Spider-Man Reboot Gets 'Amazing' New Name

Filming has begun, and now the Spider-Man reboot has a name. Columbia Pictures announced that it will share the name of the original comic developed by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko back in 1963, The Amazing Spider-Man. The similarities with the original source material won't stop at the name either. Unlike Sam Raimi's recent trilogy, the new film will centre more around Peter Parker's days at high school, balancing his classes in the day with fighting crime at night. Spidey's love interest will not be Mary-Jane Watson, but instead Gwen Stacey, his original girlfriend from the comics. And as clearly shown in the latest picture of provided by the studio (pictures after the jump), the suit will feature mechanical web shooters rather than the biological ones that Tobey Maguire's character possessed. This marks another return to Stan Lee's original creation and perhaps outlines a larger focus on Parker's scientific prowess that was missing from Raimi's films.

Best of 2010: Actress in a Leading Role

Nolan To Make Howard Hughes Biopic After Batman?

In other Nolan-related news, Vulture insists that following the completion of The Dark Knight Rises, the director who resurrected the Batman franchise and brought a whole new blockbuster (Inception) to our screens will move on to a Howard Hughes project. Reportedly, the project was one Nolan had written after Memento, but shelved it when Scorsese's The Aviator was announced to be released in 2004.

It might seem crazy to work on the project with DiCaprio's portrayal of the mogul still relatively fresh in the minds of movie-goers. However, Nolan's script is an adaption of the Michael Drosnin biography Citizen Hughes: The Power, the Money and the Madness which focusses on the latter years of Hughes' life and his descent into OCD-fuelled insanity. In contrast, Scorsese's film was centred more around his formative years and obsession with his Spruce Goose invention.

Considering Nolan's interest in characters with a degree of mental instability, think Cobb in Inception and Leonard in Memento, it's reasonable to think that he'll want to explore the weirdness of a man who spent his final years locked in a hotel room, wearing nothing but a dinner napkin, and fitting an air filtration system to his Chrysler. Supposedly the film will begin production in late 2012 for release in 2014, a decade after The Aviator, to avoid too much comparison.

At this point I'm willing to get excited about anything Nolan is working on, so we'll keep a close eye on any developments in this project.

The Dark Knight Rises Goes Deeper Into Inception Cast

Well we know that Christopher Nolan likes to work with cast members from his previous films, but this is getting kind of ridiculous. On top of the confirmation of Tom Hardy (possibly as Bane) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's additions to the cast of the third instalment of Nolan's Batman trilogy, French newspaper Le Figaro reports that Marion Cotillard will be joining them from last summer's blockbuster Inception. They haven't stated any sources and so this looks to remain rumour for the time being.

Anne Hathaway has also been confirmed to be on the casting, so it's unclear what kind of role either of them would play. Hathaway so far has been rumoured to be taking on the role of anti-hero and potential Wayne love interest Catwoman. It's likely that Nolan will want to minimise the introduction of too many new character threads, and so currently the buzz around is that of family links for the new characters back to the previous films of the trilogy. It's been rumoured that Gordon-Levitt will play Alberto Falcone, the son of mob boss Carmine Falcone who figured heavily in Batman Begins. It might follow then that Cotillard will play Talia Al Ghul, the daughter of Begins villain Ra's Al Ghul (Liam Neeson). In the comics, Talia and Batman have an on-off relationship and a child together. With the death of Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight, a love triangle between Batman, Catwoman and Talia could be an interesting plot point.

Of course the Batman rumour trail has taken many twists already and it would be surprising if it didn't throw up anymore new developments before it starts production over the summer. What is for sure is this is going to be an epic-length picture and with Nolan at the helm, it'll have plenty of interesting and intertwining character arcs. As a huge fan of what Nolan's done to the franchise so far, I'm looking forward to seeing where he's going with the final chapter (?) in the story.

The King's Speech Wins 7 in Bafta Sweep

Perhaps unsurprisingly, The King's Speech dominated at last night's Bafta ceremony, taking seven of the fourteen awards for which it was nominated. Among the awards given to the film were Supporting Actor and Actress nods to Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter respectively, Original Score, Original Screenplay for David Seidler's script and Outstanding British Film. As expected, Colin Firth picked up his second consecutive Leading Actor award for his portrayal of King George VI, battling with his speech impediment. Most importantly though, the movie received the top award for Best Film, putting it ahead of rival The Social Network as the favourite to win the big award in a fortnight's time at the Oscars.

NotYetRated Best of 2010 Awards

Now that the Baftas are out of the way, we can finally move on to the awards that really matter.  That's right, it's time for the NotYetRated Best of 2010 Awards - the most prestigious and respected film awards around, in this solitary corner of the Internet. The four members of the NYR team sat around for hours, perilously debating, arguing and defending our favourite films, occasionally coming to blows, bargaining and death threats, until finally arriving at this definitive list. Each of the following categories have three runners-up and a winner (five runners-up for Best Film).

Best of 2010: Actor in a Leading Role