Third installments in superhero trilogies tend to be somewhat awful, but Robert Downey, Jr. seems to think Iron Man 3 will be the exception to the rule.

Downey spoke at length about the film during a recent interview, reaffirming new director Shane Black‘s history with the franchise by reminding viewers, “When we were doing the first Iron Man, Jon Favreau and I used to call up Shane Black. We had two lifeline calls; one was to J.J. Abrams, which was about the third act. And for the other call, we went to Shane’s house.”

Now, says Downey, “To get him to do Iron Man 3, it has just been…

‘Life of Pi’ is given the royal treatment in the pilot episode of the Movieology podcast. From Joe Darnell’s back porch, hosts Eric Rauch and Michael Minkoff scrutinize everything from Pi Patel’s nuanced religious relationship with Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, to the 200+ drafts of the script. Along the way, Eric and Michael debate the relevance of movies for religious audiences, the distinction between pluralism and relativism, and the craft and importance of 3D film special effects.

Be sure to tune in tonight to the live broadcast for yet another exciting and very special episode of The MovieByte Podcast. We’ll be joined by some very special guests. First up will be Anthony Pascale of TrekMovie.com to talk about the Star Trek trailer, and the nine minute Star Trek preview available to IMAX viewers of The Hobbit. That should be a lot of fun.

Then we’ll be joined by none other than Clark Douglas, radio station manager of WHIE in Griffin GA, and host of The Sounds and Sights of Cinema podcast, and a new guest, Marcus Pitman. We’ll be discussing The Hobbit, and I expect…

“Good Morning!”

“What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?”

It has finally happened, a little out of order perhaps, but it has happened none-the-less, and it was good. What is possibly J.R.R. Tolkien’s most notable, or known work, certainly his first notable work, has come to the big screen. And it was not a small undertaking either. The same, much lauded production values, acting talent, story telling, sense of style and scope, and epic feel have…

Marvel’s The Avengers was one of the biggest movies of the year, but it wasn’t without sin. Cinema Sins lists all the sins for The Avengers (in 3 minutes or less) and hands down an ultimate verdict for the film.

I can’t say I agree with much of anything in this video, but it’s still pretty fun. And there were a couple things…

Here is the new synopsis from Paramount…

SYNOPSIS:

In Summer 2013, director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek Into Darkness.

In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth. In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice.

As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be…

This is a pretty fun look at composer Michael Giacchino and some of his work as well as some of his philosophy and what his influences have been.

Personally, some of his work I have liked, some of it I have not. I can’t say, for instance, that Star Trek (2009) was my favorite Star Trek Score by any means (The Wrath of Kahn still has that honor), but it was decent enough. And this is fun.

Let me interrupt your day to tell you to WATCH THIS RIGHT NOW!

Seriously, it doesn’t matter how you’ve felt about the films of 2012, the editing of this filmography reel (by @genrocks on Twitter) is superb. It makes this editor just a little jealous.

I don’t know much about who this is, but well worth the watch.

Aside from the broad strokes (i.e. lots of ‘splosions) we still don’t really know what’s going to happen in Into Darkness. It might be Wrath of Khan? It might be a sequel to “Where No Man Has Gone Before” or a prequel to “Space Seed”? We don’t know.

Except… I think we do.

First off, Into Darkness is not going to be Wrath of Khan, but it’s going to borrow heavily from the conflicts and themes that inform it. The crew of the Enterprise is going to find itself up against an embodiment of genetic perfection as played by Benedict Cumberbatch. We see him smack enough people around in the…