As the 84th Academy Awards move closer, we’re starting to get a better sense of how things will pan out. We recently shared the 39 songs that will contend for the Best Original Song category, and now the Academy has announced the 97 original scores eligible for the Best Original Score award. AMPAS is notoriously picky when it comes to eligibility in this category, and as we feared the scores for both Drive and Attack the Block have been deemed ineligible. Also disappointing is the ineligibility of Alexandre Desplat’s mesmerizing score for The Tree of Life.

While it’s upsetting to see some of the year’s best work side-lined, there’s plenty to be happy about. I was a huge fan of Howard Shore’s work in Hugo and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as The Chemical Brothers’ brilliant work in the criminally underseen Hanna. Hit the jump for the full list, as well as who I think will make the cut.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced today that 39 eligible songs will contend for the Best Original Song Oscar this year. Important to note is that a relatively recent rule change states that songs must be judged in the capacity that they appear in each film. In early January the voting body will get together and watch clips from each eligible movie in which the 39 songs are featured, after which they will determine the nominees. The list of eligible songs include three tracks from The Muppets, Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi’s song “Gathering Stories” (which director Cameron Crowe co-wrote) from We Bought a Zoo, and composer/songwriter/eight-time Oscar-winner Alan Menken’s “Star Spangled Man” from Captain America: The First Avenger. I’m partial to Jonsi’s work or “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets, but we’ll see how the Academy’s taste stacks up towards the end of January.

Hit the jump to check out the full list of eligible songs. The 84th Academy Award nominations will be announced on January 24th.

While it fell short of breaking a series record, there is no diminishing the continued success of The Twilight Saga.  The penultimate chapter in Summit Entertainment’s astoundingly popular franchise, Breaking Dawn Part 1 posted this year’s second highest weekend total (and the fifth highest of all time) with an estimated $139.5 million from 4,061 locations.

Ah, Twilight Saga. How I’ve missed you. It’s been seventeen months since Eclipse, the last entry in the record-breaking series, sent breathless crowds of Twi-hards into theatres. And given the disappointing year we’ve been having, I had to wonder whether Breaking Dawn Part 1 would inspire the same level of box office devotion that I remember. My answer appears to be a resounding ‘hell yes.’ The penultimate pic of The Twilight Saga captured a series-best $30.3 million from its midnight launch and a first day estimate of $72 million. That total falls between 2010’s Eclipse ($68.5) and 2009’s New Moon ($72.7) and, if accurate, would give Breaking Dawn Part 1 the third-highest opening day in box office history. It also puts the film on track for a weekend of $140 million, an achievement on par with New Moon’s $142.8 million series record. Strangely enough, another big sequel gambled on opening opposite Breaking Dawn Part 1. Happy Feet Two earned an opening day estimate of $5.9 million, putting the 3D family film on track for a $21 million weekend or roughly half of its predecessor’s 2006 debut. Details and analysis tomorrow.

In 2007, the smash hit Happy Feet won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. So, it’s certainly no surprise that writer/director George Miller and some of the voice cast returned for Happy Feet Two. This time around, Erik, the tiny son of master tap dancer Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) and the vocally gifted Gloria (voiced by Pink), runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven (Hank Azaria), the only penguin who can fly. When violent shifts in the glacial landscape of Antarctica threaten the survival of the entire Emperor penguin community, Mumble and Erik must rally all creatures, both great and small, to save them.

During a press conference to promote the film, George Miller talked about collaborating with tap master Savion Glover for the penguin choreography, the importance of following nature and natural history for the film’s story, how despite our differences we can overcome the chaos of the world, what a privilege it was for him to see this voice cast working and recording together, and how he has no idea what the story for Happy Feet 3 could be, at this point. He also talked about his Justice League movie with Common as Green Lantern that never got off the ground, and whether Mad Max: Fury Road will ever actually happen. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

The adorable singing and dancing penguins of Antarctica are back for Happy Feet Two. In the 3D animated feature, Erik, the tiny son of master tap dancer Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) and the vocally gifted Gloria (voiced by Pink), runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven (Hank Azaria), the only penguin who can fly. When violent shifts in the glacial landscape threaten the survival of the entire Emperor penguin community, Mumble and Erik must rally all creatures, both great and small, to save them.

During a press conference to discuss the film, voice actors Elijah Wood, Robin Williams (who voices both Ramon and Lovelace), Hank Azaria and Common (who makes his animation debut as Seymour) talked about the joy of getting to work together for the recording process, developing the voice they wanted to use for their characters, and being able to improvise and bounce things off each other. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Under consideration for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature will be 18 contenders, some of which have yet to have their qualifying runs on screen. Major features include The Adventures of Tintin, Rango and Cars 2. Disney/Pixar has won 6 out of 10 years, while winning the last four in a row, but with DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots in the running, it could very well be their turn. Though there are some dark horses in the mix.

Submitted films must satisfy the category’s qualifying rules, including their theatrical release, in order to continue the submission process. In order to activate the award category at all, no fewer than 8 animated features must be released in theaters in Los Angeles County within the calendar year. If these films meet requirements for other categories, including Best Picture, they may be eligible for those awards as well. Hit the jump to see the full list.

A new trailer has gone online for George Miller’s Happy Feet Two. I know I’m not the target audience for these movies but I find penguins adorable.  Theoretically, I should be willing to give the Happy Feet flicks the benefit of the doubt on that alone.  But the animators for the Happy Feet films made a serious error when they decided to give the penguins human eyes.  The characters all exist in a weird middle ground between trying to have animated expressions and still remain realistic-looking.  The movies are made worse by the having penguins squeak out hip-hop songs. But none of that matters because the movie will probably make hundreds of millions of dollars.  Hooray.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer, which doesn’t tell you what the movie is about (Mumble and his son have to find an escape route when the penguin population is covered in ice). The film features the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria, Alecia Moore (P!nk), Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofia Vergara, Hugo Weaving, Richard Carter, Common, Magda Szubanski, and Anthony LaPagila.  Happy Feet Two opens in 3D on November 18th.

About a week ago, I had the pleasure of talking to Sofia Vergara (Modern Family) in anticipation of her family film, The Smurfs. The film follows the adventures of six Smurfs who are accidentally transported to modern-day New York City. In The Smurfs, Vergara plays Odile, an executive at a cosmetics company who is the boss of Neil Patrick Harris’ character. I had a lot of fun with the movie and kids will absolutely love it.

During my exclusive interview, we discussed bossing around Harris, Sofia’s earliest memories of the Smurfs, and her upcoming work in Happy Feet Two, New Year’s Eve and, of course, The Three Stooges. I also got a brief update on the next season of Modern Family.  Watch the interview after the jump.

Following up on the poster we saw earlier today, Warner Bros. has released a new trailer for Happy Feet Two.  The new trailer reveals more about the story than the first, but still makes time for the snippets of the adorable penguin versions of “Mama Said Knock You Out” and “Sexy Back.”  About that story: “Mumble (Elijah Wood) and Gloria (Pink) now have a son of their own, Erik (EG Daily), who is struggling to find his own particular talents in the Emperor Penguin world.”

Robin Williams, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, and Brad Pitt also provide voices in the sequel directed by George Miller.  Happy Feet 2 is slated for 3D release on November 18.  Watch the trailer after the break.

We’ve got a few new posters to share with you today. First up is the poster for George Miller’s Happy Feet Two. The sequel to 2006’s dancing penguins movie features the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Hank Azaria. The film opens November 18^th. Additionally, we’ve got a new poster for the comedy Our Idiot Brother. The indie stars Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer and hits theaters on August 16^th.

Additionally, we’ve got the new poster for Aardman Animation’s (Wallace and Gromit) stop-motion animated comedy The Pirates! Band of Misfits. The film features the voice talents of Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek and David Tennant. I caught the panel for the flick at Comic-Con and it looks hilarious. You can read my recap here. The film opens March 30^th, 2012. Hit the jump to check out the posters.

The first trailer has landed for Happy Feet 2, the sequel to 2007′s best animated feature Oscar winner, and it has to be said, it is pretty grin inducing.  As to be expected, it features a host of cute and cuddly penguins bopping about and tapping their (happy) feet, and in this case rapping to Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back”, albeit cunningly reworded “Fluffy Back” – think of the children!  Happy Feet 2 carries some heavy weight vocal talent, including Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Sofia Vergara among a ton of others, and Mad Max‘s George Miller is returning to direct.  It opens November 18, 2011 in the US, followed by a later release of December 2, 2011 in the UK.  Hit the jump for the trailer and official synopsis.