Transformers 2

[Angie]

Here is a clip of the new film.. what do you think?

http://vimeo.com/channels/michaelbay

[Kai]

i think transformers (the first one too) is just "the goonies" with giant toy robots

[Ubik]

Uhhh yeah....I wont be watching that. Thanks. Wait, I take that back...my boyfriend likes this kind of stuff so I will probably end up watching it anyway...

[Kai]

Ubik wrote: "Uhhh yeah....I wont be watching that. Thanks. Wait, I take that back...my boyfriend likes this kind of stuff so I will probably end up watching it anyway..."


what's wrong with giant toy robots?

[Ubik]

Sigh....

Just not my idea of SF

[Kai]

Ubik wrote: "Sigh....

Just not my idea of SF"

hah! :)

so would it be SF if they had a plan....?

[Phillip]

i saw the preview tonight in the theater while waiting to see star trek, and i thought it looked pretty silly. that kid from holes is in it. (or maybe i'm mistaking him for someone else?)

[Kai]

wow, no one likes transformers huh?

am i embarrasing myself by saying i'm really looking forward to it?

[Jim]

I liked it. Liked watching the cartoon some too. I'm looking forward to the next movie, but I can wait until it hits DVD.

[Angie]

I love transformers and can't wait for this second film (I am a sucker for summer movies).

[Angie]

Kai wrote: "i think transformers (the first one too) is just "the goonies" with giant toy robots"


I thought you weren't looking forward to it?

[Kandice]

I am happy to admit I loved the first movie, and I really like Shia. I think he's a great actor to be so young. Not traditionally handsome, either, which, to me anyway, is a plus. I will definitely be seeing this one!

[Kai]

Angie wrote: "Kai wrote: "i think transformers (the first one too) is just "the goonies" with giant toy robots"


I thought you weren't looking forward to it?
"

what? oh, miscommunication there...the goonies with giant toy robots is a good thing! :)

[Kai]

OK, i thought that was pretty good fun!

[Angie]

I really liked it too. Not as much as the first of course but a summer fun movie.

[Kai]

Angie wrote: "I really liked it too. Not as much as the first of course but a summer fun movie. "

i haven't actually seen "all of it" yet, cause i ended up in the third row from the front

i think maybe i didn't see like half of the movie :)

so i'm gonna wait til i see the rest of it to compare it to the first one

[Tom]

I did not see the film, but my good friend JP did. Here is his review:

To achieve the same affect as this movie, throw some colored tee-shirts and some pots and pans into a laundrymat dryer, and watch them flop around while listening to the clanks and bangs. The movie is not only terrible, it is nauseating. The camera swirls and whirls and pans in and out constantly. The story makes very little sense. Things happen for no reason. I shed a tear for John Turturro, who I consider to be a great actor. I guess they gave him a ton of cash, and if they did, then I guess he did the right thing. I know that if someone came in to my house and offered me $10 million to be in Halloween XXIV, my ass would be in Halloween XXIV.....

[Alex DeLarge]

I still prefer Micronaughts. When is that movie being made?

Great post Tom:) And what is it with this constant 'swirling" effect that was nauseating in DARK KNIGHT and seems to be the current rage? It's lazy filmmaking! Bay and Nolan should study Eisenstein's montage theory, which they obviously have forgotten since film school.

[Kai]

i didn't really find it nauseating (and i was sitting way up front), so the camera moves around a lot, i kind of like it, makes it worth lounging on the couch later and watching it again on dvd, just to finally pick up on all the stuff that I missed watching the first time in the theatre. with the camera "swirling" around it doesn't really give u time to think (and i think maybe that's kind of the point! :)

honestly, i don't see what all the fuss is about (all the bad reviews)

sure i guess it's not intellectually challenging, but i liked it well enough and thought it was definitely worth $10, and i'd go again (and i probably will!)

[Angie]

I am not sure about the bad reviews either. What do people want from a movie about toys? I won't see it again in the theater... though if you are planning on seeing it that it the place to go so you can see giant robots on the big screen and not small TVs.

[Kai]

Angie wrote: "I am not sure about the bad reviews either. What do people want from a movie about toys? I won't see it again in the theater... though if you are planning on seeing it that it the place to go so ..."

Or buy a really, really big TV!

have you ever listened to a commentary track from Michael Bay? I could definitely see how it wouldn't be too hard to find somebody to say "that guy's a jerk!"

my working theory is that during some press screening, Bay was himself and ticked off all the critics :)

[Kai]

Rob wrote: "Sorry, Angie. Couldn't resist. Transformers 2 FAQ:



http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/06/b...


I too shed a tear for John Turturro. Especially when he ripp..."

you're thing was funny, obviously i can't defend transformers 2 (or 1) as a "good" movie. but i enjoyed it. and if i had a good time, that's got to be worth something for a summer movie.

i just don't understand what the big deal with all the critism is. looking at all the plot problems you pointed, there are just as many in star trek, but that got great reviews. racist robots aside (jar jar all over again)

[Alex DeLarge]

To play the Devil's Advocate...isn't this the type of trash that ruins the prospect of serious science fiction in film? This isn't a science fiction film, its a mindless action film with technological elements: I think if we go back to Bradbury or Phil Dick's definition of science fiction (see posts below in this forum), this would be outside looking in. I owned the original toys when they came out and played with them for hours on end, creating adventure stories in my head..instead of just smashing them into stuff.
I believe that creative people are an aberration, a minority that exist in a world of fools who make and enjoy this crap. It makes me very sad. Read Ellison's screenplay of I ROBOT and it would cost a fraction of TRANSFORMERS budget and enlighten a generation.

[Alex DeLarge]

Perfect points Rob! I wish more time and energy were put into other projects, but there will always be a MOON for every ten TRANSFORMERS or STAR TREK. At least that minority is something to look forwards to:)
I read Robin Wood's fine book HOLLYWOOD FROM VIETNAM TO REAGAN and found his chapter on Lucas/Speilberg fascinating: here's where we see the plunge into despair, audience expectations regressing from the child-like to the childish. There was a time in the mid 70s when adults went to films without their kids; now movies are made exclusively for young adults who have cash to burn, whose attention span is akin to the flash-cut. And these kids grow into college age adults who can barely write or think creatively. My friend is a Philosophy Prof. at a local Penn State campus and he abhors reading term papers; he says the average writing and reasoning level is about 6th grade! Now we can't blame that all on Hollywood...can we? There are myriad factors and if I had the answer I would share with the world. I just hope all of our intelligent discussions in this group and others helps at least one person realize their is more to entertainment than a mind-numbing vacuum. Maybe people can't differentiate between mindlessness & escapism: two very different concepts!

[Alex DeLarge]

My mother grew up in the late 50s and her film was THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE which touched her generation; she was actually in an all-female gang! They worshipped this film and I've seen it a few years ago and it just doesn't have the same impact to me as it did for her. Sometimes movies are a creation of their time, but even REBEL, Brando in THE WILD ONE, and TEENAGE WEREWOLF are still great to fair movies...and have lasted through the years. Who's going to remember THE HANGOVER in 15 years? Nobody, but your'e right, the Hollywood system doesn't care...if it ever did. And I also hate to read negative reviews of good films that seem to go over-the-head of the average teen who haunts the local cineplex. For example, I thought Aronofsky's THE FOUNTAIN was an astonishing mess, like Kelly's SOUTHLAND TALES, but they were both labors of love as you say. I could see the effort and sweat as subtext and found positive in the murk of the narratives...instead of casting them away outright! Maybe it's that modern moviegoers don't ever want to think while wathcing a film, or reading a book. I just can't relate to that. Rob, we should write a book together about the disintigration of the expectations of modern horror and science fiction films:)

[Angie]

I agree about remembering films in 15 years. Most summer blockbusters will have run their course by then and we might see them played on TNT or some channel.

[[deleted user]]

There is a way to redress their influence: Don't pay to see them.

[Erik]

Alex wrote: "My friend is a Philosophy Prof. at a local Penn State campus and he abhors reading term papers; he says..."

Alex, I'm also a phil prof. at a state school and I'd have to agree, although there are always some bright exceptions. The anti-intellectual culture has never been stronger and the attitude is, why create anything or think, just copy it from somewhere. Critical thought and creativity are out there but how can they get a hearing with all the distractions?

[Angie]

Rob wrote: "Sorry, Angie. Couldn't resist. Transformers 2 FAQ:



http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/06/b...



Funny link!