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Patrick's 10 biggest movie disappointments of 2012

2012 is over and as is the custom for many of us, we look back and judge how the past 12 months fit into our lives. As the proprietor of a movie website, perhaps it's my job to step up and count the losses publically with you, to offer my opinion (for whatever it's worth) about how the year in film stacked up in my expectations.

I see many other sites and movie writers present their top 10 lists of movies. Myself, I'm not deluded enough to believe that I've seen enough movies to make an informed judgment about what movies are "the best". Maybe, one year when I've watched more than 40 or 50, I can offer my list of such.

The Hobbit wins a three-peat at the top of the box office

Even with its so-so reviews and a nearly three-hour running time, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is turning out to be a sizeable hit for New Line Cinema and director Peter Jackson. For the third weekend in a row the first Hobbit movie has captured the number one spot at the box office, this time grossing an estimated $32.9 million dollars. That brings the film's 13 day domestic total up to $222.7 million dollars. Factor in another $464 mil from The Hobbit's international venues and the combined box office total -- so far -- now stands at $686 million bucks.

Leonardo DiCaprio really bled for his Django Unchained part

Now that Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained is out in theaters, people are commenting on a scene in the film where Leonardo DiCaprio shed his real blood for the role of slave plantation owner Calvin Candie.

From here on out, beware of minor spoilers for Django Unchained. Don't worry, it won't be much.

There's a scene where DiCaprio's Candie is confronting Django (Jamie Foxx) and Dr. Shultz (Christoph Waltz), the two bounty hunters that are masquerading as prospective buyers for Candie's services. Candie learns of the deception and goes into a hate-filled tirade against the two inposters. During the scene, DiCaprio slams his hand down on the dining table.

Speculation: Is this the villain's motive in Star Trek Into Darkness?

Whether you like the idea behind J.J. Abrams' "mystery box" concept to marketing his movies or not, one thing's for certain: he wants to keep the spoilers a secret until opening day. I learned this firsthand when, four years ago, I broke exclusive news about Abrams' Star Trek reboot. I was the first to publish the details on several key moments in 2009's Star Trek movie, including Kirk's test of the Kobiashi Maru test simulation, a catastrophic attack on Starfleet and young Spock meeting old Spock. I also had other more sensitive details about the movie's story up my sleeve, waiting for publication.

Trailer #3: G.I. Joe Retaliation

It's that time of December when it's trailer madness! In the past few days we've seen new trailers for several big movies coming out next year like Pacific Rim, The Lone Ranger, Star Trek Into Darkness, After Earth, Man of Steel, Oblivion and World War Z. Now you can one more to that list: G.I. Joe Retaliation.

Trailer: Pacific Rim

Get ready to watch some giant robot on giant monster action. The first trailer for Pacific Rim is here.

Launching into theaters in the summer of '13, the logline for Guillermo del Toro's next movie comes across like a fanboy's wet dream: a big budget, CG-filled spectacle where multiple different giant robots (called "Jaegers" in the film) battle to protect humanity from the mindless attacks of giant monsters (called "kaiju"). Sure, when you think about it logically it makes no sense for the armies of the world to spend billions of dollars building giant robots armed with missiles, guns and rocket-powered punching fists, but in Hollywood logic it makes perfect sense.

Trailer #2: Man of Steel

The second trailer for the new Superman movie coming out in 2013, Man of Steel, has arrived.

Thematically it's not that different from the first trailer we saw back in July. The feelings are the same: Clark expressing his doubt about his identity, Clark's father trying to offer advice to his adopted son, a grown Clark trying to find his role in the world. The images are different in the new trailer but they seem to be from the same scenes we witnessed in trailer #1.

All that said, this is an awesome trailer.

Star Trek Into Darkness secrets revealed

Some of the mysteries are being revealed about the characters we'll see in Star Trek Into Darkness. But, as is usually the case with a J.J. Abrams production, new questions are emerging.

It began late last night when a select group of online sites were invited to watch an early sneak preview of the 9-minute teaser footage from Star Trek Into Darkness that will play in front of The Hobbit in IMAX showings.

UPDATED: Teaser Preview Trailer: Star Trek Into Darkness

Paramount has released  what they're calling a "preview" of a teaser trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness. Running at one minute and three seconds long, the video gives us our first meaty look at the second movie in the Star Trek rebot universe. The same fresh faced cast from 2009's Star Trek film is back for the sequel along with Benedict Cumberbatch who's playing the mysterious bad guy out to put sad faces on those smiling Federation citizens.

Crimson Peak is Guillermo's new ghost story

Legendary Pictures seems to be liking their business relationship with director Guillermo del Toro. The Hellboy filmmaker is making Pacific Rim for the financier company, having fun building giant monsters and robots to fight it out next summer in theaters.

Has the supervillain for the Justice League movie been revealed?

According to Latino Review, the baddie that will plague Superman, Batman and the other members of Warner Bros. Justice League movie has been identified.

Darkseid, the alien godlike being in command of the planet Apokolips.

Poster: Star Trek Into Darkness

The first movie poster for Star Trek Into Darkness has been unveiled.

Paramount isn't telling us anything about what we're looking at, but it's likely safe to surmise that the individual whose back is turned to us on that pile of rubble is the mysterious character played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Speculation is that the Sherlock star is playing Gary Mitchell, a Starfleet officer and academy friend of James T. Kirk. In the original Star Trek television series, Mitchell was transformed into a godlike being with vast psionic powers when the Enterprise attempted to cross a barrier at the edge of the galaxy.

Bryan Singer enlists two ages of X-Men for Days of Future Past

There will be two versions of Professor X and Magneto in the next X-Men movie, Days of Future Past. Director Bryan Singer tweeted the news today that both Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen will be returning to play the older versions of their X-Men movie characters in the film, alongside returning X-Men: First Class cast members James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) and Nicholas Hoult (Beast).

Star Trek Into Darkness synopsis released

Paramount Pictures has finally given Star Trek movie fans what they have been waiting oh-so long for: a more detailed story synopsis of the new film Star Trek Into Darkness. and judging by what the movie studio has to say about the next cinematic adventure of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, things will get dark indeed.

Here's what the studio had to say:

In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek Into Darkness.