I will forgo the usual intro after a two-week hiatus from writing this column and simply apologize. Beside last week being the week of SXSW, I don’t have a very good reason why this is the first Blu-ray column of March. Well, there was a general malaise about the titles being released in the month’s first few weeks, but we all know that’s no good reason to shirk my duties as chief high definition prognosticator. So we’re back this week with a few really great releases, including March’s best release as Pick of the Week, a spectacular entry into the Criterion Collection and a few really bad movies that I loved. Take that, common sense! Four Lions Any release calendar junkies among you may be quick to cite the fact that Four Lions streeted on March 8, two weeks prior to the writing of this column. You’d be right — it’s not one of this week’s release. But with a dearth of great titles hitting shelves this Tuesday, combined with my absence from this column’s helm for the past two weeks, I thought it to be more than appropriate to celebrate one of last year’s finest comedies. Terrorism. It’s funny when you look at it through the lens of director Chris Morris. It’s hilarious when you strap explosives to crows and dress up in Ninja Turtles costumes lined with C4. It’s enthralling and insightful when it wants to be, as well. It’s the rare kind of flick that has something [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

That wacky Anthony Hopkins sure knows how to turn ‘em in. With his broad hijinx and penchant for silly string gimmicks. The devil might have had something to do with it, too, as The Rite opened to number one this weekend. It’s opening wasn’t as big as you might expect, but it did a decent job. With a reported budget of $37 million, it should be fine with its mid-teen debut. That is unless you’re going by Kevin Smith math, in which case, the film is a serious dud. That’s a digression for another time, though. The Rite will do just fine, and Hopkins is sure to make many more stinkers films before his days in films have come to a close. His Hannibal days have long since passed, and you aren’t likely to see many more $100-million films from him beyond any franchise work.

I know. I know. The Green Reject Report? That’s the best you can come up with? It’s not like it’s a title we might not use every again. When Green Zone hit last year, it opened against a few other notable titles that took the headline (This Week’s Reject Report Is Out Of My League). With Green Lantern hitting this coming June, another opportunity to use this week’s title might present itself. But we don’t think about the future. We cross those bridges when we come to them. So, while we’re eating our red meat and smoking our cigarettes, we’ll just do with The Green Reject Report for this week. Onto the movies.

Audiences got derezzed, went into the grid, and disc warred all the way to end of line this weekend. And, if you followed all of that, you were probably among the masses. While TRON Legacy jumped to the top of the pile, its weekend take wasn’t up to expectations, and the future of the franchise could very well be called into question. It just depends on the legs the film has, Olive Wilde’s legs notwithstanding.

You know the drill, dear readers. A bunch of stuff happened here in Reject Land. Some movies came out and we reviewed them. We talked to famous people and posted the evidence. We write stuff about movies here. You probably missed it. Thus, the existence of our end-of-the-week column, The Week That Was. Read on and prepare to battle for digital glory!

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.

The weather has turned cold, the end of the year is soon approaching, and the last bastion of Holiday films are coming our way. This week, we have a number of dollar-earner pictures hitting as well as a couple of heavy awards contendors expanding into wide release. The light cycles are sure to have an edge over a couple of talking bears, especially since one of those bears sounds a bit like Ray Stantz. The other bear isn’t exactly bringing sexy back, but he might be cute enough to pull in some decent money.

This video is everywhere you look on the web today, so if you are seeing it for the first time, you are welcome. Based on the ending of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, a group of rogue animators have created an alternate ending for Warner Bros’ upcoming family flick Yogi Bear. Edmund Earle is the man who has laid claim to making it, and according to reports he has nothing to do with the actual film’s production — that’s despite the fact that it looks eerily similar to what will be seen by families this weekend. Earle is simply a guy who saw clips from the film and decided that this is how it should end. I think we can all agree that he’s got a point.

We realize that you’re probably sitting at home right now, chewing your own nails off and wondering what movies are coming out this month. Maybe you’re even wondering why no one on the entire internet has said anything about them. Strange, we know. Fortunately, Rob Hunter and Cole Abaius spent the entire month of November dumpster diving in studio lots, mailing in proof of purchase codes on cereal boxes, and building trailers from old plywood to make sure that you, dear reader, are in the know about what’s coming out in December. You watch movies, so this guide’s for you.

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, Peter Hall and John Gholson stop by to drop the Cinematical tag team on me, and we discuss the finer points of Pedobear advertising. They also destroy my anticipation for two films, and we manage to discuss the worst buddy cop cliches while admitting to the ones we can’t get enough of. All of this, plus you learn what movie is like Inception meets Dora the Explorer.

And here we were, thinking that the first trailer for Warner Bros.’ CGI/Live-action hybrid Yogi Bear wasn’t so bad once you got passed the overt silliness and Saturday Morning Cartoon cheapness. Now we have this first poster to deal with. And I’ll be damned if it doesn’t cross several boundaries that movie marketing has not dared to cross since the glory days of the grindhouse. It’s creepy, bug-eyed subjects are arranged perfectly for the pedo-jokes. They look like they’ve been caught doing something inappropriate. And then there’s the tag line… “Great things come in bears.”

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?

Entertainment Weekly has uncovered the supposed casting for the upcoming live-action/hybrid adventure that will bring the lovable picnic basket thief Yogi Bear to the big screen.

The must-awaited Tron: Legacy has an official release date for December 2010. And it has some competition.

Producer Donald De Line and Writer/Director John Hamburg discuss I Love You, Man, film school rejection, and the fine art of O.J. Simpson memorabilia collecting.

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?

Warner Bros. is developing a feature version of Yogi Bear, the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon with its mischievous, pic-a-nic basket-stealing star.