Here's the setting: You just arrived home after saving a country from an evil mastermind hell-bent on taking over their supply of chewing gum and using it to create mayhem. During that time, however, you missed your Cinematical and all the stuff that happened during the week. Well, you showed up at just the right time -- may we now present [drum roll please] ... Cinematical's Stuff That Happened This Week!

Fanboy Stuff
Kenneth Branagh is Directing Thor
Transformers 2 is Shooting in IMAX
Eagle Eye Writer Wants to Make a Blade Runner 2?
Zack Snyder Talks 300 Sequel
But Then Jon Favreau Talks Iron Man Sequel
Check Out Early Art for Pixar's The Incredibles
Star Wars Steampunk and Reservoir Dogs = Hella Cool!
Are They Rebooting Daredevil?

Exclusive Stuff
Bolt Poster Premiere
Pray the Devil Back to Hell Poster Premiere
Clip from Bill Maher's Religulous

Stuff to Talk About
Will Smith vs Will Smith
Five People Who Should Star in PG Porn
Who's More Uncomfortable with Onscreen Nudity?
Which Upcoming Marvel Film Shows the Most Promise?
How Saw V Could Actually Be Good
Is Roku's Netflix Player Tempting You Yet
When Talking Animals Attack
Horror Remakes That Don't Suck

Reviews and Stuff
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Religulous
Rachel Getting Married
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Flash of Genius
Appaloosa
An American Carol
Indie Spotlight: New Releases for Oct. 3

More stuff after the jump ...

We've brought you some very cool Steampunk Star Wars action figures in the past, and now comes these equally-as-cool fan made drawings of Star Wars characters over at Gorilla Artfare. Also done up all Steampunk-y, artist Björn Hurri has created a number of images for characters like Chewbacca (pictured above), Yoda (pictured below in gallery), Luke Skywalker (who looks like a cross between a steel worker and a meth addict), Han Solo (if he was 63 and still going strong) and a badass Storm Trooper (who's working a little Predator action into his Steampunk suit). We've included a couple of the images for you to check out below, then head over here to see the rest.

In addition to the Steampunk images, scope out this print of Reservoir Troopers (via Scrawl Collective) -- which is obviously a play off that famous scene from Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. Awesome. Must have one. (Unfortunately, they're currently out of stock.)



Coming on Monday: A very tasty Star Wars treat ...



[via Super Punch]

Click Erik Davis' beautiful face above to head straight to our Aston Martin hi-res gallery

"Now this is a fun one -- when you get to 100mph, just slowly take your hands off the wheel and watch what the car does ..." -- Aston Martin Instructor #1

You may remember how last month Cinematical was invited to travel to London for something called "The James Bond Experience." Part of this "experience" included a chat with Bond himself, Daniel Craig, and Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster. (You can read all about that over here.) Now, however, we're finally allowed to tell you about some of the activities that took place during our four days across the pond -- and how do I not start with the awesomeness that was driving an Aston Martin -- a car, mind you, that's worth more than my life -- at well over 100mph. But let me back up.

Never sit at the back of a bus for more than an hour and a half. By the time our small group of online writers arrived at the Millbrook test track, I felt like I was ready to puke. Millbrook is literally in the middle of the English countryside -- an hour or so out of London, in Bedfordshire, England -- and it's the sort of place that calls for an escort to be with you at all times. See, Millbrook is where they test all sorts of cars and military vehicles before they're called into action. Thus, cameras are everywhere, the public is not allowed in and security is tighter than a seat belt around Santa.

Click image above to head straight to our freaky Alba hi-res gallery

I get what the Declare Yourself people are trying to do, and I admire it and support it. Voting is important, and way too many people are indifferent to the process. But don't these guys realize that special Jessica Alba photoshoots are old news? I mean, she already took on a bunch of iconic movie scenes, and Charlie Chaplin, and a previous Declare Yourself ad. The girl is addicted! I'm just waiting for the day that I get to share pics of her recreating scenes from '80s action heroes. She's done Chaplin, so why not Arnie, Jean-Claude, Steven, and the others?

But back to the picture -- now she's in a new ad which brings to mind a sexier Hannibal Lecter. In the wake of the others, this simply seems like more of the same, rather than a shocking image plastered up to make a statement and urge kids to vote. "Hey look, now she's doing Hannibal Lecter!"

Eh, I think they just got the idea from Erik (who compared her last, duck-taped stint with Silence of the Lambs). Good work, Davis!

[via Just Jared]

Click image above to enlarge

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which took home the Best Documentary award at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. Directed by Gini Reticker, the buzz-worthy doc tells of a courageous group of Liberian woman who came together and stood up to those holding their country hostage in an attempt to bring peace back to the land.

The synopsis adds, "Thousands of women - ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim - came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they took on the warlords and nonviolently forced a resolution during the stalled peace talks. A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverance of the women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations."

Pray the Devil Back to Hell opens in theaters (in NYC) on November 7.

I wanted to call this a Fan Made post, and I suppose you can technically say artist Lou Romano is a "fan" of the designs he produces, but it's a weird line and so we're not attaching any labels. Romano, of course, is a member of the art department over at Pixar Studios, and over on his blog he's just thrown up a slew of early concept images for The Incredibles, Jack-Jack Attack and Mr. Incredible and Friends. Romano introduces the enormous set by saying they're "some other samples of Incredibles work I did between 2000-2004. Development/color styling/and dvd bonus materials." The image above (one of my personal favorites), he calls "more of a gag drawing."

The Incredibles happens to be right up there with my favorites of Pixar -- and with the popularity of superhero movies and the popularity of The Incredibles, I'm real surprised Pixar isn't looking to make a sequel -- and, instead, is churning out a Cars 2 and a Toy Story 3. Bogus, I say! Check out a few of Romano's images in the gallery below, then head over to his page to see a ton more. Would you be down for an Incredibles sequel? Or are you happy with more Cars and Toy Story?



[via Super Punch]

Click image above to enlarge

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Disney's Bolt, which boasts a voice cast that includes John Travolta and some girl named Miley Cyrus (maybe you've heard of her; looks a little like that other girl Hannah Montana ...). The flick, which will be presented in fully awesome Disney Digital 3D, tells of a heroic dog (Travolta) on a hit TV show who really believes he has superpowers. A nice reality check comes when he's accidentally shipped from Hollywood to New York City (aka the real world) and has to somehow make his way back home with help from an old cat and an overweight hamster.

Written by Dan Fogelman (Cars, Fred Claus), Bolt looks to continue Disney's successful run in the Digital 3D business, joining other films like Meet the Robinsons and the Hannah Montana Concert Tour. It's fun, charming ... and who doesn't love a few solid one-liners from an overweight hamster?

Bolt zooms into theaters on November 21.

Need something to stare at for the next few minutes? Come waste time with us, and space out on the following fantastic movie-related Simpsons images:

1. Though I still haven't watched it yet [pokes brain with crayon], the season premiere of The Simpsons included a very awesome opening sequence where Boba Fett freezes the entire Simpson family in carbonite (check out image above). And for those who, like me, need to catch up on the lives of our friends from Springfield, you can scope out the entire season premiere over on Hulu.com. [via Star Wars blog]



2. From the episode Husbands and Knives, the hilarious image above comes from the scene in which Milhouse asks Alan Moore to sign a copy of the DVD Watchmen Babies in V for Vacation. And then Moore smiled, signed a dozen copies and called it his most favorite movie in the entire world. Or not. (Am I nuts for wanting to watch at least one episode of a Watchmen Babies cartoon?)

One thing is for certain -- the Harry Potter kids know how to pick roles that really rip them out of the magical world of wizards and spells. First there was Daniel Radcliffe taking it all off in Equus, and now there's Rupert Grint getting down with his bad self for Cherrybomb.

The picture over to the right is just a peek at a few images that have popped up over at MTV. In the film, Grint plays Malachy, this guy who is trying to shmooze his boss' "exotic and fashionable" daughter. But his friend is also charmed by the girl and the two start competing to impress her. (I guess they don't have an "I'll back off if you like her," sort of relationship.) However, the competition doesn't include romantic declarations of love and boxes of chocolate, but rather stunts like stealing a car ... and it escalates from there. Grint says his character is basically good, but a "bit of a thug."

I have to say, I would never have imagined it before seeing these pictures, but Ron Weasley is growing up! Now we just need Emma Watson to grab a brow-raising role and the trio will have done their part to move beyond Hogwarts. The Dreamers 2 ... whaddya think?

We already know some studios (like Universal) are looking to bring our most favorite childhood games to the big screen, including Monopoly, Ouija, Candy Land, Clue (which was already a film), Battleship and a few others. And while at first it might sound rather ridiculous, you'd be amazed to see the types of stories a few clever Hollywood screenwriters could throw together for these. Heck, I can't imagine Candy Land would differ greatly from something like Willy Wonka.

That said, the folks over at Worth 1000 launched a photoshop contest recently in which the idea was to take a popular children's game and create a movie poster for it. The poster above for Monopoly (which director Ridley Scott is apparently developing for real) doesn't make much sense, but I do admire the casting choices. Could you imagine a film based on the Monopoly board game having a cast like that? After settling all their paychecks, you'd have -- what -- fifteen bucks to shoot the thing? Check out a few more of our favorites in the gallery below.

Out of all your favorite childhood games, which could you see becoming the most worthwhile film?



Related: Cinematical Seven: Bad Ideas for Board Game Movies