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