Topic: Transformers.

This is exactly what it is. Go.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Transformers.

can't wait to listen to this one!

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Re: Transformers.

I have no problems with Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox or anyone else in this one, but the movie really does nothing for me. Didn’t care about the toys, didn’t care about the cartoons, never cared about cars and don’t care about the movie. And if I don’t care, I don’t like it.

So I enjoyed the commentary much more than I've ever enjoyed the movie.

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Re: Transformers.

Fun to skip through and watch for some amazing shots and Oscar worthy Sound Design/Mixing.

That's about it...

Re: Transformers.

Show notes for Transformers.  About what you'd expect meets the eye.

Transformers on Amazon.com
Transformers on IMDB
They talk about it later in the film, but the Mars mission is supposed to be Beagle 2.
Transformers was nominated for the Visual Effects Oscar in 2007, along with POTC: At World's End, and The Golden Compass, which won.
Magic beans / One piece of magic
Anamorphic Format
Magic Hour
District 9 director Neill Blomkamp's commercial for Citroen; if Trey's car could dance, it would look like this.
An excellent breakdown of depth of field.
Gradient
Lens flare; just watch Star Trek.
Pixel aspect ratio
Bokeh
Olivia Wilde
David Mamet
No no no NO!
Michael Bay demands things be AWESOME!
Conservation of detail
The gunship is an AC-130.They're badass.
A perfect movie
On Directing Film, by David Mamet.
Meisner acting technique
The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act
Mass shifting
Jennifer's Body on Rotten Tomatoes
Painting the target
Laurentian Abyss
Ohio Guardsman Scott Nall, who officially changed his name to Optimus Prime.Also another guy who changed his name to Megatron.

Last edited by Matt Vayda (2010-03-01 07:40:34)

Re: Transformers.

Good commentary, if a little drunker than usual.

I was too old for the cartoon show or the toys, so the movie was of no interest. I found it to be kind of fun, but Teague got it when he said that the movie's main problem is that the stakes are not well defined. Without a good understanding of who wants what and why, the movie really is just a circus, as Trey said.

However, I'm guessing hardly anyone involved imagined that they could make a genuinely interesting story out of cartoon toy car robots. I think people forget how Batman started in 1940; it was way closer to the TV show than to The Dark Knight.

I think it takes a long time and a couple of really creative, genre-loving story-tellers (like Frank Miller) to demonstrate how a silly genre character actually has something interesting to reveal about the human condition. Once someone has done that (and maybe the kids who first embraced the character have grown up to make movies), then you can have your Dark Knight.

And if you try to skip the step of having it embraced by kids who grow up to appreciate a more mature version, I think you get Underworld and Blade, hollow and overly serious story-telling.

Last edited by Zarban (2010-02-27 23:45:35)

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries