Those manatees really know how to keep themselves busy. In one of the more irreverent news items of the day, Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane -- whose voice work is currently on display in Hellboy II: The Golden Army -- has told TV Week that he hopes to get a Family Guy movie off the ground in a year or so.

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I've been to a few conventions before, here in Philly, a couple in New York, and one hazy weekend in legendary Mesquite, Texas. Horror, sci-fi, comic books, and tons of awesome geeks enjoying their own personal flavor of colorful nerd-dom. I enjoy these events, even though my own style of fandom prohibits me from dressing up like Bib Fortuna or Jayne Cobb. (I like to be amicably cynical at these events, so if I happen to make fun of your Buffy costume, please understand it's all in good fun.)

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Quick! Who played the title role in WALL-E? If you answered "Ben Burtt," chances are you're either a hard-core geek or someone who stayed for the credits and thought, "Who the heck is Ben Burtt?" Burtt, well known to Star Wars and Spielberg fans for his superb work as a sound designer -- he's won two Oscars and received two Special Achievement Awards from the Academy --

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A couple of weeks back, I wrote about the imminent release of three-quel Public Enemy Returns. Hopes were high that the Korean-made crime action comedy would enjoy a measure of success and thus buoy local filmmakers; Korean audiences have been avoiding local product for months.

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Even the weirder artists of the twentieth century have been attracted to the allure of Hollywood filmmaking, and Salvador Dali was no exception. In the fall of 1941, the surrealist painter hosted a masquerade party at Pebble Beach during one of his regular visits to the town.

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Two weeks ago, we learned that Paul Newman has lung cancer (or may have lung cancer). And my first reaction was: will he still be able to do A Walk in the Woods with Robert Redford? Or whatever that long-ago confirmed final film is, if not that Bill Bryson adaptation? A couple years back the Oscar-winning actor said he's retiring after one "last hurrah," and it was speculated that he'd be re-teaming with Redford (his partner in both Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting).

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It's hundreds of years from now, practically no life (save for a cockroach) remains on the giant garbage dump that's become Earth, and, funnily enough, the only remaining sign of humanity can be found inside the planet's last functional robot: a trash collector (and compactor) named WALL·E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class).

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While she made a name for herself with her stint as Wednesday Addams, Christina Ricci has always dipped into brighter and colorful fare here and there. Before the goth, she was Kate in Mermaids, and after, she wiggled her colorful toe socks in The Ice Storm, performed that sexy, bowling alley dance in pale blue for Buffalo '66, and even went a shade of Pumpkin. But with the recent Speed Racer, she took it to another level: super, ultra-vibrant, unrealistic color.

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Today YouTube launched a new section of its site titled The YouTube Screening Room, which it calls a "platform for films from around the world to find the audiences they deserve." Here, they will showcase four short films every two weeks and will even offer an occasional feature.

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Yahoo! Movies has the first look at the trailer for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and yes, all those sassy creatures that moviegoers dug to the tune of $193.5 million in the summer of 2005 are back, and this time... the penguins still seem to be stealing the show (I don't really have anything against the first movie, but the penguin-centric holiday short spin-off was itself far more amusing and, as such, has been included after the jump

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I love a surprise, even a small one like finding out that Kung Fu Panda was more likeable and fun than I might have expected. I have a secret mini-crush on Jack Black (okay, maybe not so secret)...

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Considering how much puffing is usually done to launch those "little movies that could," it's ironic that a documentary about blowing up balloons has made its way into the spotlight without an inflated media campaign. Sounds like the New York Times's Douglas Quenqua has noticed Sara Taksler and Naomi Greenfield's documentary about balloon twisting during its nationwide tour. After debuting at 2007's SXSW (Cinematical's Scott Weinberg notes the opening of Twisted: A Balloonamentary here), the film now has a solid run going at St. Louis's Landmark Tivoli theater

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Among the handful of titles Sony Pictures Classics snatched up for American distribution at the conclusion of the Cannes Film Festival, the animated Israeli documentary Waltz with Bashir makes the most sense. While Tyson certainly has potential to alter the public perception of the country's infamous boxer, and Lorna's Silence has appeal for crime fans and art house aficionados alike, both movies could perform well regardless of which distributor picked them up (more or less). Bashir, on the other hand, has SPC written all over it:

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This week I'm feeling kind of fond of the fauna. Here are five trailers for films related to the animal kingdom.

The Dark Knight
Bats: nocturnal flying mammals who occasionally star in hotly anticipated summer blockbusters. I know I'm not the only one who's been waiting for this one ever since the end credits rolled on Batman Begins. Once again Christian Bale dons the cape and cowl of the tortured Batman, this time to do battle with Heath Ledger's sublimely psychotic Joker

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Waltz With Bashir, the first official trailer from cinemascopian.com on Vimeo.

An early Cannes favorite, Cinematical's Kim Voynar describes Waltz with Bashir as a "beautiful, disturbing and deeply compelling film" that "could wind up with an Oscar nod come January." The animation looks stunning (love the gold in those beach scenes), and I'd definitely agree with Spout's Karina Longworth who calls it "Grand Theft Auto: Beirut, Meets A Scanner Darkly" in the title of her post showcasing the trailer above

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