As if anticipating the announcement of a sequel, I finally watched Salt last week and enjoyed it. The storyline is so absurd that I looked for a writing credit from Mel Brooks, but it’s a capable action thriller that turns into a hilarious cartoon in the last minute. What’s not to like? Now Deadline Sakha is reporting that Sony is ready for more killing and has hired Kurt Wimmer to write the script for Salt 2. Going back to the original’s writer is somewhat encouraging (and Wimmer will always get a soft pass from me for writing Equilibrium), and it’s assumed by Deadline that Angelina Jolie will be on board “if it comes together right.” Empty speculation aside (what actor wouldn’t want to join a project if it came together correctly?), Jolie returning makes more sense than her character returning for a new Wanted installment, so at least logic is on the studio’s side. It’s unclear if director Phillip Noyce will come back to the franchise, but he’s not exactly idle; his name is attached to a handful of projects that might or might not get off the ground (as things often do or do not do). Regardless, this thing hinges on Jolie more than anyone else. If she approves the script, we’ll be seeing more from the woman on the run.

At the end of the 90s, famous Oscar show writer and Celebrity Fit Club contestant Bruce Vilanch claimed that, “Generally with the Oscars…there isn’t much you can do until the nominations are announced. Then you know what kind of year you’re dealing with – what’s been overlooked, what the issues are.” He was talking about preparing to write the show, but it applies to everyone from the directors, producers and stars on down to the fans. It’s fun to guess around the water cooler (your office still has a water cooler?), but until now, it’s all been speculation. Thankfully, almost all that speculation has been spot on, so we can all continue our conversations about whether Black Swan will beat The Social Network for Best Picture. Whether Natalie Portman has any true competition for Best Actress. Whether, most importantly of all, Colleen Atwood will beat Mary Zophres for Best Costume Design. Here they are. The 2011 Academy Award nominees:

Merry Christmas everybody! And yes, I do mean everybody, whether you celebrate the holiday or not. It’s the gesture and thought that are important here people, not the details of your own beliefs or attitudes. No different from saying ‘Good morning’ or Have a great day!’ And to prove I’m not all about the specifics of Christmas… I’m not recommending any new releases for purchase this week! See? No crass commercialism intended! Of course, it helps that most of this week’s titles are average at best… This week sees Oliver Stone’s Wall Street sequel (Money Never Sleeps), the first in M. Night Shyamalan’s Night Chronicles series of low budget horror films (Devil), Angelina Jolie’s latest action romp (Salt), Emma Stone’s smart high-school comedy (Easy A), and a handful of below the radar foreign titles including Map Of the Sounds Of Tokyo, Beautiful Kate, and The Horde.

It’s time to draw in a big yawn and look over this week’s slate of releases. If you’re the type who heads down to your local Blockbuster (assuming you still have one) and loads up on rentals for the weekend, you might have yourself a good time — plenty of movies worth that once-over this week. But luckily, and somehow inexplicably, the week of Christmas brings us very little to spend quality dollars on. The best recommendation I could muster relates directly to the world of Family Guy, and my track record should show that I’ve never been a fan. It’s no South Park, but it did get the nod of approval from George Lucas to make fun of that really famous space opera. That has to count for something, right? That’s how we’re rolling This Week in Blu-ray…

Last weekend was the crucible of Comic-Con, and no fewer than one billion trillion news stories came out of the convention aimed directly at your sensibilities as an audience member. We weren’t the only site on the block that had coverage of course, and hopefully you read more than a few of our peers (because there really are some great sites out there). You were most likely inundated with new information about the movies hitting theaters soon or in the next year. Did any of it change your mind? Was there a movie you were dying to see that you cooled on? Was there a movie that landed on your radar for the first time? Is your confidence renewed in anything?

With the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con having closed its doors, of course I’m going to have to write it about it for Boiling Point. Now, I’m a fan of Comic Con and don’t want to take a few of the obvious roads, especially ones that don’t apply to everyone. Many of us in the press industry had rough times getting into many panels, though how interesting is that to the readers? Not very, I’d reckon. I’ve also already talked about how we shouldn’t make fun of Con goers because not only do most of them smell just fine but for most of my life I was a fan and not a writer. There are plenty of complaints about Comic Con (we’ll focus on the positives later), but for me, ignoring press/job related issues, the one thing I don’t like about SDCC is the kind of non-comic related bull that gets shipped down there every year.

Casual isn’t the new cool, and Angelina Jolie wasn’t the flavor of the weekend.  Despite the gravitational pull her lips may have, they didn’t suck enough fans in to get Salt up to the number one spot.  Ingenuity and the brilliant craftsmanship of one Christopher Nolan won out over accessibility, as Inception topped the charts for the second weekend in a row.  It wasn’t a complete stomping.  Salt faired well in its opening weekend and even Despicable Me had an astonishing third weekend out, but the buzz continues to build and intrigue movie goers into seeing just what Inception is all about.

This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr sulks his head at not being able to see all the cool stuff that’s going on at Comic-Con 2010, but he knows he’s the lucky one because he was able to see Ramona and Beezus, Suck on that! Oh, and he gets a gander at Angelina Jolie in Salt, which ain’t bad, either.

But just a dash.  Whether she’s a Russian spy or not, Angelina Jolie is going to have a tough challenge taking on the most talked about film around, Christopher Nolan’s Inception.  Whether the connotation is positive or negative, everyone has been talking about Inception these past, few weeks. This can only help the film’s second weekend in the box office running.  However, Jolie’s star power alone could help Nolan’s chances of having a one-weekend-and-out film.

Practical action from the man who brought us Patriot Games. The first trailer for Salt is surprisingly impressive.

Remember back when we reported that Angelina Jolie was coming on to the project known as Salt, taking over for Tom Cruise and forcing a re-write of the script to change the title character’s name from Edwin A. Salt to Evelyn A. Salt? This is that film.

For some reason we’ve been following The Tourist a little too closely. I’m starting to think he suspects something.

I know, I know. There’s a hilarious joke to be made about memory when it comes to this movie being remade. But I refuse to come off my high horse to make it. Mostly because riding a baked horse seems dangerous in the first place.

What’s one sure-fire way for a new movie to catch my interest? If it’s press release contains the name Angelina Jolie and the phrase femme fatale, that’s how.

Angelina Jolie is many things to many people. In this instance, she is a future CIA agent and about two thirds of the poster for Clint Eastwood’s latest film.