First I’ve gotta talk about last week’s episode “Modern Warfare” which much like “Contemporary American Poultry” was a reference fest and pushed Community further down the runway toward that pool containing a shark. Let’s be clear: I don’t believe Community has jumped the shark yet. Yet. When they do, they will most likely put laser beams on said shark in an episode devoted to Bond, James Bond.

Side note: I am sick and tired of hearing Gene Wilder’s beautiful song “Pure Imagination” (from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) in that AT&T commercial only because the song is not available for purchase on iTunes and I have forgotten where you buy compact discs.

“Glee Club.” For some reason I never thought of Glee and Community as competitors though rather obviously the writers of Community do. I think they went a little overboard in their direct attacks of the popular (how often can you say this?) FOX sitcom but Community has never been one to pull any punches. It is funny to think that most of the Glee students will probably end up at community college…

Oh yeah, JEFF AND BRITTA DID IT! TOGETHER!

And now let’s discuss “ESL” also known as the episode with lots of Chang. Ken Jeong has been on a hot streak over the past couple of years, mostly in film, but I think he’s found his perfect fit on Community as Señor Ben Chang the Asian Spanish professor. No one was surprised when Chang revealed that he had no college degree as well as only a Sesame Street understanding of the Spanish language but that story line was the only interesting or entertaining story line of the episode. And really I’m talkin’ about the scenes between Jeff and Chang. Troy’s Good Will Hunting plumbing skillz was lame. Annie’s involvement in Señor Chang’s outing was bland. Dr. not Señor Chang was a wasted cameo opportunity (though it did give Pierce a chance to show how much he cares for the study group), which reminds me, where has John Michael Higgins been? Can we start an online petition? Or get some of those Chuck fans to do something at a Subway?

More Glee/Community talk: can we get Sue Sylvester and Señor Chang to meet?

“And now crickets”

Simpsons fan and talented artist Dean Fraser has been busy havin’ fun. Fraser has set up a blogspot where he posts his Simpsons-style characters, in his own words:

“The idea of doing fan art parodying some of my favorite characters and stars in such a fun and simple style got me hooked immediately. Some of these guys and gals have appeared on The Simpsons and I could just work from that, but most I had to do from scratch.

Go to the blog to see all of his work as I’m only going to share a few (of my favorites) here including Chuck Norris, William Wallace and James Bond.

The Rocketeer, Frank the rabbit (from Donnie Darko) and Edward Scissorhands

Napoleon Dynamite, Mr. Bean, Doc Brown and Marty McFly

And I have to include Dr. Tobias Funke, long live Arrested Development!!!

Pretty cool, huh?

Atomic Popcorn brings you yet another Top 10 Tuesday! This time we are bring you a list of some of the best chase scenes around. While most of us think about chase scenes involving cars, I have added a few to my list of chases without cars. While this list begs for more attention, I think i have highlighted some of the best there is, and I ask for your additions to this list.

I am aiming to have this column be something in which we can talk about and struggle with coming up with the best of the best for that Tuesday’s topic.

If you all have ideas for a top 10 list or want to see something specific send us an email at top10@atomicpopcorn.net and we will try and get it up here for you!

Without further ado – here is our Top 10 Chase Scenes. Enjoy!

10. Mad Max -What more can you say about this one, a true Gibson classic.

9. Matrix Reloaded – I can only find half of it online, but only half of it still garners a top 10 spot!

8. Gone in 60 seconds – This is the ORIGINAL baby!

7. Tranporter 3 Bike Chase – Yes I am well aware that this is on a bike and can’t possibly happen, but it’s fun as hell to watch.

6. Bullitt – Featuring Steve “badass” McQueen.

5. James Bond The Spy Who Loved Me – Skiing anyone? The Winter Olympics should be proud!

4. Enemy of the State – this still holds up as a great flick along with some great chase scenes. If you can find the full chase scene let me know -

3. Casino Royale – Madagascar in HD! Enjoy it.

2. Italian Job – chase scene -The Original !

1. Ronin – watch and have fun!

Recently I asked you who your favorite big screen werewolf was and that got me thinkin’ about some other popular characters portrayed by multiple leading men in the movies. This discussion must always start with the character of agent 007 James Bond, best played by Sean Connery. Other popular Bonds were Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore while Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby aren’t

remembered so fondly for their portrayal of the famous secret agent. Currently carrying the torch and ordering shaken martinis is Daniel Craig who seems to make a lot of people happy; I prefer him on the other side of the law as he was in Layer Cake and Road to Perdition.

Then there’s Dracula, or vampires in general. The list of actors who have played a vampire on film is a long one. So here are a few that come to mind, please remind me of any as I’ll most definitely leave some out – Leslie Nielsen (Dracula: Dead and Loving It), Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise (Interview with the Vampire), Willem Dafoe (Shadow of the Vampire),  Robert Pattinson (Twilight), Bela Lugosi (Dracula), Gary Oldman (1992′s Dracula), Frank Langella (1979′s Dracula), Christopher Lee (1970′s Count Dracula), and Kiefer Sutherland (The Lost Boys). Needless to say, all of these guys suck, but who is your favorite?

Second in big-screen adaptation popularity to Dracula is  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes who, along with Dracula, has been in the movies since the very beginning. Personally I’ve got a John Barrymore’s Sherlock Holmes (1922) waiting for me on my DVR, which I recorded after seeing Robert Downey Jr. play the part this past Christmas. I also watched a slew of Sherlock films from the late 1930s into the 40s starring Basil Rathbone, the man most of us think of when we imagine Holmes. Robert Stephens played the part of Holmes in what I consider to be one of the worst Holmes films The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Probably the most popular Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles has seen many leading men including Peter Cushing (1959) and Peter Cook (1978) in the role of Holmes. My favorite Holmes adaptation is Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective (1986) starring Barrie Ingham’s Basil of Baker Street as a Holmes-like mouse.

Another Hollywood mainstay that’s been around almost as long as Sherlock and Dracula is Robin Hood. Russell Crowe will be slinging arrows this May in theaters as Robin Hood. My favorite Hood is a tie between Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Disney’s foxy 1973 adaptation voiced by Brian Bedford. Douglas Fairbanks first wore the tights and feathered cap in 1922′s Robin Hood followed by Errol Flynn in 1938′s Robin Hood. Mel Brooks didn’t play the part but he did direct Cary Elwes as he had fun with the part in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. One Hood adaptation that I’ve not seen and as a native Texan am dying to see is Gene Autry’s 1947 Robin Hood of Texas! I can only imagine…

Honorable mention goes to Batman and Superman, both qualify for this discussion but I really don’t think either are very interesting as the best/worst in each case are pretty black and white. Don’t agree with me? Say so!

Not long ago, we told you about MGM’s impending financial crisis which threatened the life of the company, as well as the franchises that MGM holds. It seems that the situation has only gotten more dire for the studio: Variety is reporting that they will essentially be auctioning off all of their assets within the next several weeks.

This could mean a variety of things for the 85 year old studio. One studio may grab the rights to their name and lion roar, while another may purchase some or all of the 4,000 titles in their catalog. It’s very likely, though, that we’ll see one of the big dogs like Time Warner grab much of what is at stake.

According to Variety, “some specialists in film libraries consider its list of titles to be geriatric.” This seems to be hogwash; there is plenty of value and enticing properties within MGM. I mean, come on. They own Doctor Zhivago. Classics remain classics despite their age.

MGM still stands a chance of perhaps pulling through, but it doesn’t seem likely. Its two heavy hitting franchises, The Hobbit and the James Bond series, are strong enough to pull through this disaster and find homes elsewhere. And remember: any property being acquired by another studio means that a new life and new spin on them could be put into place.

Disaster can breed creativity and spin things into new directions. It’s only a matter of time before we see what becomes of MGM’s properties.

Well, it may not have been the most in-depth update, but being the star of the film I think we can trust what Daniel Craig tells us.

Craig is currently starring in the Broadway production of A Steady Rain with fellow Hollywood star Hugh Jackman. After a recent performance, Craig was graciously signing autographs for fans waiting outside the stage door exit when he was asked the question we’re all curious about: When do we get to see 007 back in action?

In a brief yet direct response, Craig informed the fan that they’re going to begin filming James Bond 23 at the end of next year.

It’s not much to go on, but considering that MGM’s financial issues presented the possibility of bankruptcy, it’s reassuring to hear from Mr. Bond himself that the movie is still taking place.

The script for Craig’s 3rd Bond performance is still being worked on, and James Bond 23 is still without a director, but if what Craig said is true, MGM has over a year to get everything tied together to start filming.

Yesterday, a large conference call took place between MGM executives and bondholders in which the former “made a desperate plea for money because the studio had missed its numbers and was going to be out of funds very soon.”

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, MGM may be on the verge of bankruptcy — at least, that’s what an initial glance at this plea seems to indicate. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producer and distributor behind The Hobbit, the James Bond film franchise and the upcoming Fame and The Cabin in the Woods (along with a large catalog of classics), is said by a source to need “an additional $150 million to get through the end of year and continue funding its projects, and to start Peter Jackson’s Hobbit.”

The only semi-productive avenue for the bondholders seemed to be allowing MGM to slip into bankruptcy and collecting their funds, which would essentially (amongst other disastrous consequences) deprive MGM of the 007 franchise and The Hobbit, along with many other tentpole franchises they own the rights to.

This would be a crippling blow to both MGM and fans — the next entry in the Daniel Craig series of James Bond films is a highly-awaited blockbuster, while The Hobbit has a built-in fan base the likes of which few properties hold. Without these two alone, MGM might as well fade into dust.

For now, MGM is in the process of “formally asking for forbearance,” which will delay this gloom and doom scenario while MGM restructures itself. Fingers crossed that they get their act together, without the repercussions of bankruptcy.

More updates as this situation unfolds.

'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' (C) Warner Bros.

Online ticket sales for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince have been huge and are outpacing the top-grossing movie of the summer –a little film entitled Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

According to the online ticket merchant Fandango, more than 1,000 showings of Harry Potter 6 have already sold-out and has become one of the fastest-selling films in the company’s nine-year history. Currently, Potter represents 96% of total sales for the online firm.

“Harry is tracking to match last year’s juggernaut, The Dark Knight, in advance ticket sales,” said Fandango COO Rick Butler. “Showtimes are selling out at a very fast pace, and it’s clear that the film’s wider blockbuster appeal, solid word-of-mouth and positive Internet buzz on Half-Blood Prince are helping fuel the demand.”

The Harry Potter franchise is also looking to become the highest-grossing series in history, bypassing the long-running James Bond series. The past five Potter films have grossed $4.48 billion wordwide, putting the boy wizard story right story behind the beloved spy series which is holding onto the record with $5 billion.

The first installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, debuted at the box office in 2001, while James Bond has been saving damsels and fighting madmen since 1962 in Dr. No. The franchise currently has 22 films to its name.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is due out in theaters tomorrow.

While you wait, here’s the review.