Above: Our favorite Rotten Tomato Jen Yamato shows us why it's totally hot to be a little on the plump side.

Yes, as we do every year, it is now time to stare at a group of people who are much hotter than us even when they're dressed up as complete lunatics. I was telling Mr. Weinberg this afternoon how Comic Con is the strangest entity in that on one half of the street you have a massive amount of hardcore geeks dressed in the most peculiar costumes resembling their favorite comic book/movie/cartoon/whatever heroes. Then, on the other side of the street, you have these swanky Hollywood parties where you need to have an agent or manager and your own TV show to even be considered for the guest list. It's an odd scene, I'll say, but that doesn't mean we've had a bad time. Quite the contrary, actually, as we've met and reunited with some of our favorite people in the world over the weekend.

What does this have to do with Con hotties, Erik? And will you please shut up for five seconds so we can see your damn photos and move on with our boring lives?

Everything! And of course! Enjoy!

Below: Cinematical's Elisabeth Rappe gets down with her bad Tomb Raider self ...


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Although Will Smith plays an emotionally fragile superhero in Hancock, as a movie star he's practically invincible. By industry standards, the last genuine Smith dud was The Legend of Bagger Vance, but the actor's standing among many audiences has remained decidedly rocky. As a result, he occupies a unique corner of the Hollywood marketplace where quality and taste don't necessarily match up. Unlike, say, The Dark Knight, not many people eagerly await the latest Smith offering -- which currently has a 32% rating on Rotten Tomatoes -- but they'll see it anyway. Hancock is tracking well, thanks to a poster exclusively dominated by Smith's unshaven mug, and that pretty much seals its potent box office fate. Just as Smith's slapdash onscreen persona is bullet-proof, Smith himself is steadfastly critic-proof.

Which places movie in an interesting quagmire: After pulling in waves of cash, it will probably get relegated to the void of forgettable Smith fare, where spectacles offer passing amusement before scampering off forever. Hancock, however, deserves better than a fleeting moment in the limelight and a crash landing in the bargain bin. It's part of a genre that speaks directly to the modern state of blockbuster cinema: The superhero satire.

Wow, I didn't even know there were THAT many. Holy crapola! The fine folks over at Rotten Tomatoes are currently counting down the top 50 TV adaptations of all time, in honor of both Get Smart and Sex and the City. Before we mention a few, here's how they played it: "... these movies are remakes of TV series (i.e. Starsky and Hutch), mini-series (Pennies from Heaven), or sketches (The Blues Brothers). We've also included big-screen adaptations that utilize the series' principal cast members (the Star Trek movies, the Adam West Batman). We've omitted films that, despite having TV incarnations, are derived from other sources (thus, no Superman), but have included others (like The Addams Family) that are best remembered as TV shows." In other words ... they mean business.

Down toward the bottom, you have films like Strangers with Candy, The Rugrats Movie, Josie and the Pussycats and The Naked Gun 2 1/2. I won't reveal their number one pick, but the top ten includes memorable favorites like The Simpsons Movie, The Fugitive ("You find this man!"), Serenity and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

I'm just impressed they managed to throw together 50 half-decent TV-to-Movie adaptations. That, in and of itself, has to be worth some sort of Emmy nod (or would it be an Oscar nod?). Check out the entire list over at Rotten Tomatoes ... and let us know your favorites below.

In honor of the upcoming Speed Racer, Matt Atchity over at Rotten Tomatoes has put together an impressive list of the most memorable cars to ever appear onscreen -- and if 50 wasn't impressive enough, he has put together an exhaustive list of honorable mentions.

There's no arguing with his picks -- for me, Dumb and Dumber's dog van ranks high, as does Garth Algar's MirthMobile. (You don't know how badly I coveted one as a teenager.) I think the Bond Astin Martin should rank above General Lee and Speed Racer though -- but I'm always one for a classic.

My number one pick -- yes, even above the DeLorean -- is the above. Mad Max's Modified 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe, ranked #26 on Atchity's list. That car is all kinds of sexy. I'm not really sure what that says about me, but there you go. There's a replica in my home town and it kills me that it is not mine.

Check out Matt's list, but come back and tell us your own picks. And if you have a car like Mad Max's, I'm all yours. I'm just saying.

With six months of 2007 solidly behind us, it's time to talk about the successes and failures of the first half of this year. Rotten Tomatoes has released their mid-year report, outlining the Top 25 fresh-tomato reviews, and the Bottom 10 worst-reviewed films, which might not even be worthy of an old and very rotten tomato. To figure out the list, the site gathered all of this year's movies with at least 50 reviews, and came up with a "weighted calculation" that figures in the Tomatometer and number of reviews -- a scheme that lets some of the indie picks shine amongst the blockbusters. Using their fancy calculations, Pixar's ratty movie Ratatouille came out as the big victor.

A lot of these films you could probably place without looking at the official list. Of course, the goodies include Zodiac, Knocked Up and Live Free or Die Hard, while the craptacular collection houses movies like Because I Said So, Code Name: The Cleaner and Premonition. What does this all tell us? Well, four of the Top 10 are funny -- and they range from the dork stoner getting the hot girl to killer tadpoles, so yes, critics do have a sense of humor. That being said, what are the chances that comedies will get some cred at next year's Oscars? I'd say almost zilch, but I have to admit that as much as I enjoy Knocked Up and think it belongs in its spot, I wouldn't consider it a big cinematic achievement.

That aside, kudos to Sarah Polley, whose freshman directorial feature Away from Her got the top 2 spot, and is one of only two dramas in the top 5. Unfortunately, that also says something about what moviegoers are going to see these days. While we all love our action and comedy, it's almost as if dramas are becoming an indie genre -- unless they're packed with thrilling aspects or other popcorn-marketable fare. Thoughts?

I don't know about you, but the arrival of a new Coen Brothers movie is a really big deal to me. (Yes, even after Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers, both of which I enjoy more than most people seem to.) Their latest is a return to the old-school film noir form a la Blood Simple or The Man Who Wasn't There. Miramax won't be releasing No Country for Old Men until November 21, but we've got a handful of very enthusiastic reactions from that big French film festival.

Our pals over at Rotten Tomatoes say: "not only does No Country deliver another excellent Coen Brothers film, it also delves thematically deeper than your average crime thriller with its sprawling saga of a drug deal gone wrong, a bag of cash, a hunter on the run (Josh Brolin), and the philosophizing psychopath on his trail (Javier Bardem)." The Tomato gang also mentions that the flick "created an audible buzz in the Debussy theater lobby as members of the press spilled out of the aisles after tonight's press screening." Cool! (Also in the cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson and the adorable Kelly Macdonald.)

Our own James Rocchi shares his thoughts: "A brilliant example of how plot devices as simple as murder and money can be used to explore larger sweeping themes of mortality, morality and more -- while still delivering rousing, intelligent pure entertainment." Over at Variety, Todd McCarthy was in agreement: "Cormac McCarthy's bracing and brilliant novel is gold for the Coen brothers, who have handled it respectfully but not slavishly, using its built-in cinematic values while cutting for brevity and infusing it with their own touch. Result is one of the their very best films, a bloody classic of its type destined for acclaim and potentially robust B.O. returns upon release later in the year." Argh, who wants to wait until November?? Then again, only a fool would release a Coen film in the middle of the summer.

Here at Cinematical, when it comes to film festivals, we just aren't so much about the parties. We get invites to a lot of festival social happenings, but honestly, after 12 hours or so of screenings (counting the time it takes to get from one venue to another) in a given day, plus the time it takes to write a coherent review, most nights we do well to drool over a pizza slice or Thai takeout while hunched over our keyboards. Besides, parties require actually dressing up and looking presentable, and we here at Cinematical are a bunch of lazy slobs who like to work in our pajamas. Nonetheless, we did manage to suck it up and engage our introverted selves in a little of the Toronto Film Festival nightlife. We co-hosted a little TIFF bowling party with our friends from Movie City News, hung out at Mark Cuban's HDNet bash and the Netflix party for John Waters' This Filthy World, and even spent an night carousing until the wee hours at a pub with the Rotten Tomatoes gang. Here are some pics from our wild social life at TIFF. When you see for yourselves what dorky film geeks we really are, you'll understand why we usually stay locked in our hotel rooms with our laptops.

Hey, we can't all be party animals like Sammy (above), the tiara-wearing black sheep from the Black Sheep red carpet.

The rating system used at RottenTomatoes.com is a fairly simple one: Positive reviews are "fresh," negative ones are "rotten," and any film scoring over 60% gets a nifty little tomato instead of a nasty little splat. It's certainly not the most scientific method for the aggregation of movie reviews, but hey: If 6 out of 10 film critics recommend a movie, that's good enough for me to maintain interest.

But the fun comes in when you descend extra-deeply into the tomato patch's nether-regions; past the 13% approval rating for White Chicks, the 9% for Grind, and the 1% freshness of Alone in the Dark -- that's where the true stinkers lie. Prior to this month, only seven movies had earned a spot in the 0% Tomatometer Hall of Shame:

• 3 Strikes (2000): 28 reviews, all negative
• Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002): 98, not one positive
• Pinocchio (2002): 53 unanimous Benigni-bashers
• Gold Diggers (2004): 39 poor souls reviewed this one
• SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004): 36 permanently scarred brains
• Daltry Calhoun (2005): 26 unhappy critics
• King's Ransom (2005): 44 hostages

And now ... drum roll please ... we are thrilled to announce the eighth arrival in the Rotten Tomatoes 0% Hall of Mega-Shame! Starring Tim Allen (of The Shaggy Dog (27%), Joe Somebody (14%), Jungle 2 Jungle (10%), Christmas with the Kranks (4%) shame), and directed by Peter Hewitt (of Garfield: The Movie (13%)) is Zoom, recipient of 39 reviews -- all nasty. Congrats to all of those who worked extra hard on turning Jason Lethcoe's comic book series into one of the very worst movies of a very bad movie year.

In complete fairness to Mr. Allen (an actor I genuinely dislike), the guy was also in Galaxy Quest (86%) and both Toy Story movies (200%).

In the face of all the awards hubub and talks of the year's highlights, Rotten Tomatoes has assembled a list of what they feel are among the contenders for Worst Movie of the Year. However, they take it one step further, and suggest what subtle changes could have been made to each of their selected bombs to turn them into Oscar gold. Movies such as Supercross, Ma Mere, and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, get the makeover treatment, turning them from flops into contenders. Well, hypothetically, anyway. In reality, most of these movies will only ever see action again in the dvd players of the incredibly undiscerning viewer. You know the sort I'm talking about- they're the ones with Jennifer Lopez movies on their DVD shelves.

*Please note, if your sarcasm detector is set to "low" or "off," you click and read the link below at your own risk.