It was announced that next week CBS will be running a special on the American Film Institute's top 10 movies of 10 different genres. They haven't yet revealed what movies made the cut (you'll have to tune in to see, apparently), but their website does have a list of the 500 nominees.

I've sifted through them (so you don't have to!) and was surprised by more than a few of the noms, particularly since some of the criteria jurors were asked to consider are "Critical Recognition," "Cultural Impact" and "Major Award Winner." All that and they have to be American productions! When the one hundred picks come out on the 17th, we'll see what they give us, but in the meantime, I've gone through the nominees and called out a few that had me doing a double take. These were up for the best of the best!?

Another old TV show-turned feature length movie has managed to find a way out of development hell--at least for the moment. Try to contain your excitement. After languishing for years as an in-development project and on the heels of not-great Bewitched and The Dukes of Hazzard, I Dream of Jeannie has a new writer, energized producers and is back in active development. The producers are so energized in fact, that it's hard not to get a little excited for them.

I really should have looked into studying merchandising when I went to college. It seems to be one of those fields in which scores of people throw their ideas against a wall and every single thing sticks. And the company out there with the most crap stuck to their walls? Disney. I don't think they turn anyone's idea down. A plush chair in the shape of Ratatouille's Anton Ego? Sure, kids! Have a seat in the scary guy's lap. I think I even remember an Aladdin candy dispenser in the shape of a lamp that you had to actually rub in order to get the goods. Walking through the hallways of their merchandising/licensing department is probably like running the gauntlet through a cafeteria food fight, only instead of getting beaned by half-eaten tuna sandwiches and little cartons of milk, you're dodging stuffed Monsters Inc. plush dolls and 101 Dalmatians lunch boxes.

At the Licensing Expo in New York this weekend, MGM unveiled a teaser poster for the upcoming Robocop remake. Aside from the fact that Robocop will apparently be played by the X-Men's Cyclops, no details have been released, except that it's due out in 2010 and can never, ever be as good as the original. Seriously, why even try? The only good thing about this is that they can get rid of the terrible Nancy Allen, and use a CGI ED-209 instead of the stop-motion animation they used in the original. Oh, and they can totally get Kurtwood Smith to come back and play Clarence Boddicker again.

Meanwhile, in the category of "Movies that Could Actually be Improved the Second Time Around," Robocop will be joined by a remake of 1980s Commie invasion flick Red Dawn, which starred a young Patrick Swayze, according to this article in last month's Hollywood Reporter. Maybe if Swayze's health continues to improve, he can play the imprisoned dad in the remake. I want to see him in a concentration camp, yelling at the top of his lungs, "AVENGE ME!"

Those die-hard chick-flick fans sure to flock to whatever new film is starring Katherine Heigl may want to read a few reviews before they head to the theater. Variety announced today that Heigl is set to produce and star in a film adaptation of Escape, the best-selling memoir of Carolyn Jessop, a woman who helped send polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs to prison. The story of Escape follows the life of Jessop, who at 18 was forced to marry a man 32 years her senior and at age 35 fled the sect with their eight children. Not exactly your usual story about a zany but successful young woman who just can't find the right guy. [Ed's note: And even more of a gamble on Heigl's part in light of the fact that she herself is a non-practicing Mormon -- Lauren]

If you thought being James Bond was dangerous, you should try playing him on screen. Yet another accident has been reported from the set of Quantum of Solace, with reports that Daniel Craig was injured when the tip of one of his fingers was cut off during an action sequence.

The excellent comic book review and discussion web site iFanboy recently released a vlog interview with Marvel comics Godfather and mascot Stan Lee. One of the questions asked of Lee, creator of such heroes as Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four, was what one creation of his, and long-time partner Jack Kirby, surprised even him with its level of success? His answer begrudgingly was The Hulk.

IESB has uncovered a plot by Millenium Films to make a new Three Musketeers movie. The film will reportedly be an origins story, focusing on the Musketeers' early lives and how they all got together, which means that D'Artagnan, the fourth musketeer, may not be included until the inevitable sequel. This news both makes my day and breaks my heart.

Seth "Sexy Man Boobs" Rogen is set to star in a brand new big-screen comedy about -- what else? -- the apocalypse. Rogen will re-team with his Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg, and will co-star with fellow Apatow favorite Jay Baruchel in Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse, due to begin filming next year. Dick jokes with a biblical slant? I saw that movie already. It was called Dogma and it sucked holy balls. Oy, even the movie's title seems like a reference the Kevin Smith cannon, which might've been OK in 1994 but nowadays is shorthand for moronic, tossed off comedy dreck. Also, the script is based on a short film that Rogen shot last year, and we all know how awesome mini trailers stretched out to full feature length tend to be. Every single SNL cast member has staked a movie career on this formula and zero of them have won an Oscar so far. Then again, Rogen and his manchild co-horts have proven their ability to elevate that special breed of sophomoric humor to a higher level. So who the hell knows? I've been wrong before. Once. Back in 1973.

Dear Sir. You must really like to work. You've been in 17 films in the last five years, and you seems to take the good roles as readily as the bad ones. They don't all have to be Gandhi, Sir Ben, but think about what you're doing! Suspect Zero and You Kill Me weren't bad. Bloodrayne and Thunderbirds weren't good. We assume you made The Love Guru to be in a blockbuster and The Wackness to make out with an Olsen twin, but The Prince of Persia? Really?