This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr enters the grid (which is what he likes to call his local IMAX theater) to try and find an old and hairy Jeff Bridges amidst a bunch of young-looking sexy-time people in tight body suits. Afterwards, he has a pic-i-nic at Jellystone Park and faces a bear attack. It’s a good thing he had his hunting rifle with him… but he still wonders why that grizzly he shot was wearing a hat and tie. Finally, he hands out some grades on two limited release award flicks that really don’t jazz him as much as a big, dumb IMAX 3D movie.

What is the real problem with the recent rash of talking animal movies? The likes of Marmaduke, Cats and Dogs, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Furry Vengeance. They seem to achieve a state of universal hate from both critics and fans online, yet families still flock to them. Is it that we (the former) feel that they’re not necessary, especially those that exploit characters we grew up with? Or is it that we don’t like Hollywood telling us that they’re doing it for the right reasons, even though we can see right through their cash-grabby motives? I would wager it to be the latter. Because no one likes it when something they loved as a child is exploited for profit, especially when it’s done poorly. Enter Yogi Bear, the live-action/CGI hybrid comedy from Warner Bros. – it will be hopelessly lumped in with all of these lower cinematic forms. It will be struck down sight-unseen because it falls into a category. But what you don’t know, dear skeptics, is that this might be that one rare bird, the rehash done in earnest, delivering a surprisingly delightful experience.

Brendan Fraser was threatening to leave the production of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island even before his latest family friendly flick fell flat, but now that he’s gone for good (since director Eric Brevig left to deliver this magnum opus), the production has decided to go to the man most well known for children’s movies: The Rock. Dwayne Johnson has officially been named as the replacement to star in the film. It’s a great marketing tactic considering his Sesame street cred, and it probably won’t hurt the creative integrity in anyway unless they run out of ways to throw yo-yos at the screen (in 3D!). Josh Hutcherson is reprising his role (as, most likely, a Plan B to missing out on Spider-Man), and as with the first, the movie will take Jules Verne’s work and weave it into a story that mirrors the plot to his novel “The Mysterious Island.” [Cinematical]

Warner Bros. Pictures released today the first teaser poster for the CG-animated Yogi Bear, a movie that almost no one was asking for. It features Dan Aykroyd as the lovable picnic basket thief and Justin Timberlake as his pint-size sidekick Boo-Boo. Two very funny humans — Anna Faris and T.J. Miller — lead the live-action cast. It’s enough to inspire hope, as Yogi and Boo-Boo aren’t a bad pair of characters to place in front of the world’s children, assuming the Eric Brevig (Journey to the Center of the Earth) sticks to the same wholesome tales that were featured during Yogi’s prime, otherwise known as the 1960s. We’ve got the new poster for your inspection after the jump, along with details about when and where you’ll be able to see the first trailer.

There’s no doubt that a CGI version of Yogi Bear is aimed right at kids, but will they giggle with glee or flee the theater in fear?

Eric Brevig has signed on to direct a forthcoming 3-D animated flick starring Yogi Bear! Woo-hoo! Yeah! Right on! Wait. Who the hell is Eric Brevig?

I didn’t expect to be that excited about Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, so when Director Eric Brevig and Executive Producer/Star Brendan Fraser introduced it as being the first step into the next era of movie-making, I wasn’t sure how to respond. I still wasn’t sure what the two men meant by the time the credits rolled, but I was definitely starting to.