Holy crap.  I'm leaving town in the middle of the night tonight.  I'm so totally not ready for that.  Holy crap.  Holy crap.

Okay.  Can't spend forever on the Morning Read today.  I'm gonna read like I'm being chased.  Quick!

The conversation Glenn Kenny recounts here is the reason I never underestimate what a film audience does or doesn't know.

Hey, do you like free stuff?  Oh, that's so weird.  I totally like free stuff.  Like, you know what would be great?  A free Wii.  Even saying "free Wii" is fun.  Actually owning a free Wii would be redonkulous.  And since we're a relatively new site, and contests are still relatively new for us, your odds are slightly better than if you try to win something on, oh, say, AOL.  You actually want to win the prize in a contest for once?  You want a real chance at it?  Just tell yourself, "There's a free Wii just for me," and enter our "Knowing" contest.  I have a psychic vision of you winning some free stuff right now.

"Are you the only one of your friends without a Wii? HitFix wants to give you a chance to win a Wii console player, a Flip digital camera or an iTunes gift card. Show us your entertainment know how and enter the Knowing movie contest today."

And speaking of Proyas... tell us what you really think about 20th Century Fox, sir.

[more after the jump]

I don't normally link to "Daily Show" stuff.  There's a ton of it, and you either watch the show or not by choice.  But I wanted to share this particular clip because I think it's a really amazing piece about the way media conglomerates can go on the attack and send a particular message.  It''s important to remember that the lie of an impartial media is just that... a lie.  News networks are mouthpiece outfits, and the real value of something like "The Daily Show" is reminding us that it's all such slippery horseshit that you can't even begin to take it seriously.  Watch this piece.  It's the best thing I've seen Stewart do in ages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See what I mean?  I would love to have heard the conversations that led to those Cramer appearances being booked.  How mad do you think he was behind the scenes?  You know what's going to be truly amazing?  Cramer's on "The Daily Show" on Thursday.

Here's an incredible bit of real-life treasure hunting.

Juan Antonio Bayona's got a huge fan in the form of Guillermo Del Toro, and if they end up making "Hater," a project they're developing together, it could be incredibly effective and upsetting.  The David Moody novel it's based on is a weird little winner.  I'm far less interested in the prospect of him directing the third "Twilight" film.

There's been speculation about possible directors for this, including Paul Weitz, brother to Chris Weitz, who is directing the second one, and Drew Barrymore.  I'd rather not see someone with a distinct and individual voice, someone who's got an interest in strong original material, end up hitched to this particular franchise.  I'm sure "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" will find a director soon enough... I just hope it's not Bayona.

Hey, why does this "Moriarty" guy keep writing about his time in London on the set of "Sherlock Holmes"?

Ummm... what the hell is up with the list of Saturn nominees?  Are you guys insane?

Look, I get it.  Film fans are a funny bunch.  You can find people willing to defend almost any film.  And I love it when someone gets up a righteous head of steam in nerdland.  I also love it when people come at a movie from a totally different direction, bringing up a whole new way of talking about a particular film, like the science of "Watchmen." 

I know it makes me a nerd, but I still feel compelled to share this with you.

Am I the only one who doesn't care at all if Arnold Schwarzenegger is or isn't in "Terminator: Salvation"?  If the quality of the film comes down to whether or not his head is digitally slapped onto a young stuntman's body for a few seconds, then it's got big problems.  At most, this'll be an Easter Egg, a quick throwaway bit of fan service.  At most.  Same thing with the Linda Hamilton voice-over.  I don't need all that stuff.  If this film's going to work, I'm more worried about Sam Worthington and Moon Bloodgood and Anton Yelchin.  I'd better buy into Christian Bale and Bryce Howard.  I don't give a shit about a special-effects cameo.  It's a demo reel.  Yippee.  Get over it.

And by the way, if you're still wondering why you might want a Free Wii, allow me to share with you this trailer, also found today on Kotaku:

 

 

Okay, that's kind of amazing.  I'm not much for the Charlie Brown/Fisher Price characters sports games on the Wii, but something like this?  That looks like ridiculous fun.

And my final bit of embedded video for today is the new trailer for Sam Raimi's "Drag Me To Hell," which I'll be seeing at SXSW this coming week.  And after seeing this trailer... I can't wait.

 

 

Next time I put together a Morning Read for you guys, I'll be in Austin, and I'll most likely already have seen at least one movie.  So we'll talk soon.

The Morning Read appears here every day, Monday through Friday.  Except when it doesn't.

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