When asked about his role in Jaws 4: The Revenge, Michael Caine once said, “I never saw it—but I saw the house it paid for, and it’s fantastic!” I suspect John Turturro’s been saying something similar for the past four years whenever he’s asked about the Transformers movies. Now we can add John Malkovich and Frances McDormand to that group. And maybe Alan Tudyk.

The plot is as labyrinthine as it is unnecessary. Back in the early 1960s, a ship from war-torn Cybertron (if the Transformers spend all their time fighting, how did they ever evolve?) crashed on the moon. Among the cargo were several “Pillars” that have some sort of significance to the war.

Also, a big, tough Autobot named Sentinal Prime. The White House gets wise to this, and thus we have the impetus for the moon landing (apparently, many historical events were due to Transformers; they don’t get around to revealing that car in which Kennedy was shot was an Autobot, but there may be a fourth film).

Fast-forward to the present day, where the Autobots are now working for the Feds to preserve humanity (how did we ever get along without them?). While on a mission to Chernobyl, Optimus Prime discovers some remnant of the Pillars and decides that it’s high time to revive Sentinal. Also, the Pillars are somehow able to teleport things, which means that it can be used to bring an army of invading Decepticons to earth (according to Frances McDormand, National Intelligence Director).

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If you’ve been counting the weeks, days, hours, minutes and second until the third Transformers movie hits theaters and destroys everything in its path, the amount you have to count has just gotten smaller. That’s right, the release date for everyone’s favorite movie where robots blow stuff up has been moved up.

Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark Of The Moon has been moved to Wednesday, June 29th from Friday, July 1st. The studio’s big Summer 2011 blockbuster will open day and date in all markets except China and Japan on that new date.

According to Deadline, Paramount is apparently pretty psyched for the movie. “Early response to footage, especially the 3D footage, has been great so we want to get the word out that this film is as good or better than the first and much better than the last.”

We’ll see, Mr. Bay. We’ll see.

You know you can tell a good trailer when 90% of it is all doom and gloom. That’s just what we’re getting with the first full-length feature trailer for Michael Bay’s Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon.

If you’re just now coming into the franchise or you have already forgotten the robot balls from Revenge of the Fallen, here’s the official synopsis.

Shia LaBeouf returns as Sam Witwicky in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. When a mysterious event from Earth’s past erupts into the present day it threatens to bring a war to Earth so big that the Transformers alone will not be able to save us.

This trailer gives us all of the goods: tons of destruction, introduction of both the human and robot villain, and lots of visible robot battling. Joining the regular cast of humans this time is Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, John Malkovich, Patrick Dempsey, Ken Jeong, and the always evil Frances McDormand.

Take a look at the brand new trailer after the jump, and get ready for Transformer action (and hopefully Dinobots) on July 1st.

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Transformers: Dark of the Moon has a tough road ahead to win back the hearts and minds of all the fans Revenge of the Fallen disappointed in 2009. The second Transformers film might have been a financial success, but it failed on just about every other level.

Michael Bay needs to up his awesome this time around and he might have just played his ace in the hole. However, this might help.

EW is reporting that Leonard Nimoy is set to be the voice behind Sentinel Prime in the forthcoming film. This new character is Optimus’ predecessor and was the transformer featured in the first teaser trailer.

Nimoy is no stranger to the transformer universe, having already provided the voice for Galvatron in the mid-80s animated classic Transformers: The Movie. Michael Bay has been eyeing Nimoy for a voice role since the last film, but had some reservations.

“I was too scared to ask him,” the director says. “Plus, he’s married to Susan Bay, who’s a cousin of mine. So I had to be careful. I’ve met him at family functions. But he told me, ‘I would be honored. I’m glad to be back!’”

This is not the first news of Nimoy returning to the acting world after he recently retired. Hopefully this means he will also return to the another of the mega geek franchises he is known for. I eagerly anticipate an updated Ballad of Bilbo Baggins for the new Hobbit films!

Michael Bay loves teaser trickery when it comes to his epic Transformers film franchise. We all remember the first teaser that started it all, which gave many of us hope for what turned out to be a pretty lackluster franchise. Bay is hoping to change all of our minds with his newest film in the series, Dark of the Moon.

Here’s the official, yet somehow unreleased synopsis.

The Autobots Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide and Sideswipe led by Optimus Prime, are back in action, taking on the evil Decepticons, who are determined to avenge their defeat in 2009’s ‘Transformers Revenge of the Fallen’. In this new movie, the Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a perilous space race between the U.S. and Russia, and once again human Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) has to come to the aid of his robot friends. There’s new characters too, including a new villain in the form of Shockwave, a longtime ‘Transformers’ character who rules Cybertron while the Autobots and Decepticons battle it out on Earth.

All of our favorites are back from the first two films, including Shia, Duhamel, and Turturro, with new faces like John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, and Patrick Dempsey joining the fight this time.

Check out the new teaser trailer after the jump and catch Transformers: Dark of the Moon in theaters on July 1st.

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Since the title was leaked for Michael Bay’s upcoming third installment of the Transformers franchise, people everywhere have been scratching their heads trying to figure out how a title as silly as Dark of the Moon will apply to our favorite robots in disguise. Thankfully, we now have a bit of a plot outline that will help us link the two. Or not.

In a recent synopsis for the upcoming novel companion to the film, the plot (or at least something close to it) was spelled out.

In this new movie, the Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a perilous space race between the U.S. and Russia, and once again human Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) has to come to the aid of his robot friends. There’s new characters too, including a new villain in the form of Shockwave, a longtime ‘Transformers’ character who rules Cybertron while the Autobots and Decepticons battle it out on Earth.

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With the fan reaction being as negative as it could have been for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, it was expected that the studio and Michael Bay would be very careful in choosing a title for the third film. Fans felt alienated with the way Revenge of the Fallen went down, between the racist robots and robot balls, and now that creeping feeling is returning as the title for the third film has been announced.

It isn’t confirmed just yet, but according to a reliable Transformers fan site, marketing has started for the title Transformers: Dark of The Moon.

Some upcoming books listed at the Amazon revealed what might possibly be, the Title of the 3rd Transformers Movie.
The books are to be released (May 17, 2011) very near the release date of Transformer 3 (July 1, 2011). The author of the books is official and has written books for the 2007 Movie and ROTF. The publisher is none other than HarperColins, which produced similar books for both movies.

So it may sound like a high school adaptation of a Pink Floyd film, but this could bring new depth to Bay’s Transformers universe. It has been confirmed that Megan Fox is not returning, while LaBeouf, Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, and Turturro are all coming back. Joining the cast for the first time is Malkovich, Patrick Dempsey, Ken Jeong, Alan Tudyk, and Frances McDormand.

The film is slated to hit on July 1st of 2011, so expect to see a big trailer by year’s end, hopefully along with a confirmed title.

We like to stay clear from most rumors when it comes to movie news, but sometimes there is something that comes along we can’t pass up. This time, the news is in the form of a possible plot leak of the upcoming Indiana Jones sequel, which would be the fifth film in the series.

Many people remember Crystal Skull as being the Phantom Menace of Indiana Jones films, with things like aliens, monkey kidnappers, and the entire concept of Mutt Williams, but this newest rumor could be the thing that saves the Indy franchise. From the New Zealand website Stuff:

Harrison Ford’s final outing as Indiana Jones will be “emotional and exciting” as the franchise heads back to its roots after a badly received fourth installment.

Indiana Jones 5 will begin shooting next year, and much of the plot line will be centered around the Bermuda Triangle, an area over the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft are said to have disappeared.

Movie bosses have assured fans the film will stay true to the series’ roots, and won’t contain lots of state-of-the-art special effects.

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In what was undoubtedly not very surprising news, Michael Bay has confirmed on his website that there will, indeed, be a Transformers 3. Not only that, the film will hit theaters earlier than its rumored release of July 1, 2012 and will, in fact, be coming to a multiplex near you in 2011, a full year earlier. But wait, there’s even more — and this, while not entirely surprising, is a bit unexpected.

Not only will there be a Transformers 3 and it will be coming out a year earlier than expected, Bay also confirmed that franchise star Megan Fox will be in the third film as well. Given the seemingly hostile nature of their recent public spat, it appears Bay at least has decided to live and let live. I’m sure the many millions of dollars the franchise has made had nothing to do with it.

Bay wrote on his website that he met with ILM in San Francisco Thursday morning, followed by a flight to Rhode Island with Kruger to meet with Hasbro about new characters. “Well, it’s official: We have a great ‘Transformers 3′ story,” Bay said on his site. “Today is Day One.” This point is not better illustrated by the countdown clock now running at Bay’s site. As of today, it shows 636 days until Transformers 3 hits theaters. So, start planning accordingly.

Even though Bay has publicly confirmed Fox’s involvement in the third film, the beautiful star herself has not, as yet, commented. In addition, Shia LaBeouf was not mentioned by Bay at all, so there’s no confirmation on if he will be in the third film along with Fox. Although, according to other sources, both Fox and LaBeouf are slated to return, as is Exec. Producer Steven Spielberg and co-writer Ehren Kruger. So, we can probably expect announcements from Fox and LaBeouf’s people soon.

Transformers 3: The Blatant Grab for Cash hits theaters on July 1, 2011.

There are plenty of sequels and reboots of films that shouldn’t be getting made today. From things like Big Mama’s House 2 to The Incredible Hulk, most of these films don’t really have a reason to get made. Then there is a film like Wall Street 2 that could have a decent social or economic message if it were done properly today. Luckily, this film sequel not only has the original cast returning, but Shia LaBeouf will be throwing his hat into the ring as well.

Recently, set pictures from the film have popped up online (form a Shia LaBeouf fansite) of LaBeouf shooting alongside Frank Langella in what looks like Central park, while being directed by Oliver Stone. Langella plays LaBeouf’s mentor in the film, teaching him the ways of Wall Street. Other than the fact that Michael Douglas is returning to reprise his legendary role of Gordon Gekko and that characters will most likely learn valuable lessons about the dangers of greed, we don’t know much else about the plot of the film.

Check out the images after the jump. Expect to see Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps in theaters April 23, 2010.

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Back in 2007, Michael Bay accomplished what seemed to be a miracle in the film community: he took a nearly dead property that was built off of a line of action figures, and made it into a highly successful–and one can even say decent–film for both old and new fans. Sadly, with Revenge of the Fallen, Bay and his team try to top themselves with a grandiose successor, and come up pretty short.

The plot follows Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), two years after the events of Transformers. Sam’s now off to college where he and blah blah blah…does any of this matter? Let’s face it, you’re going to see this movie for one reason, and one reason only: to see gigantic robots beat the crap out of each other. I’m happy to say, you get what you come for, but that’s about it. This movie is pretty much identical to it’s predecessor, now with 30% more character development, mass murder, and zany humor. Oh, don’t forget a brand new track by Linkin Park, which sounds exactly like the last track by Linkin Park.

There are some pretty embarrassing moments for a film of this caliber. One of which is the use of racism in the form of CGI robots. The racism isn’t very blatant, as it is overused stereotypes that are meant to be funny, but come out laughable, and not in a good way. Two characters, Mudflap and Skids, stand out above the rest. They are designated as the “urban” Autobots, donning two gold front teeth and illiteracy. There is also a Mexican ice cream truck at the beginning of the film that sets the bar pretty low. And those who say that Jazz in the original cartoon set a precedent for characters like Mudflap and Skids should know that Scatman Crothers, who originally voiced the character, transcends race.

A major downfall for the film, which seems to be a complaint across the board, is the massive 150 minutes of the film’s length. There is definitely a period where the audience, as a whole, glances at their collective watch. Without knowing the true story, I wouldn’t doubt that the film had a much darker first cut and the studio decided to amp it up with things like jive-talking sidekicks and robot balls (yes, there are robot testicles in the film). There’s definitely a dark film in those 2+ hours, and it would be interesting to see that cut someday.

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With all the trailers, pics, videos and whatnot floating around the Internets concerning Michael Bay’s sure to be a monster sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, I’m starting to get a bit burned out. Sure, I like seeing footage of robots fighting, stuff blowing up, gun fights, car chases and Megan Fox running around all sweaty and glistening. Let’s face it, who doesn’t?

That said, I always start to get a bit concerned when studios trot out so much stuff before a movie’s release. Its as if they’re trying to beat us over the head and convince us the movie is “super cool” by the sheer amount of info we’re being subjected to. Its not like there isn’t precedent for this either. Look at the recent campaigns for both Terminator: Salvation or Land of the Lost.

You couldn’t turn on a tv, browse the internet or ride a bus without seeing either Christian Bale, a Terminator or Wil Farrell and a damn dinosaur. And sadly, even with all that marketing and the extreme “in your face” nature of it, both movies ended up being not so good — especially in the case of Land of the Lost which, you could make the case, basically bombed.

So what does this all mean for Transformers 2? Who knows. Just take a look at this new clip (after the break) and try not to get too jaded about it. Plus, it features Megan Fox quite a bit, so that couldn’t hurt, right?

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