Producers revealed the title of the new Bond movie today, and I doubt it will win much praise from nerds. The title, “Quantum of Solace,” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. It sounds like a sci-fi novel by a seventh grader with an overextended vocabulary. (The name actually comes from an Ian Fleming short story.)

The movie centers on Bond’s revenge mission after his betrayal in “Casino Royale.” So the title kinda make sense, essentially meaning ‘The Amount of Energy Required to Seek Comfort.’

They might as well just called it “A Kill For Revenge.”

I was looking around Rotten Tomatoes Thursday night, and I happened to click on the review page for “Rambo.” Now, normally when a movie hasn’t received at least 5 reviews, it’s rated “N/A” until enough reviews come in to properly gauge its freshness. But for some reason, Rambo’s already at -1%, and it hasn’t even been reviewed yet! Negative percentage! Is Rotten Tomatoes trying to sabotage John Rambo??

Although, if he’s negatively rotten, doesn’t that technically make him fresh? Is this a sly (hi there pun) reference to a franchise that has been dead so long, it’s finally fresh again?

Or does it possibly have something to do with that word “Beta” at the top of the page?

I was looking around Rotten Tomatoes Thursday night, and I happened to click on the review page for “Rambo.” Now, normally when a movie hasn’t received at least 5 reviews, it’s rated “N/A” until enough reviews come in to properly gauge its freshness. But for some reason, Rambo’s already at -1%, and it hasn’t even been reviewed yet! Negative percentage! Is Rotten Tomatoes trying to sabotage John Rambo??

Although, if he’s negatively rotten, doesn’t that technically make him fresh? Is this a sly (hi there pun) reference to a franchise that has been dead so long, it’s finally fresh again?

Or does it possibly have something to do with that word “Beta” at the top of the page?

In true nerd fashion, I received a text message from a friend of mine a few days ago that said “check out spidey controversy peterandMJ done.” I had to follow up on this cryptic, and clearly distress-driven message. I mean, he couldn’t even bring himself to separate peterandmj with spaces, indicating his desire for them to remain together (Or maybe it’s just hard to text while you’re driving). The bottom line is this: Peter Parker and Mary Jane are no longer, at least in the comic book world. Let’s discuss!

Spidey’s main book, “The Amazing Spider-Man” started a new arc titled “Brand New Day” which comes out three times a month (Three times?? That requires dedication, even from a nerd). In it, Aunt May is on her death bed, but Peter and Mary Jane are visited by Mephisto, a dude who wears a cape but no shirt underneath. A superhero who can’t properly dress himself clearly has priority issues, so he makes a bizarre offer to save Aunt May in exchange for Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage vows. Oh, and he also made everyone in the world forget that Peter Parker revealed himself as Spider-Man. So we’re basically looking at pre-1987 Spider-Man (before he married MJ).

Every year, it seems like two or three big events occur to shake up the comic world. Last year it was Civil War, which revealed Peter Parker’s identity to the world. Marvel said this would open up Spider-Man to an entirely new batch of stories, but they must have run out of those pretty quickly if they’re already resorting to another major change in his life. These types of events are good press for comics, as they always get national coverage. Everyone knows Captain America died last year. But ultimately, these attention-grabbing storylines run out of steam because the writers don’t plan far enough ahead. That makes it hard to invest in this new twist, because fans have been burned before. I bought Civil War and all the Amazing Spider-Man issues that coincided with it, and now I feel like I wasted my time because that entire story is erased.

I could demonstrate another level of nerdiness by continuing, but I don’t want to bore the casual readers out there. Just know that Peter Parker and MJ have split up, and they’ll probably be back together in a year.

In true nerd fashion, I received a text message from a friend of mine a few days ago that said “check out spidey controversy peterandMJ done.” I had to follow up on this cryptic, and clearly distress-driven message. I mean, he couldn’t even bring himself to separate peterandmj with spaces, indicating his desire for them to remain together (Or maybe it’s just hard to text while you’re driving). The bottom line is this: Peter Parker and Mary Jane are no longer, at least in the comic book world. Let’s discuss!

Spidey’s main book, “The Amazing Spider-Man” started a new arc titled “Brand New Day” which comes out three times a month (Three times?? That requires dedication, even from a nerd). In it, Aunt May is on her death bed, but Peter and Mary Jane are visited by Mephisto, a dude who wears a cape but no shirt underneath. A superhero who can’t properly dress himself clearly has priority issues, so he makes a bizarre offer to save Aunt May in exchange for Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage vows. Oh, and he also made everyone in the world forget that Peter Parker revealed himself as Spider-Man. So we’re basically looking at pre-1987 Spider-Man (before he married MJ).

Every year, it seems like two or three big events occur to shake up the comic world. Last year it was Civil War, which revealed Peter Parker’s identity to the world. Marvel said this would open up Spider-Man to an entirely new batch of stories, but they must have run out of those pretty quickly if they’re already resorting to another major change in his life. These types of events are good press for comics, as they always get national coverage. Everyone knows Captain America died last year. But ultimately, these attention-grabbing storylines run out of steam because the writers don’t plan far enough ahead. That makes it hard to invest in this new twist, because fans have been burned before. I bought Civil War and all the Amazing Spider-Man issues that coincided with it, and now I feel like I wasted my time because that entire story is erased.

I could demonstrate another level of nerdiness by continuing, but I don’t want to bore the casual readers out there. Just know that Peter Parker and MJ have split up, and they’ll probably be back together in a year.

This is some shocking and sad news. Heath Ledger, 28, was found dead today in his apartment. Authorities are saying it’s possibly drug-related.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told The Associated Press that Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the Manhattan apartment that is believed to be his home. The housekeeper who went to let Ledger know the masseuse was there, and found him dead at 3:26 p.m, Browne said.

Heath Ledger plays The Joker in the upcoming “The Dark Knight.” While filming is complete, I’m instantly reminded of “The Crow,” when Brandon Lee died during the shoot, but his performance was salvaged and became a true testament to his talents and potential. He will live forever in that film. Let’s hope the same tribute can be put forth for Ledger, someone who died wayyyy too young.

Here’s the latest “Dark Knight” trailer, which previews Ledger’s unique, and sure to be legendary, performance as The Joker.

Hey everyone, it’s Oscar Nomination Tuesday! Pretty exciting list here, and I find it surprising that Juno received so many nominations for being, essentially, a comedy (4 nominations in major categories). “No Country For Old Men” received 8 nominations, “There Will Be Blood” got 8, “Michael Clayton” and “Atonement” each received 7.

Here’s a rundown of the nominees in the major categories.

Best Actor

George Clooney – Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones – In The Valley Of Elah
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises

I would be surprised if anyone but Day-Lewis won.

Best Supporting Actor

Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War
Hal Holbrook – Into The Wild
Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton

When you look at this list, Javier Bardem’s name clearly stands out.

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie – Away From Her
Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose
Laura Linney – The Savages
Ellen Page – Juno

Cate Blanchett? Elizabeth: The Golden Age?? That seems like a silly choice. I think that was an action movie, and also, no one cared about it.

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There
Rudy Dee – American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan – Atonement
Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton

Best Animated Feature

Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf’s Up

Ever since this category was created, they’ve needed to fill it out with movies that don’t deserve Oscars. Surf’s Up is this year’s Happy Feet, except this time, the penguins will not win!

Cinematography

The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Atonement
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
Jason Reitman – Juno
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Joel & Ethan Coen – No Country For Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood

Jason Reitman, best director! I love it! It’ll probably go to the Coen’s, but I love that Jason Reitman was nominated!

Best Music – Original Song

Once
August Rush
Three songs from Enchanted

What, no Into The Wild soundtrack?? I’ll agree that Once had amazing music, but THREE songs from Enchanted?

Best Documentary Feature

La Vie En Rose
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

The only reason I included Best Makeup is because now Norbit can call itself an “Oscar-Nominated Film.” I’m pretty sure Armageddon is upon us.

Best Picture

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Great list of movies here, although I’ve yet to see Atonement or Michael Clayton. And everyone be thankful THIS wasn’t the category Norbit was nominated in.

Adapted Screenplay

Juno
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
The Savages

There you go! In 33 days, we’ll be enjoying a writer-less ceremony that announces the winners. No more cheesy banter! So, who should win what??

For some people, Tuesday is just “one day closer to the weekend.” But for me, Tuesday means new DVDs!! This is especially exciting since my grandma gave me a $50 Best Buy gift card for Christmas, and I’ve yet to put it to use. So every Tuesday, I search for something to spend my hard-earned gift card on. (Hard-earned = spending quality time with Grandma. Did you know there are bowling leagues called “9 pin no-tap” where you only need to knock down 9 pins for a strike? Grandma rolls 300 often!)

Here’s a list of what’s coming out on DVD Tuesday, and if you should care.

I did see Saw IV in the theaters, because a) I’m a horror junkie and b) I like contraptions. It’s a step up from Saw III story-wise, but the traps lack the sheer craziness of, say, being drowned in pig guts. This one focuses on Jigsaw before he was Jigsaw, but also continues the current story of Life After Jigsaw. Sort of a prequel within a sequel. One of Saw’s trademarks is to wrap each movie in a surprise ending, and this is no different. They love to play with the timeline of events, but sometimes this leaves casual viewers in the dark. The filmmakers truly expect you to remember minor characters from movies past, and I think people who see these movies only care about the traps and a twist ending that’s confuses them into thinking it’s brilliant.

I’ve always felt the Saw series had an awesome premise, but rarely capitalized on its potential, instead relying on gore and surprises. The latest one takes a detour by showing us the killer’s descent into madness. It’s a nice change of pace, but it goes a little over the top in trying to deliver that surprise ending everyone expects. By the way, if you go into a movie expecting a surprise ending, doesn’t that defeat the purpose?

Basically, if you’re a fan of the Saw movies, you owe it to yourself to see it. If you’re coming in fresh, you’re better off starting at the beginning.

VERDICT: RENTAL!

Damn you, Vin Diesel. You had to go make the Pacifier and pave the way for The Game Plan. Now, I’ve loved The Rock since his days in WWF when he was still calling himself Rocky Maivia. (and the WWF was still calling itself the WWF) But even I’ve got to draw the line. The Game Plan stars The Rock as a football star who somehow finds out he has a kid. Much ham is served up, and attempts at hilarity ensue. Nerds are clearly not the demographic for this movie, but sadly, there’s nothing I can do to break the cycle of “Action Star Makes Kids Movie.” The Game Plan made almost 90 million dollars. It’s The Rock’s second highest grossing movie (Mummy Returns doesn’t count).

VERDICT: DON’T DO IT! (Unless you’re 8 years old)

Did anyone else notice that Terrence Howard was in every single movie last year? Okay, maybe not every one, but at least 7. This is one of them, but it also stars Richard Gere and looks decent. It’s about a reporter and his cameraman who travel to Bosnia in search of a war criminal. It’s from the director of The Matador with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, and while I enjoyed that movie, I wasn’t compelled to recommend it to a lot of people. I haven’t seen Hunting Party, but I’m getting the same feeling as The Matador, which means this is the type of movie I’ll watch when it comes on HBO.

VERDICT: WAIT FOR HBO

And really, that’s all for this week. Not a very good DVD day, but they can’t all be winners.

For some people, Tuesday is just “one day closer to the weekend.” But for me, Tuesday means new DVDs!! This is especially exciting since my grandma gave me a $50 Best Buy gift card for Christmas, and I’ve yet to put it to use. So every Tuesday, I search for something to spend my hard-earned gift card on. (Hard-earned = spending quality time with Grandma. Did you know there are bowling leagues called “9 pin no-tap” where you only need to knock down 9 pins for a strike? Grandma rolls 300 often!)

Here’s a list of what’s coming out on DVD Tuesday, and if you should care.

I did see Saw IV in the theaters, because a) I’m a horror junkie and b) I like contraptions. It’s a step up from Saw III story-wise, but the traps lack the sheer craziness of, say, being drowned in pig guts. This one focuses on Jigsaw before he was Jigsaw, but also continues the current story of Life After Jigsaw. Sort of a prequel within a sequel. One of Saw’s trademarks is to wrap each movie in a surprise ending, and this is no different. They love to play with the timeline of events, but sometimes this leaves casual viewers in the dark. The filmmakers truly expect you to remember minor characters from movies past, and I think people who see these movies only care about the traps and a twist ending that’s confuses them into thinking it’s brilliant.

I’ve always felt the Saw series had an awesome premise, but rarely capitalized on its potential, instead relying on gore and surprises. The latest one takes a detour by showing us the killer’s descent into madness. It’s a nice change of pace, but it goes a little over the top in trying to deliver that surprise ending everyone expects. By the way, if you go into a movie expecting a surprise ending, doesn’t that defeat the purpose?

Basically, if you’re a fan of the Saw movies, you owe it to yourself to see it. If you’re coming in fresh, you’re better off starting at the beginning.

VERDICT: RENTAL!

Damn you, Vin Diesel. You had to go make the Pacifier and pave the way for The Game Plan. Now, I’ve loved The Rock since his days in WWF when he was still calling himself Rocky Maivia. (and the WWF was still calling itself the WWF) But even I’ve got to draw the line. The Game Plan stars The Rock as a football star who somehow finds out he has a kid. Much ham is served up, and attempts at hilarity ensue. Nerds are clearly not the demographic for this movie, but sadly, there’s nothing I can do to break the cycle of “Action Star Makes Kids Movie.” The Game Plan made almost 90 million dollars. It’s The Rock’s second highest grossing movie (Mummy Returns doesn’t count).

VERDICT: DON’T DO IT! (Unless you’re 8 years old)

Did anyone else notice that Terrence Howard was in every single movie last year? Okay, maybe not every one, but at least 7. This is one of them, but it also stars Richard Gere and looks decent. It’s about a reporter and his cameraman who travel to Bosnia in search of a war criminal. It’s from the director of The Matador with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, and while I enjoyed that movie, I wasn’t compelled to recommend it to a lot of people. I haven’t seen Hunting Party, but I’m getting the same feeling as The Matador, which means this is the type of movie I’ll watch when it comes on HBO.

VERDICT: WAIT FOR HBO

And really, that’s all for this week. Not a very good DVD day, but they can’t all be winners.

So last night, I was sitting around watching TV (actually, I had popped in T2 to refresh my memory and prepare for Monday’s new Sarah Connor Chronicles) when I get a call from my brother. He sounded confused and beat down. He was calling with a warning. “Don’t go see Cloverfield if you just had Mexican Food and Margaritas, then have to sit in the front row of the theater.” Turns out, he got motion sickness and was now curled up on the bathroom floor, fighting a battle bigger than the Cloverfield beast.

Moments later, my other brother called from the same house with the same warning. Clearly they found a recipe for disaster.

Before my brothers hung up, both uttered this prophetic word of advice: Dramamine!