This is almost certainly Bad and Ugly news…

We now know who Marvel Studios wants to helm the God of Thunder pic, and we have to say that it’s pretty damn surprising. Considering most things we’ve seen (and enjoyed, because we’re geeks) from Branagh have been his overly ambitious forays into Shakespeare…

Dave here.

Looks like the server issues are being resolved as we speak. Check out our ultra cool Alice In Wonderland photos below, and stick around. The Bad & Ugly will have a better week than the last!

If you have any concerns or would lke to share your personal story of withdrawl, you can e-mail me HERE.

Dave,

(done in my best Jesse Jackson voice)

Although the server was down, we as a people must remain strong. Too many times when things start to get bad, we, the proud and loyal fans of thebadandugly.com fail to pull together and see the light on the other side of—- the bridge. The server, whether it be black or white, or a sweet metallic looking color, this matters not. It is the fact that the server has these discriminatory values in place against the internet viewing people, that it must be abolished. For it was exclaimed by a great man, who once told me that son, even when the white ma———-errrr, even when the internet does not deliver you with the promises of Fast and Furious 4 or Miley Montana’s new Myspace photos, that like a phoenix rising from the ummm desert, the internet will rise again! So fret not, my great people, we are united, we are here, and we want internet based news!

Sincerely,
Mr. Erik Vesper

Tim Burton has wasted no time in starting up his Alice and Wonderland shoot up in Cornwall, England, where just this week INF Daily managed to take photos of 17-year-old Australian actress Mia Wasikowska as Alice. Also sighted, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Burton himself and their baby Nell, who looked be dressed in period costume. Or they just dress their baby in capes, because they are Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter.

The scenes shot last week are rumored to be Alice sent on a voyage after she has returned from her adventure in Wonderland, and we’ve also heard a rumor that crew members were telling nosy onlookers that Alice was sailing to China. Take that with a grain of teamster salt (the second saltiest salt, the first being salty dog sailor salt).

Well, we have more photos that aren’t the highly circulated INF ones. So, take that…

Officially, we are told “We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, “Benjamin Button,” is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.”

But buzz has been lukewarm, with some saying that Fincher’s current cut of Benjamin Button clocking in so long that Paramount is getting nervous. After a little bit of bad buzz, it’s nice to see that Trailer #2 manages to stay on point and - once again - show us a movie that looks to be worth seeing. You can - and should - CLICK HERE to go to Apple trailers, where Trailer #2 in in HD.

Also hitting this weekend, a new trailer for Frank Miller’s Sprit adaptation that includes lines like: “Get me a tie! And it better be red!,” “I’m Octopus, I have 8 of everything!,” and “I’m gonna kill you all kinds of dead!”

We’re not sure what to make of this Sin City turned Loony Toon, but we still hold out hope because it looks cool. And looking cool can go a long way with the male movie-going demographic. So far, as a matter of fact, we’re not going to embed the Moviephone flash trailer, because Moviephone’s flash player looks like crap. You’re going to have to surf your way to the Spirit’s new trailer, by CLICKING HERE and selecting the HD quicktime of your choice next to the “Exclusive” box on the top of the page.

Paul Newman, actor from such classics as Hud, Cool Hand Luke, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the Color of Money, has died at age 83 at his home in Westport Connecticut, where he was surrounded by friends and family.

AP adds:

Newman worked with some of the greatest directors of the past half century, from Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston to Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers. His co-stars included Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and, most famously, Robert Redford, his sidekick in “Butch Cassidy” and “The Sting.”

He sometimes teamed with his wife and fellow Oscar winner, Joanne Woodward, with whom he had one of Hollywood’s rare long-term marriages. “I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?” Newman told Playboy magazine when asked if he was tempted to stray. They wed in 1958, around the same time they both appeared in “The Long Hot Summer,” and Newman directed her in several films, including “Rachel, Rachel” and “The Glass Menagerie.”

With his strong, classically handsome face and piercing blue eyes, Newman was a heartthrob just as likely to play against his looks, becoming a favorite with critics for his convincing portrayals of rebels, tough guys and losers. “I was always a character actor,” he once said. “I just looked like Little Red Riding Hood.”

Newman had a soft spot for underdogs in real life, giving tens of millions to charities through his food company and setting up camps for severely ill children. Passionately opposed to the Vietnam War, and in favor of civil rights, he was so famously liberal that he ended up on President Nixon’s “enemies list,” one of the actor’s proudest achievements, he liked to say.

Ok, Bad and Ugly readers, welcome to the Friday of Intense Server Issues Week. Because we’re still unclear what is happening at that big stack of hard drives somewhere that holds our lifeblood, we’re going to try to fit as much news as we can in one post that Dave will keep putting up until he brow-beats the site into doing what he wants.

Covered inside: Who is in talks to play the Lone Ranger beside Johnny Depp’s Tonto? Our first official look at Iron Man’s War Machine. The status of Lethal Weapon 5. A closer look at the opening of Kick-Ass. The Weinsteins split from MGM and Disney’s Keynote…