You certainly don’t need me to tell you that Michael Jackson died on Thursday. I have to admit: This one hit me pretty hard, even though there’s a big part of me that would rather believe Jacko died back in 1988 or so.

We’ve spent more than a few inches of print space on Michael over the years, and I can say that I consider “Off the Wall” and “Thriller” to be two of the best ass-shaking good time records ever recorded.

I remember hearing “Billie Jean” for the first time, riding in the backseat of a car with some friends (on the way to who knows where) and arguing if it was a girl or boy singing (give me a break, I was 10). I sang it incessantly until the utter face-melting glory of “Beat It” was unleashed upon the world. I’ve been a die-hard Michael fan ever since. Sure, he lost me about the time of “Dangerous”, but damn those singles still snuck into my head each time I heard them. To this day I’ll defend “Moonwalker” for nothing else than giving us the “Smooth Criminal” video, which might be last time he really just blew us away with that effortless grace in motion. MJ made this awkward gangly tangly boy want to dance, and that’s saying something.

Hell, “Black and White” still pops into my head on occasion. I bought “Invincible“, for heaven’s sake; hoping, hoping, hoping that it’d have even a trace of that genius Michael left behind. Over the years I went back and discovered the almost effortless joy and power of the Jackson 5, always just floored at how much power and grit that little boy’s voice had at 11 years old. “I Want You Back” is a guaranteed smile on my face to this day by the time the first verse begins.

But at the end of the day there will always be “Off the Wall“. Holy crap, but I love that album. I don’t know ANYONE who can wholly resist movin’ when ‘Rock With You’ or ‘Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough’ comes over the speakers, and it’s been the soundtrack to many a fine dance party at this, and every iteration of Fort Awesome.

It’s with a heavy heart that I say “G’night”, to Micheal at aged 50, but in some ways many fans like myself said it years ago. Even now I look past the freakish surgeries, the insane behavior, the allegations (that I suspect are truer than I’d like to believe), and see a man who effortless bridged the gap between soul, funk, pop, and rock. A troubled and talented soul who for all his faults, will always have those years of genius preserved for eternity.

G’night, Michael. Fade into that beautiful fog-filled laser hallway because you, at long last have gotten enough.

NPR’s Linda Holmes has taken some flack around the internets for her recent plea to Pixar to make a film which centers around a strong female character:

“So I’m not complaining; I’m asking. I’m asking because I think so highly of you.”

“I want so much for girls to have a movie like Up that is about someone they can dress up as for Halloween, as Anika Noni Rose said about starring as the voice in The Princess And The Frog. Not a girl who’s a side dish, but a girl who’s the big draw.”

“And I’d really, really like it not to be a princess.”

Let’s just say response to her article has been mixed, including those who have trumpeted her cause and some who have diagrammed cliffs for her to jump off. I have to agree she’s got a fair point, which is a bit surprising when you think of how many classic Disney films were centered around female characters (be they princesses or not), and yet Pixar is only now working on its first.

Three little nuggets of movie news for you today. The first shot of Mickey Rourke as Whiplash in Iron Man 2 has hit the ‘net. Pretty rough looking (and I’m a little scared we’re going to get robot mash action to end the sequel, again). Also worth noting:

Jaime King has been chosen by her real-life husband to star as Bridget Bardot in an upcoming biopic. Despite some misgivings I must concede the resemblance.

And finally, much to the dismay of Buffy fans, The Flickcast is reporting Megan Fox as a possibility for the title role in the upcoming Whedon-less remake of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kill me. Kill me now.

Although reports vary on the exact number (106 or 109) one thing is certain, the kids from Berwick, Maine, have set a new world record for the largest school group dressed as up a super-heroes in one room. The costumed heroes gathered to shatter the Guinness World Record of 103 by a university in the UK that has already announced plans to defend their title. The costumes varied from Zorro, Hulk, and Wonder Woman, to the Diva Girls.

And all my teachers even did was teach me reading, writing, and arithmetic!

When you repeatedly ask, order, cajole, and plead with strangers to burn down the local theater you can’t act surprised when someone actually strikes the match, and you can’t feign ignorance. In the case George Tiller, a Kansas doctor who has repeatedly been attacked over the years for performing late-term abortions, Bill O’Reilly, and several other FOX News pundits, labeled the man a baby killer and demanded he be stopped. And this past weekend he was. Tiller was shot while serving as an usher in his local church by a right-wing extremist in an action which FOX News has denied any involvement or complicity.

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann decided he had finally had enough. The man who used turn a funny phrase in giving out the latest SportsCenter highlights stepped back from his own entertaining newsman pundit persona to lay the facts of the situation bare and call for an immediate calling on the carpet of FOX News for what he views as their contributing influence to the murder. In a rather Murrow-esque moment Olbermann called for the quarantine and boycott of FOX News and any businesses which supports them, or, as he sees it, their agenda. Whether or not people can support this position, or even take Olbermann seriously, who has been in his own heated public battle with FOX over the past few years, remains to be seen.

Keith Oblemann calls for a Quarantine of FOX News

Finally some movie casting I like! Seems there’s some buzz around the internets about the fact that more casting has been made for Marvel’s upcoming Thor directed by Kenneth Branagh. We’d already heard that Chris Hemsworth was set to play the God of Thunder and Tom Hiddleston had been cast as Loki, but now it seems like the role of Odin has been offered to Brian Blessed. Brian FREAKIN’ Blessed! Okay Marvel, you found a way to get me excited about this project, and not just because it gives me an excuse to share the following clip from Flash Gordon. DIVE!

“You know that you did a good job of drinking the night before when you wake up someplace that you don’t recognize and the first question that you ask yourself is, ‘Wasn’t I wearing underwear last night?’”

As some of you may, or may not, know our pals over at Scene-Stealers recently ran a ticket giveaway for an advanced screening of The Hangover. To win contestants simply needed to share their best hangover/drunk/Vegas stories.

The results are funny, and more than a little disturbing.

If you missed your chance to win free tickets, and share your shameful drunken escapades, you do still have a chance to grab yourself and autographed poster of the film.

We’ve spent a little time talking about The Brothers Bloom over the past few days. Mr. Sprarkle shared his interview with director Rian Johnson, I commented on the adorable nature of it’s leading lady, and you may have noticed I posted my review for the film earlier this morning. Our pal Eric from Scene-Stealers also saw the film (liking it a tad more than I did), and he also sat down recently with the Brick director to discuss his latest project.

Nerdom is all a’twitter with the news that the rights holder to the original “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” film is looking to make another film - without Joss Wheadon’s input or involvement. That’s…. that’s just crazy talk.

Now don’t get me wrong - I’m not the world’s biggest Joss Wheadon fan. In fact I’ll go on record saying that the only work he’s produced that I actually truly loved from beginning to end was his 25 issue Astonishing X-Men run (which still managed to piss me off by being way off schedule half the time), but seriously? A Buffy film not helmed, written, or even consulted on by the man responsible for the whole damn thing? Well done, Hollywood. Well done. Why not “Godfather 4″, written and directed by McG?

Though I do have to make one point about any nerd furor - As EW states (after laying out how successful the Buffyverse comics have been earlier in the article): .

“Clearly, Joss has more Buffy stories to tell. Why not let him?”

I can answer that: Because outside of a small handful of issues, the Buffy Season Eight series has been putting the ‘meh’ in medium for about 18 months.

13 Seems like a lucky number, at least for some. Good news for Chuck fans as NBC has announced it will be picked-up for 13 new episodes. Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse gets a similar renewal from FOX. Also adding to my happy is the news that ABC has renewed Nathan Fillion’s Castle along with bringing Scrubs back for one more year. The fate of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, thankfully, looks bleaker than post-apocalyptic future depicted in the new film (yeah we’ve seen it, check back later in the week for our take). Other shows looking like they’re about to take the long trip down the green mile include the CW’s Reaper and the short-lived The Unusuals. You can read about the rest of the FOX Uprfronts here. Both ABC and NBC will release their full schedules tomorrow, with CBS following on Wednesday.