Seems like a small war is starting to brew between Michael Bay and Megan Fox, after the latter said some unflattering things about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, telling the Early Show recently that she still doesn't understand the movie and that it's apparently made for geniuses. Bay, of course, is not one to take criticism lightly -- especially from some girl who was nobody until he dropped her into the first Transformers movie.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal about the situation with Fox, he says, "Well, that's Megan Fox for you. She says some very ridiculous things because she's 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing to do. You roll your eyes when you see statements like that and think, "Okay Megan, you can do whatever you want. I got it." But I 100% disagree with her. Nick Cage wasn't a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in "Armageddon." Shia LaBeouf wasn't a big movie star before he did "Transformers"-and then he exploded. Not to mention Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, from "Bad Boys." Nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her and put her in "Transformers." I like to think that I've had some luck in building actors' careers with my films."

We shouldn't worry whether this war of words will hurt either person's involvement in a third Transformers movie because according to Bay that's not happening anytime soon. On a third Transformers film, he says, "I just want to take some time off. It's been almost three years that I've devoted myself entirely to this world of robots. At some point, enough is enough-and I literally carried this movie on my back. ... I don't know who [would] want to take on my shoes with this franchise. We might just take a year down."

Not long ago a friend of mine caught a super secret advanced screening of the Diablo Cody-scripted horror flick Jennifer's Body, starring Megan Fox as a demonically-possessed cheerleader who begins to off the male students at her school in what I can only imagine are very creative ways (knowing Cody's mangled sense of humor). The verdict from my friend was ... "eh, it's what I expected -- though I was surprised at how lesbian-ish it was ... not that there's anything wrong with that." Granted, my friend isn't a big fan of Cody's work, and so that's probably part of the reason why he was lukewarm to it -- but then he pulled out a whole bunch of stills from his magical briefcase, and, well, regardless of how "good" this movie is, my Megan Fox fixation went into hyper-drive.

While I unfortunately do not have any of those photos to show you today (one included Fox wearing next to nothing while holding her tongue out over the open flame of a lighter, and another showed Fox's bloody-as-all-hell mouth full of whatever poor human boy she just tore apart), Empire Magazine did premiere a few images in their latest issue and our friends over at Film School Rejects scanned them for us to see. I'm sure more clearer versions of these will arrive online this week, but for now check out two of them below and the rest over at FSR.



Jennifer's Body is due out on September 18.

I wouldn't recommend actually sitting through Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to anyone. But in the abstract -- after you've been through the horrifying experience -- there are parts of the film that are so bizarre that the whole thing starts to look like the work of some sick, Andy Kaufman-esque jokester genius. And then it becomes kind of interesting. I mean, some of this stuff can't be for real... Can it?

1. Megan Fox's first appearance. See above. That is the first shot of Megan Fox in the film, as she works on a motorcycle in her family's garage while taking a call from boyfriend Shia LaBoeuf. Makes sense, right? Or do you not typically mount your motorcycle in that fashion, wearing knee-high boots and denim hot pants, to do some body work? If not, why not? Hysterical -- though I have to say that Michael Bay's leering at Fox throughout the movie eventually becomes a little uncomfortable. And if you didn't think it was possible for a director to leer at his star with the camera, Revenge of the Fallen proves you wrong.

2. The enormous Bad Boys II poster in Sam's dorm room. If it just appeared on someone's wall at a point in the film, that would be one thing -- a little arrogant, but not really notable. That's not what happens here. The poster for Bay's Bad Boys II -- presumably belonging to Sam's motormouth techie roommate -- is enormous, and fills the screen on at least two occasions. The self-regard is astounding. Has a director ever put in product placement for his other work in a movie before?

3. The obsession with things humping other things. It doesn't really matter what things. First, we see dogs going at it. Why? Because humping dogs are funny, that's why. Then, later, a miniature decepticon grinds against Megan Fox's leg. Why? I have no earthly idea. I guess Bay or his producers thought this would amuse someone, somewhere. Gotta spend $200 million somehow.

If you don't know your Megatron from your Optimus Prime, join the club! Most giant robots look all the same to me, and the first Transformers movie felt like a comedown for Michael Bay after the gleeful insanity of Bad Boys II. Still, I've gotten a kick out ot reading a few of the reviews, like the one penned by our own Todd Gilchrist, as well as the harsh critical takedowns by Roger Ebert and Manohla Dargis. And now I'm wondering how Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will perform at the box office. Can it possibly recoup its huge production and marketing budget? How big is big?

The movie is off to a running start, earning an estimated $16 million from midnight screenings last night, according to Variety. That's less than The Dark Knight's $18.5 million last year, but Variety notes the Batman flick "had the advantage of opening on a Friday" and that Transformers 2 had "the best midnight run ever for a movie opening on a Wednesday." Transformers made $8.8 million on its opening night (Tuesday at 12:01 a.m.) in 2007 and went on to earn $146.6 million in its first six full days of screenings, including the July 4 holiday, per Box Office Mojo.

The record to beat for the first five days of release is $203.7 million, set by The Dark Knight. Can Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen get anywhere near that record? Take our poll and let us know: How much will it make in its opening five-day weekend?

As a high-school graduation present to myself in 1993, I stayed up all night watching the original Star Wars trilogy on video. When the Extended Edition of The Return of the King arrived on DVD, I camped out on my couch and sat through all three Lord of the Rings films in their longest versions, one after the other. And for two separate retrospective assignments in anticipation of their recent big-screen rebirths, I endured all ten Star Trek movies and all eleven Friday the 13ths. But I can honestly say that as a film critic and lifelong cinephile, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen may be the most movie I have ever experienced.

Michael Bay, condensing the cumulative total of the spectacle from all of his seven previous films into one unwieldy, gargantuan opus, has exceeded even the possibilities of sequel-driven "moreness," combining his own muscular, high-gloss sensibility with the conventions of blockbusters past, present, and probably future to create a monolithic action masterpiece that feels destined to be the biggest movie of all time.

What did you like the most about Transformers? Was it Megan Fox bending over an automobile hood? Shia LaBeouf learning to be a man behind the wheel of a yellow Chevy Camaro? Huge mechanical beasts suddenly emerging from the least likely hiding places? The military unit that found itself in the middle of an interstellar war in the middle of the desert? If it's the latter, you're in luck. Though the trailers and clips released for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen have focused mainly on the Fox and the 'Bots so far, the military men finally get their due in the latest clip. (Note: the image above is not from the clip, but gives off a similar vibe.)

Moviefone has a short, tantalizing teaser clip that focuses on a unit led by Josh Duhamel, which appears to have gone international (check the arm patches). It's nighttime and they're flying in on helicopters to deal with the latest "enemy contact." Tyrese Gibson gets to mutter my favorite two words so far: "Thermal ripple." Despite my huge reservations about the first film, it's hard to resist whirling helicopters, bombastic martial music, a cool nighttime setting, and giant robot action, especially when it's all packed into a clip that's barely more than a minute long. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opens everywhere on June 24.

After the jump: Watch the clip!

Now that we've launched these two new genre sites -- Horror Squad and ScFi Squad -- there's going to be a good amount of content over there that's not over here. Like this post from SciFi Squad about Joss Whedon and how he was offered the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, but turned it down.

Those fans all up in arms over the planned big-screen Buffy the Vampire Slayer remake will either find comfort or disgust in learning that Joss Whedon was offered a chance to reboot his own original idea, and he turned it down presumably after already learning his lesson on the first film. Entertainment Weekly reports the news alongside direct quotes from Whedon and a poll announcing that only 3% of EW readers would want to see a new Buffy movie without Whedon in charge.

Says Whedon, "I believe [the producers] did ultimately reach out to my agent after the news broke. I think that's something better left untouched by me. So, I wish them luck."

Read the rest over at SciFi Squad

Now that we're only a couple of weeks away from the debut of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, some new behind the scenes videos are beginning to pop up online. I love this stuff -- it really gives you a great look at what went on behind the cameras, and how the film you watch on the big screen actually came together. Brilliant stuff, I tell ya. Well, in this latest video from Landline TV, they reveal that actress Megan Fox (who plays Shia LaBeouf's love interest in both Transformers movies) is actually all CGI. See, and I knew girls weren't that beautiful in real life! TOLDJA!

Go behind the scenes with producers as they reveal how Megan Fox was created, and what it was like to shoot the film pretending like this unbelievably gorgeous girl was there when she really wasn't. Also, watch as the filmmakers announce for the first time ever a new version of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen where you put a pair of glasses on and everything turns to Megan Fox. Quite amazing what they're doing with special effects these days -- now I just need to find out whether they'll be auctioning off one of the seven Megan Fox animatronics created specifically for the sequel because, well, I'm definitely going to want one of those for my ... um ... collection.

Watch the video after the jump.

For all those boys and girls out there who've always wanted to suck on ... um ... Daniel Craig's six-pack abs, we've got great news for you: The food company Del Monte asked 1,000 British women to vote on which celebrity they deem worthy enough to appear as a delicious ice pop, and the current James Bond star won. Thus, for a very limited time (now through June 7), you can pick up one of these limited-edition Daniel Craig pops and do whatever it is you'd like to do to it (we don't want to know). The catch? They're only being sold in England. Sorry ladies (and men) from wherever it is in the world you live that isn't England. Click the image below to view the entire pop.



How creepy is this popsicle, though? I mean, I imagine some ladies (and men) might find some sort of bizarre pleasure in the Daniel Craig pop, even though it sort of looks like they froze the poor actor in carbonite. If these were being sold in America, would any of you buy one? And what if they did this with a popular actress like, say, Megan Fox -- would folks suddenly cry sexism? Would there be marches and protests and round-the-clock CNN coverage? Probably. Guess that's why this publicity stunt remained way on the other side of the Atlantic.

[via The Frisky]