There is no questioning that Sandra Bullock plays the maternal character very well. In fact, she won an Academy Award for playing a caring mother in The Blind Side, and was nominated for playing a grieving one in Gravity. But she will change it up a bit by playing a villain in the upcoming Despicable Me spinoff/prequel Minions. The film takes place long before those yellow creatures worked for Gru. Throughout many generations, the Minions have been led by the most dangerous of people, from the Tyrannosaurs Rex to Genghis Khan to Napoleon, they crave villainy but they always need a leader – as hinted in the trailer.

So after a long absence in doing nefarious things, three brave Minions will venture out to find that one evil leader. Bullock will voice the villainess Scarlett Overkill, while Jon Hamm will voice her husband Herb Overkill. Hit the jump to see the new images from Minions.

This week’s edition of The Digital Wire has so much Blu-ray and DVD release info coming out of its news-hole only a dam constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers could contain the flood. Soak it all up folks because I’m taking next week off to cover the home video department of Geeks of Doom’s annual Holiday Geek Gift Guide.

Below you’ll find info on several future home video releases complete with technical specs, release dates, and links to pre-order at Amazon. We would greatly appreciate it if you use those links to order because a small percentage of each order helps keep this website running at max power. The cover art for certain titles has yet to be finalized.

The first trailer has been released for Minions, the upcoming spinoff of the hit Despicable Me franchise.

The movie stars Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, and Steve Coogan, and features a soundtrack of hit music from the ’60s. It is directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda and written by Brian Lynch.

You can read a synopsis and check out the trailer below.

Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, stated that “experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.” This quote lingered within my thoughts for the majority of the 2013 movie year because there is a remarkable number of films that confirm Huxley’s statement with shocking clarity. During 2013 the majority of characters in cinema experienced a relentless assault of either irrepressible physical violence or emotional turmoil, resulting in each character clinging to their lives, praying that they won’t become defeated. Characters had to either sink or swim. No film provided for them a middle ground that would grant them an easy way out or provide a buoy for them. Characters had to act, and act fast.

In Gravity, becoming disconnected from her partner in the infinite void of space, Dr. Stone had to gain composure quickly or endure an onslaught of debris and isolation. In The Place Beyond the Pines, a cop had to rely on his survival instincts and the ramifications of his decision reverberated throughout generations. In Blue is the Warmest Color, a confused teenage woman, utterly love-sick, discovers the throes and pangs of first love and is left even more confused after the indelible experience. In Dallas Buyers Club, an AIDs victim with a guaranteed death-sentence uses his situation to give hope to thousands of other AIDs victims. And in The Counselor, a man’s experience overwhelms him and he is soon exposed to the most unsavory circumstances that are beyond his control and the most heinous individuals.

Without further hesitance, the best 2013 had to offer.

Gravity and Captain Phillips won the top two spots at the box office this weekend, and now Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks, the lead stars of the respective films, are off traveling the world for their press tour. One of their stops took them to The Jonathan Ross Show in the U.K. Of course when it comes to these kinds of talk shows, one doesn’t just sit on the chair to chat. In fact, there is almost always some sort of funny skit or crowd-pleasing moment that will eventually find its way onto the internet.

And that’s what happened here: 25 years after the release of Big, Hanks would step onto the piano floor once again to play some “Chopsticks,” the same as seen in the film. Not only that, but Bullock jumped in to join the fun.

Check it out after the jump.