Right off the bat, let me admit this: I never saw all of Transformers. I knew it wasn't my cup of tea, and when I caught about ten minutes at the DVD store recently, I was convinced I made the right decision. (God, that dialog made me laugh.) That being said, I think I might have been swayed if BBQ fiends had a hand in the film.

As Serious Eats has shared, the right porcine transformer above was part of the American Royal Barbecue Contest, which recently smoked up lots of meat and had some clever competitors from Massachusetts. I never realized before how perfectly a pig would fit into the Transformer mold until now. Instead of Optimus Prime, maybe it'd be Optimus Prime Rib? Rawhide rather than Ironhide?

Okay, so maybe a meat-themed Transformers movie would be a little weird, but that logo still rules.

One is a giant silver robot who wants to destroy earth and the other is a 100-pound actress who wants to destroy the hearts and souls of single men (and women) everywhere by marrying "that dude from 90210." And yet ... we love them both.

A bunch of new images of what appear to be the latest version of Megatron have popped up online over at Latino Review, and since no one has put the kibosh on them after roughly 20 hours, there's a good chance these are the real deal. Each image includes the word 'Toy' near the bottom, featuring an image of a baby (sucking its thumb?) -- rather appropriate considering ... ya know. So, one imagines this is concept art for the eventual Megatron toy, based on what the robot will look like in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. And what will he look like? Well, as you can see above (and over at LR), Megatron looks to be a tank this time around. A pretty badass tank if you ask me. Question is: Will Dark Knight dollars be shot out of that cannon, or what?

And since you all like to be kept in the loop when it comes to the ridiculous-yet-erotic exploits of Ms. Megan Fox, a new video has arrived online and it shows, in part, the gal auditioning for her role in the original Transformers. What you get is footage of Fox auditioning for the part, as well as what the actual scenes in the film looked like. Check out more Megan Fox pics and the video after the jump ...


Pictured: (left) The new face of Megatron and the beautiful face of Megan Fox (right)

Despite being seemingly obligated by demographic alone to enjoy it, I didn't particularly care for Michael Bay's Transformers, even after a recent second look on the small screen. Regardless, the people have spoken with their wallets, and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Ka-Ching is well underway for its release next summer.

Embedded above is the first of several behind-the-scenes videos that Wal-Mart will be providing in the coming months, and right from the get-go, the visionary Bay talks about not only making a sequel that'll make kids' dreams, but also sticking his custom-made Nikes up the collective ass of his crew. Watch as "Bay-os" and "Bay-hem" ensue in Bethlehem, PA, with fast bikes, nice cars, and big booms...

Heck, just about the only thing missing from this two-minute taste is some sweet hand-injury action.

I'm not one of those waiting for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen with a whole lot of anticipation. I feel bad about saying that, but let's face it, Transformers passed me right by as I was playing with Strawberry Shortcake. Many have tried to re-educate me on the awesomeness of Optimus Prime, and failed.

Nevertheless, even I have to admit it's pretty cool when a screenwriter drops in among their fans for a good sequel chat. That's what Robert Orci, one of the scriptwriters for Transformers 1 and 2, has done over at Transformer World 2005. The dedicated can sift through what is currently 82(!) pages of script Q&A, by the time you read this, it will probably be 182. Much of it is hints as to which robots might factor into the sequel -- including a tease that Arcee, the girl Transformer, might appear. On the other hand, he's careful to remind fans that anything you hear about the film is probably careful disinformation, but well meant. "It is fun to 'play' with fandom, not to toy with fandom -- I do not hand out disinformation."

But there's a few reliable sounding bits in here. According to Orci, the sequel will be more "global" in scale, and that there won't a lot of re-introductions. "The first movie is all about the mystery and reveal of the Transformers as a concept and a species, which means we had to hide them a lot in the first hour. In the second movie, now that everyone believes in the universe, we can jump right into the world of the Transformers." The movie will be firmly rooted in Transformers mythology, but will also maintain the "liberties" taken with it in the first film.

He insists they're listening to fan input, so anything you want to see, now's the time to demand it. I'm going to go ahead and demand Arcee, if only to ponder how Transformers can have gender, and whether she will be pink.

It's hard to deny that, in any format, The Dark Knight has made a considerable impression on the moviegoing landscape (current gross: a bajillion dollars and counting), yet it's equally difficult to deny that the IMAX showings held their own potent appeal, thanks to director Christopher Nolan's use of proper cameras to help the action fill the screen -- and if any of you haven't noticed, that's a lot of screen to fill.

ComingSoon.net has confirmed that next summer's Night at the Museum and Transformers sequels will be showcased in IMAX, while it remains rumored that this fall's Eagle Eye and next spring's Watchmen will be as well. Now, while Paramount/Dreamworks and Warner Brothers have often been equally eager to offer up super-sized blockbusters in the format, I'm curious to know if audiences have subsequently raised their expectations for this fare. For me, the nearest location is well across town, and before The Dark Knight, the last thing I bothered to catch there was Beowulf in 3-D. (I can, however, attest that announced plans to format several theaters in the AMC chain for the IMAX experience are indeed underway a wee bit closer to my neck of the woods.)

So, without the draw of IMAX in its full effect, or even the likes of 3-D technology, do you find it any more worthwhile to go out of your way and catch an anticipated film at your nearest location, or will it take something truly special from here on out?

Have you had your fill of giant robots on the big screen yet? Well, Hollywood is banking that you haven't, and while we wait for the next installment of Transformers, it's time to turn our attention to some of the other giant robot flicks heading our way in the not-so-distant future. It's common knowledge that Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li) is in charge of the big-screen adaptation of Voltron, and today a review of Marks' script has popped up online over at Latino Review -- and, thankfully, it looks like good news for fans of the 80's cartoon. But first off, you should know that the review is pretty descriptive about the plot and 'spoiler alert' doesn't even begin to cover it. If you don't feel like reading the whole thing (and it is pretty long), it can all be boiled down to this: the script rocks.

If you didn't grow up watching 80's cartoons, then Voltron might not inspire much excitement. But, for those of a certain age, Voltron was a religion. The story of Volton centered on a team of five young pilots commanding five robot lions which could be combined to form a giant fighting machine called Voltron. Our heroes are left with the task of protecting their home planet from an evil king and a witch named Hagar. But those were the old days, and according to Latino Review, Marks' script is going to deviate from the original anime origins. For the update, Marks' story centers on the fact that "The Drules have invaded Earth and kicked our ass in the ONE DAY WAR. Humanity has gone underground. New York has been decimated and our story opens on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Drule invasion."

I was just about to eat lunch when Cinematical's Christopher Campbell IM'd me the following ... "your dream movie ..." with a link to an article over at Daily Star featuring a quote from Megan Fox (who's no longer getting married to what's his name from Bev Hills 90210, by the way) in which she says her dream is to film an entire movie in the nude. No joke. And if I somehow had the money to fund such an experiment (donations? anyone?), I'd do so in less than a second. Strike that -- I'd do it in less than less than a second. (What do you want from me? It's Monday ... I'm alone ... writing about Batman for the 7,654th time. I'm allowed to geek out over my girl Megan just a little, right?)

Here's the quote: "I would love to do a movie naked – it would be beautiful. No one dares make that kind of film today. They did it in the 1930s in an arty way, so why not now?" Sh*t, why not now? I'm sure Brett Ratner would make that film for no money -- heck, I'm sure Ratner would pay someone else out of his own pocket if it meant he could direct that movie. I can almost see it now: Arty: The Movie, starring a naked Megan Fox and directed by Brett Ratner. And you thought The Dark Knight was popular? Wait until you see the viral sites for this one!

(And don't even pretend not to care -- the gallery below is our most popular on the site.)

What would it look like if this summer's biggest film somehow crossed paths with next summer's biggest film? Why, you'd get Tumbler as an Autobot, as seen above in a piece of fan art (click to enlarge) created by Jester and Jolin from Jester Pictures. I've seen some other Transformers-related stuff from these folks, but this is my favorite. There's Gotham City in the background, an Autobot signal in the sky -- it's all very cool stuff. The Tumbler, of course, is the name of the set of wheels Batman drives around in, and just seeing what it'd look like as an Autobot has me wishing this sort of thing could happen in real life. This guy looks cool, kind of a loner and I think I want the toy (but not Shia behind the wheel). You?

[via Autoblog]

"The second one's gonna be f**kin' badass!"-- Megan Fox on Transformers 2

The 2008 MTV Movie Awards are in the books and Transformers came out on top with the best movie award, with director Michael Bay and an unbelievably hot (seriously -- no one should be that good looking) Megan Fox accepting the honors. Bay, who was sitting next to his own Fox all night, looked happy up there at the podium -- and if it was possible to make love to yourself on live television, we probably would've seen something nasty.

Highlights for me this year include a very funny Wayne's World reunion, in which the boys counted down the top ten porn names for 2008 films (even though half the flicks mentioned came out in 2007). Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. cracked me up big time with their Tropic Thunder viral video bit, which concluded with them blowing up Black's head in order to impress Stiller's overweight, internet nerdy nephew. (Loved the line about Iron Man: "It'll do till The Dark Knight gets here." Classic!)

Myers was a decent host; liked the animal trainer bit; was iffy on the craft services chick. How odd was that gum commercial/sketch with the award rolling around in the bathroom? Thought the Sandler tribute was cute, though most of the intro jokes fell flat. (I love Seth Rogen and James Franco, but that pot bit tanked hard. Did you see the uncomfortable looks from the audience? And what was up with the wide shot for the entire bit, this way no one at home could actually see what was happening on stage?) Oh, and I will admit -- the kiss from Step Up 2 the Streets was kinda hot. Step Up 3 Way ... anyone? J/K!!

Favorite moments from this year's show? Did you watch it? Do you care?

WAIT! One more thing: How 21 Jump Street did Johnny Depp look tonight???? Holy crap, dude looked 17.

Hang on! Check out a gallery from the show below ...

After weeks of rumors, centering mostly on Jonah Hill, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed the cast of Transformers 2. Joining the just-announced Rainn Wilson, and the already confirmed LaBeouf, will be Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro.

Of course, director Michael Bay is returning to helm it, as well as the original writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who are joined by Ehren Kruger.

No word on story details yet, but filming has already begun in Los Angeles. It will move to Pennsylvania, and then overseas. Photos have been cropping up on the Internet already, though largely of scaffolding and trucks at this point.