REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... USAToday released several official photos from next June’s Transformers sequel last Sunday and Monday. Unfortunately, it looks like we won’t see pics of the robots themselves (with the exception of Optimus Prime, above) till the teaser trailer...which should be released around February. The image below of Megan Fox running and, um, adjusting her top oughta do for now... That, and the cool shot of the Pyramids.













One more photo for the road...courtesy of the website obviously watermarked on the lower left-hand corner of the pic (duh).

TERMINATOR SALVATION... I'm totally watching this movie when it comes out in theaters on May 22...

STAR WARS ACCORDING TO A 3 YEAR OLD... In case you haven’t seen this video yet, check it out now... "Don’t talk back to Darth Vader, he’ll getcha!" Ah-dorable.

THE DARK KNIGHT... In case you don’t know yet (how’s it like livin’ in that cave? J/k), the DVD for this year’s most successful movie (and the 2nd highest grossing domestic film of all time here in the United States, behind 1997's Titanic) comes out in retail stores today. Definitely can’t wait to buy it. Also, a 2-disc extended music score for The Dark Knight also gets released today. If it’s anything like what happened with the orchestral score for Transformers last year, where all the places I went to either didn’t have the album in stock or was sold out (I eventually bought it at a Borders book store in Northridge, California. I live near ummm, Pomona, California. SoCal folks reading this will know how far the two cities are from each other), the Best Buy I’m planning to buy the DVD at won’t have the score, and I’m gonna have to order it online (most likely at Amazon.com). Hopefully that won’t happen. I’d hate to have Best Buy employees ask "Why so serious?" when I show how upset I am when I find out their store doesn’t have the score available.



Of course, the employees can tell me "Let’s put a smile on that face" and surprise me by handing me the only remaining copy of Hans Zimmer’s latest album. We’ll see.




One last thing... The Dark Knight will be re-released in regular and IMAX theaters here in the U.S. on January 23 next year, a day after the nominations for the 81st Academy Awards are announced. Woohoo! Speaking of the Academy... It reversed its decision on The Dark Knight's music, and Zimmer's work (with the help of James Newton Howard) is now eligible for a Best Original Score nod. Nice.

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... The Transformers Live Action Movie Blog posted this leaked concept artwork of Megatron and a really cool-looking Ravage from Revenge of the Fallen. This image of Megatron pretty much looks the same as the previous Megatron pic that was featured in this journal entry. This latest concept of Ravage, real or not (hopefully real), looks a lot more sinister than this fan art...though the fan art also kicks ass. Definitely can’t wait to see the live-action version of Ravage and Megs on the big screen when Transformers 2 comes out in theaters next June. Still hoping that the teaser trailer for the sequel gets shown in front of The Day the Earth Stood Still...out in movie theaters next Friday.

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... Well, Quantum of Solace has come and gone...and there’s still no sign of a theatrical trailer for Transformers 2. There’s only one more suitable film that Paramount/Dreamworks could possibly place a TF2 teaser in front of before the end of this year, and that’s Punisher: War Zone. Just kidding. I mean the possible Best Picture Oscar nominee, Frost/Nixon. Just kidding again. I mean the sci-fi remake, The Day the Earth Stood Still...starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. It opens in movie theaters everywhere on December 12.



Most of the Transformers 2 news that have been posted on other websites recently dealt with leaked photos of the toy figure for Soundwave. There have been online rumors that Soundwave will be a satellite in Revenge of the Fallen, and the pics below support that. Image #1 is of Soundwave as a Cybertronian satellite, image #2 is of him as a Cybertronian jet (kinda like the vehicle mode for Megatron in last year’s Transformers film), and the 3rd image is of him in his robot form. There’s no official word on what Soundwave’s Earth mode will be. Online sites, again, state that he’s gonna be a pick-up truck, but we’ll see. Ironhide was already a pick-up truck (GMC TopKick C4500) in the first film...I’m hoping Michael Bay will be a little more original than that.



Below is a comparison of the old-school "Generation 1" Soundwave and the TF2 version. Fortunately, at least the well-known visor remains intact. Now all we need is for Frank Welker to get hired and reprise the famous voice for the Decepticon spy. *Crosses fingers*



Since I enjoy making myself look like a huge geek (moreso, that is) by posting up all these pics of toys, here's one for the Transformers 2 version of Bumblebee...courtesy of Seibertron.com, just like every other image posted in this journal entry.



Here are two cool pieces of artwork that will be on the covers for the Revenge of the Fallen prequel comics, Destiny: Alliance and Defiance. They were done by Josh Nizzi. Kick. Ass.

BACK IN THE DAY... Around 7 years ago this month, I started posting journal entries talking about Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones. Little did I know, Attack of the Clones was gonna be the least watchable of the Star Wars prequels...let alone the whole Star Wars film saga itself. Of course, I’m just posting this particular Blog to give me an excuse to show this hot screenshot of Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala, and that cool wallpaper of the clones fighting on the planet Geonosis. Wow. That was the only highlight of the movie.

That, and Yoda doing a Sonic the Hedgehog (with a lightsaber) impersonation against Count Dooku. That is all.

AND THAT'S A WRAP! I just read on Michael Bay's official website that he completed filming on Transformers 2 last week. Awesome! Here's hoping that we do see a teaser trailer for it sometime this month (in front of the next James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, anyone?)...and that Industrial Light & Magic has been working on the visual effects for quite some time now, so that we'll see some really awesome robot shots in the trailer. *Crosses fingers.*

By the way, the Screen Actors Guild can now have its stupid strike. Unless, of course, Michael Bay has to do a re-shoot, or has several scenes that require ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement). If those are the cases, then keep that federal mediator on payroll, SAG.

W... I watched the film after work yesterday, and Josh Brolin did a nice job portraying the Dubya. The one thing I noticed that they left out of the movie was Saddam Hussein being captured from that Tikrit "spider hole" in December of 2003, but there’s only so much you can put in a 2-hour flick. But seeing as how a major plot point in W. was the Dubya trying to make up for what his "poppy" (or papi), George H. Dubya, failed to do in 1991 (going all the way to Baghdad and handling Hussein himself), the inclusion of Saddam’s capture would’ve made the film feel more complete. To me, at least. By the way, Laura Bush must feel really flattered right now for having a babe like Elizabeth Banks portray her in the movie. Though where’s Jenna Bush?? (The Hills' Lauren Conrad could’ve played her, haha.)



One last thing... I’ll have to look online to see if Morocco REALLY did offer to send monkeys to Iraq in 2003 to locate and set off minefields. Those crazy North Africans.

EDIT: Yep. Morocco is said to have offered 2,000 primates to be sent to Iraq. Here's one article talking about it. Of course, this website doesn't look like it could be taken seriously. Just type "morocco monkeys iraq" on Google to find more info about this. Leave the poor monkeys alone! Haha.

Lucasfilm Animation

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS... I never watched the feature film when it was released in theaters last August (and judging from the reviews it got: Thank God), but I saw two episodes of the new, computer-animated TV show on the Cartoon Network tonight. Not bad. Makes me wanna dust off my Playstation 2 and play the Star Wars: Starfighter or Jedi Starfighter video games on it. But first, I need to re-print the cheat codes so I can take out droid starfighters without the fear of getting shot down. Why would I actually want to be challenged while playing these games? Where’s the fun in that? Haha.

I’m thinking about getting The Force Unleashed for my PS2...but I have to complete Star Wars: Battlefront 2 first. I bought that game the same day I purchased Revenge of the Sith on DVD in 2005, and I stopped playing when I couldn’t pass that Kamino level (where you’re on that rain planet from Attack of the Clones and get to play Boba Fett—or is it Jango Fett? Whatever—as you take on the Droid Army). I don’t think I’ll ever get back to playing Battlefront 2, so I’m off to buy Unleashed!! Okay no I’m not.

IMAGE OF THE DAY... Unfortunately, this won't be in Transformers 2, but oh well. This cool concept art pays homage to Michael Bay's 1998 summer hit, Armageddon. That flick was entertaining, if you like what makes Bay's films worth watching and movie critics crying and cringing. You figure out what I'm talking about.


Courtesy of JesterPictures.com

MORE ON BATMAN BEGINS 3... Back in July, I wrote a Blog talking about which villains and actors would be cool to see in the next Bat flick, if Chris Nolan ever decided to do another one. I still stand by having Bane and Azrael in the second sequel, but I’ve been thinking that a third (even more important?) player should be included in the movie: Talia al Ghul.



Those of you who read the comics (or watched the classic Batman: The Animated Series on TV back in the early 90’s) will know that Talia is the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul...the main antagonist played by Liam Neeson in Batman Begins. As stated in the journal entry I mentioned at the beginning of this Blog, Bane would become the head of the League of Shadows after Ra’s death...and finish what Ra’s couldn’t do in the first Nolan Bat flick: Destroy Gotham City and Batman. I was pondering that it would be interesting to have Bane and Talia working in tandem as they sought the destruction of Gotham and the Dark Knight, when I found this page and noticed that there was an actual storyline between the two! Scroll down the page to read what’s under "Bane".



Ra’s wanted Talia to marry Bane??? What a great story that could lead to for Batman Begins 3! After Ra’s dies in Batman Begins, Bane wanted to win Talia’s heart by avenging her father’s death. And Bane goes to Gotham City to do whatever he can to punish the Dark Knight for the loss of Talia’s father. And succeeds. (Of course, this is where Azrael comes along and takes over as the Caped Crusader.)



As stated in my July blog, Bane would wear a gas mask instead of that, um, gimp mask that he wears in the comics. And a perfect reason for that would be that he uses tear gas filled with some kind of fear toxin to stun his victims before he (and his League of Shadows followers) attacks them. And who would be the person who supplied Bane with this fear toxin? THAT’S RIGHT: Dr. Jonathan Crane. A.k.a. the Scarecrow. I think it would actually be interesting if the bad guy played by Cillian Murphy showed up throughout all of Chris Nolan’s Bat films. Two-Face is dead. The Joker is alive...but we’ll never see him again...at least in a Nolan film (Rest In Peace, Heath). And the Scarecrow is still alive and well...but most likely back in Arkum Asylum. That is, until Talia helps Bane break him out so Crane could manufacture more fear/tear gas that Bane could use to preemptively strike his opponents. Crane can also be responsible for inventing the Venom that Bane uses to increase his body size before he does some spine-snapping. (Did I also mention Azrael would be the one to finally put the Scarecrow out of his misery? *Breaks neck*)



And now...the most important question: Which actress should play Talia al Ghul in The Dark Knight sequel? I was thinking Megan Fox...but she is currently much too popular for the role. Lacey Chabert? She is TOTALLY gorgeous...but would seem pretty short when standing next to Christian Bale or the tall muscular dude who would most likely play Bane. Kate Beckinsale? Naw, other people online have already suggested her (too lazy to provide links...but they have). I wanna be original. So who do I have in mind, you ask? I’ll give you a hint... This Random Babe Blog was all about her:

Minka Kelly!



Like Maggie Gyllenhaal before The Dark Knight came out, Minka is relatively unknown...unless you watch the NBC TV show, Friday Night Lights. From the artwork I posted above, Minka would look totally suitable (and of course, gorgeous) in those attire worn by Talia. And Minka looks like she would have great chemistry with Christian Bale in terms of Talia having some kind of romance with Bruce Wayne (since Rachel Dawes is now obviously out of the picture)...despite the fact she wants him, or at least his cape-wearing alter ego, dead. And this role would probably blow Minka’s stardom through the stratosphere! Presumably. All that matters is that Ms. Kelly gives a great performance as the woman who helps Bane break Batman’s back. That’s all.



Oh...and one more thing: Talia lives on to see Batman Begins 4. 'Nuff said.

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... Someone leaked these art concepts online yesterday, and show the possible new vehicle mode for Megatron in Transformers 2. The pic above was leaked onto the Web last Tuesday...and show how the Decepticon leader might possibly look in robot form as he returns to get revenge on the Autobots in the sequel. (However, Revenge of the Fallen can still refer to the revival of Megatron AND the flame-covered character himself.)



Those of you who watched the first Transformers film last year will remember that Megatron lost parts of his legs and his left arm in the final battle with Optimus Prime, the U.S. military and Sam Witwicky...which would explain the spindly appendage that now make up that arm, and the fact his legs contain tank treads that turn him into the odd-but-cool-looking ground vehicle you see in these images.



As you can see, these pics are watermarked...so I’ll let you know if Paramount/Dreamworks send what will hopefully be a polite e-mail telling me to take these pics down. Or else. Hmm... Saying "or else" wouldn’t be very polite at all. Oh well.



By the way, filming for Transformers 2 is still taking place in New Mexico, and principal photography for the sequel is scheduled to wrap sometime in the middle of next month. Bumblebee rocks. I saw that life-size mock-up in Hollywood last year.


UPDATE: Two more pics of Megatron's tank mode were posted online today. Apparently, these drawings are from the instruction manual for the toy...



UPDATE #2: Entertainment Tonight will have a special feature on its show tomorrow called "Transformers Tuesday", where host Mark Steines interviews director Michael Bay, actors Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and Co. during his visit to the Transformers 2 set in New Mexico. I'll be at work tomorrow, so hopefully they'll make the show available online after it airs. Here's the promo:

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... Last week was another big week for news about Transformers 2 (TF2), which has about 5 more weeks to go in terms of filming...according to one of the movie’s writers, Roberto Orci. Here is the latest info about the sequel:

-Ain’t-It-Cool-News mentioned that the full theatrical trailer for Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) will premiere in front of J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek...which gets released in theaters next year on May 8.

-The teaser trailer will be released this November...though it hasn’t yet been revealed which movie it will debut in front of. The next James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, is rumored to be the most likely film where you can see the TF2 teaser. Solace will be released in cinemas on November 14.

-The Decepticon ‘combiners’ known as the Constructicons will make an appearance in ROTF, with the main robot that they transform into, Devastator (the M1A1 Abrams tank of the same name in the first Transformers film should’ve actually been called Brawl), having "lots of upper body strength, like a gorilla".

Nice analogy...seeing as how I want to see this bad motha’-shut-yo-mouth go APE-S**T on the Autobots in ROTF!


Unlike the toy and cartoon versions, Devastator will be made up of 7 smaller robots in ROTF...instead of 6. The Constructicons will not just be green. Some of the vehicles will also be red and yellow, according to TFW2005.

-The concept artwork of one of the Constructicons, Long Haul (shown above), is said to be legit. It was created by Josh Nizzi...an artist who is currently on the concept team working on robot designs for Transformers 2. The CGI model of Long Haul, shown below, was made by a fan. I actually posted the artwork above in an earlier Blog.

-Transformers 2 is currently filming at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexcio. After that, production will move overseas to Egypt and possibly Jordan. And that will probably mark the end of principal photography for the sequel.

The Transformers Live Action Movie Blog has a lot more updates on TF2. Click here for additional info (and rumors).

Twentieth Century Fox

MORE ON TERMINATOR... Yesterday, I watched the Season 2 premiere of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and needless to say... The T-1000 is BACK!! Well— Not as Robert Patrick from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, of course, but a female version played by Shirley Manson, the lead vocalist of the band Garbage.


Twentieth Century Fox

I’d like to see Manson’s liquid cyborg (whose human name is Catherine Weaver) go up against Summer Glau’s Cameron Phillips in upcoming episodes. And speaking of Cameron (or Summer. Whoever you prefer), is it just me or is she a lot hotter when her Terminator goes bad? Will we see John Connor get tempted to engage in some human/robot copulation with Cameron in a future episode, after she ‘professed’ her love for him in last night’s premiere? That’s something to think about... Oh, and if 'man-juice' can short-circuit the wiring inside Cameron after she performs— Nevermind. That's the corrupt part of my mind talking, haha.


Twentieth Century Fox

Back to the T-1000, I wonder if we’ll see some cool action sequences with Manson in ‘em. Like her walking through a chain-link fence as she chases after Sarah Connor and Company... Or impale BAG—err, Brian Austin Green—err, Derek Reese with a metallic finger blade... That would also be cool.


Warner Bros.

It’s interesting to see where this new season will lead...and how it will tie in with next May’s McG-directed film, Terminator Salvation (starring Christian Bale). Will Ms. Glau make a cameo in this flick? That’s all I care about. That— And hot liquid cyborg females and other evil robots that go shootin' and stabbin' in the night.

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... As part of the promotional campaign to commemorate this week’s release of Transformers on Blu-Ray DVD, Wal-Mart has posted exclusive video content on its website. One video (the second one on the page, actually), shows how Industrial Light & Magic created the robots in the first film. The other video—which is the first of a series of new videos that will supposedly be posted every week—chronicles the first day of shoot for Revenge of the Fallen, which took place at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in early June.



This video shows Michael Bay displaying the "Bayos" (as in "chaos"...since Bay likes to operate fast on the film set, and stated he's gonna be 'all up on' his crew's 'asses' to get work done on the movie) shoes that Nike made for him, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura showing his excitement for Day 1 of the production, military soldiers on the attack (one troop is using a Gatling gun...as shown above. Pretty cool), and 3 motorbikes that will supposedly form Arcee in action! We also see an Audi R8 going through the motions on set...though we do not yet know if it’s a Decepticon or an Autobot. Though it must obviously be a 'Con if Arcee (an Autobot) is being chased by it...



CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TWO VIDEOS. The code to put at the bottom of the page is AllSpark62609. Can’t wait to see what next week’s video will show! Hopefully some behind-the-scenes footage with Megan Fox in it. Speaking of Fox, here's a sexy photo of her from her upcoming flick, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. Totally hot.


Courtesy of The Sun