Ah, it pays to have friends in the right places I tell you. While Santa and his team of elves prepare to launch their sleigh in two days, we’ve got our own early Christmas present to share with you: confirmation that two highly anticipated sequels will start filming next year in that land close to the North Pole, Canada. Specifically, a town by the name of Vancouver, British Columbia will be the place where the sequel to Twilight, New Moon, and Tron 2, the sequel to the groundbreaking 1982 special effects movie will shoot in 2009.

MovieSet has learned that both high profile projects will film in the ‘couver. Tron 2, or Tr2n, or Tron 2.0 (the title seems to change from month to month) will start filming in April under the direction of Joseph Kosinski, a music video/commercial helmer. It’s looking good for original Tron star Jeff Bridges to reprise his role as video game programmer Kevin Flynn in the movie. Already two cast members have been announced: Olivia Wilde and Beau Garrett, with the former actress playing a worker in the cyberspace world and the latter cast as a game siren.

New Moon, the second chapter in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, is scouting locations in Vancouver for an anticipated spring start date. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will both return in their roles as the vampire Edward and the human beauty Bella. However, as mentioned in earlier reports published by this blog, director Catherine Hardwicke will not be back to direct the new film. Instead Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) will fulfill that function.

As we learn more about these two hot films The MovieSet Blog will keep you informed, especially if we encounter any lightcycles or sparkly vampires afoot.

Jennifer Lopez has signed on to her first new movie project since giving birth to twins two years ago. The Latin music sensation and crossover Hollywood actress will headline Plan B, a new romantic comedy for CBS Films.

In the new movie J-Lo will play a woman who is desperate to start a family but is tired of waiting for true love to come knocking at her door. She winds up getting artificially inseminated and on the very day when she discovers that she is pregnant, she winds up meeting the man of her dreams. As Forrest Gump once told me, “Life is like a box of chocolates. One day you pick a chocolate that you really like and the next day you find out that you’re knocked up with some stranger’s kid which puts a crink in your dating schedule.” Oh, you were so right Forrest, so so right.

What comes next for the project is to secure a director and then move towards the first day of filming, which is being targeted for March or April next year.

Remember that auction for all those wonderful, one-of-a-kind items from dozens and dozens of Hollywood movies from the past 80 years? It took place yesterday and several of the lots that went up for bid actually went for quite a bit more than what was estimated, like that little doohickey from a galaxy far, far away. How much did the hero prop of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber from the original 1977 Star Wars movie go for? It wasn’t for $180,000 which is what the high estimate was.

Try $240,000.

Who says that there’s a recession going on?

Other items that went for more than what was originally thought:

The C-3PO helmet worn by Anthony Daniels in Return of the Jedi, estimated for a high bid of $60k, rolled off for double that amount: $120,000.

Marlon Brando’s Jor-El costume from the 1979 Superman movie, high estimate $50k. Actual final bid: $72k.

The first British edition of You Only Live Twice, signed by Ian Fleming, had a high estimate value of $50,000. It went for $84,000.

A trio of signed Lord of the Rings books had an estimated high bid of $80k and went for $120,000.

And it wasn’t just the higher profile items that went for bigger bucks than expected. One of the items that I had my eye on was a costume sketch of Julie Andrews’ character in Thoroughly Modern Milly. The auctioneers estimated that it would fetch somewhere between $400-600. It would up going for $2,000.

Sorry honey but it looks like I’ll be getting you a different Christmas present this year — but I’m going to hold on to the hope that I’m getting Luke’s lightsaber for X-mas and that you have a couple of million dollars in a secret bank account that you never told me about.

On the 6th of every month the people running the official Watchmen movie website release another behind-the-scenes video showing us another slice of how they made the movie. For December we have the opportunity to look at some of the film’s more important props as well as “easter eggs”, fleetingly short scenes or even solitary items positioned in a scene that fans of the Watchmen graphic novel will ID.

If you’ve read Watchmen then you know that there is no shortage of places where the Watchmen filmmakers can embed these easter eggs. From the old newspaper headlines framed on the walls in The Comedian’s apartment to the fake magazine covers on the newsstand outside the Institute for Interspacial Studies, these tiny nods to the fans are scattered in abundance throughout Zack Snyder’s movie.

Another facet that’s covered in the latest video journal is the grappling gun of Rorschach, the masked vigilante who’s Watchmen’s equivalent to Batman. You get to see how Snyder pulled off Rorschach pulling himself the three or so dozen stories to Comedian’s broken apartment window.

Go here to watch the latest Watchmen video journal and then click what format is your favorite.

No, don’t go skipping ahead to the next blog story just because you know this is the time that awards season begins! This next piece isn’t about any possible Oscar contenders, no Golden Globes, no Peoples Choice Awards, and it’s not even about what stinkers are up for the 2009 Razzies. No, this one’s about one of the cooler awards that are given for the best animated films of the year: the Annies. I wonder if their award looks like a small redheaded girl?

This year the big beast at the Annies is Kung Fu Panda with a whopping 17 nominations. Before you ask the question “Just how many categories can there be with animated flicks?” a better thought might be “Holy crap, a film starring Jack Black got 17 nominations and they weren’t for Razzies?”

Here are some of the 17 cats that Kung Fu Panda is in contention for: Best Directing in an Animated Feature Production, Best Character Animation in a Feature Production, Best Music in an Animated Feature Production, Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production, Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production and, of course, Best Animated Feature. In the voice acting category Kung Fu Panda has three nominations for James Hong, Ian McShane and Dustin Hoffman. Already I’ve already picked out the one I’m rooting for: Ben Burtt for his terrific job as the voice of WALL*E.

(Speaking of that cute little garbage collecting robot, Disney’s WALL*E is the next most nominated movie with 8 noms followed by Disney’s Bolt with 5.)

The Annies get handed out to Hollywood’s most deserving tracers, painters, sketchers and pixel pushers on January 30. For a complete list of all the nominees hit Variety.

Check it out: photographic evidence. The first snap is of the MovieSet display at AFM 2008: that’s MovieSet CEO/founder Colleen Nystedt seated at the table on the 7th floor of the Loews Santa Monica Hotel. The second shot is from a vantage point up high looking down on the atrium. You can see the action and some posters displaying some of the films being shopped at the market.

Thanks to MovieSet’s on location reporter dude, Quinn Bender, for the snaps.

After many, many countless hours of hard work the MovieSet programming gurus have finally released their latest creations. You may have already seen some small changes appearing on the site, such as the phase indicator, but today comes the big one. After registering your username on MovieSet you can now become fans of individual movies, specific genres as well as become friends with other MovieSet users. Let the social networking begin!

Here’s how it works:

1. Register for an ID on MovieSet.
2. Fill out the info (or import your profile from Facebook — with more social networks to follow.)
3. Start selecting your favorite movies, genres and become fans of them!

Not only is it ridiculously easy, it will also get you hooked into following movies as they make their way through all five stages of production. You’ll also be able to meet other film fans as well as the people that are making the films you’re following, friend them and then share messages by writing on their walls. And once you’re a member of MovieSet you can start inviting your other friends from around the internet. It’s a whole new way to experience the thrill of the movies and you’re invited to the party. Get started right now and then start picking out your list of movies that you are a fan of!

I’ll see you on the site — friend me at “ArcaneBimmer”.

Charlie Kaufman’s Synchdoche, NY has already been talked about on this blog before and I’m looking forward to seeing what his latest effort is especially since he’s also the film’s director. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a theater director who builds a miniature recreation of New York inside a New York warehouse, complete with actors playing real people going about their everyday lives. Watch the trailer and get a taste of what Kaufman has in store for us.

From the director of American Beauty and Road to Perdition comes Revolutionary Road, an adaptation of Richard Yates bestselling novel. The film reunites Titanic stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio who play a 1950s American couple who seem to have the perfect suburban life — and that’s precisely why they are unhappy with their lives. Click here to watch the trailer.

Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd play two thirtysomething men who refuse to act their age in Role Models. When the two guys run into legal trouble they have to pay back the community by performing community service. Click here to get a taste of the flick.

Nineteen-year-old Casey Bell is being haunted by the soul of her unborn brother. After experiencing nightmarish events Casey decides that the only way to be rid of her haunting is to have an exorcism performed on her. That’s the premise of The Unborn, directed by Batman Begins screenwriter David Goyer. The trailer looks freaky.

Defiance stars current 007 Daniel Craig as one of three Jewish brothers who, while hiding from the Nazis in the Belarussian forest during World War II, begin to assemble a resistance to their oppressors. The trailer is waiting for you right here.

And in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, the four former zoo animals from the first film are back in this DreamWorks sequel. Instead of being stuck on an island in the warm latitudes the animals hit Africa and try to learn if they can rejoin their families or if their time spent in civilization has changed them too much. Zany trailer action awaits!

City of Ember — based on the bestselling tween novel, the movie stars Bill Murray as the mayor of a subterrean city where the planet’s last surviving humans moved to generations ago. With the city’s power supply close to running out it’s up to one girl to discover the secrets behind her city’s construction and if there is a way out before darkness falls.

The Longshots — Watching the trailer for this one and you can’t help but get that same feel-good for rooting for the underdog vibe that We Are Marshall or Varcity Blues have. Ice Cube plays an uncle to a underprivledged girl who has natural talent as a football quarterback. Persevering against all odds, the girl rises to the challenge and begins to lead her team to victory. What really threw me for a loop is that The Longshots was directed by Fred Durst — yeah, that Fred Durst, the lead singer of Limp Bizkit. Crazy, huh? If you didn’t know who Durst was in a former life there’s no way you would have guessed he made this film.

Bottle Shock –  Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, Chris Pine, Freddy Rodriguez and Rachael Taylor star in this film that shows us how the California wine scene exploded in the mid-1970s and put NoCal grapes on the palate of world culinary culture.

Disaster Movie –  The same creative team behind Meet the Spartans, Epic Movie and Date Movie continue to spoof popular movie culture with their latest send-up. Can you guess what genre they’re poking fun at this time? C’mon, three guesses.

Slightly Single in L.A. –  Rumer Willis (Bruce’s baby girl) stars in Christie Will’s examination of several friends working in the L.A. showbiz scene.

The Day the Earth Stood Still — Keanu Reeves plays the alien visitor in this contemporary remake of the classic 1951 tale of mankind’s first encounter with aliens. The trailer promises that we’ll get to see Keanu’s BFF, Gort, the robot with heat vision. Blink at the end and you’ll miss him.

And that’s all for now but I’d advise you to get prepared for a lot more new films making their way onto MovieSet very shortly.