I’m going to bypass my usual opening paragraph musings this week and simply wish everyone a Happy Veterans Day weekend. Given that I don’t have any immediate family or friends who serve, I won’t claim to know the first thing about the sacrifices that each serviceman/woman and their respective families and friends are continually asked to make. I reap all of the benefits of their service without any of the concessions. As a result, I owe a debt of gratitude to each and every one of them.

In this week’s “Top 5″ installment you can find the first trailer for Snow White and the Huntsman, a cornucopia of interviews for Immortals and Cars 2, new set images from the set of The Expendables 2 featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme, and a look at the road that led Billy Crystal and Brian Grazer to the top of the 2012 Oscars. Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.

In all honesty, one of the more striking aspects of Cars 2 is the simple rising of an ocean wave in its opening moments.  It’s weird to think that animated water could leave such a mark – but the water in this little toon was more “real” and majestic than many an ocean I’ve seen in so-called live action films or, you know, in person. It’s one of those strange moments when fiction overtakes reality. I almost forgot I was watching an animated film – that was until the talking cars showed up.

So it was serendipitous that my interview with FX Technical Director John Reisch and Effects Supervisor Gary Bruins began simply enough with them showing me through the process of creating ripples in a wave. In the second of five interviews conducted at Pixar headquarters in Emeryville, California, the twosome also discuss their favorite segments from the film, the development of the animation process over time and why FX work isn’t just EXPLOSIONS!!!  The Cars 2 Blu-ray/DVD hits shelves tomorrow.