Winter Soldier + Black Widow ?

I keep tricking myself into believing that this is a superhero free year but that's only because Iron Man, Supes and Thor haven't hit yet. Captain America, on the other hand, won't be back until 2014. Production commenced today on Captain America: Winter Soldier and here's the first photo.

Chris Evans is feeling shy, I guess.

What I didn't know, presumably only because I don't follow these things closely, is that he's bringing the Black Widow with him. Scarlett Johansson is his co-star in the sequel which makes good business and universe sense since she's the only Avenger (thus far) that they're never going to give a solo movie, too. They might as well indulge in teamsploitation post the behemoth success of The Avengers.

I stopped reading comic books regularly in college so I still primarily associate The Black Widow with Daredevil (with whom she was sexually entwined) rather than The Avengers. But it turns out she also had a fling with the titular character here.

No, not the good Captain but The Winter Soldier (aka James "Bucky" Barnes aka New Captain... played by Sebastian Stan). So are they setting up Natasha as the woman who comes between the former best friends and now enemies? Marvel Superheroes are largely sexless on the big screen (if not in the comic books) but since Chris Evan's Captain America is still a virgin just out of 1940s deep-thaw can't Sebastian Stan Scarlett Johansson do something about that?

Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks

Variety recently reported that Rita Moreno had joined the cast of the comedy Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks. It's not uncommon for famous plays to be made into movies but this one affords us the rare opportunity to see three famous actresses we just don't see anymore strutting their stuff . In addition to Oscar winning Moreno, the one and only Ann-Margret will appear and acting icon and still Oscarless Gena Rowlands has the lead role of a retiree who hires a dance instructor (Cheyenne Jackson) to teach her. Cheyenne's been tweeting from Hungary where they start filming today!

Regarding the plot: As you may have guessed this pair's relationship starts out thorny but deepens. Dancing Miss Daisy? 

The play has been performed across the Globe (you can see a past gallery of pairings here). It'll be interesting to see if Cheyenne & Gena have the kind of big screen chemistry you'd need to pull something like this off or if it'll turn out to have more or a made-for-television filler programming feel. But I'm all in with this cast even if when I first heard of it I thought suddenly of that forgotten Liza Minnelli film Stepping Out when she teaches a bunch of Hopeless Students to tap dance so that they could each overcome their screenplay problem and everyone could live have a happy character arc. Good luck everyone!

Open Thread

I'm hard at work on the new Oscar charts hence the lack of new posts. Do you like the new color scheme? Banner? Do you have anything to add to that huge list of upcoming movies I posted yesterday. That's the list I'm working from for the new Oscar charts though I'll have to take a two hour break when my beloved Mad Men returns tonight. What's going on in your cinematic world? What did you see this weekend? I caught Jurassic Park (in 3D) with a friend earlier today to prep for Hit Me With Your Best Shot on Wednesday. Are you joining us for that episode?

Beauty Break: Herculean Edition

Have you heard that there are two competing Hercules movies next year? I can't imagine many TFE readers list Brett Ratner or Renny Harlin as big "draws" from Tinseltown's director pool, but they've enlisted The Rock and Kellan Lutz as their beefcake titular demigods. There's more info at Towleroad if you're so inclined.

poll by twiigs.com

If you don't know how to read there's Herculean Beefcake Visuals to gawk at after the jump

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Oscar Preview Time: The Tentative Release Dates

I was more than a little surprised to read this week that the Weinstein Company had chosen a summer release date for their Sundance pick-up Fruitvale whilst Fox Searchlight went with the Weinstein-like December 27th for Steve McQueen's Twelve Years A Slave. While summer is by no means a bad move for Fruitvale (movies without stars, instant hooks, or famous directors need time to build) and Fox Searchlight can sell a movie to Oscar with any date, it's weird to see the Weinstein Company go this route; Harvey Weinstein is more than a little responsible for the modern "DECEMBER OR BUST!" fanaticism that awards campaigns live by. For a moment I worried that they might have no faith in Fruitvale at all.

It's never been true, of course, that you have to release a movie in December to be an Oscar player but the important thing in regards to release dates is that it feels true to the studios which is why we get movie gluts every year 'round Christmas. ANYWAY... that's just the two most recent release date announcements. Here's what's coming our way -- a monthly calendar after the jump -- that might conceivably have Oscar dreams of some sort or another. (Feel free to add to the list in the comments so I can finally get around to the first Oscar predictions of the year!)

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