Too Hot to Handle

Another scorcher in August -- but enough about Adam Lambert's sexy inflatable-termite couture. Avatar and a few other old friends kept us busy with their turbulent late-summer happenings. Join us in looking back after the jump, and have a great weekend!

· Avatar Fever hit with a vengeance, starting with the first official image before graduating to complete and total Web site failure, a fake trailer, and finally a real trailer. Which suspiciously resembled history's biggest flop, among other things.

· Not to be outdone, the taste-challenged Quentin Tarantino warmed up for Inglorious Basterds with a revelatory Howard Stern appearance and an unfortunate ex-Nazi premiere sponsor.

· George Hamilton, Ken Jeong, Bobcat Goldthwait, Melanie Laurent, Julie Chen, and Verge subject Zach Gilford all dropped in for an interview.

· District 9 dazzled moviegoers, the Academy, and vaguely racist conservative critics alike.

· Mad Men's third season premiered to high drama, higher ratings, and an even higher [spoiler alert!] Peggy Olson, who needed the lift after finishing dead last in our initial round of Mad Men Power Rankings.

· Yay! Project Runway returned with superstar guests, all-star alums and sprawling ambition firmly in place.

· Two-Minute Verdicts were issued to new trailers for The Wolfman, New Moon, Law Abiding Citizen, Gentlemen Broncos, When in Rome and Halloween 2.

· We're still not quite sure what Adam Lambert was wearing at a recent photo shoot, but Kris Allen couldn't have been happy about it.

· We came to expect lots of rich-guy car talk and maybe a few desperate murders from The Jay Leno Show.

· Michael Bay ran off for a quickie in the desert with some Victoria's Secret models.