Poster Post: Nerd Vader

In a journey fraught with almost as much peril as the beloved sci-fi series its heroes idolize (including some well-publicized skirmishes with the evil Emperor Weinstein), Fanboys is finally opening in theaters this week. Watch the trailer here.

Cinematic Crush: Ben Affleck

Crush object: Ben Affleck, actor/director/writer/ producer.

- Roles in School Ties and Dazed and Confused led to Mallrats, his first collaboration with writer/director Kevin Smith. Their subsequent films together include Chasing Amy, Dogma and Jersey Girl, plus cameos in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks II.

- He and his best friend Matt Damon hit the big time with their surprise hit Good Will Hunting. In addition to co-starring in the film, they won the Academy Award for their screenplay. The duo also produced the filmmaking reality series Project Greenlight.

- Subsequently, he went on to star in both action epics (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, The Sum of All Fears) and indie fare (Shakespeare in Love, Boiler Room, Bounce), not to mention such notorious bombs as Reindeer Games, Daredevil and Gigli.

- He regained critical respect with his Golden Globe nominated portrayal of George Reeves in Hollywoodland and his feature directorial debut Gone Baby Gone.

- Next up, he co-stars in this week's rom com He's Just Not That Into You, plus the thriller State of Play and the comedy Extract, both due later this year.

Up with Previews

For those of you (like us) who have no interest in sports, last night's Super Bowl-thingy did offer some respite for the movie-minded, with a host of previews of what's coming to a theater near you this year.

As for those of you (like us) who didn't watch last night's Super Bowl-thingy (and didn't even know who was playing until Big Edie (of all people) told us the day before), Hulu.com has compiled almost all the big commercials of the big game in one convenient spot.

Trailers included run the gamut from animated epics (Disney/Pixar's Up, DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens — in 3-D!) and eagerly awaited reboots (Star Trek) to familiar-looking follow-ups (Angels & Demons, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen). Then, of course, there are the sequels (Fast & Furious), remakes (Race to Witch Mountain) and TV adaptations (Land of the Lost) nobody asked for, but we're getting anyway. And here's a bonus one for you, not on Hulu: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Awards Watch: Directors Guild 2008

Danny Boyle won the Directors Guild of America Award last night, thereby cementing Slumdog Millionaire as the front-runner for the Academy Awards later this month. Barring any drastic backlash or unexpected upsets, it's a safe bet that the underdog sleeper hit will take at least the two top spots on February 22.

Also a winner last night was Ari Folman, who received the prize for documentary direction for his animated autobiographical feature Waltz with Bashir.