Monthly Wallpaper - December 2008: Super Heroes

2008 was the unofficial "year of the superhero", so it is only fitting that the final Movie Dearest calendar wallpaper of the year is a salute to our favorite celluloid supers.

From the classic Christopher Reeve Superman and Michael Keaton Batman to more recent editions to the ranks such as Iron Man and the upcoming Watchmen, this legion of superheroes will keep your desktop nice and safe from marauding super villains, at least for the next few weeks.

All you have to do is click on the picture above to enlarge it, then simply right click your mouse and select "Set as Background". (You can also save it to your computer and set it up from there if you prefer.) The size is 1024 x 768, but you can modify it if needed in your own photo-editing program.

Film Art: Got Milk Edition

Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in Milk, as illustrated by Robert Risko for The New Yorker.

William Gibson: 1914-2008

William Gibson, who won a Tony Award for his play The Miracle Worker and an Academy Award nomination for adapting it to the screen, died Tuesday at the age of 94.

Gibson was also Tony nominated for his play Two for the Seesaw and the musical Golden Boy. His Golda's Balcony, which starred Tovah Feldshuh as Golda Meir, set a record in 2005 as the longest-running one-woman play in Broadway history.

Out in Film: Gus Van Sant

Idol worship: Gus Van Sant, director/writer/producer.

- He would begin exploring the major thematic subject of all his works, the lives of those living on the fringes of society, with his first film, the gay indie classic Mala Noche.

- Continuing that theme, he would find great success with Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho, both of which won him Independent Spirit Awards and many other prizes.

- Following his flop adaptation of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, he bounced back with the acclaimed black comedy To Die For and his biggest box office hit, Good Will Hunting. He received his first Academy Award nomination as Best Director for the latter.

- After his infamous "shot-for-shot" Psycho remake and the Will Hunting-esque Finding Forrester, he would return to his indie roots with a string of often controversial art house fare, including Gerry, the Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or winner Elephant, Last Days (these three comprised his unofficial "Death Trilogy") and Paranoid Park.

- His most recent film Milk, the critically acclaimed biopic of gay icon Harvey Milk, marks his return to big budget filmmaking, but still bares his distinctly independent eye for telling the stories of those outside the mainstream.