You know that saying, ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me’ … well, in Hollywood, where reputation and success are everything, you could easily argue the mantra for talent should be ‘Turn me down once, shame on you. Turn me down twice …’

Enter Mark Wahlberg, who may be trolling for a role in director JJ Abrams upcoming film, some project tentatively titled Star Wars: Episode VII, after turning down a role in Abrams forthcoming sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness.

In an article posted at Blastr.com, Wahlberg, who recently signed on for the next Transformers movie, revealed that he turned down the opportunity to play James T. Kirk’s father in the 2009 Star Trek film.

“I tried to read the script. I couldn’t … I didn’t understand the words or the dialogue or anything,” Wahlberg said while promoting his new film, Broken City. “I said ‘I couldn’t do this. I think you’re really talented, but I couldn’t do it.’ And then I saw the movie and I was like ‘Holy s$@#, he did a great job.’ ”

According to the post, Wahlberg was asked what he thought about Abrams taking the helm of the new Star Wars film … which naturally leads to the next question: If he asked you to be in Episode VII, would you do it?

“I probably wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to work with J.J. again, so if he wanted me to do something that I couldn’t fully understand, I would probably give it a shot,” he said.

Now, actors trolling for roles, especially in Episode VII, is an almost daily occurrence on social media outlets these days. But this is an interesting prospect given that Wahlberg still has some serious box office cred. He’d be an interesting Talon Karrde, don’t you think?

Or maybe an interesting Imperial warlord.

Hmmm ….

Wayne Chamberlain is the co-host of the Star Wars Book Report podcast, available on iTunes, and a contributing writer with Postmedia News and Canada.com.

Earlier today Super Hero Hype released an exclusive photograph of the new costume from Amazing Spider-Man. It looks like they are moving towards a hybrid of Amazing Spider-Man, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man. I love it. While I think the gold sunglasses made sense in the Amazing Spider-Man, I am glad to see the white back for this next movie.

It also looks like the silk screen texture is closer to the Sam Raimi’s costume, which has a bit of nostalgia for me. The fact the eyes are more expressive, similar to Ultimate Spider-Man is also very awesome. I am excited for this movie. Hopefully they iron out some of the issues they had during production of the Amazing Spider-Man. What do you think of the costume?

To Catch a Thief stars Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, and is (at least in title and in theme) the inspiration for Saturday’s episode of The Clone Wars, To Catch a Jedi. This charming comedy/caper was Cary Grant’s third outing with director Alfred Hitchcock and casts him as a retired jewelry thief known as “The Cat” who struggles to maintain his innocence after a ring of copycat burglaries.

After the ending of the last episode of The Clone Wars, The Jedi Who Knew Too Much, it’s rather obvious where the plot of this film will most likely fit into the inspiration for the next episode of The Clone Wars.

After being framed for an assassination and the murder of almost half a dozen clones, Ahsoka flees custody. Early trailers and descriptions of the next episode imply that she’ll be working hard to both prove her innocence and capture the force user who set her up.

There’s nothing funny or charming about the situation, so I think it’s safe to say that The Clone Wars won’t be matching the tone of To Catch a Thief, which is a breezy film, much less intense than some of the more taut Hitchcock fare. This was really a stepping stone for Hitchcock and Grant to get to the perfect balance of suspense and charm in their next collaboration, North by Northwest.

To help clear his name, Robie (Cary Grant’s character) teams up with an attractive heiress who quickly turns into his love interest. I don’t see Ahsoka teaming up with a romantic foil (though Lux might not be far behind), but Asajj Ventress has featured prominently in the advertising for the next episodes. She’s no heiress, but she is attractive.

The love interest in To Catch a Thief is played by Grace Kelly, in her final performance for Alfred Hitchcock. It’s amazing how good he was at photographing her. In every movie she did for him (particularly Rear Window) she’s especially breathtaking. It’s too bad she didn’t make more movies and it’s too bad she died so young, so tragically.

The thing I’d expect to feature in this next episode, inspired by To Catch a Thief, other than the basic premise, would be a stunning rooftop chase. In order to catch the thief, Robie stakes out a rooftop and pursues his impostor. There’s a spotlight and dizzying heights, though part of the chase in the last episode could have easily been taken as an homage for that, too.

The other thing is the lighting:

This feels very Clone Wars, and I’m sure Joel Aron can find a thousand great things about the lighting in this film. I’m sure he could find a thousand things wrong with it, too, but that’s a different story.

This is a great film and I had fun watching it with my son. It’s certainly worth revisiting for any reason, but watching it before the next episode of The Clone Wars would be an excellent idea. It might not be the best Hitchcock film, and not even close to my favorite of his Cary Grant collaborations, but it’s a lot of fun to watch.

It is not currently streaming on Netflix, but it is on Amazon Prime’s free streaming service.

Ender’s Ansible got a nice exclusive from the Ender’s Game movie showing Ender and Petra, as well as the scoreboard for the games.

If you follow through to their link, they’ve highlighted 11 things that are of note, including Dink Meeker, Bonzo, and a variety of other fascinating things.

This long awaited film is directed by Gavin Hood and scheduled for release in November of this year. Harrison Ford is playing Col. Graf.

I’m incredibly excited about this film even though the source material was written by Orson Scott Card, an irrational homophobe. It was one of my favorite books growing up and I’m dying to see the film. Card himself has been the subject of a boycott for his work with DC Comics. I wonder if his deviant politics will play a part in the box office returns of this film as well.

Relentless. Exciting. Epic.

These are the words cast and crew of the upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness feature are using to describe the film in a first look featurette that Paramount Pictures has released on YouTube.

You can check it out here:

The film, which hits theatres on May 17, just looks better and better with each clip that’s teased out by the studio. Throw in Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain and director JJ Abrams getting better and more comfortable with helming big, story-driven effects films (which bodes well for Star Wars Episode VII, we hope) and I don’t know that sci-fi fans can get more excited for what promises to be one of these signature popcorn films of 2013.

Are you ready to beam up for this one?

The reader of the John Williams Fan Network attended a John Williams concert and he stopped before playing a bit of Star Wars music to tell the audience:

“We’re about to play Star Wars [audience interrupts with cheers] and each time we play it, I’m reminded of the first time we played it decades ago.  Neither I, nor George, nor anyone else involved thought this would go far or in a few years there would be a sequel and I’d have to revisit the themes…and years later another trilogy.  Now we’re hearing of a new set of movies coming in 2015, 2016…so I need to make sure I’m still ready to go in a few years for what I hope would be continued work with George…[more cheers].”

The bridge of the Enterprise is just one of many areas of the starship players can explore in the upcoming Star Trek: The Video Game.

Star Trek video game fans have a little more than two months before they’ll be able to virtually explore the U.S.S. Enterprise in more detail than ever before, according to the executive producer of the forthcoming Star Trek: The Video Game.

“One of the great joys of video games is the opportunity to take audiences to places that are only hinted at in traditional film and TV projects,” said Brian Miller, senior vice-president of Paramount Pictures and the game’s executive producer. “Giving gamers the opportunity to explore the U.S.S. Enterprise is one of the more exciting aspects of our video game and one that we can’t wait to share with Star Trek fans and gamers worldwide.”

And while being able to virtually go through the iconic areas of James T. Kirk’s starship should prove to be a cool experience, the fact is this game will sink or swim based on how much story and action is packed into its code.

According to Miller, you will play as Kirk and Spock, doing battle against the Gorn – which is a whole lot of awesome all on its own. The reptilian race is iconic in itself and is a nice bone for the fans to chew on. The Gorn were the enemy first introduced in the classic 1967 Star Trek TV episode Arena.

As you fight your way through the story, gamers will venture deep into the ship, exploring locations like the bridge, transporter room and engine room, as well as turbolift shafts, the observation lounge, engineering decks and officer’s quarters.

“The Enterprise is not just a ship – she is one of the most important characters in all of Star Trek. Our goal from day one was to make sure that the Enterprise looks, feels and even sounds as true to life as anything players have ever seen,” Miller said.

A look at the trailer (see below) shows the game is a shooter and it clearly looks as if the action is being influenced by J.J. Abrams’ overhaul of the beloved sci-fi franchise. With some run-and-gun phaser action, Abrams’ attempt to inject a little more of a Star Wars sensibility into Star Trek looks to have carried over to this game, which is being published by Namco Bandai Games.

For this bot, that’s a good thing. Star Trek games have often been too laid back and boring. My personal No. 1 Trek gaming title was Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force, a first-person shooter in which you played as a member of Capt. Janeway’s crew and did battle with the Borg. Now, I’m a shooter fan and I love nothing more than strapping on a virtual weapon and blasting baddies. But if this game can find a way to combine some great action with a deep, engaging story and immersive environments, this could be a win-win scenario for gamers and Trek fans.

Now, let’s see what’s out there …

Star Trek: The Video Game will hit store shelves April 23 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Wayne Chamberlain is the co-host of the Star Wars Book Report podcast, available on iTunes, and a contributing writer with Postmedia News and Canada.com.

Tomorrow’s episode of The Clone Wars is called “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much,” with the title quite blatantly homaging Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”

I’m not sure how much tomorrow’s episode is going to borrow from either Hitchcock film of the same name, but it’s as good a reason as any to revisit the films in advance of the episodes. Last week, I did the same thing with Alfred Hitchcock’s Sabotage. This evening, I rewatched the more-recent Jimmy Stewart/Doris Day version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”

The film centers around a family of three touring French Morocco after a medical conference. Very quickly they befriend a Frenchman, who is promptly murdered and revealed as a spy. With his final breaths he reveals an assassination plot to Jimmy Stewart, and then the bad guys abduct his child in a bid to keep him quiet until the assassination wears off.

There’s a lot to love about this film and a lot to wonder about being incorporated into The Clone Wars. But the central theme in most of Hitchcock’s films is about someone uninvolved in a particular plot being dragged in against their will. James Stewart is drawn into the assassination plot and has no where to turn. The police can’t help him because his son is as good as dead if he talks. He’s left to piece together the clues on his own and save his son.

My guess is that this next episode of The Clone Wars is going to throw Ahsoka in that same direction. She’s going to find a knife in someone’s back and get blackmailed into playing a part she has no desire to play. Then, she’ll chase down every clue to save the day and clear her own name.

But it won’t be that easy.

We’ll see how things play out tomorrow.

My favorite thing about the crew from The Clone Wars is that they released the titles of these episodes. Then astute film-lovers like myself can use it as an excuse to watch these films with my son. He watched “The Man Who Knew Too Much” with me, and was engrossed by every second of it. He seemed to identify with the son of Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day. And I can’t tell you how proud it makes me of my boy, watching him put together pieces of cinema and comprehend them. Then, he’ll get excited and make predictions and proclamations about who’s doing what and why, or what might happen next.

The Clone Wars is helping me expand his film horizons and it’s been fantastic.

In fact, after watching this film, he had his own prediction about tomorrow’s episode of The Clone Wars. “I know where this is going. The Separatists are going to hold Ahsoka hostage and Anakin and Obi-wan will be like Jimmy Stewart (that’s his name, right?) and his wife. You think they’ll have to sing?”

We’ll be back tomorrow to discuss what they really used, but I like his idea the best so far.

Latino-Review announced on the latino imprint of Fox News that they have exclusive information that Harrison Ford is back to be Han Solo.

Here’s the video, and a transcript of the scoop:

El Mayimbe: Back in November, Harrison Ford said he was open to the idea of returning as Han Solo. Well, it’s official. Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Han Solo in the new Star Wars movies.

Fox Anchor: Which is a big deal…

El Mayimbe: That is huge.

El Mayimbe said that he double and triple checked his confirmations from legitimate sources. He then implied the deal is done, formalities are all that’s left, then an announcement.

I’ll be honest, I generally trust reports from Latino-Review, they have a good track record. What I’m not comfortable with are reports based solely on “unnamed sources.” Especially when Star Wars is so big and so many outlets report so much bad information because they can’t consider the source or seem to tell fact from fiction.

If Harrison Ford is back though, I’m very happy about this. I know I’ve been a big proponent of the idea that Han should have died in Return of the Jedi, but that’s not what happened. These movies are what’s happening.

I can already hear devotees of the Expanded Universe seeing a movie with Han Solo and screaming about how he’d do things differently in the books, but the books are moot at this point.

We’ll see how this develops. If an announcement happens, we’ll be there.

Die Hard. The name connotes testosterone-fueled action movies that inspired many imitators, including a slew of sequels, and not many that lived up to the original. The fifth film in the franchise finds NYPD cop John McClane heading to Moscow to hunt down his wayward son, who has landed himself in Russian prison. But things are not as they seem, as the younger John McClane is involved in a convoluted undercover operation to try to retrieve sensitive information from a Russian political prisoner.  But none of that really matters, does it? We want a Die Hard movie for a few things: cowboy references, explosive mayhem, gunplay, and John McClane getting progressively more beat up and bloodied throughout the ordeal.

Basically, if you like Die Hard movies, you’re going to like this movie. If you don’t, then you’re probably not going to. And cue “Ode to Joy” and we’re off…

So what does it say that this film is released the week of Valentine’s Day as an obvious attempt to counter-program the new Nicholas Sparks film and other lovey-dovey treacle? Can we assume the film doesn’t exactly stand on its own, lest it would get a summer tentpole release?

Well, a little. This movie works when it is a balls-to-the-wall action flick. While a little self-aware, its loving nods and homages to the earlier films is a smart move.

But it has faults as well. Some of the action is so frenetic, especially an early car chase through the streets of Moscow, that it makes it harder to follow what is going on. It telegraphs some pretty obvious moves, likely because someone somewhere decided that subtlety and foreshadowing would not get through to a lot of the brain dead zombies who just want to see stuff get blowed up pretty.

But its biggest problem is it has to tack on this sappy father-son psychodrama which is almost unbearable.

“Oh it’s so hard being your son.” “No, it’s hard being your father.”

**twenty minutes later**

“Well, now that we’ve killed some bad guys together, we’re all better.” “Yay! Let’s go kill more bad people.”

Boooooo.

There’s still a lot to love. The plot is fun enough, with enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. It’s good to have an R-rated Die Hard again, especially with a few of the more violent bits. Nothing beats a good death by helicopter rotor or Die Hard trademark villains falling from incredible heights with the look of terror on their faces. It is good to pair John McClane with someone who can keep up with him, in this case Jai Courtney, who fans of Spartacus: Blood and Sand may recognize. I love Justin Long, but he was not the best sidekick. And I mentioned the car chase– I should qualify that. It’snot so much cars as an MRAP armored truck.  And Rusophiles like myself will appreciate the excellent Russian dialogue– Jai Courtney even passes for being fluent. Everyone else will probably get annoyed by having to read so many subtitles.

Still, in terms of the franchise, this film rates squarely in the middle of all of them. It’s not as good as the original or Die Hard With a Vengeance, but it is better than Die Harder and Live Free or Die Hard, but not by too much. Bruce Willis and the producers have expressed interest with making a final Die Hard 6 as a way to end the series. Here’s hoping they knock that one of the park, as this one is only above par.

2 1/2 stars.