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With no solid release date for the The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra fans have had to make due with speculation, and the occasional still image. The best look we've had was the first 80-odd seconds of the first episode, and that was months ago. Now three new scenes, probably from the first episode, have leaked out onto these great wide interwebs, giving us the first look at Korra and her amazing bending abilities. I have to say, these clips seem to suggest a more action-oriented show, but hopefully one just as charming as the original series. The clips don't seem very spoilery to me, except for a minor note, but watch at your own risk. See the videos, after the break.

For the unaware, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a legitimately great show. And when it was announced that a new series called Avatar: The Legend of Korra would be a direct sequel to the original, there was (quite understandably) a lot of excitement. Though for fans, anything to get the sour taste of the live action adaptation out of their mouths would have been welcome. Now, the first 80 seconds of the first episode have been leaked online.

Ever since that James Cameron movie quietly hit the box office, people who want to talk about Avatar: The Last Airbender have had to be specific. So: This is the first official look we’ve gotten at the face of Korra, the heroine of Avatar: The Legend of Korra, the greenlit miniseries and sequel to the Airbender series, which is happening despite the schlock and awe of M. Knight Shyamalan‘s The Last Airbender movie. Seven major castmembers have been announced today, as well as the characters they will be playing. >>>Full details at The Mary Sue.

The most exciting movie award nominations of the year have been announced this morning, and we've got them all below the jump for your perusing pleasure.  Vampires dominate the show, with thirteen of the nominations going to either The Twilight Saga: Eclipse or Vampires Suck.  But Eclipse itself is tied for most nominations with a plucky upstart Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Sex & The City 2's strong effort netted it seven. What?  No, the Oscars get announced tomorrow.  We're talking about the Razzies.  The awards for the worst movies of 2010.

Jenn's baby nephew has an arrow haircut, just like the arrow tattoos along which Airbenders' chi flows in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Aang would approve. (Jenn's Wonderwall via GWS via TDW)

Rumors about a fabled fourth season of Avatar: The Last Airbender have gained traction and number with the release of M. Night Shyamalan's movie, with willful disregard for the actual cinematic worth of the film. Nickelodeon confirmed them all today, with a press statement announcing the production of Avatar: The Legend of Korra, which will pick up the Avatar plot seventy years later, with the Avatar who comes after Aang, a Southern Water Tribe girl (Korra) who has already mastered Water, Earth and Fire.

Her quest leads her to the epicenter of the modern "Avatar" world, Republic City – a metropolis that is fueled by steampunk technology. It is a virtual melting pot where benders and non-benders from all nations live and thrive. However, Korra discovers that Republic City is plagued by crime as well as a growing anti-bending revolution that threatens to rip it apart. Under the tutelage of Aang's son, Tenzin, Korra begins her airbending training while dealing with the dangers at large.

*ahem* Squeeeeeee.

So there's an Avatar: The Last Airbender movie, and, according to reliable sources, it sucks.

FORGET ABOUT THAT.

There's an Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon, and it is still totally awesome.  By way of reinforcement, I give you my three favorite questions that were left completely unanswered over the course the series.  I'll try to keep it to a level where non-fans can enjoy as well, but I won't be able to do it without some spoilers.  If you're only part-way through the series, or plan on watching it later, consider yourself warned.

Yeah, that sounds about right. (via @alyankovic)

In honor of the release of M. Night Shyamalan's Avatar: The Last Airbender, we have complied a list of the fifteen greatest chosen, prophesied, destined, or otherwise singled out heroes in science fiction and fantasy, whether they come from books, movies, television, or video games.  After all, Aang isn't the only person to have a terrible path set before them by fate, and he won't be the last.  Warning: we're talking about ultimate destinies here.  Here there be spoilers.

In spite of our unease about some of its casting decisions, we've had high hopes for The Last Airbender, the M. Night Shyamalan-directed adaptation of the excellent cartoon series, which hits theaters on July 1st. But man ... it's been getting Jonah Hex-like abysmal reviews. It currently has a 00% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Roger Ebert just dropped a review that gives The Last Airbender a half a star out of four and proceeds to tear the movie to shreds.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (A. K. A. the real Avatar) is nearly upon us, and so we're down to the final few TV spots to pour over. Unnervingly, we haven't seen much character dialogue in the released footage, leaving many fans still in suspense over the quality of the acting in the movie. Even I, who have been pretty relaxed in the knowledge that if the movie is awful, it will still be pretty, and I can just go home and watch all four Sozin's Comet episodes to make myself feel better, am getting a little worried. And then there's Appa's face.

Everybody watched the MTV movie awards this weekend, right?

Yeah, that's what we thought. It might interest you to see the three exclusive clips of previously unseen footage from Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and...

Well, and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

There is a brand new full-length trailer for Avatar: The Last Airbender, featuring more Appa, more bending, more Avatar state, Fang, and one more special, blue guest. Check it out after the jump:

Hugh Jackman is a jack-of-all-trades sort of actor, as comfortable playing the action hero in a modern special effects blockbuster as he is playing the lead in a period musical.  The best thing about this (I mean, aside from good acting) is that he's done a lot of period films.  He's also the live action face of one of the Marvel Universe's nearly indestructible probably immortal badasses: Wolverine. This lead me inevitably to the conclusion that you could pretend that some of his period films were also about Wolverine.  Secretly. You couldn't call it canonical, since movie Wolverine spends his entire post-X-factor life with his half-brother Sabertooth (until the 1970's or so).  But you could call it amusing. Here's the Netflix queue for your fanfiction adventure:

At about 11:30 Saturday night, just as Iceland was easing into the day of the vernal equinox, a volcano erupted right next to the Eyjafjallajokull (yes, really) glacier.  Icelandic authorities evacuated hundreds of people from surrounding towns, fearing flooding from the melting glacier.  There have been no reports of injuries or property damage, and so we can say with only a little guilt that this volcano looks awesome. The fissure is half a mile long and looks like something out of the Rite of Spring section of Fantasia.  Video after the jump: