[via Screen Junkies]

MORNING LINKS
Lincoln Review: Spielberg’s best movie in years, but is it any good? |Film Drunk|

Frotcast 125: Laremy on Lincoln, Angry Butterscotch Lady Meets David Lee Roth |Frotcast|

I think we found Jeremy Renner’s spirit animal. [via Humor Train]

Another friendly reminder that Vince will performing tomorrow at the Punch Line |Events|

25 Reasons Why Jennifer Lawrence Thinking She’s ‘Obese’ Is Ridiculous |UPROXX|

‘SNL’ Recap: Anne Hathaway And Rihanna |Warming Glow|

Meet Don Martini, The Totally Sane, Awesome Retiree Who Built His Own
Giants Stadium |With Leather|

5 Reasons Bond Should Go Sci-fi Again |Gamma Squad|

Conan O’Brien Considers A Wes Anderson-Directed “Star Wars: Episode VII”
|Smoking Section|

And I Dub Thee Unforgotten |Kissing Suzy Kolber|

I like girls because squishy |theChive|

The Ten Theme Songs Anyone Born In The 80s Must Know My Heart |Buzzfeed|

Mitt Romney Cancelled Campaign Staff’s Credit Cards During His Concession
Speech |The Superficial|

007 Behind-the-Scenes Facts About Skyfall |Mental Floss|

PETA Target Honey Boo Boo In Chicken Naming Scandal! |Videogum|

Aubrey Plaza’s Breakthrough Career Moment? |HuffPost Comedy|

Farts in Italian |Holy Taco|

Here’s Why Cory and Topanga Will Do The “Boy Meets World” Sequel |College Humor|

Justin Bieber Gets an A for Effort |IDLYITW|

8 TV Actors Who Are Ready For The Big Screen |Unreality|

Why MTV Doesn’t Play Music Videos Anymore |Clip Nation|

Ever wonder what Jennifer Love Hewitt would look like dressed as a man?
On second thought, probably not. |Fark|

Why Do All the Best “Bond Girls” Have All the Best Worst Names? |Pajiba|

Here Are 20 Photos of Model Barbara Palvin, Rumored to Be Justin
Bieber’s New Love Interest |Brobible|

Sony Music Timeline |High Definite|

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Most countries’ currency depicts famous landmarks, war heroes, or political leaders, but in New Zealand, they choose their leaders via an annual sheep-shearing contest and its most famous landmark is Tom Reynolds’ hayride, behind the Forest of Yawns. So it makes sense that they’re putting Lord of the Rings characters on their money, to commemorate the only interesting thing to happen there since European colonization in 1769. Or at least, the most interesting thing to happen since the country’s lone Olive Garden (its first ethnic restaurant) moved out in 2007 (residents found it “too zesty”).

New Zealand is to release special commemorative coins depicting characters from JRR Tolkein’s The Hobbit. They are being issued to coincide with the premiere of the Peter Jackson film of the book. The coins will be valued between $25 and $3000.

There will only be one $3000 coin, minted specifically for Bob Wilkinson, the “Sheep King of Christchurch,” and the country’s richest man. Some say he owns two TVs! Of course they’re mainly just for show, as New Zealand only has electricity for about three hours a day, during peak shearing hours.

The real cost of the coins depicting Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the wizard will be more than their face value, New Zealand Post reports. The most expensive one is made of pure gold and will cost around $3,000. The cheapest one will cost around $25.

The sale of coins is part of New Zealand’s campaign to rebrand the country “100% Middle Earth” to attract tourists. Special commemorative stamps will also go on sale.

There was even a push by the New Zealand delegate, Pete Pearson, to get letter writing recognized as an Olympic sport, writing letters abroad being New Zealand’s national pastime, followed by seed spitting and netball.

The original trilogy boosted tourists’ interest in the country. New Zealand is so Hobbit-obsessed it has decided to rename the country’s capital from Wellington to The Middle of Middle-Earth – a fictional site from the book for the film’s premiere. [RT.com]

And in Parliament, Ministers aren’t allowed to speak unless they’re wearing the Gandalf beard, which each of the seven ministers gets to wear for a half hour each day. They introduce resolutions by rapping a long staff on Jim Mudgett’s backyard stump and chant “gollum gollum gollum” to vote against amendments. It’s truly a fascinating land of contradictions.

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The 109th American International Toy Fair took place this past weekend in New York City, and among the offerings were new action figures related to the upcoming films G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Battleship and The Avengers. Better luck next year, The Descendents Nerf rocket launcher.

On hand to debut their toys were some of the stars of the movies mentioned, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Alexander Skårsgard and Chris Evans. But for the toymakers that didn’t have the luxury of B-list actors hamming it up for the cameras, choosing the toys to bank their futures on is all about what your Cheetos-inhaling brats are into from one minute to the next.

“Toymakers continue to innovate at the speed of light to keep up with trends in other areas – from pop culture to technology – because they know that kids want to be a part of the mix and mimic what’s happening in the world around them,” said Adrienne Appell, TIA’s in-house trend expert. “The toy industry draws upon economic and birth rate data to determine price points and product lines, which accounts for the prevalence this year of big-ticket items and toys for infants and pre-school children.” (Via Market Watch)

That’s dead on. In fact, over the weekend I visited my two-year old niece and purchased her the Kim Kardashian Play-Doh Ass Factory. It’s a far cry from my Pogo Ball.

Not much has changed, though, when it comes to the action figure, which is why these stars were so excited to check out their likeness in a 6-inch figurine, or as it’s referred to in the biz, a Tom Cruise.

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Hey ladies, have you ever found yourself shopping for a new dress for a special occasion, but you’ve tried everything and just can’t find that “I want people to stare at me and then scream” look? Well worry no more, because the fine people at Black Milk Clothing have you covered with their fantastic Steve Buscemi dress.

But if Steve’s not your thing, Black Milk has plenty more to fit your movie fashion desires, including dresses based on The Shining, The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues, Lord of the Rings, a Beetlejuice bodysuit, and even Matrix leggings.

You can check out their styles after the jump, but they have even more over at their web site, including some awesome patriotic swimsuits. Basically, I’m giving you more reasons to go ogle the model some more. While $100 might seem a little expensive for Buscemi’s face clinging to your lady parts, winning a man’s heart by wearing someone’s creepy face over your body is priceless.

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It’s official: Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis (Gollum), Elijah Wood, and Cate Blanchett are all returning for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, scheduled to commence shooting next month in New Zealand, the festering pus fart of the south seas.

More actors are expected to sign on for the two-part [ugh] Peter Jackson film in the near future, including Christopher Lee as Saruman and Ian Holm as an older Bilbo Baggins. [ComingSoon]

Oh joy, six more hours of hobbitry.  That damned kiwi must’ve seen its shadow.  Anyway, Wood and Blanchett will reprise their roles as Frodo and Galadriel, respectively, this despite neither character appearing in the book.  I can only hope the Tolkienites have someone like Red Shirt Guy who can give Peter Jackson a DRESSING DOWN MOST THOROUGH at the next LARP convention.

Reprising her role as Frodo Saggins?  You guessed it, your mom.