like what the Oscars used to be before they were ever televised. Don’t get me wrong. For the winners, it’s an auspicious occasion. It’s one more group (a diverse one at that) honoring great work done. For movie fans though, the broadcast is pure spectacle, and as someone who has stood next to Foreign Press members asking about what type of underwear Daniel Radcliffe wears, it’s also difficult to take the night all that seriously. Here in the sober light of day, are the winners. Feel free to speculate as to what this means for the Oscars.

Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows and cowboys and Samurai and ballet dancers and princesses with bad perm jobs and Vincent Cassel. If you thought Thanksgiving brought the buffet of eclectic tastes, wait until you get a load of these leftovers. Even with only one film opening wide this weekend, there’s a lot to talk about with the familiar and a few highly anticipated limited releases, so let’s get this microwaved plate of deliciousness on the table, shall we?

Whether they wanted wizards, princesses, or super heroes, families were out in force this Thanksgiving weekend. The top three films at the box office, despite one having a PG-13 rating, were all aimed at entertainment the entire family could enjoy, and after the leftovers were eaten and the Christmas tree was put up, that’s precisely what the majority of the film-going audience went for.

One of the keys to running a successful movie site — I’m told — is to make your content interesting, no matter how much of it you deliver. Quantity is never a bad thing, but quality matters more. At least that’s how we do things around here. And with our man-in-charge Cole Abaius off celebrating his nuptials for a second straight week, the rest of the writing team here at FSR brought some thunderous content. Not a ton of it, mind you, but enough to keep things interesting. With that in mind, I’ve got some of the best of it listed in this latest edition of The Week That Was. Just hit the jump and find all of the best content that you may have missed this week.

This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr loosens his belt and falls asleep on the couch after eating too much turkey. But with three days left in the weekend, there’s always the opportunity to brave the hoards of crazy holiday shoppers to see a movie. It’s time to look at a new Disney princess with Tangled, dance with the divas from Burlesque and go Faster with a piece of the Rock.

Burlesque tells the unique, riveting tale of a small-town girl with big dreams, who hops off a bus in Hollywood and ascends to stardom. Centered on a burlesque themed nightclub, in which our protagonist finds a mentor and faces off with a rival as she claws her way to the top, the movie breaks bold new cinematic ground and will surely live on in the hearts and minds of all those who see it.

Some are already looking at the new trailer for the Christina Aguilera, Cher team-up Burlesque and reacting to the tune of “it’s Showgirls meets Chicago.” Cinematical’s Alison Nastasi may have hit the nail on the head with this comment: “more like Showgirls lite — Oprah approved,” pointing out the film’s need to dance through PG-13 territory. The film is a stock tale of a small-town girl (Aguilera) heading for the big city trying to make it big. She authoritatively buys herself a one-way ticket to the big city (in this case, Los Angeles) and starts working on her dream of becoming a burlesque dancer, with Cher as her reluctant guide. As a fan of burlesque shows, I was intrigued. As a fan of watchable movies, I was left with a feeling of wanting — wanting for Cinemax late night programming, or something of the like. More after the jump.

The first images of both Christina Aguilera and Cher in Steven Antin’s musical drama Burlesque are online today, and they certainly capture the spirit of a burlesque show (read: serious lack of clothing). For Aguilera, this will be a coming out party in the world of film — her first feature film role. But she’s not alone. She will star alongside Cher, Stanley Tucci, Eric Dane and Cam Gigandet. For the pop princess, things certainly could be worse. They couldn’t, however, be much sexier.

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, we talk about homosexuality in film (to celebrate National Coming Out Day), awkwardly discuss the all-nude fighting of Bronson (because it’s awesome), and explore the hardest part about rollerblading.

Look out Christina Aguilera, soon to be actor who we didn’t know had any acting chops, you’re about to run into all of 5’1″ 90 lb. (soaking wet) Kristen Bell.