Columbia

2012 is all over and the Mayan prophecy killed us all. Luckily, we at Planet Fanboy slipped this into our system prior to the day we all died, so the cockroaches have something to read as they feast on our corpses. So pull up a seat, Scritchy and Scratchy, and learn about the year that was.

2012 opened nicely. Qui-Gon Jinn looked death in the eye and slowly let death win in "The Grey." But he did it in a very picturesque way while reciting poetry in his head, so it made for a terrific movie.

George Lucas finally let loose with his "Red Tails" project and it wasn't very good but we all got to shrug our shoulders and say "well, that is absolutely the last time George Lucas will make any news this year."

Fox

We thought we were absolutely finished with found footage pictures, but "Chronicle" came out of nowhere and blew our socks off with one of the best superhero origin stories in a long while. (Surprise: it's a supervillain and, no, eff you, that's totally fair the movie's been on iTunes for months now.)

"Ghost Rider 2" proved that Nicolas Cage still hasn't hit rock bottom. Maybe he should just start a kickstarter campaign to pay off his huge debts and leave the movie-going public out of this.

Disney spent nine zillion dollars on adapting "A Princess of Mars" into "Dune" meets "Tron Legacy" and thought changing the name to "John Carter" would help. It wasn't a terrible film, I mean did you SEE what Lynn Collins was wearing, but that could only entertain us for so long. Luckily good movies were just around the corner.

That's right "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" was released just a. . .oh, wait, sorry, wrong yearly wrap-up. Yes, "21 Jump Street" was released just a week later and was far funnier than it had any right to be. This was followed by kickass dystopian females ("The Hunger Games") and kickass dystopian Indonesians ("The Raid: Redemption.") If Katniss Everdeen should ever find herself in a locked-down high-rise building, we might be on to something. (I think I just came up with the premise of "Silver Linings Playbook 2: Golden Linings.")

Next thing ya know we were all on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s helicarrier playing Galaga. "Marvel's The Avengers" destroyed any reasonable expectations of how good a summer movie could be, collecting Earth's Mightiest Heroes in a fun and funny adventure that can rank with "Jurassic Park" or "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

"Avengers" was so awesome that the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back suckage of "Battleship," "Men in Black 3," "Snow White and the Huntsman," "Prometheus," and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" didn't matter. Nothing could damage the glow of "Avengers."

Fox

Well, that's not exactly true. "Prometheus" had so much potential (and it LOOKED so damn cool) that Ridley Scott's blunder still kinda stings. Should Scott and company try to re-launch that ship once again, they'll find no safe harbor on Planet Fanboy! We have spoken!

The summer rounded out with great comedies like "Ted," "The Campaign" and "The Dark Knight Rises."

What? What? "Why so serious?" if I may borrow a quote. Listen, "The Dark Knight Rises" is an energetic film (anything with a propulsive Hans Zimmer score is going to get your blood rate up) but between Muffled Bane and the overwhelming amount of plot holes, the best thing to do is just to embrace the film as a big, lovable disaster. Like your drunk uncle. It's the drunk uncle of superhero movies.

The "smarter season" for Fanboy films didn't disappoint. "Dredd," "Looper," "Skyfall" were terrific and proved once and for all a theory I've long held: movies with double-letters in their single-word title are the way to go.

2012 ended with the biggest wet kiss to fandom in quite some time: Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." To big fat Tolkien nerds it is a revelatory experience – for nonfans, a Bataan Death March of endless yapping, eating and walking through fields plus a laundry lists of swords with names.

On Planet Fanboy, we like swords with names.

We also believe in the theory of spontaneous generation, so hopefully the cockroaches kept some food in the fridge. There's a good chance we'll be back again next week.

Disney / Universal / Sony

As we established in our list of the 25 Best Movies of 2012, it was a pretty great year at the multiplexes.

But in what you are about to read below, well, there is no "good."

Some of these actually didn't do too badly in the box office and one might incite some rage from a certain fan army (sorry guys, but our whole staff agreed!), but either way, we want to know what you think. Read up on our 10 clunkers of 2012 and hit up the comments section below with your two cents.

10. 'Dark Shadows'

Warner Bros.

"Dark Shadows" lost at its own game. It seems like Tim Burton meant to harness the power of kitsch in his big screen adaptation of camptastic '70s soap opera "Dark Shadows," flirting with the border of "so bad it's good" territory... and overshot his mark by a mile. Great actors go horribly wasted in this wandering mess of a movie, and the fact that it looks pretty cool only serves to highlight how badly this vampire story bites: Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Chloe Moretz and some great-looking sets almost have to try to make me hate them. If I didn't know better, I'd assume they tried pretty hard. — Brooke Tarnoff

9. 'One for the Money'

Lionsgate

This movie stars Katherine Heigl – what more do you need to know? OK, well, just in case, you should know that her character Stephanie Plum gets into the bail bonds business and her first assignment puts her on the trail of her ex. Delightful, right? Something tells us Heigl, who notoriously departed from "Grey's Anatomy" amidst much drama despite earning an Emmy award for her performance, did this film the exact reasons the title says. — Breanne L. Heldman

8. 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'

20th Century Fox

Who thought this was a good idea? Does the Great Emancipator really need to add demon slaying to his resume? This movie is 105 minutes of cringe-worthy cheese that takes itself too seriously while portraying the secretly rockin' nightlife of Honest Abe while he pursues a lifelong vendetta against the forces of evil. Oh, and the Confederate Army. Who are also vampires. Maybe the producers heard about Spielberg's "Lincoln" in pre-production and figured they had to find a way to top it. Maybe they just thought it was a funny joke to make audiences sit through nearly two hours of that slop. Maybe they're really just self-loathing vampires themselves. The world may never know. (And, spoiler alert, the ending implication that Abe may have been a vampire himself and thus survived assassination? Rude.) — Kase Wickman

7. 'Playing for Keeps'

FilmDistrict

Ah, the story of a morally tarnished athlete who finds his heart of gold on the soccer field, amidst his young son's teammates and a bunch of MILFs. What could be finer... other than EVERYTHING? Gerard Butler isn't inherently terrible — he was kind of good in "300," if memory serves — but he keeps returning to reductive rom-com drivel. Whatever this says about his acting ability pales in comparison to the message it sends about his taste. (That message, if it wasn't clear: bad.) — BT

6. 'John Carter'

Disney

You gotta feel a little bad for the nice, talented folks behind this turkey: writer/director Andrew Stanton, the Pixar pro who shepherded this through development as a passion project; Taylor Kitsch, the "Friday Night Lights" alum making some bum movies; Willem Dafoe, who's awesome because he's Willem Dafoe. But anytime you spend 250 precious million dollars on a movie, you'd better hope it works. And "JC" doesn't one bit. From its risky usage of a hero Confederate to its "Phantom Menace"-like ETs to its overall utter convolutedness, "Carter" is an incoherent, disjointed mess that left movie fans of all stripes scratching their heads. — KP

5. 'Snow White and the Huntsman'

Universal

More like "Snow White and the Hunts-mehhh." Kristen Stewart is great at posing and making tough faces while wearing just-for-ladies armor on a red carpet, but a master thespian she's not. K.Stew has only a handful of lines in this two-hour drudge of a film, and Chris Hemsworth, while great at grunting and looking handsome, is not so great at enunciating. The best part of this movie was watching Charlize Theron as the evil queen Ravenna, melting in and out of various shapes while screaming like a banshee. She's a crow! She's a lady again! She's a puddle! This is great! Oh, now we're back in the woods with Bella and Thor. Zzzzzz. Pass. — KW

4. 'Red Dawn'

Lionsgate

It's never a good sign when a movie sits on the shelves for a few years (jeez Louise, how many spring/summer/fall previews was this thing included in?). But "Dawn" almost looked like it could benefit from its shelving (due to MGM's financial woes), as stars Chris Hemsworth ("Thor") and Josh Hutcherson ("Hunger Games") blew the hell up amid the delay. But nope. America saw "Dawn" for what it was, another wholly unnecessary remake that not only doesn't improve on the original, but taints our memory of it (not that the '84 Swayze edition was a masterpiece). And don't get us started on the amazingly offensive "ethnicity tweaks" done in post-production. What were you thinking? — KP

3. 'Man on a Ledge'

Summit

Possibly the worst thing about this movie — and trust me, that's saying a lot — is how good Elizabeth Banks is in it. She never appears to be acting; she seems uncannily real in every role, like human tofu picking up the flavor of whatever movie she's in. In this case, it just serves to make everything around her seem even more false, including the implausible plot, the wooden performances, the ridiculous dialogue and Sam Worthington's mullet. Which, by the way, is the second worst thing about this movie. A mullet? For crying out loud. — BT

2. 'That's My Boy'

Sony

This is an Adam Sandler movie: are you shocked to find it on this list? We didn't think so, but just so you have the ammo for properly mocking this clunker, here's what you need to know. As a young teen, Sandler's character knocked up his teacher (Eva Amurri) and became an instant celebrity. Now, after nearly 30 years, he's a broke nobody with a beef with Vanilla Ice and a son (Andy Samberg) who refuses to acknowledge any relation to him. Believe it or not, it all goes downhill from there, with hijinks including infidelity, severe alcoholism and incest. Hilarious, right? — BH

1. 'The Devil Inside'

Paramount

Among our staff, we've been to literally thousands of advance screenings, many of them "promotional," which, as you may know, is when a studio gives out passes to moviegoers as opposed or in addition to movie critics. These audiences tend to be kind to the movies — far more kind than cranky critics, that's for sure — but the promotional screening we attended for this clunker marked the first time EVER we witnessed a crowd boo the film during its end credits. Proof that the mockumentary/found footage approach doesn't always work, "Devil Inside" just feels phony, with shoddy acting, forced scares and an anti-climactic, utterly ridiculous ending that deservedly brought out the boo birds. — KP

The Worst Movies of 2012 Review Themselves

And, since it's Thanksgiving and all, we feel it's high time we took a moment to give thanks for those things (and people!) that have made this year so epically special.

So, without further ado...

1. 'Magic Mike,' for bringing sexy back.

2. Ben Affleck, for growing up to be a damn fine director. Who'd a guessed it?

3. Robert Pattinson, for teaching us what it looks like to truly feel.

 

4. Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, for being super-cute and super-cool at the same time.

5. Javier Bardem, for being one of the Best. Bond. Villains. Ever.

6. The riff-off! (From 'Pitch Perfect')

 

7. The Hulk, for smashing.

8. Stephen Chbosky, for adapting and directing his own book, and thus making a near-perfect film.

9. Bruce Willis, for always looking so darn confused.

 

10. Bill Murray, for his various offscreen cameos around the world.

11. 'Twilight,' for ending.

12. 'John Carter,' for being such a great punchline.

 

13. Ryan Gosling, for living.

Buena Vista

After director Andrew Stanton's live action debut, "John Carter," turned into one of the biggest and highest profile bombs of all time earlier this year — the film caused Disney to write off a $200 million loss — you might think that his career is officially sleeping with the fishes. And you'd be right. Just not in the way you expect.

That's because, according to Deadline, Stanton is returning to the Pixar womb that birthed him as director of "Finding Nemo 2." Looks like Disney is even better at forgetting the mistakes of the past than Dory.

Of course, this isn't a complete surprise; the whole reason Disney gave Stanton such a huge budget for his first live action film is because he previously directed two of the biggest animated hits ever, "Wall-E" and the original "Finding Nemo."

And now it appears that he will be diving into the world of animation again while Disney tries to come up with a second live action feature for Stanton to hone his skills on. Just what Stanton has planned for "Finding Nemo 2" is still unclear — we're pretty sure they did find Nemo at the end of the first film after all — but we're guessing it's going to be pretty big.

After "John Carter," it pretty much has to be.

Disney

This week: Disney's big-budget Martian adventure "John Carter" works better at home, where repeated viewings help one keep all the alien characters and their alliances straight.

Also new this week is the action blockbuster "Safe House" with Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington, the family adventure "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," and the Blu-ray debut of the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine."

'John Carter'

Buena Vista

Box Office: $73 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 52% Rotten
Storyline: In this PG-13 Disney movie based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Barsoom" novels, Taylor Kitsch plays a Civil War Confederate Army captain who discovers a medallion that transports him to Mars. There John Carter discovers that the lower gravity on the Red Planet enables him to jump great distances -- a talent that comes in handy when he is caught in the middle of a tribal war.
Extras! The short "100 Years in the Making" featurette on the DVD and Blu-ray looks at the life and career of Burroughs as well as the many attempts at adapting the first book into a film.
We Say: Though the movie is available on Blu-ray 3-D, the extra dimension is a bit of a distraction for this convoluted adventure that immediately throws you -- along with our shirt-challenged hero -- right in the middle of an otherworldly war with little explanation or backstory. The expensive CGI effects had Disney heads seeing red, but you can afford to drink them in repeatedly at home, because "John Carter" requires several viewings before the story connects.

'Safe House'

Universal

Box Office: $126 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 54% Rotten
Storyline: Ryan Reynolds plays the "housekeeper" of a CIA safe house in Cape Town, South Africa, where international criminal Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) is being held. When security is breached, Reynolds's low-level agent must keep the prisoner out of harm's way.
Extras! The Blu-ray exclusive "Safe Harbor: Cape Town" discusses the multicultural qualities of the South African city and why it was chosen as the primary filming location.
We Say: Action fans and fans of the two leads will enjoy the cat-and-mouse antics as Reynolds and Washington dart to and fro while dodging an endless hailstorm of bullets, but there isn't anything novel that makes "Safe House" stand apart from any other rat-a-tat cinematic attack.

'Journey 2: The Mysterious Island'

Turner Home Entertainment

Box Office: $103 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 42% Rotten
Storyline: Original "Journey to the Center of the Earth" star Josh Hutcherson returns in this sequel as Sean Anderson, a teen obsessed with finding his missing grandfather (Michael Caine) on an island that doesn't appear on any conventional map. Sean convinces his stepdad (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson") to fly them both to Palau, where they chart a helicopter and are sucked into a Jules Verne-inspired world of mysterious creatures and a quest to find Captain Nemo's tomb.
Extras! The Blu-ray exclusive "Are You Strong Enough to Survive Mysterious Island?" is an interactive map that allows you to explore the island further by watching videos and interviews.
We Say: This enjoyable, if unremarkable, PG-rated family adventure works best on Blu-ray 3-D because the format capitalizes on the theatrical version's tailor-made shots, like the underwater sequences with a giant electric eel or when Johnson bounces fruit off his dancing pecs right at the camera.

'Yellow Submarine' Blu-ray

Capitol

Box Office: N/A
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% Fresh
Storyline: The Beatles and their yellow submarine are all that stand in the way of the Blue Meanies and a menacing Flying Glove threatening the paradise known as Pepperland, where music and happiness reign.
Extras! In addition to cel reproductions, collectible stickers and a 16-page booklet, this Blu-ray debut contains 30 behind-the-scenes photographs and 29 pencil drawings accessible via the disc's special features.
We Say: The swirling colors of this 1968 family flick only seem more vibrant in its transition to high definition, giving a new generation the chance to enjoy the strange lands and creatures visited by the animated Beatles.

Also New This Week:

"Act of Valor"
"Bad Ass"
"Erin Brokovich" Blu-ray
"Machine Gun Preacher"
"Sixteen Candles" Blu-ray

Disney

Are you ready for a giveaway 100 years in the making?

To help celebrate a full century of thrills and chills from Edgar Rice Burroughs' sci-fi hero John Carter, we're going to be giving three lucky space cadets a fantastic prize pack including a slew of "John Carter" goodies including Disney's epic big screen adaptation on Blu-ray.

Looks like your entertainment future begins right now.

Starring up-and-coming superstar Taylor Kitsch ("Battleship"), "John Carter" tells the tale of a Civil War veteran who finds himself mysteriously transported to the surface of Mars. It's not the barren, rocky wasteland you might expect, though. Instead, he soon ends up in the middle of a Martian world war, complete with four-armed aliens, unexpected super powers and hot sword-wielding princesses.

And if you can't get enough "John Carter" in your life, don't worry, because the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack (which arrives in stores on June 5) is just the tip of the iceberg. Not only will all three of our winners also receive the official "John Carter" soundtrack on CD, they'll also get the stunning new book "The Art of John Carter: A Visual Journey."

So sign up for our "John Carter" giveaway today. Because a chance like this only comes along once every hundred years or so.

To enter, just shoot us an email at NextMovie@MTV.com and include your name, address, birthdate and be sure to copy and paste the following statement:

"By sending this email, I accept and agree to: (1) the Official Rules of the 'John Carter' Blu-ray Giveaway and (2) MTV Networks’, a division of Viacom International Inc., Nextmovie.com Terms of Use and Privacy Policy."

The contest runs from now until 2 p.m. ET on Friday, June 8, 2012. Entrants must be at least 13 years old and reside in the U.S. Click here for complete rules and further details.

As an added bonus, all entrants will be signed up for the fun and useful UpNext newsletter. As an UpNext subscriber, you'll receive daily updates on the hottest releases, events and merch from the world of movies.

Clear eyes. Full heart. SO HOT.

We're glad to see "Battleship" and "Savages" star Taylor Kitsch making it on the big screen, though we'll always remember where we met him: the high school football field of Dillon, Texas.

Now that the "Friday Night Lights" star has graduated to the world of movies, we thought this was the right time to check out his performance in his new summer blockbuster movie ... and his even more compelling performance on the red carpet.

Because he's really gorgeous, get it?

Taylor Kitsch as "John Carter," the Confederate captain who finds himself transported to Mars, is certainly a sight to behold (rippling abs, etc). But if anyone can rival him for hottest life on Mars, it's Lynn Collins as princess Dejah Thoris. If we'd known Martians were this sexy, we would colonized the planet years ago, are we right?

Collins is just the latest instance of sexy femininity in sci-fi, a legacy that stretches back decades and encompasses everything from bikini-clad bounty hunters to pleasure robots. Take a look at 20 of the hottest sci-fi sirens to grace the silver screen.

Originally published December 8, 2010.

YouTube

It's the Roc in the building … Dejah, Sola, Tars in the house. Yes, live from Barsoom, City of Helium, it's ya boy, Young. The Martians is in the house.

As the huge-scale sci-fi rumpus "John Carter" drops into theaters, it seems kind of fitting that the title Confederate soldier should get a hip hop remix starring Shawn Corey Carter, better known as Jay-Z. HOV!

In the parody trailer "Shawn Carter of Mars," Sri Lankan comedian Jehan has seamlessly integrated the rapper's face onto Taylor Kitsch's pasty visage through highly sophisticated computer techniques. Okay, he's just crudely Photoshopped in, but that makes it even better. The vocals come from the same a cappella version of "The Black Album" that Danger Mouse used for "The Grey Album."

Next step: Jay-Z starring in a parody of Michael Bay's "The Rock" called "The Roc-A-Fella."

You might have 99 problems but having a laugh ain't one if you watch this short video.

At first glance, you wouldn't think an extraterrestrial civil war would be much of a fashion story, but boy would you be wrong!

While the inhabitants of "John Carter" showed off oodles of bare skin (no complaints here!), we were mesmerized by the incredible jewelry worn by Martian princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) and thought John Carter's (Taylor Kitsch) leather harnesses could make for some pretty rockin' belts.

Whether your an accessories goddess or neophyte, we promise this week's Get the Goods column for "John Carter" is filled with cool and covetable goodies. And we can also promise it won't cost you anywhere near the massive budget of the sci-fi epic. Click away!

Disney/NBC

It took a full century since Edgar Rice Burroughs created the character in 1912, but "John Carter" is finally slicing, dicing and leaping his way through Martian bad guys to a theater near you via the magic (and deep pockets) of Walt Disney Pictures.

But wait, what's that you say? "John Carter isn't a soldier transported to Mars, he's an emergency room doctor in Chicago!" Them's fightin' words.

To clear up confusion and dishonor, we're pitting Taylor Kitsch's John Carter against Noah Wyle's John Carter from the long-running NBC show "ER." These two had better draw their swords/scalpels and get ready for one serious showdown.

Occupation

Dr. John Truman Carter III: Emergency medicine physician, philanthropist
John Carter of Mars: Confederate Civil War captain, treasure hunter
Advantage: Doctor. Even though the Virginian wins points for general badassery, he mos def picked the wrong side to fight in during the Civil War, whereas the "ER" doc was always a pretty decent and selfless dude.

Also Check Out: Taylor Kitsch Talks Injuries, Diets and Slaying Apes (Oh My)

Staying Power

Dr. John Truman Carter III: Appeared in 255 episodes of "ER," more than any other cast member, from its inception in 1994 through its conclusion in 2009.
John Carter of Mars: Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote 10 serialized Barsoom books, from "A Princess of Mars" in 1912 to "Llana of Gathol" in 1948. The series and the John Carter character influenced everything from "Star Wars" to "Avatar," and there have been numerous attempts to bring them to film, with early animated versions in the 1930s and efforts of filmmakers like John McTiernan, Tom Cruise, Robert Rodriguez and Jon Favreau.
Advantage: Gotta give this one to John Carter of Mars. A century of shaping pop culture is nothing to sneeze at.

NBC

Actor Cred

Dr. John Truman Carter III: Noah Wyle has played Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff in "Donnie Darko," Steve Jobs in "Pirates of Silicon Valley," Flynn Carsen in "The Librarian" TV movies, Tom Mason in "Falling Skies" and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans in "W."
John Carter of Mars: Taylor Kitsch is known for his roles as Kyle "Crocodile" Cho in "Snakes on a Plane," Tim Riggins in "Friday Night Lights," Gambit in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," Lt. Alex Hopper in "Battleship" and Chon in "Savages."
Advantage: Although they've both worked with Oliver Stone (in "W." and "Savages," respectively) and their biggest work has been for TV, neither has proved himself a star ... yet. Tie.

Survivability

Dr. John Truman Carter III: Recovered from being stabbed in the back by a schizophrenic patient, a subsequent addiction to narcotic Fentanyl, an outbreak of monkeypox, being held at gunpoint by guerrilla soldiers in the Congo and kidney failure.
John Carter of Mars: Escaped from hostile Yankees and even hostile-er Indians, fought giant white apes in a gladiator arena, sliced through what seems like hundreds of enemy soldiers and fake-died several times.
Advantage: This one goes to the Mars John Carter, simply because he tends to be on the offensive, whereas Dr. Carter was mostly about sustaining trauma.

Also Check Out: Taylor Kitsch Probes Mars in 4 "John Carter" Clips

Giant White Ape Kills

Dr. John Truman Carter III: Zero
John Carter of Mars: Two
Advantage: Mars. This one might seem slanted, but a giant ape is a giant ape.

NBC

Romantic Conquests

Dr. John Truman Carter III: Harper Tracey (Christine Elise), Abby Keaton (Glenne Headly), Roxanne Please (Julie Bowen), Elaine Nichols (Rebecca De Mornay), Rena Trujillo (Lourdes Benedicto), Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield), Dr. Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney), Makemba "Kem" Likasu (Thandie Newton), Wendall Meade (Mädchen Amick)
John Carter of Mars: Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins)
Advantage: What cologne is Noah Wyle wearing? The good doctor, obvs.

Overcoming Whiteness

Dr. John Truman Carter III: Yeah he's a trust-fund whitey, but he moved to Africa where he worked at an AIDS clinic and married Thandie Newton, so bam.
John Carter Of Mars: Once again the Confederate connection hurts him, although saving two colored races (red and green ones) of Barsoom squares him with us.
Advantage: Unless Spike Lee is in the sequel, there are no blacks on Mars. This one goes to Dr. John, as thoroughly white as that guy is.

Heroic Deeds

Dr. John Truman Carter III: In addition to saving lives on a daily basis at Chicago's County General Hospital, not to mention doing humanitarian work for Doctors Without Borders in Africa and the Sudan, he opens an HIV/AIDS clinic -- "The Joshua Makalo Carter Center" -- named after his stillborn son.
John Carter of Mars: He rescues Dejah Thoris on multiple occasions, saves Tars Tarkas' daughter from execution, and saves an entire frickin' planet.
Advantage: As down-to-Earth as the doctor may be, you can't beat a Martian dude who knows how to handle a sword and leap 1000 feet in the air. GO MARS!

Fanbase

Dr. John Truman Carter III: 995,000 Google results
John Carter Of Mars: 1,220,000 Google results
Advantage: Mars. It might have something to do with the fact that the first result after Taylor Kitsch's name is "girlfriend" while the first thing after Noah Wyle's name is "Steve Jobs."

And the Winner Is ...

In a suspenseful 6-to-4 bout, it's John Carter of Mars who emerges over the (metaphorical) bloody corpse of Noah Wyle, triumphant!

GALLERY: "John Carter" Inspires Us to Get Buff & Shirtless ... Photos, That Is

View Gallery »

When the Mayans ended their calendar with the year 2012, they knew something we didn't: Not that the world was about to end, but that the era of Taylor Kitsch was about to begin.

And with not one, not two, but three massive blockbusters about to destroy your local cineplex — "John Carter," "Battleship" and "Savages" all open this year — Kitsch had plenty to talk about when he sat down with MTV's "10 on Top," starting with what it's like to kick ass on Mars.

"[We were] in this huge arena, basically for entertainment, for them to watch us be killed by these huge, 30-plus-foot great white apes," Kitsch said of one of the most intense moments in "John Carter," which is set to hit theaters on Friday. "How we figured out how to kill them is a great little story."

Tune into MTV's "10 on Top" every Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET.

It may be cold outside, but it's sure nice and cozy-warm here at NextMovie ... and we have "John Carter" to thank for it.

Because of the crazy-cool sci-fi flick, former "Friday Night Lights" footballer Taylor Kitsch has doffed his shirt. Completely. For most of the movie. And because of that, we're taking a look at a slew of hot men following suit (or lack of suit, if you will) for the movies.

In all seriousness, we could go on about the bulging biceps and the integrity of the plots of these movies, but we have a "Buff & Shirtless" gallery to flip through. Care to join us?

Lauren Cox

I've gotta be honest: I know "John Carter" is a sci-fi flick, but I don't know much else about it. However, I know who Tim Riggins is, and therefore I know who Taylor Kitsch is, and that's how this story begins.

"John Carter" hits theaters March 9 and, thanks to the Disney machine, Kitsch is knee-deep into a heavy duty press tour that included all of my favorite stops in New York yesterday. His morning started at "Good Morning America," continued at "Live! With Kelly" and ended at an early taping of "Late Show with David Letterman."

I opted to try to meet him at "Letterman." The only problem? Rain. Lots of it.

I arrived at the studio later than I should have and was instantly nervous when, aside from five photographers at the entrance, there wasn't a single other soul in sight. The barricade designated for fans was empty, so I figured I had missed all of the arrivals and would have to wait out the taping. Oy.

Then Neil Patrick Harris showed up and rushed inside – I wasn't late after all. Just lucky, or so I thought. Immediately thereafter, Kitsch pulled up, but the rain forced him inside without so much as a peep.

All the photographers left, but I stuck it out. It was cold and raining but I was not going to give up just yet. This is Riggins and the future ruler of Mars, after all.

About an hour later – just as the taping was coming to an end – the photographers returned and reclaimed their positions while waiting for guests to leave. Shortly after NPH's car pulled away, a "Letterman" security guard came across the street where I was all alone and asked who I was waiting for. When I answered with "Taylor Kitsch!" he told me I could wait with the photographers across the street. Score! The luck had returned!

Taylor came out a few moments later just as the rain subsided a little bit, so when I called his name and asked for a picture he said, "Sure!"

"'John Carter' looks great, but I have to tell you, I miss 'Friday Night Lights' so much." I told him.

"You're sweet. Thank you." he replied.

I wanted to tell him that I missed his long hair too, but I thought that would be less sweet and more creepy.

View Gallery »

Like many of you, Professional Fan Girl Lauren Cox has always had a fascination with movie stars. She's turned her hobby – hitting premieres and other events in New York City to meet them – into a blog, and now a NextMovie column. Keep up with her adventures meeting celebs by following her on Twitter.

Disney Books

Here are some things you can do on Mars that you can't do on Earth: Jump miles into the air, deadlift a metric ton and defeat a gigantic four-armed space ape in single combat.

Now here's something you can do on Earth that you can't do on Mars: Win our amazing new "John Carter" giveaway.

Advantage: Earth.

"John Carter," of course, is the upcoming new sci-fi action blockbuster from Disney; based on the classic series of novels from "Tarzan" creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, it tells the tale of a Civil War soldier ("Friday Night Lights" star Taylor Kitsch) who mysteriously finds himself on Mars, where the lower gravity gives him amazing superpowers — powers he uses to fight against a wide array of deadly Martian menaces.

And now we're celebrating the March 9 release of "John Carter" by offering up a fantastic prize pool that includes both "John Carter: The Movie Novelization" as well as all three volumes of "The Collected John Carter of Mars" by Burroughs himself. Best of all, we're giving this ginormous swag bag to not one, but five winners.

So sign up and give it a shot. Because you don't have to be a little green man to know that our "John Carter" giveaway is out of this world.

To enter, just shoot us an email at NextMovie@MTV.com and include your name, address, birthdate and be sure to copy and paste the following statement:

"By sending this email, I accept and agree to: (1) the Official Rules of the 'John Carter' Books Giveaway and (2) MTV Networks’, a division of Viacom International Inc., Nextmovie.com Terms of Use and Privacy Policy."

The contest runs from now until 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. Entrants must be at least 13 years old and reside in the U.S. Click here for complete rules and further details.

As an added bonus, all entrants will be signed up for the fun and useful UpNext newsletter. As an UpNext subscriber, you'll receive daily updates on the hottest releases, events and merch from the world of movies.

Marvel

The Big Apple is feeling Golden Delicious tonight as it celebrates the Giants 21-to-17 victory over the New England Patriots, but Hollywood is also getting a Gatorade shower. The Super Bowl is the biggest advertising day of the year, and the studios blitzed TV viewers with new looks at their coolest flicks.

It's also when different companies trot out serious big gun celebrities to pimp their rides. So are you feeling lucky, punk? We're chugging Pepto Bismol, recycling our empty beer bottles, and looking back at the best movie moments during this year's big game.

Welcome to Super Bowl… PSYCHE!
Universal Studios Hollywood pulled some ol' fakeout interrupted programming, with Optimus Prime and Megatron warning us that we'll perish if we don't hop on "Transformers: The Ride 3-D" this May. Hard sell, guys.

You Sunk My Studio!
"We're looking at an extinction-level event." That's the line from the "Battleship" trailer, which Universal execs are hoping doesn’t apply to their jobs once the mega-budget board game gamble splashes into theaters on May 18th. The trailer plays up the Hasbro/"Transformers" connection, and some of the really cool aliens look straight out of "Halo," so we're gonna put a peg in this one as full sail ahead.

John Carter Of Logos
Disney's sci-fi epic "John Carter" used the innovative technique of projecting multiple clips from the film inside its title typeface in a gradual pullback that culminated in the title character going toe-to-toe with that big white ape thing. An internet version expanded on the action, and had us leaping for joy that the March adventure is almost here.

Trailerpalooza
"The Lorax" has a Vampire Weekend track backing it up, "Act of Valor" used real active duty Navy SEALS for a 4th quarter entry into the game, and "The Phantom Menace 3-D" took a more holistic strategy in pitching this as just the first of the saga coming to the big screen in three eyeball gauging dimensions.

Cars Too
Volkswagen inserted Darth Vader into the famous cantina sequence that got us all choked-up with geek bliss. Meanwhile, Hyundai's spot had seemingly every employee of the car company singing Bill Conti's "Gonna Fly Now" from 1976's "Rocky," tagged with voiceover by their spokesdude Jeff Bridges.

Avengers Assemble On The Gridiron
The big kahuna trailer was undoubtedly Marvel's "The Avengers," which practically defines "buildup" having already released a "first look" at the 30-second ad which, upon airing, turned out to be a commercial in-and-of-itself for the minute-long super trailer on their Facebook page. Nick Fury still believes in heroes, and so do we after seeing Mark Ruffalo's Hulk sucker punch a helicopter in mid air. Hells yeah.

Halftime
Madonna is a marketing genius, hence her doing a Super Bowl Halftime show the same week her directorial effort "W.E." hits theaters. Synergy! While football fans might have to feign interest with their girlfriends to see the Duchess of York drama, the pop superstar took halftime to whole new surreal level. She performed a potpourri of her greatest hits, starting with "Vogue," in which she led a procession of Trojan warriors into Lucas Oil Stadium. A lot of other hallucinogenic shenanigans took place before the Material Girl evaporating in a puff of smoke, ostensibly in support of world peace. Wuh?

Clint Fights For America
Some of the commercials were good, some bad, some ugly, but then a familiar raspy voice echoed through America's living room. He was talking about the plight and perseverance of Detroit, the country's rustiest rust belt city. We had our inklings, and sure enough, from out of the shadows came Clint Frickin' Eastwood with his squinty stare that says, "You messed with the wrong town, Economic Downturn." It was a commercial for automotive giant Chrysler, and ended with, "It's halftime, America, and our second half is about to begin." Damn Clint, you make everything sound cool. Even Detroit.

Bueller Bueller Bowl
For years fans dreamed of a sequel to John Hughes' perennial ode to takin' it easy, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and in true Reagan-era fashion it took a car company to give it to us. The new Honda CR-V commercial gained instant popularity on the internet this week, with 12 million hits already on YouTube, and aired in truncated form during the game. Director Todd Phillips ("The Hangover") paid tribute to all the best moments of the 1986 classic, and possibly put Matthew Broderick back on the map.

Universal

Here at Planet Fanboy we like to be prepared. We don't just waltz down to the metroplex and stare up at the marquee and go "uhhhhhhhh" like mindless drones who deserve to be shot out of an airlock into deep space.

This is serious business.

I don't know about you, but I've got my whole year of movie watching planned out. Feel free to crib from my sheet, and if we have the option to go to a theater with one of those soda machines with seven hundred flavors, let's go there.

Here's Part 1 of the 2012 preview:

The Rest of January:

A cold cruel month that isn't all that welcoming for quality fanboy cinema. Short of seeing Ra's Al-Ghul/Qui Gon-Jin battle wolves in "The Grey" on Jan 27, this is an opportunity to catch up on all those unopened Blu-rays.

February 10 – "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in 3-D"

Lucasfilm

Because we all need to see Watto's big anti-semetic stereotype schnozz in 3-D! We're going to this, but we're going to talk back at the screen the whole time. (Except for during the podrace and the Darth Maul parts.)

February 17 – "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance"

I've actually seen this movie already. It's horrible. It makes the first one look like "Iron Man." There's one funny part where Nic Cage goes all "not the bees!"-style crazy. You'll love that when you see it on YouTube.

March 9 – "John Carter"

Yay! The first real fanboy movie of the year, and its in the "300" calendar slot. Considering how well Pixar's Brad Bird made the jump to live action with "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol," I'm hoping Andrew Stanton can continue the trend. Frankly, the trailers only have me somewhat-sold, but considering how starved I'll be for giant interstellar beasts by March 9th I'll be lapping this up.

March 16 – "Wrath of the Titans"

A sequel nobody asked for by a director nobody likes. I have a theory. The theory is that this is actually gonna be a great deal of poppish, breezy fun. Let's wait and see.

March 23 – "The Hunger Games"

Lionsgate

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure it's gonna be great. And I'm also sure there's a good chance there's a girl who named her cat Haymitch who'll want to go with you. Just be true to yourself and be sure to make a few loud references to Kinji Fukasaku's "Battle Royale" on line.

April 23 – "Cabin in the Woods"

Here's another one I've been lucky enough to see and I can tell you that IT IS AWESOME. This Whedon-penned film starts off as just another really clever horror flick, but then they peel the curtain back and OHMYGOD you have no idea how awesome this gets. Josh Lyman from "The West Wing" steals the show – and that's nothing I ever expected to saywithout the influence of drugs or alcohol.

May 4 – "The Avengers," Excuse me, "Marvel's The Avengers."

I'm still waiting for the great big "fooled you!" on this one. Never in the history of modern cinema has there been a crescendo of big
budget films leading to a team-up like this. I hope they say "Assemble" like five hundred times.

May 11 – "Dark Shadows"?

I dunno. Go see "Avengers" again.

May 18 – "Battleship"

Film 44

Oy. Go see "Avengers" again.

May 25 – "Men in Black III"

The most troubled production in recent history had had an unprecedented amount of reshoots. But the first “MIB” was a landmark
and the second one was fun, too. (Probably. I don't really remember that one too well.) Fingers crossed on this one, I want it to be good.

June 1 – "Snow White and the Huntsman"

This has one of the best teaser trailers out there right now. And in addition to great special effects and Charlize Theron looking spooky it has every British actor ever. It's like "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" with dwarves instead of intelligence agents.

June 8 – "Prometheus"

Excuse me, I need to clean up. I just thought about that trailer again. Here's the thing: Ridley Scott, at least on a visual level, is at the absolute top of his game right now. He just hasn't had a good script in a decade. Enter Damon Lindleof, a quasi-"Alien" prequel and Charlize Theron and Magneto and the original "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and it is shot in native 3-D and it explains the origin of the Space Jockey and hff...gfff...hfff. I need my asthma inhaler!

"Prometheus" is, very much, the most anticipated movie of 2012 on Planet Fanboy.

June 15 – "Jack the Giant Killer"

Meh.

Come back next Thursday for Part 2 of The Year in Fanboy — and come back every Thursday for more intergalactic musings on Planet Fanboy. Follow its fearless leader Jordan Hoffman on Twitter!

Taylor Kitsch is preparing for what he calls an "all or nothing" year — and from the sounds of it, he's leaning towards the nothing side of things, at least as far as his "John Carter" wardrobe goes.

"You just show up and you're like basically naked," Kitsch told Josh Horowitz in MTV's latest installment of their Ones to Watch in 2012. "It was just part of the character."

So what other secrets does he reveal about his, um, revealing roles in the upcoming films "John Carter," "Battleship" and "Savages?" Head to MTV and get the whole, naked truth.

Universal

2011 is almost at an end, but while we're sorry to say goodbye to a year that brought us so many great films, we're just as excited for what the future brings us. After all, "Harry Potter" might be over, but "The Dark Knight Rises," 'The Avengers," "The Hunger Games" and the final installment of "Twilight" are all on the horizon. And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to big blockbuster events.

So today, instead of looking back, let's look forward -- to the 50 movies we can't wait to see in 2012. Because we have a feeling that this might just be the best year for movies yet.

'The Woman in Black'

CBS Films

Release Date: February 3
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, Ciaran Hinds
The Scoop: Daniel Radcliffe may have spent the last 10 years as the Boy Who Lived, but in his first post-"Harry Potter" film he may just become the Man Who Dies. That's because "The Woman in Black" is a creepy gothic horror story based on the popular novel of the same name by author Susan Hill. Getting himself out from under "Harry Potter"s' long shadow is likely to be a tough task, but if he can survive this film -- both plot-wise and in terms of fan expectations -- Radcliffe may be with us for the long haul.

'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance'

Columbia Pictures

Release Date: February 17
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ciaran Hinds, Idris Elba
The Scoop: Five years ago, Nic Cage scored a surprise hit when he indulged his inner comic-book geek and made the low-budget, low-profile superhero/horror movie "Ghost Rider." Now he's back with a sequel that once again features him as stuntman Johnny Blaze, an unfortunate motorcycling guru who turns into a grim demon with a flaming skull whenever something needs avenging. Plot details are sketchy, but really, that's a bit beside the point, isn't it? Bonus: "Thor" supporting player Idris Elba pops up for another comic-book bit part. Someone get this guy a leading role already!

'Dr. Seuss' The Lorax'

Universal

Release Date: March 2
Starring: Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Danny DeVito
The Scoop: In terms of relevance, beloved Dr. Seuss story "The Lorax" is about as far from "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" as you can get, thanks to a timely ecological message about the importance of preserving the environment from man's destructive greed. Zac Efron and Taylor Swift provide the voices in this animated 3-D adaptation from the folks that brought the world "Despicable Me" last year. Now we know why they were so despicable -- they were cutting down the forest!

'Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters'

Getty Images

Release Date: March 2
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Peter Stormare
The Scoop: What happens when two kids get crammed into an oven by an evil witch bent on eating them up? Well, anyone who knows their fairy tales knows Hansel and Gretel eventually escape, but with "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton show how childhood trauma can lead to a lifetime of mental issues -- and some serious, deadly retribution. Imagine "Van Helsing" with a lot more gingerbread and you've got a pretty good idea what to expect from this one.

'John Carter'

Disney

Release Date: March 9
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds
The Scoop: A movie literally a hundred years in the making, "John Carter" adapts the series of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels about a Civil War casualty who finds himself inexplicably resurrected on the surface of Mars, where he lands in the middle of another bloody war between varying Martian factions. Played by "Friday Night Lights" star Taylor Kitsch, John Carter also learns that he possesses amazing powers of strength and endurance owing to the planet's lower gravity, allowing him to become an unlikely superhero. It will be interesting to see if this film can jumpstart a franchise, especially since it's directed by Pixar's Andrew Stanton, who previously helmed "Wall-E" and "Finding Nemo."

'21 Jump Street'

Columbia TriStar

Release Date: March 16
Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube
The Scoop: Back in the '80s, "21 Jump Street" became one of Fox Television's first big hits thanks to a catchy premise -- youthful looking cops are sent undercover into high schools to fight juvenile crime -- and a certain unknown actor named Johnny Depp. Two decades after the show ended, Jonah Hill has revived the franchise for this comedic take on the concept, with Channing Tatum playing his partner and Depp dropping in for an as-yet unknown cameo. Taking old TV hits and turning them into post-modern comedies has a pretty spotty history in Hollywood, but if anyone can do it, these guys can. You say "Jump Street"; we say "how high?"

'Mirror Mirror'

Relativity Media

Release Date: March 16
Starring: Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, Armie Hammer
The Scoop: Stars Lily Collins and Julia Roberts have their work cut out for them in this whimsical live-action take on the classic "Snow White" fairy tale. After all, "Snow White and the Huntsman" is also coming out in 2012, and it's been getting a lot of hype thanks to a certain someone named Kristen Stewart. Luckily, "Mirror Mirror" has a secret weapon, and no, we're not talking about slipping Stewart a poison apple; we're referring to director Tarsem Singh, who just wowed critics and audiences with the highly stylized action flick "Immortals." We're not sure this will be a hit, but with Singh giving "Mirror Mirror" his unique touch, we know one thing: It will be memorable, one way or another.

'The Hunger Games'

Lionsgate

Release Date: March 23
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth
The Scoop: There's not a lot left to say about "The Hunger Games." Arguably the most anticipated film of the year, "The Hunger Games" has a huge and devoted fan base thanks to the wildly popular series of novels from author Suzanne Collins. So most people already know the story, which means the question is whether stars Jennifer Lawrence (as lead Katniss Everdeen), Josh Hutcherson (hunky do-gooder Peeta Mellark) and Liam Hemsworth (broody hunter Gale) can live up to those expectations. And in that game, our money is most definitely on Lawrence to win.

Also Check Out: MTV's Movie Smackdown 2012

'American Reunion'

Universal

Release Date: April 6
Starring: Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott
The Scoop: It's been a long time since the original cast of "American Pie" actually starred in one of the seemingly endless spin-offs from the franchise -- you could build a fort out of the straight-to-DVD releases --  but this time the whole gang is back. Does "American" still have a hankering for some good old-fashioned pie buggery, or has the world moved on to bigger, better and less sticky things? Either way, it will be good to reunite with these old movie friends one more time.

'Titanic 3D'

Paramount

Release Date: April 6
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane
The Scoop: It might be hard to remember now, but back when James Cameron was filming "Titanic," most people in Hollywood thought it was going to be an epic disaster (no pun intended). And then his decision to spend over a decade working on the 3-D CGI technology for "Avatar"? Also expected to be a disaster. Well, if that’s the case, then maybe we should put Cameron in charge of FEMA, because those happen to be the two biggest box-office hits of all time -- and now he's taking the best of both worlds and combining them for a special "Titanic 3D" re-release. Does the world need such a thing? At this point, if Cameron says we need it, we're going to assume we need it. Get ready to swoon all over again.

'The Five-Year Engagement'

Universal

Release Date: April 27
Starring: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Mindy Kaling
The Scoop: Once upon a time, people got engaged and then, you know, got married. These days, though, getting and staying engaged for years at a time is not uncommon, which makes this the perfect time for Jason Segel's newest rom-com, "The Five-Year Engagement." Segel and Emily Blunt star as a couple that intends to get married but keeps having the big day pushed back by, you know, life. Anything that gets the "Muppets" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall' star back on the big screen  is good enough for us -- and if he wants to stay for five years, we wouldn't turn that down, either.

'The Avengers'

Marvel

Release Date: May 4
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson
The Scoop: The boldest blockbuster experiment in the history of Hollywood arrives at last when "The Avengers" hits the big screen. For the last few years, Marvel Studios has been meticulously setting the groundwork for the first real shared universe in movie history, and this is the result, with the stars of "Iron Man" (Robert Downy Jr.), "Thor" (Chris Hemsworth) and "Captain America" (Chris Evans) being joined by a new Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) for the most astonishing superhero adventure of all time. It doesn't get any bigger than this.

'Dark Shadows'

Warner Bros.

Release Date: May 11
Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green
The Scoop: Johnny Depp has a message for all you "Twilight," "Underworld' and "True Blood" fans: The granddaddy of the vampire craze is back to show you whippersnappers how it's really done. That would be one Barnabas Collins, who turned vampires into a pop craze way back in the 1960s on the cult-hit, gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows." Of course, you don't need to know anything about ancient TV history to get psyched for this one; all you need to know is that "Dark Shadows" is directed by the legendary Tim Burton and stars Depp as a vampire. Let the lesson begin.

'The Dictator'

Paramount

Release Date: May 11
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, John C. Reilly
The Scoop: Following the controversial madness (and comedic genius) of "Borat" and the even more over-the-top (and more controversial) "Bruno," there's pretty much nothing Sacha Baron Cohen can do anymore that will shock people, right? Well ... funny thing. "The Dictator," which Paramount describes as "the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed," is reportedly based on a novel written by Saddam Hussein. We might be watching this one from between the fingers we have covering our eyes, but we'll be watching.

'Battleship'

Universal

Release Date: May 18
Starring: Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson, Taylor Kitsch
The Scoop: "Clue" proved you could make a movie out of a board game, but we're still a little surprised by "Battleship," which is a big (really big) budget adaptation of the classic naval strategy game. Taylor Kitsch stars as a kid trying to make good in front of his new commanding officer (Liam Neeson) -- a guy who just happens to also be his future father-in-law. That sounds bad, but it's not as bad as aliens invading Earth's seas, which is what happens next. So will Hollywood manage to sink this "Battleship"? You'll have to wait until M-18 to find out.

'Men in Black III'

Sony

Release Date: May 25
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin
The Scoop: Back in the '90s, "Men in Black" was one of the biggest franchises around. Somewhere along the way, though, the series slipped through the cracks -- until now. Yes, 10 years after the last installment, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back with their jokey take on alien invasions. This time around, there's a new twist: time travel, which gives Josh Brolin a chance to bust out the most dead-on Jones impersonation ever as the younger version of Agent K. Hey, if that's the result, we wish we'd get invaded by aliens a lot more often.

MORE: 50 Movies We Can't Wait to See in 2012 - Page 2 >>

Disney

Everybody knows who Tarzan is, but how many folks these days remember Edgar Rice Burroughs' other pop culture creation, John Carter of Mars?

A hundred years ago, the story of a Civil War soldier who dies only to find himself reborn on Mars — where he has amazing strength and stamina due to the world's lower gravity — became a national sensation, but for now it's mostly forgotten.

Until today, that is. Because the first full length trailer for "John Carter" has just arrived and once you see it, we have a feeling you'll never forget John Carter again.

Not that Disney and director Andrew Stanton (who previously was responsible for the universally acclaimed Pixar feature "WALL-E") are relying on nostalgia to power their epic, which features "Friday Night Lights" star Taylor Kitsch in the lead role. No, they have a decidedly more modern tool at their disposal: CGI special effects. And since the story revolves around Carter joining forces with a band of four-armed alien warriors in a desperate war for Martian freedom, well, that's a pretty good thing as far as we're concerned.

So will "John Carter" the movie soar as much as John Carter the character does in the thin Martian atmosphere? Take a look at the full trailer — and see for yourself why this movie may have been worth waiting 100 years for.

Disney

Written by Edgar Rice Burroughs (yes, the guy who also brought the world "Tarzan"), "John Carter" tells the story of a man who, after the end of the Civil War, mysteriously finds himself transported to Mars, where he finds adventure, romance and rebellion among the people there.

It's a timeless epic -- and now, the film that has been a century in the making is at last coming to theaters, as the first "John Carter" trailer has arrived.

Starring "Friday Night Lights" standout Taylor Kitsch as the titular hero, "John Carter" boasts a pedigree worthy of it's storied past: featuring an all-star cast that also includes Willem Dafoe, Thomas Haden Church, James Purefoy, Mark Strong and Bryan Cranston, "John Carter" is the first live action film to be directed by Pixar powerhouse Andrew Stanton ("WALL-E," "Finding Nemo").

Add in the fact that the script was co-written by award-winning author Michael Chabon ("The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier & Clay") and you have what will surely be one of the film events of 2012.

And it starts now. So hang on to your hats, because the original sci-fi hero is here -- and if this trailer from Apple Trailers is any indication, we have a feeling he's going to be with us for a long time more to come: