coming soon to a theater near you

High School Musical 4
directed by Micheal Bay

6/20/2009 10:15:09 PM

if zac effron got his head blown off, i might actually pay to see that

6/21/2009 12:59:16 AM

The biggest problem with the movie was the fight choreography (or the CGI-robot equivalent of fight choreography)... the battles just weren't interesting because it was impossible to tell what was going on, and that opinion has nothing to do with the lack of plot (though I was amazed by their ability to not include a single likable character in the movie besides Bumblebee, and he couldn't talk), and certainly nothing to do with Transformers canon (frankly I don't even know a shit worth of it besides that the good guys are civilian vehicles and the bad guys are military vehicles). Again, the best action scene in Transformers was the scorpion robot in the desert... because it was mostly zoomed out and obvious what was happening.

If one wants to know how to make a fight between big CGI things look good and exciting, the newest Hulk was a great example. The action was readable and still conveyed an impressive sense of big-ness.

Quote :

"They're too busy, there's too damn much going on. If you're going to do anything with the core idea of a Transformer, then I should be amazed at how all the parts folds into one another, how a robot can become a truck. Instead, we're blinded by an infinite number of moving parts that mean nothing."

Basically, THIS. Even in "mindless" action movies, good design concepts should still apply.

6/21/2009 1:27:49 AM

^you're a FAGGOT for wanting to understand what is going on in the movie, FAG

6/21/2009 3:01:35 AM

1st.

Quote :

"the man directed the rock he's ok in my book"

2nd.

If you couldnt follow the fights in transformers you're a fucking invalid. It wasn't difficult to see what was going on.

And I agree with the poster above who mentioned a 3 year old could tell them apart.

The only thing I do agree with you whinny mouthbreathers on is that the transformations werent very 'clean', but I didnt really see a way around that.

[Edited on June 22, 2009 at 9:51 AM. Reason : *]

6/22/2009 9:50:08 AM

I could clearly distinguish who war winning or losing a fight, and which was which.

They should have had them fighting a bit farther from the camera, I agree with that, but the movie was still great, looking forward to the second.

6/22/2009 9:57:22 AM

michael bay without explosions is like t-pain without auto-tune.

6/22/2009 11:35:06 AM

^ you'll never go platinum

and when did michael bay get so sensitive?

[Edited on June 22, 2009 at 3:58 PM. Reason : a]

6/22/2009 3:49:31 PM

well people have been saying that shit for years, so i'm not surprised. i say keep doin yo thang, let the haters hate

6/22/2009 4:14:04 PM

which begs the question, who is the best action movie director?

6/22/2009 4:47:31 PM

Roland Emmerich

I have a hard on for disaster flicks, and 2012 looks awesome

I think its funny that John Cusask's name in that movie is Curtis Jackson

6/22/2009 4:57:54 PM

Quote :

"see the problem is you're forgetting the awful ones like Pearl Harbor, The Island and Armageddon"

The Island was awesome and so was Armageddon.

6/22/2009 5:04:35 PM

The Island was decent remake of Logan's Run.

Armageddon was a pretty obvious studio response by Disney to Paramount's Deep Impact. Both were pretty poor for different reasons. Armageddon was a little out there for any suspension of disbelief. Deep Impact was like a Love Actually for sci-fi nerds.

But Michael Bay's movies, however inane, will pretty dependably make lots of money, so who am I to judge? I won't go all fan-boy and see it N times (where N is significantly greater than one); but I might rent it, or see it for $1.50 to kill a Sunday afternoon.

6/22/2009 7:13:18 PM

Quote :

"The Island was awesome and so was Armageddon."

I'm often amazed at how shitty a lot of people's taste in movies is, but I guess I shouldn't be seeing as Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Beverley Hills Chihuahua were both #1 at the box office at some point in time.

[Edited on June 22, 2009 at 8:17 PM. Reason : .]

6/22/2009 8:16:47 PM

Quote :

"But Michael Bay's movies, however inane, will pretty dependably make lots of money, so who am I to judge?"

I'm sure that most people that rush out to see his movies don't do so thinking "Holy shit! Michael Bay has a new movie! I have to see it!"

The big draw is that he makes big summer blockbusters with star studded casts and lots of explosions that generally require no thinking to enjoy.

6/22/2009 8:28:24 PM

Quote :

"Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Beverley Hills Chihuahua were both #1 at the box office at some point in time. "

thats called marketing, they got suckered into watching those movies, it has nothing to do with people's taste
i would never see either of those films but enjoyed Armageddon and The Island for what they were
it also depends on you expectation for the film before you walk in
if i eat corn flakes i dont get pissed if doesnt taste like filet mignon

6/22/2009 9:41:02 PM

Quote :

"thats called marketing, they got suckered into watching those movies, it has nothing to do with people's taste"

what the fuck are you talking about? People got suckered into watching Beverley Hills Chihuahua? I'm pretty sure everyone who went to see it knew it was about talking Chihuahuas. And I seriously doubt anyone who saw Paul Blart: Mall Cop had any misunderstanding as to what it was about (the title pretty much says it all). I don't even know why I'm arguing with the retard who didn't understand "$1 PER NIGHT" at a redbox. It figures that you would like Armageddon and The Island.

[Edited on June 22, 2009 at 9:49 PM. Reason : .]

6/22/2009 9:49:14 PM

Quote :

"if i eat corn flakes i dont get pissed if doesnt taste like filet mignon"

if i eat shit expecting shit it's still shit.

6/22/2009 11:37:01 PM

^^i think you missed one of the points behind going to see a movie...

*hint: its also the name of this section of TWW

6/23/2009 1:30:37 AM

team A: "LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS, EXPECT SHIT. THEN FUN."

team B: "NO FUCK YOU I DON'T LIKE SHIT."

6/23/2009 3:32:36 AM

A lot of you are far too stupid to have your nose so high in the air.

By the way caps locks is indicative of these individuals.

6/23/2009 9:08:02 AM

Quote :

"I'm pretty sure everyone who went to see it knew it was about talking Chihuahuas."

that doesnt automatically disqualify it from potentially being a good movie. Granted they still made a bad choice and should have known better but that doesnt mean they have bad taste in movies.
now if they go out and buy the dvd then they have bad taste.

a movie like Armageddon or The island is meant to be more about fun, and it delivered.
kind of like a roller coaster will provide thrills but not very good for sight seeing.

6/23/2009 10:16:41 AM

Quote :

"that doesnt automatically disqualify it from potentially being a good movie"

you just lost whatever marginal credibility you had with that statement

Quote :

"Granted they still made a bad choice and should have known better but that doesnt mean they have bad taste in movies."

It's the fucking definition of bad taste

Quote :

"a movie like Armageddon or The island is meant to be more about fun, and it delivered."

look man, we understand Michael Bay movies aren't supposed to win oscars, but that doesn't excuse them for being retarded. I don't know why you expect anyone to take your opinion on movies seriously anyways after that whole redbox fiasco.

6/23/2009 11:06:25 AM

I don't care how much you clowns say "story doesn't matter, have fun," get your heads out of your asses and grasp the concept that some people watch films for different reasons from you. and "you have to turn your brain off" is not a valid excuse for Transformers being shitty when there have been so many good action movies that don't require this action previously. Don't say story doesn't matter, it does. When it doesn't make sens, or is retarded, it pulls some people out of the world of the movie to say, "wat?" I'm happy for you people, you are the people that will pay to see this purely money-hungry sellout of a summer blockbuster. Now leave me the fuck alone, I will value and enjoy things other than explosions and CGI if I fucking want.

[Edited on June 23, 2009 at 2:21 PM. Reason : .]

6/23/2009 1:58:51 PM

fuck you haters, I loved Pearl Harbor!

6/23/2009 4:53:31 PM

Pearl Harbor wasn't even fun. It was just a shit action movie masquerading as a historical drama that took itself way too seriously.

Go watch Tora, Tora, Tora.

6/23/2009 6:08:54 PM

ok i said the island and armeggeddon were good

i also said pearl harbor and transformers were fairly lame

so im also judging by the story, armaggeddon and the island made you care about the characters, they had good humor, and enough plot twists with sharp acting that it made it fun
pearl harbor lacked anything interesting, even the action was boring
so dont think we turn our brains off when its a big blockbuster movie

but what i'd like to know since all you seem to know how to do is bash movies, what are you examples of good blockbuster movies, besides Jurassic park

6/23/2009 6:34:12 PM

MOTHERFUCKING RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK SON

IT'S FUN

IT'S GOOFY

AND I CARE ABOUT THE CHARACTERS

6/23/2009 6:49:48 PM

RAWR RAWR RAWR

ALL BLOCKBUSTERS SUCK. DONNIE DARKO IS THE BEST MOVIE EVER MADE.

6/23/2009 8:01:56 PM

am i the only person that liked the island ?


and the robots weren't hard at all to tell apart ...

i mean come on.

^haha

[Edited on June 23, 2009 at 11:46 PM. Reason : fd]

6/23/2009 11:42:12 PM

Quote :

"Go watch Tora, Tora, Tora."

Seconded.

6/24/2009 12:16:28 AM

Quote :

"I don't care how much you clowns say "story doesn't matter, have fun," get your heads out of your asses and grasp the concept that some people watch films for different reasons from you. and "you have to turn your brain off" is not a valid excuse for Transformers being shitty when there have been so many good action movies that don't require this action previously. Don't say story doesn't matter, it does. When it doesn't make sens, or is retarded, it pulls some people out of the world of the movie to say, "wat?" I'm happy for you people, you are the people that will pay to see this purely money-hungry sellout of a summer blockbuster. Now leave me the fuck alone, I will value and enjoy things other than explosions and CGI if I fucking want."

translation..."hey some people watch movies for reasons other than you. now here is why you are stupid for having an opinion different than me about a movie's story."


does not compute bud.

either way, i can appreciate both sides of the argument. i agree that i dont expect stellar story out of an action movie if it is fun. there are plenty of movies,however, that just do explosions or have such an aweful story that i cannot get past it, but things like Armageddon are nowhere near that mark. it was fun, had a good cast, and the action wasnt so overpowering that it detracted from the simple, but fun premise.

horror movie suffer this fate far worse than action movies even though they are both supposed to be mindless fun (at least the blockbuster ones).

6/24/2009 12:23:07 AM

ITT: People claiming the fundamentals of good design should vary based on opinion.

HINT: They don't.

6/24/2009 12:29:10 AM

ITT: people claiming that the goal or audience can affect a piece of art/entertainments design

HINT: it can

[Edited on June 24, 2009 at 12:39 AM. Reason : as i said last post. dumb to oversimplify. things can be semi mindless and not be complete shit]

6/24/2009 12:38:26 AM

^They can also be semi-mindless AND be complete shit. Though it's entirely possible that my definition of shit is a lot broader than yours. I for one was completely bored by Transformers and as such lump it into the shit category, despite its high budget and complex CGI.

Quote :

"ITT: people claiming that the goal or audience can affect a piece of art/entertainments design"

Designing a movie for people who don't know what good design actually looks like does not make something well-designed. Designing a movie for a shitty goal will result in shitty design. It's a valid strategy if you're looking to make wads of cash by farming from idiots, but even having a valid business strategy does not make something well-designed....

and clearly Michael Bay wants something more than that, since despite his wads of cash he apparently can't handle criticism and wants to make something else.

(For those of you who might assume my use of "good design" in this case is referring to some artistic value or plot-related aspects: It's not. In the case of Transformers, I'm referring mainly to fight choreography and pacing... The plot and characters were bad, and it did completely lack artistic value, but those were never the point of seeing a Transformers movie to begin with.)

[Edited on June 24, 2009 at 1:33 AM. Reason : .]

6/24/2009 1:20:34 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/23/review.transformers.revenge/index.html

6/24/2009 1:24:44 AM

Quote :

"translation..."hey some people watch movies for reasons other than you. now here is why you are stupid for having an opinion different than me about a movie's story." does not compute bud. "

Yup. I mean I think it's fair that we can call these people fucktards if we're the faggots.

Quote :

" things can be semi mindless and not be complete shit]"

that's pretty much exactly what I was saying in my post that you quoted (minus my "fuck you, assholes"). coherent semi-mindless with a purpose is fine. But lack of coherency/story is what separates the Terminator 2's from the Under Siege 2's. Transformers had shitty action, shittier story, and took itself incredibly seriously in a weird way.

6/24/2009 1:42:03 AM

here are some good quotes from that review:

Quote :

"For all his sound and fury, Bay isn't much of an action director. There's no rhythm in his slam-bang cutting, no discipline in his orientation, and there's so little to distinguish an Autobot (the good Transformers) from a Decepticon (the bad) that at any given moment, it's a toss-up who is pulverizing who."

Quote :

"It's not the extravagant fireworks display that rankles, it's everything else: the dull and pompous exposition, the trite characterizations, the tacky love story, the dismal comic relief and incongruous pretensions to the status of a popcorn epic. Here's a sample of what Bay throws at the wall in the hope of generating some stray laughs: small dogs humping. Hysterical middle-aged women. Autobots with effeminate voices. A miniature Decepticon dry-humping Fox's leg. John Turturro improvising. Tasers. A cowardly Latino. A short Arab. Snails. None of these things is funny. Not in this movie, anyway. The truth is, Bay is a rotten fit for this assignment; he's much too self-important to recalibrate his approach for the younger audience this material demands."

6/24/2009 1:44:17 AM

Quote :

"am i the only person that liked the island ?"

i'm not a fan of michael bay, but i did enjoy the island

6/24/2009 3:01:20 AM

Quote :

"I don't care how much you clowns say "story doesn't matter, have fun," get your heads out of your asses and grasp the concept that some people watch films for different reasons from you. "

Are you too mother fucking stupid to see the irony in your own post?

[Edited on June 24, 2009 at 9:12 AM. Reason : take your own advice, kid.]

6/24/2009 9:10:47 AM

the island sucked, only thing that would have semi-saved it was a nude scene with scarlett

i liked armageddon when I was a lot younger

If I had seen it at my current age I probably would cringe at it

6/24/2009 10:04:40 AM

Quote :

"Are you too mother fucking stupid to see the irony in your own post?"

No, I do, hence my already commenting on it, thanks though.

6/24/2009 12:33:33 PM

he is getting slammed on this movie.

6/24/2009 1:35:14 PM

Quote :

"that's pretty much exactly what I was saying in my post that you quoted (minus my "fuck you, assholes"). coherent semi-mindless with a purpose is fine. But lack of coherency/story is what separates the Terminator 2's from the Under Siege 2's. Transformers had shitty action, shittier story, and took itself incredibly seriously in a weird way."

the second comment was more against the argument in general. i agree. i didn't see transformers though. i was commenting in reference to armageddon and other movies i had seen. the island, for instance, is right on the line, but still not aweful.

tromboner still feels the need to walk more on the extremist side though. movies certainly can be art and action movies with stellar stories make GREAT action movies. but if entertainment itself is the goal, i see no problem with creating something that he would define as "shit." relating good design to artistic value/worth is fine, but i agree with others that entertainment IS far more subjective and thus these movies have value on that front.

for instance, I am a smart guy who enjoys both artsy films AND mindless action. I'm not going to call something complete shit because it doesn't fit with the OTHER half of the movie i enjoy.

[Edited on June 24, 2009 at 1:59 PM. Reason : .]

6/24/2009 1:57:59 PM

I, too, thought the Island was ok. The 'twist' was fairly predictable.

6/24/2009 5:20:33 PM

I was first to say in this thread that the island was awesome

[Edited on June 24, 2009 at 5:22 PM. Reason : because it was.]

6/24/2009 5:22:11 PM

Transformers should have been directed by robert rodriguez. fuck the haters.

6/25/2009 3:27:21 AM

Quote :

"relating good design to artistic value/worth is fine, but i agree with others that entertainment IS far more subjective and thus these movies have value on that front. for instance, I am a smart guy who enjoys both artsy films AND mindless action. I'm not going to call something complete shit because it doesn't fit with the OTHER half of the movie i enjoy."

What? Did you even read my post?

I called Transformers "shit" because it was BORING. If I'm going to watch something "mindless" it should still be fun, which Transformers simply wasn't. I'm not going to restate the reasons why it was boring -- I've done it at least two times now and if you haven't grasped the concept yet, you probably never will.

I even explicitly stated that I was NOT associating the ideas of "good design" and "art", because I knew someone like you would come along and say.. well, basically exactly what you just said. Try reading the post again, since you quite obviously completely misunderstood it last time.


...Just in case your reading skills fail you yet another time, I'll just put it right out there again:
With regards to Transformers (or generally any "mindless" summer action movie), "good design" would be in well-made fight choreography and exciting pacing. It did not have either of these things.


I'll put it in as simple and explicit terms as I possibly can, just in case you still can't understand...
Q: Why would people want to see a movie with a useless plot and no artistic or intellectual value?
A: For action or for humor.
(And for the record, I don't see anything inherently wrong with basing a movie entirely on either of these concepts)

Q2: In a movie that chooses to rely solely upon action and excitement, should the action be good and the movie be exciting?
A2: Yes, obviously.

Q3: What do we call a movie that relies solely upon action and excitement if it fails to have good action and fails to be exciting?
A3: A shitty movie. Or Transformers. Presumably Transformers 2, as well, but I won't be wasting my money to find out.

[Edited on June 26, 2009 at 2:03 AM. Reason : .]

6/26/2009 1:48:50 AM

the action scenes in movies mean so much more if the characters are actually developed and you care about what happens to them

i wouldn't care if bumblebee stepped on shia lebouf (sp don't care) and raped his carcass

6/26/2009 10:17:37 AM

^agree 100%

6/26/2009 10:36:50 AM