It's been five years since Paul Thomas Anderson's last film, the magnificent There Will Be Blood, so forgive me if The Master incites perhaps too much anticipation.  It's the latest movie from the writer-director of Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, and Hard Eight (aka Sydney) though, so yeah, excitement is entirely justified.  As to prove it, the first official footage from The Master has debuted online, and damn if it isn't every shade of promising.

There's well over a year until Man of Steel arrives at a theater near you, but it's not to early to reveal the Superman reboot's official logo via a banner baring a familiar symbol.  That would be a new variation on the iconic "S" that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's creation has worn on his chest ever since his first appearance almost 75 years ago.

It's been awhile since we heard much from Man of Steel, the new Superman movie currently being directed by Zack Snyder.  In fact, the last thing we posted on the reboot was a picture of Henry Cavill kindly posing for a picture with a young lad whilst wearing his full Superman gear.  Two months later, there are some new, albeit bite-sized, info-nuggets on the film from the guy who designed that costume, Michael Wilkinson.

In the months leading up to the theatrical release of last year's The Muppets, we saw a procession of trailers parodying the styles of other familiar movie promotions.  These included Muppetized parody trailers happily spoofing The Hangover 2, Green Lantern, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Paranormal Activity 3, Happy Feet 2, Puss in Boots, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1.  You probably thought that they were done, but with The Muppets arriving on Blu-ray and DVD later this month, Disney has taken the opportunity to parody the trailer for The Hunger Games.

Last week, a rumor bubbled up online that Disney signed The Muppets director James Bobin and co-writer/executive producer Nicholas Stoller to get at work writing a follow-up to the successful revival of the Muppets as a theatrical franchise.  That not entirely surprising news was accompanied by the altogether more unexpected word that Jason Segel, who co-wrote, starred in, and executive produced The Muppets, would not be returning as a screenwriter.  Now, Segel himself has confirmed that he also won't be reprising his starring role as the ultra-wholesome Gary.

Okay, folks, what we've got here is your basic good news/bad news scenario, but its important to keep in mind that in this particular case, the good news far outweighs the bad.  The good news is that it looks as though Disney is keen to continue the theatrical lives of Jim Henson's beloved creations with a sequel to The Muppets, last year's cinematic revival of a franchise that had laid dormant since 1999's Muppets From Space.  The bad news is that The Muppets star and co-writer Jason Segel won't be contributing to the sequel screenplay.

Actor/comedian/musician Bret McKenzie recently earned his first Oscar nomination for writing the song "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets, which was nominated for Best Original Song at this year's Academy Awards. This marks the first time that a Muppet film has been nominated for Best Original Song since '1981s The Great Muppet Caper. This year also marks the first time that the Academy has decided to only nominate two songs in this category, which usually includes three to five nominations. McKenzie's sole competition comes from musical legend Sergio Mendes who wrote "Real in Rio" from the movie Rio.

Before being hired as the music supervisor for The Muppets, McKenzie was best known as one half of the Grammy Award winning musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with his partner Jemaine Clement, who incidentally also wrote music for Rio. The two New Zealand natives eventually went on to make a name for themselves in the United States with their extremely popular HBO series, aptly titled Flight of the Conchords. The multi-talented performer will next be seen as the elf Lindir in fellow New Zealander Peter Jackson's highly anticipated Lord of the Rings prequels The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and The Hobbit: There And Back Again. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Bret McKenzie on the Disney lot in Los Angeles to discuss his work on The Muppets and his Oscar nomination for "Man or Muppet." The talented musician discussed working on the film, composing its music, what it feels like to suddenly be an Oscar nominee, why he thinks it was nominated over other songs from the film, his inspiration for the Oscar nominated song, why he's glad there are only two nominees in his category this year, what his Oscar performance would have been like had the Academy not decided to cancel the musical performances from the television broadcast, his favorite Muppet and why, who is the most difficult Muppet to work with, and adapting his Flight of the Conchords style of music for The Muppets.

Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve.  For two consecutive years, director Garry Marshall and screenwriter Katherine Fugate served up holiday-themed ensembles unreasonably packed with bankable movie stars and romantic comedy cliches.  Had New Year's Eve been a bigger hit, you can only imagine that we have spent the next several years besieged by these novelty offerings until the holidays were finally exhausted.  That could still happen, actually.  But even if it does, we'll always have MLK Day, a parody trailer for a fictitious romantic comedy that expertly eviscerates the cloying, manipulative style of those films.

Months ago, when Man of Steel was shooting on location in Illinois, we were seeing photos from the set of the Superman reboot regularly.  These included plenty of looks at Henry Cavill in the newly redesigned Superman costume, as well as a small sense of the scale on which director Zack Snyder is setting up the film's action sequences.  Since the production began shooting on soundstages in Vancouver, British Columbia, though, set photos and the like have become rare.  A new behind the scenes image reminds us of the good times and provides a solid, close up look at Cavill in costume.

The Muppets is like a wonderful drug that has no detrimental effects, just a delicious happy high that puts a skip in your step and makes you want to kiss strangers on the cheeks.  Now, we know precisely when this rock of cinematic crack can be figuratively smoked in the comfort of our living rooms, as Disney has announced that the theatrical resurrection of Jim Henson's soulful creations will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD on March 20th.