Granted, I personally hated last summer’s blockbuster smash Transformers. Regardless, news is still news, and I must report…

For those worried about the forthcoming sequel Revenge of the Fallen being the latest in a line of blockbuster tentpoles filming sequels back-to-back, well director Michael Bay has heard your prayers.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly recently, Bay revealed:

“When we were writing the script, I said to the writers, “‘ hate sequels that try to make it to the third movie. Pretend like we’re never having a third movie, so let’s go for broke on the second one. I hate those cliffhangers! Let’s just make this movie stand on its own.’ I really feel this movie is not a forced sequel.”

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MTV had a chance to talk to uber-hottie Megan Fox about Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. According to Ms Fox, the sequel will be “10 times as big, 10 times as many set pieces, explosions, and acrobatic stunts.”

She also said that she and lucky boy Shia LeBouf will get to make out a bit in the film, but according to her:

“I don’t know if anyone wants to see that.”

Uh… right.

Due to the writer’s strike, it seems the script for Transformers 2 was pounded out pretty quickly, so it’s going through some, like, rewrites, ya know? Writers are working on:

“trying to do some character stuff for Shia and myself”

Like I totally get that - I’m a big fan of character stuff even in big, gigantic popcorn movies that can trigger epileptic seizures in the audience.

Source: MTV via SHH!

What a world!

[UPDATE: Looks like Jonah Hill won't be involved in Transformers 2 after all. Thank goodness for small miracles, I guess.]

First, he’s drawing pictures of penises as far as the eye can see. And now Jonah Hill (Superbad, Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall) is in “early negotiations” to play Shia LaBeouf’s sidekick in next summer’s Transformers 2.

Early reports indicate Hill will play LaBeouf’s college roomate - a crazed webmaster who runs a conspiracy theory site.

The 2007 Toronto International Film Festival ended recently and the 2008 Sundance Film Festival is just around the corner, and these have gotten me thinking (uh oh!).

I’ve been thinking about why it is that some movies that are so mediocre go on to earn hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office while other films that are just as good (and quite often far better) end up unseen not talked about. While I enjoy a good popcorn movie as much as the next guy, I do tend to hold even action and sci-fi movies to a higher standard than the average 14 year old.

So I find it extremely frustrating when movies that seem to be mediocre or worse make incredible amounts of money and give some directors credibility and the opportunity to pump out more schlock, while other movies that are better go on to make almost nothing and those directors continue to have to fight to get movies made.

Let’s look at some examples from the last 10 years or so…

So there’s been a ton of hoopla over the last couple of days regarding this whole HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray battle and how Paramount/Dreamworks are going to be releasing movies exclusively in HD-DVD format. Well, almost exclusively since Spielberg still wants his movies available in both formats.

What really brought the debate into the news was the fact that Michael Bay stated that he was really not happy with these studios wanting to release his mega-hit Transformers only in HD-DVD format and that he was going to take a stand by refusing to come back to direct Transformers 2.

This week The Weekly Rant covers a wee bit of Iron Man, Live Free or Die Hard, of course I have to talk about Transformers and the goings on of the super-secret J.J. Abrams monster movie with the codename: “Cloverfield.”

By Vic Holtreman

Short version: A schizophrenic and mind numbing movie. Who knew that so much action could be so boring?

I’m not going to spend too much time writing this review because I’m quite sure that it’s irrelevant. Based on the reaction of the audience at the screening I attended, most folks will not agree with this review, will go watch Transformers and leave the theater in a state of bliss.

Me? I just don’t get it.

Over the weekend I actually started to get excited about this movie based on the early reviews that had been coming out. I just checked Rottentomatoes.com and although in the overall category it’s just barely slipped into “Rotten” territory, the “Cream of the Crop” reviewer consensus is still well into “Ripe” (meaning good). Over at IMDB.com the user rating stands at 8.3 out of 10 at the time of this writing.

I can only conclude that all these people are on crack.

Yes, I realize this prediction is a huge stretch (not) and very risky (yeah, right) but I just wanted to say right now and on the record that I think Michael Bay’s Transformers movie is going to rock the box office.

So what prompted such a bold statement?

Holee crap… it seems like every other day another three movie clips and 24 new images come out for either Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer or Transformers.

I refuse to post another video clip or new image from either of these upcoming films here at Screen Rant. Seriously, just how much of these movies do you want to see before you ever set foot in the stinking movie theater?!? I understand the concept of the Hollywood Hype Machine and it’s ever increasing need to beat the last box office record (most money made on a 3.5 day weekend in an odd numbered month during the summer solstice, for example).

I suppose if there’s one thing you can say about Paramount Pictures it’s that they know how to promote an “event movie.”

Over the last couple of days not one but two new trailers (one U.S, one international) for the upcoming Michael Bay-helmed actioner Transformers have been released and now there’s word that a third trailer with different footage will be seen with Shrek the Third.