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 ...

Cinematical has just received this exclusive clip from the new documentary Religulous, starring Bill Maher and directed by Larry Charles (Borat). In the docu-comedy, Maher travels from country to country examining faith and religion and the role it plays in the world. In the clip below, Maher, demonstrating his pro-marijuana beliefs, discusses whether you can be high and spiritual at the same time.

On Religulous, Cinematical's James Rocchi said, "it's a funny film about some depressing things, it's a lighthearted tour through terrorism, injustice and intolerance. But those contradiction and challenges are, ultimately, what make the film linger uneasily in your mind, reaching past comedy and confrontation to challenge the audience with a fierce and forceful prayer that there might be no god." You can listen to our audio interview with Bill Maher over here, and you can catch Religulous in theaters this weekend.

If you're one of those folks who protesting the film, this probably won't be of much interest, but to the rest, feel free to check out the first five minutes of Blindness above. I'm hooked. Now I realize that I'm a wee bit biased, being a huge Don McKellar fan -- he not only wrote the adaptation, but also gives the opening his classic wit in one of the first speaking roles in the film -- but this movie simply looks darned good.

At the same time, I'm betting that being allured by these first minutes isn't a good indicator of what's to come. This is, after all, not a tale of a dude who goes mysteriously blind and his new, chatty sidekick. It's about a strange pseudo-blind epidemic where a milky haze plagues an unknown city.

But if you need more reasons to see it -- both Kim and James dug the new cut screened in Toronto last month.

I'm finally writing a post here that my sister will read. You see, she adores Russell Brand almost as much as Brand adores Cinematical and Scott Weinberg (see image above as proof of this fact). Maybe even more, because unlike most Americans, she was avidly following his British career via his podcast and BBC America. There have been many humbling moments in my Cinematical salad days, but none quite so humiliating as when I told her Brand was in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. "I know. I followed the filming on his podcast." At least Weinberg promptly humiliated her by getting all cozy with her favorite Englishman.

As my sister wasn't one of the casting directors for Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Brand had to make an audition tape to convince them of his weirdly-coiffed worthiness. In honor of its DVD release, MTV has the exclusive, and I've embedded it below for your viewing pleasure. And if you're like my sibling and can't get enough, I've also included the karaoke version of his in-film music video, Infant Sorrow.

5-1 my sister writes "I've already seen both of those videos" in the comments. Hopefully, you'll be more appreciative.

Hold on to your missile-launching cuff links, 007 lovers -- this bit of James Bond intelligence may leave you searching for solace in more ways than one.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the superspy's latest adventure, Quantum Of Solace, will open in India before the film has even had its U.S. red carpet premiere.

Solace, which first shows in the U.K. on Oct. 31, hits Indian theaters a week later on Nov. 7 and then bows in North American theaters on Nov. 14. The move by Sony marks the first time that a major U.S. film has opened in India before hitting theaters Stateside.

As you may remember, Solace was initially set to storm into theaters across America on Nov. 7, but Sony pushed the release date back a week when Warner Bros. decided to give a certain boy wizard the year off, pushing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to summer 2009.

But before you decide to drop your hard-earned cash on a plane ticket to England or India for an early peek at the flick, there is some good news on the 007 front. The very retro, super sleek new music video for Alicia Keys and Jack White's Quantum theme song, Another Way to Die, hit Yahoo! today. Guess we can take some solace in that. Check it out after the jump.

Happy New Year to all my brothers and sisters. May 5769 kick a whole lot more ass than 5768. While over 98% of Hollywood takes the day off, here's what's happening:

Variety reports that Michael Bay has taken a page from Christopher Nolan and will shoot "at least three action set pieces" using IMAX cameras during Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Usually I'd reserve this spot for a Bay joke, but I truly think this is a great thing for a film like Transformers. The action scenes in the last one felt claustrophobic (especially toward the end), and so utilizing IMAX would allow Bay and Co. to open it up and really have fun with the thing. Visually, this could add a lot to the film. Hopefully they'll use it for some massive robot battle. Other films also mentioned in the article as possible contenders for a similar IMAX approach include Iron Man 2 and Y: The Last Man.

Looks like the old gang is making a play for Spider-Man 4 (and 5?), as Kirsten Dunst told MTV that she's "in" when asked whether she'd be returning to the mega-franchise as Peter Parker's old lady, Mary Jane. However, she did follow that up with "I'm not saying anything. I know there's rumors ..." -- which, in actor-speak, means "We're still negotiating and I'm not really allowed to open my big mouth." I'd expect a big announcement soon stating the return of Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst for a back-to-back shoot of Spider-Man 4 and 5.

Thomas Dekker (aka that dude who stars in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) is in talks to snag a lead role in MGM's remake of Fame, so says The Hollywood Reporter. The original 1980 film, which was nominated for six Oscars, follows several aspiring young performers and teachers at the prestigious New York Academy of Performing Arts. Considering the times we live in, I envision this update to feel like a mix between Step Up, You Got Served and American Idol: The Movie.

Much more after the jump ...

Last week, Sacha Baron Cohen crashed a Milan fashion show. Now video has emerged as well, and it really whets our appetite for his upcoming Brüno flick.

Out of his three stock characters, Brüno's the least known, and yet the fabulous fashionista engaged in some of the funniest bits on Da Ali G Show. Not only did he send-up the laughable self-importance of the fashion world, he also challenged folks' sexuality. A memorable bit had him asking a gay deprogrammer if he would get turned on if Brüno gave him a lap dance. (We know we would!)

Although some critics wonder if Cohen can repeat the success of Borat with Brüno, we're betting he'll get the last laugh, as long as he's willing to suffer for his art. And oh how he loves to do that. Just watch the video. After his moment of glory strutting down the runway in his Farrah 'do and Shadow cape (looking strangely hot), Cohen was detained by authorities. If only all comedians were willing to go so far for a chuckle.

The first trailer for Will Smith's new flick has just arrived online, and it's called Seven Pounds ... and it was directed by Gabriele Muccino (The Pursuit of Happyness) ... and it definitely looks like one of them tear-jerkers. (For those obsessive, need-it-right-now folks, you can watch the trailer after the jump.) In the film, Smith plays a guy who's feeling guilty about mistakes he's made over the years, and so he decides to help change the lives of seven total strangers. In doing so, he winds up falling in love with one of the aforementioned strangers, played by Rosario Dawson. So here we have a movie about giving to others, it comes out December 19 (right in time for Christmas), and it stars our most precious A-list actor. Mmmm ... makes you just wanna wash it all down with a slice of apple pie.

Seven Pounds marks Big Willie's second trip to the multiplex this year, after first starring in the summer superhero action/adventure Hancock. A quick glance at his previous two films spots a similar pattern of action blockbuster and quiet drama -- and even though Smith will always guarantee you great numbers on opening weekend no matter the genre, one wonders which version of the man you all prefer? For ten bucks, would you rather spend it watching Will Smith kick ass on a $200 million budget, or would you prefer to spend the time with his gentler, Oscar-nominated side? Or, would you rather watch the man star in more straight-up comedies, a la Hitch?

How do you like your Will Smith?

Related: Fan Rant: Will Smith Needs to Play a Villain

Twenty-two years ago, Sam Rockwell was a junior in high school. I wonder if his young teenage mind ever imagined that two decades later he'd be starring in a feature film as a choking con man/sex addict. Since the adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's Choke is hitting theaters today, I thought we'd head back to Rockwell's real childhood.

There was no crazy mother kidnapping him and taking him on wild bus rides and dangerous adventures at the zoo. Instead, he was a student at San Francisco School of the Arts, busying himself with the school's improv group. About a minute in on the above video, you can see him sitting on a stage with one Ms. Margaret Cho. They do a little saucy improv before briefly talking about themselves. First there's Cho, hitting on areas she'd become famous for discussing, and then there's Rockwell. That guy oozed cool even back then.

From galaxy-wide adventures to the Old West, methinks Rockwell sought the adventure he said he was looking for.

[Thanks to Christopher Campbell for the heads up!]