Lordy! This Watchmen mess between Fox and Warner Brothers just goes on and on, doesn't it? Back in September, it looked like everyone had been placated when Fox said they didn't want to tank the project and got Adam West's Batman in return. But no, the mess continued and Judge Gary Feess decided Fox does, indeed, have the right to distribute Warner Brothers' Watchmen. Now the latest scuffle has the producers and Feess trading letters and barbs on the Internet and beyond. I can't help but think this would be so much quicker (not to mention more amusing to watch) if everyone just got into the ring and took turns slapping the crap out of each other. Last person standing wins!

Having just enjoyed the Blu-ray version of Iron Man while off on my holiday vacation (I don't have a pretty HDTV or surround-sound system of my own, so I take advantage of other people's whenever possible), my eyes are pretty sharply tuned for any news about the film's sequel. And back home not more than three days (with my 27" 1999 bulbous Panasonic and two dusty Sony speakers that I can't turn up because I live in an apartment) what should I spy, but not only Iron Man 2 news, but Iron Man 2 villain casting news! It turns out that both Mickey Rourke -- fresh off of yesterday's The Expendables casting session -- and Sam Rockwell are in talks to join the film.

Apparently, Cinema Paradiso got it all wrong: Being a film projectionist is not a magical, life-changing experience. It's scary as hell. At least that's what comic book company Studio 407's new project, The Night Projectionist, wants us to think.

Call it "How the Grinch Stole Watchmen." After initially deciding that it would be impossible for him to make a ruling, Judge Gary Allen Feess (not a typo) has changed his mind and decided -- on Christmas Eve -- that Fox does have the right to distribute Warner Bros'. Watchmen movie. What the...? I'm willing to bet someone on the Warner Bros. legal team made fun of his name. Well, now Warner Bros. is going to have to pay out the nose to get it released, or actually give Fox the distribution rights, assuming Fox even wants either of those things.

Stephen Norrington has signed on to write and direct a "reinvention" of the James O'Barr comic, The Crow. Most remember the 1994 movie starring Brandon Lee as the resurrected dark hero who avenges his and his fiancee's murders. (Tragically, Lee was killed during filming.) Others are still trying to forget the three sequels that plagued their screens like the cinematic equivalent of bird flu. What would possess Norrington to tackle a movie that needs a reimagining like a crow needs a second cloaca? He says he wants to make the story "realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style." This will differ, he says, from the first movie's stylized, gothic tone.

Lee Falk's comic strip about a seemingly immortal jungle hero and foe of pirates got an entertaining serial in the 1940s. In 1996, Billy Zane put on a purple body suit for his turn as Kit "The Phantom" Walker. (Did that movie really only come out in 1996? Doesn't it seem like it came out in like 1988 or something?) Now the story is getting a reboot from scriptwriter Tim Boyle, whose credits up till now include movies you've likely never seen. Do The Plex and Fink! ring a bell for you? No? Yeah, same here. An Australian production company has secured the rights for Falk's tale, and expects the budget to be $87 million. Ironically, they will have to become pirates to get the money.

As someone who occasionally has big, bushy muttonchop sideburns, people may think I'm a bit biased towards Wolverine. But while I've read X-Men comic books since junior high, it wasn't until Hugh Jackman played him that I really took to the guy. Jackman gave him a humanity and vulnerability that I could never really see in the comics, which is why I'm psyched that they finally got around to making a solo Wolverine flick, even if it has the clunky title X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The first trailer debuted this past weekend in front of The Day the Earth Stood Still, and while it has less Sabretooth than the earlier San Diego Comic-Con footage did, it still looks awesome. These are the five things I liked most about it, and the five things I liked the least.

My mom always tells the story of when she was a kid and had to walk home from the theater after seeing Hitchcock's The Birds. She grew up on a small town on the shores of Lake Michigan, and she had to cross a bridge that always had seagulls on or around it in order to get to her house. My mother is a strong woman, but I think that scarred her for life, and me in turn. I know it can be said for a lot of people, but Jaws screwed me up. Even pools freaked me out as a kid. The only thing that tempered me and has allowed me to function as a normal, swimming adult has been Shark Week. Seriously, I mean, you learn about what you're afraid of and it helps calm the fear. Unfortunately, there's probably not going to be a Discovery Channel show that is going to help calm the nerves of those few folks that are bound to be freaked out by the deep in the upcoming screen adaptation of comic Atlantis Rising.

The end of the week brings you updates on your favorite (and maybe not-so-favorite) superheroes and what they're up to these days. First up to bat, so to speak, is The Dark Knight. Word just came down from Warner Brothers that the megahit will be re-released in theaters and IMAX on January 23. So if you're one of the handful of Amish people who didn't see it, or you just wanted to watch it for the second or twenty-second time on the big screen, this will be your chance. This will allow The Dark Knight to gain entry into the very exclusive billion-dollar club where the only other members are Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. That ought to make Batman happy. Relatively speaking, of course. Not coincidentally, the re-release happens the day after the Academy Awards nominations are announced.

For months, there was virtual silence about J.J. Abram's new take on Star Trek. Details of the plot and images of the cast were kept tightly under wraps. Now, some six months before the movie bows in May 2009, you can hardly go a day without stumbling across some new Trek tidbit. Whether it's a new trailer featuring Leonard Nimoy or a new movie poster, news is coming fast and furious. Just yesterday, IDW Publishing announced it would be publishing a four-issue prequel comic book miniseries leading up to the new movie. As if that's not enough grist for the fannish mill, there are also new still shots from the scene in the trailer where young Kirk comes face to face with... Well, it's kind of hard to explain. Click on through only if you want to get a gander at what happens.