'Potter,' 'Avatar' or 'Star Trek': What fanboy film might get a best picture nod?

"The Dark Knight" might not have beaten "Slumdog Millionaire" in last year's Oscar race, but it would've been interesting to see it given a chance.  And "Iron Man" versus "Doubt?"  Many would've chosen the Golden Avenger.  Now we will get to see these types of matchups since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has expanded the best picture field to 10.

Of course, even with the expansion, some movies will still never have a chance in this category ("Watchmen," probably way too polarizing), and aside from a couple of crowd- and critic-pleasers, many may not have the quality to compete. But as this news gently wafts over the awards world, we wonder how it can/will benefit the fanboy community.

-- Jevon Phillips

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'Toy Story 3' teaser trailer makes you smile

I can't wait to see "Up" if it's as good as the reviews. And, really, I have no doubt that it will be.

It's pretty amazing what Pixar has been able to accomplish with a run of extraordinary films, best among them "The Incredibles," "Finding Nemo" and "WALL-E." I also absolutely adore "Toy Story" and its superior sequel "Toy Story 2," which has one of the most evocative uses of music in a scene in any film ever with Sarah McLachlan's forlorn "When She Loved Me." There are very few film franchises that can carry their energy into a quality third film (the third editions of "X-Men," "Spider-Man" and "The Matrix" were hollow exercises, for instance) but here's guessing that "Toy Story 3" will be just as good as we expect. Here's the just-released teaser trailer...

 

--Geoff Boucher

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