Alice Is a Pretender?

TFW TF2 source strikes again, this time saying that Isabel Lucas' Alice is a Pretender.

The TFW TF2 Insider has confirmed that the character of Alice, as played by Isabel Lucas, in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is a Pretender. For those not familiar with Transformers sub-lines from the 1980s, Pretenders are Transformers that are hidden inside a shell that acts as their disguise. In the case of Alice, the shell will be an attractive human woman while the inner robot is best described as a hybrid of the Frenzy robot design from the first movie. The Pretender Transformer will have an arm that transforms into an energy weapon, a long tongue, and a scanning tentacle.

So what is a "Pretender"? It is a subsection of the Transformers line that was first introduced back in 1988 where a Transformer has a "synthetic organic outer shell" that hid the robot. Back then the shells where just a plastic shell that split in half revealing the TF inside which usually had a pretty crappy alt mode. Click here for the Wikipedia entry.

As for the character of Alice, currently the only confirmed information is she befriends the freshman Sam in college. I want to discount the rumor but really there am a whole lot of story left that we know nothing about so any theory on what part the character plays in the movie and for how long remain valid. The actress has not been spotted on any other sets except those shot in Princeton but that doesn't mean she did not show up for scenes filmed at the various air force bases around the country or overseas.

There is also a video of a scene shot in Princeton that supports this theory as it shows Lucas calmly walking away while extras are panicking around her suggesting something sinister is going on with the character. Could she be the form that "Ravage" hides in before chasing Shia, Megan and Leo on the streets of Princeton?

It is an interesting idea to say the least. While Pretenders were poorly executed back in the '80s it doesn't mean it couldn't work in a movie if handled well and judiciously. Really the only problem I have with the idea is it a little too Terminator like. If there wasn't a Terminator movie in production and a TV show, having a Pretender Transformer preying on our human heroes could almost be a movie unto itself. As it is, I am very skeptical.

Most Anticipated Movies of 2009

Movietickets.com had a survey of 4000 movie fans between August 8th and October 5th for the most anticipated movies of 2009. Sadly Transformers 2 is "only" 3rd place. Hopefully once a trailer debuts next month that will change.

MovieTickets.com Top 10 Most Anticipated Films
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros)
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox)
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount)
4. Public Enemies (Universal)
5. Angels & Demons (Sony)
6. Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (Fox)
7. The Informant (Warner Bros)
8. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox)
9. The Day the Earth Stood Still (Fox)
10. The Taking of Pelham 123 (Sony)

"The Touch" On Chuck, Transformers in Simpsons

Via TFormers.com is the below footage that shows Stan Bush's "The Touch" being used for an amusing montage on NBC's Chuck (good show, very entertaining, highly recommend). The song is dear to many of us Transfans from the animated Transformers: The Movie so its use brings a few memories.

In addition SciFi.com reports that Transformers will be pariodied on the Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror episode that is airing this Sunday. Thanks to William for the link.

[A] segment lampoons Michael Bay's Transformers movie. "What happens is Bart gets a Christmas present from a 99 Cent store, and it turns out to be a Transformer. They take over Springfield, and they're fighting all over the place. Then Marge says to the Transformers, 'Why do you have to fight?' And they go, 'We agree. We'll just team up and take over you guys.'"

For the segment, animators drew from the live-action film, not the animated Transformers TV series. "It's based on the movie. It's just really fun to do transformations. You can see why they enjoyed doing that film."

Shia Wrapped on Transformers 2

According to Celebrity-Gossip.net, Shia LaBeouf is back in LA as of October 27th after wrapping on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

As the picture shows, his hand is still in a splint. While Transformers 2 production is possibly still shooting in Paris, that could just be interstitials and the like that doesn't require direct participation of the actors to complete. I expect we will hear that Transformers 2 production has wrapped any day now. Thanks to Rich for the link.

Transformers II Goes To The City of Lights

According to a poster on the Michael Bay forums, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen production has moved from Egypt to Paris, France.

Forget the Middle East, he's in France right now...

... in Paris, more specifically.

And this is what he was shooting: L'Arc de triomphe.

Now that was weird... I was walking home from work, and just happen to see a small group of people around a camera... When I got closer, I saw that Bay was riding it (literally). The last thing I would have expected is to see Bay shooting in my neighbor.

The scene was about a news anchor from CNN doing a report... It feels like main photography is getting closer to the end.

Producer Ian Bryce was here as well.

NOTE: this is a stock photo of L'Arc de Triomphe, but from where Bay was shooting it, you will probably get the same angle, with the actor standing in front of the camera.

While this could be fake, it seems more likely that Bay and company are in France to film exteriors and other scenes they need to match the "Paris, France" footage that was shot on Chancellor Street in Philadelphia, PA back in June involving Sam's parents. Thanks to Michael for the heads-up.

Soundwave and Ravage Movie Concept Art?

From TFW2005 is the possible concept art for Soundwave and Ravage. The artwork (link below) is pretty slick but I think it's fake mainly because Roberto Orci already said that Soundwave's alt mode is not a truck (he didn't comment on the satellite mode). Besides I think the misspelling of "satelitte" is a big hint.

Thanks to Michael for the link.

More Transformer Videos

Because of the lack of Transformers 2 news and people find them, here are more Transformer related videos. Thanks to Tahnee for the rap link and Radames for the rest.
Transformer Rap Video


Stopmotion Chase Fight Part 1


Stopmotion Chase Fight Part 2


Transformers Go Hollywood


Ark Mayhem


Beachhead Calls the Autobots