TJ welcomes Chad back from a week of being away, and they discuss changes to the show’s format, keeping it interesting and engaging, and how to be candid with the listenership. That aside, they talk for a few minutes about the tragic death of Tom Clancy. Several of his books have made great films over the years, and there’s one in production now. He will be missed. Then, obviously, they have to spend a few minutes talking about ‘Agents of SHIELD’ because that’s the big new hotness in TV shows right now. And they also discuss a highly recommended video that’s been making the rounds about how to make ‘Star Wars’ great again. TJ and Chad agree with every point. And the topic of primary interest this week is the film ‘Rush’ directed by Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl.

Last year, I traveled to London to visit the set of the Marvel sequel Thor 2: The Dark World. The photo above is me holding Mjölnir, Thor’s iconic hammer – it’s actually heavier than it looks — in the massive weapon room of the film’s production offices. After the jump you can read about the many things that I learned while on set, and watch a video blog reaction I recorded after the visit. Later this week we’ll be publishing some of the interviews we conducted on set with the talent and crew, so be on the look out for them as well.

I had a lot of fun reading this and I highly recommend it…

Clancy penned such hits that made it to the big screen as The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears, along with many other books that have not yet made it to the big screen, and some that are coming up. In fact when you think of a military thriller book, Clancy is the first name on everyone’s tongues.

There are very few details at this point in time, but we do know that he died in a hospital in Baltimore last night. He was 66 years old. But the details aren’t important. Clancy will be missed. His work will of course live on. In fact, a fifth…

A few weeks ago came the rumors that Atonement and Hanna star Saoirse Ronan had auditioned for a role in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII. The actress has now confirmed to Sky News that she has auditioned for a part in the film but also made the comment, “so has everyone.” Ronan wouldn’t mention anymore about the film though, saying the bosses would “chop off her head with a light-sabre.”

 Well, that’s that rumor confirmed then. Whether she’ll get a part in the film, or what part she read for is still anyone’s guess at this point.

A few years back, it seemed like audiences might get a new Chronicles of Narnia movie ever few years. 2005 brought The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, which grossed almost $300 million domestic, but when Prince Caspian was released in 2008, that box-office take was cut nearly in half. It got to a point where, if you polled 100 people on the street, I doubt 10 of them would even know The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was released in 2010. It only grossed $100 million domestic.

Yet all three films have been much bigger successes overseas. So, after a few years of uncertainty, it seems…

The practice of releasing unrated extended versions of comedies and action film goes back years. But Fox has never taken that step with an X-Men film, until now.

The Wolverine, from director James Mangold and starring Hugh Jackman, hits disc formats on December 3, and Fox is giving fans an incentive to buy the tricked-out 4-disc blu-ray by featuring an extended, unrated cut of the film, only on that release. There are a bunch of good extras on that four-disc set beyond the new cut (including a commentary from Mangold).

 THe question is, unrated because the rating would be pushed from…

After making a movie centered on Maleficent, the villainess from Sleeping Beauty, Disney is setting its sights on another bad lady: Cruella de Vil.

Aline Brosh McKenna has been hired to pen Cruella, which will bring the dog-fur-loving fashionista from 101 Dalmatians into a live-action feature to be produced by Andrew Gunn, who produced Sky High and Bedtime Stories for the studio. McKenna will also produce.

NO. Just no. No, no, no, no, no. Do not want. 

But where do all these films fall on the timeline? Iron Man 3 takes places six months after The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World is rumored to take place about year after and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is likely somewhere in between (Extremis baddies, anyone?). That leaves The Winter Soldier and, according to co-star Scarlett Johansson, the film takes place two years after The Avengers, suggesting much more will have change after Iron Man 3 and Thor 2.

Johansson said the following in an interview:

This film is in real time. It’s been two years since [the characters] appeared, and now both are…

As we begin to see light at the end of the deep, dark tunnel of the end of summer, one of the films I’m looking forward to most in the immediate future is Captain Phillips. It sure looks like a breathtakingly good true story drama. And, you know, TOM HANKS LOOKS FANTASTIC. It looks like the type of film that has just the right mixture of drama, action, and suspense to make a great thriller. Count me in.

The film comes to theaters in just 9 days, on October 11^th.