Xixax Film Forum

The Director's Chair => The Director's Chair => Topic started by: modage on January 24, 2004, 11:56:06 PM

Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: modage on January 24, 2004, 11:56:06 PM
does this guy have style to spare or what?  and was it just me, or did The Rock rule?  nobody directs slick action sequences like this guy.  he took Tony Scott's 80's crown and carried it himself into the 90's.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: SoNowThen on January 25, 2004, 12:34:34 AM
I liked The Rock, but, fuck no, this guy is terrible. I'll take either Scott over him any day.

....wait a sec, did he do Bad Boys as well? If so, that was a decent action flick...
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on January 25, 2004, 01:07:56 AM
MICHAEL BAY RULES!!!
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Alethia on January 25, 2004, 10:06:30 AM
michael bay makes me wanna throw up
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: modage on January 25, 2004, 11:40:21 AM
Quote from: SoNowThen....wait a sec, did he do Bad Boys as well? If so, that was a decent action flick...
yes, he did Bad Boys.  it was his first film.
Quote from: ewardmichael bay makes me wanna throw up
because he rules so hard?
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: cine on January 25, 2004, 11:44:42 AM
The Rock proved it was humanly possible for him to make a good film. I'm thinking that was a fluke film though.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: modage on January 25, 2004, 11:48:06 AM
Quote from: CinephileThe Rock proved it was humanly possible for him to make a good film. I'm thinking that was a fluke film though.

the folks over at Criterion didn't think it was a fluke...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.amazon.com%2Fimages%2FP%2F6305311463.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif&hash=d0b6c15aad359563656036623a13df5f88cf6dda)

BAM!
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: cine on January 25, 2004, 12:29:31 PM
Do you seriously like Armageddon?
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on February 01, 2004, 09:53:25 PM
Bay May Direct The Island for DreamWorks
Source: Variety

DreamWorks has bought Caspian Tredwell-Owen's spec script The Island for $1 million against $1.5 million. Michael Bay is circling the project to direct, says Variety.

Similar in theme to Logan's Run, the sci-fi thriller centers on a "harvested being" who becomes self-aware and must escape the utopian facility where he and others are being kept.

"The Island" is also similar in theme to Spares, a sci-fi novel by Michael Marshall Smith that Paramount is adapting. The studio was apparently interested in combining the two projects and attaching Tom Cruise, whose production company C/W has a deal with the studio, until DreamWorks snatched the project.

Tredwell-Owen recently wrote the Angelina Jolie starrer Beyond Borders. His current projects include the scripts A Very Private Gentleman for Universal, and another sci-fi thriller, After Man, for DreamWorks.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: ©brad on February 01, 2004, 10:00:12 PM
visually i think michael bay has some talent. some of his shots, even in bad boys II, are quite remarkable. he just needs... uhh... a good script or something.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: modage on February 01, 2004, 10:04:21 PM
Quote from: MacGuffinSimilar in theme to Logan's Run, the sci-fi thriller centers on a "harvested being" who becomes self-aware and must escape the utopian facility where he and others are being kept.
isn't that what the Matrix is about?  there are two of these flicks in the works?
Quote from: ©bradvisually i think michael bay has some talent. some of his shots, even in bad boys II, are quite remarkable. he just needs... uhh... a good script or something.
visually, and as an action director i think he is about the best out there.  i agree, if he had a good script/cast to pull it off, i think he could make a really really cool movie.  he needs a 'pirates/johnny depp' movie to break big and be loved by all.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: molly on February 01, 2004, 10:27:08 PM
he uses the same music in every movie, just a barely noticable variation of that one in The Rock - in my opinion, that movie is worth to be seen only for Ed Harris, John Spencer and partially Nicholas Cage(not because of the performance, but b/c of the terrible lines)
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: mogwai on February 01, 2004, 11:04:31 PM
i want to rip michael bay's guts out and force him to eat it up. and i would film it and sell the stuff on ebay. i would do the same thing to jerry bruckheimer.

and no, i haven't seen 120 days of salo.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Alethia on February 01, 2004, 11:04:53 PM
any director that is more interested in filming explosions than interesting scenes between characters sucks in my book.....

from IMDB:

Actors have often noted that he places more importance on the visuals than on his characters and actors. He is also known to do very few takes of intimate character-driven scenes, as he prefers to spend more time on action sequences and visually-interesting moments.

see what i mean?  he should stick to commercials.....
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: modage on February 01, 2004, 11:07:22 PM
HEY!  worship only!  uhh, 1. he doesnt write the scrips 2. or the scores.  3. if the actors did their jobs and ACTED, (which is what he hired them for), few takes wouldnt be a problem.  4. if he had a tarantino script, he could make a great movie.

explosions are cool too.  if you want characters go to sundance, if you want explosions go to Bay!  cant both co-exist in peace?  why shouldnt there be a place for action movies too?  plus, if you're talking about that kind of directing, he's up there at the top of the heap. so, if you're going to do something, might as well be among the best, right?  directing action is an art in itself.  how hard is it to put 2 good actors in a two shot?  cant both be appreciated for being different art forms?
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on February 01, 2004, 11:52:30 PM
WTF MICHAEL BAY RULES HE IS GOD
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: cine on February 01, 2004, 11:57:55 PM
Quote from: themodernage024. if he had a tarantino script, he could make a great movie.
Are you SURE about that? I hardly think he'd know what to do with it.

Quote from: themodernage02directing action is an art in itself.  
Of course. But Bay generally doesn't direct good action. That's why his ACTION movies are almost always complete shit. Get it?
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: SHAFTR on February 02, 2004, 12:04:09 AM
Anyone can take something that is inherently visually exciting (an explosion, fire, fast cars, gunshots, etc) and make it exciting on film.  

This means more than just placing the camera at a good angle.  Direction includes directing the actors.

The art of filmmaking is not trying to find something that looks cool or neat to film but every reason, every move that a filmmaker makes in a film should be justified for a thematic reason.  That is art.

Case in point, imagine Mystic River is Michael Bay had directed it.  Ughh.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on February 02, 2004, 12:09:00 AM
Quote from: SHAFTRevery reason, every move that a filmmaker makes in a film should be justified for a thematic reason.  That is art.
Does this mean the artist has to personally justify art with a "thematic reason"? What if there is no clear or obvious thematic reason? What if art makes a statement through its lack of meaning... it's art because of that statement, isnt it? And isn't it subjective whether the statement or the theme is there?
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: SHAFTR on February 02, 2004, 12:17:16 AM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman
Quote from: SHAFTRevery reason, every move that a filmmaker makes in a film should be justified for a thematic reason.  That is art.
Does this mean the artist has to personally justify art with a "thematic reason"? What if there is no clear or obvious thematic reason? What if art makes a statement through its lack of meaning... it's art because of that statement, isnt it? And isn't it subjective whether the statement or the theme is there?

are you implying Michael Bay is an artist because he makes shit that doesn't mean anything?
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: cine on February 02, 2004, 12:20:58 AM
I think what SHAFTR might be saying is that the technical skills have to serve SOME purpose and not just simply to show off that you can do them.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: modage on February 02, 2004, 08:11:18 AM
Quote from: Cinephile
Quote from: themodernage024. if he had a tarantino script, he could make a great movie.
Are you SURE about that? I hardly think he'd know what to do with it.
yeah i think so.  tony scott did it, so i think bay could do the same were he given the chance.
Quote from: SHAFTRAnyone can take something that is inherently visually exciting (an explosion, fire, fast cars, gunshots, etc) and make it exciting on film.
no, i dont believe anyone can.  some people do it very poorly.  there is more skill involved in directing a great action sequence then in directing a conversation.  cant the language of action be art in itself without pumping in some cliche meaning behind it?  like john woo's old movies?  like, isnt the action itself more cinematic than anything else?  doesnt that give it merit?
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Alethia on February 02, 2004, 08:35:45 AM
yeah, but you know what?  if his action movies were any good, then he generally wouldn't be regarded as a peice of shit director.  james cameron is a terrific action director because he knows how to do a fuckin action movie...thats why he's generally regarded as a good filmmaker.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: kotte on February 02, 2004, 08:36:02 AM
What did he say when he was attached to direct Phone Booth?

"How do I get this thing out of the booth?"
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Alethia on February 02, 2004, 08:47:04 AM
Quote from: themodernage02how hard is it to put 2 good actors in a two shot?

not hard at all, but there's more to directing a good character driven scene than framing....
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: SoNowThen on February 02, 2004, 09:38:58 AM
Quote from: themodernage023. if the actors did their jobs and ACTED, (which is what he hired them for), few takes wouldnt be a problem.  4. if he had a tarantino script, he could make a great movie.

how hard is it to put 2 good actors in a two shot?  cant both be appreciated for being different art forms?

Okay, 1: it's the director's job to get a performance out of an actor.
2: I think a blind 8 year old who's never made a movie before could still make something interesting with a Tarantino script.

and 3: the two-shot statement you made -- are you kidding? Have you ever made a movie before? Action scenes and talking scenes may be different but BOTH are quite hard to shoot, if you challenge yourself.

Seriously, any hack who's done a few big budget commercials could do Bay movies. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the guy, I find most of his films at least watchable, but man, anybody with the tiniest amount of experience, given a crew and a big budget, and having everything storyboarded in advance, could do what he does. And many have and will continue to do so in the future. Imo, the only thing he should be worshipped for is balling Jaime Bergman.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: modage on February 02, 2004, 12:21:35 PM
Quote from: themodernage02cant the language of action be art in itself? like, isnt the action itself more cinematic than anything else?  doesnt that give it merit?

Quote from: eward
Quote from: themodernage02how hard is it to put 2 good actors in a two shot?

not hard at all, but there's more to directing a good character driven scene than framing....
yeah but i'll bet a couple of your buddies can go out and shoot a scene like godard if you wanted to, but you couldn't shoot a scene like the freeway scene in Bad Boys II.

Quote from: ewardyeah, but you know what?  if his action movies were any good, then he generally wouldn't be regarded as a peice of shit director.  james cameron is a terrific action director because he knows how to do a fuckin action movie...thats why he's generally regarded as a good filmmaker.
yeah but with cameron, he is also a writer.  so if he gets more credit for being an 'artist/auteur' credible director its because he wrote terminator, aliens, titantic, etc.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: SoNowThen on February 02, 2004, 12:25:42 PM
Designing a Campbell's Soup Can could be seen as a form of art.

Warhol painting one could be seen as a form of art.

Someone xeroxing pictures of the Warhol painting and passing them to his friends should not be seen as art.

When Bay adds something new and groundbreaking to action directing, we can call him a great director. Up until then, I think "decent action helmer" will do.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on February 02, 2004, 01:46:05 PM
Quote from: SHAFTRare you implying Michael Bay is an artist because he makes shit that doesn't mean anything?
Kind of. If he's an artist, though, I don't think he's a good one.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: godardian on February 02, 2004, 03:04:58 PM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman
Quote from: SHAFTRare you implying Michael Bay is an artist because he makes shit that doesn't mean anything?
Kind of. If he's an artist, though, I don't think he's a good one.

I agree with SoNowThen and JB for the most part. I've actually very recently seen both The Rock and Armageddon, and I wondered if we were to view them as Michael Bay Films or Simpson/Bruckheimer films. The Rock was the better waste of time, but both had some pretty god-awful stuff (I mean, even the most flag-obsessed patriotic person would have to notice the sore-thumb Norman-Rockwell syrup in Armageddon, and I also found that the film was very confused and presumptuous in patronizing the working people it was supposedly making heroes of. What the hell was up with those laughable slow-motion tableaux of cornpone Midwestern overall-wearing hicks and bathed in the sunlight of a hard day's work? And the kids with wagons and crewcuts- it was such 1950s bullshit! Midwestern kids play video games and fight with their parents, just like everywhere else, Michael Bay, but I'm glad you were able to concoct a suitably exotic version, you high-concept cokehead!).

I think The Rock had better actors and more palatable ideas/execution. But give me almost any movie by any director with Nic Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris above the title and another with Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck, and it's a real no-brainer for me which will have at least the better (or at the very least more interesting) performances.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: SoNowThen on February 02, 2004, 03:45:18 PM
As far as action flicks go, The Rock is very good. A lot of it is carried by Cage, I think, still coming off the heat of his Oscar win, and chewing up the material. The whole rocketman scene is good fun.



Hahah, "high-concept cokehead".... classic!!
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Alethia on February 02, 2004, 05:19:52 PM
yes i do think action directing is an art form in itself...i just don't really dig bay, that's all, no biggie.  some people who like the rock here dont dig spielberg's action stuff, but i do.  that's cool, we all see what we see.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on August 09, 2004, 10:12:19 AM
McGregor sets course for 'Island'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Ewan McGregor is headed for "The Island." The British star is in negotiations to topline the DreamWorks sci-fi film, which Michael Bay is set to direct. Originating as a spec script by Caspian Tredwell-Owen, "The Island" follows a "harvested being" who makes a bid to escape the utopian facility where he is being kept. Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are on board as screenwriters. Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Ian Bryce are producing with Marc Haimes serving as the studio executive. DreamWorks is heading for a fall start.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on October 18, 2004, 12:19:17 AM
Hounsou and Buscemi plan 'Island' retreat
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Djimon Hounsou and Steve Buscemi are headed to "The Island" for DreamWorks and Michael Bay. Hounsou, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Jim Sheridan's "In America," will play the head of security for the utopian community where the story takes place. No details were available on the Buscemi role. The film stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson in a story penned by Caspian Tredwell-Owen about a harvested being who becomes self-aware and tries to escape the utopia where he is being kept. Johansson plays the only person he can trust and the carrier of the sponsor's child. Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci also co-wrote the script.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: cine on October 18, 2004, 12:30:26 AM
Let's blow this thread up too.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on February 25, 2005, 08:40:01 PM
Bay Settles in MOLLY'S WORLD

Michael Bay has just signed on to helm the psychological thriller Molly's World for New Line Cinema. Bay will direct and produce under his Platinum Dunes banner.

The film is about a psychiatrist who gets involved with a patient who killed her family in an effort to protect them from a supernatural element.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Sara Shagal on February 27, 2005, 10:18:59 AM
Michael Bay is one of the worst things to ever happen to cinema...
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: squints on March 09, 2005, 03:55:36 PM
I miss you more then Michael Bay missed the mark
When he made Pearl Harbor
I miss you more than that movie missed the point
And that's an awful lot girl
And now, now you've gone away
And all I'm trying to say is
Pearl Harbor sucked, and I miss you

I need u like Ben Affleck needs acting school
He was terrible in that film
I need u like Cuba Gooding needed a bigger part
He's way better than Ben Affleck
And now all I can think about is your smile
and that shitty movie too
Pearl Harbor sucked and I miss you

Why does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies?
I guess Pearl Harbor sucked
Just a little bit more than I miss you


-America, Fuck Yeah!
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on March 09, 2005, 05:00:43 PM
Quote from: squintsWhy does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies?

Because his films make money.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: squints on March 09, 2005, 05:50:24 PM
tell me you've seen Team America...trey parker did with puppets what michael bay does with several million dollars...that could have fed hungry third world countries
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: ono on March 09, 2005, 05:56:49 PM
http://www.xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=6518

Mac's point still stands.  Studios don't care about third world countries.  Really.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: ©brad on March 09, 2005, 10:31:13 PM
he does do some interesting stuff with his camera, and he manages to get good performances out of some actors. just saying.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: modage on March 09, 2005, 11:13:34 PM
and The Rock is still a better movie than Team America.  so there.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: squints on March 11, 2005, 03:11:55 PM
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000881/

I believe it says he's producing an "Untitled Texas Chainsaw Massacre Prequel"...there are so many things wrong with that sentance my head just exploded
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on May 26, 2005, 01:46:46 PM
Bay On Chainsaw Prequel and Birds
The director talks about remaking Hitchcock.
Source: IGN.FilmForce

Michael Bay has come a long way in just 10 years directing. After his debut feature, Bad Boys, became a runaway success, Bay quickly became synonymous with big budget action. He was soon to be the youngest director ever to pass a billion dollars in total gross for his films.

Now as Bay continues to direct big movies (The Island comes out in July and he may be directing a Transformers movie), he has simultaneously launched a successful production company. Along with Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, Bay's production company has remade two horror, films, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror. Both opened number one at the box office and went on to successful runs.

Bay's company has a number of projects coming down the pipeline, but perhaps the most surprising announcement has been a potential remake of The Birds. At a press day to promote The Island yesterday, press asked Bay about remaking Hitchcock. The director tried to downplay the idea as much as possible, and even his Island leading lady chimed in with some advice.

"I don't even want to talk about The Birds," Bay said, looking a little embarrassed at the idea. "Because that's so far down the line. I have misgivings about even trying to do that, remake that… So I don't really want to even talk about it. There's a lot more other things that I'm doing before that."

"You're remaking The Birds," Johansson chimes in with a questioning smirk. (Laughs)

"Just because I say something doesn't mean it's gonna happen," Bay defends. "You can't believe everything you read, right?"

"You can't remake a Hitchcock movie," Johansson laughs. "You can't. P.S., I'll be starring in it and it will be like a 180 million dollar movie." (Laughs)

"No, no, no," Bay corrects. "I know. It doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel right…"

Before Birds gets off the ground or is eternally shelved, Bay's company has a few other projects ready to go. "They're starting the Texas prequel, called The Origins and then we're doing The Hitcher and we've got two other things at Focus that they're possibly going to start."
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: squints on May 26, 2005, 02:08:01 PM
The mere thought of a michael bay remake of the birds obstructed my bowels and made my head explode.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: cowboykurtis on May 26, 2005, 02:18:34 PM
brett ratner should remake vertigo
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Ghostboy on May 26, 2005, 02:32:28 PM
Did you miss this, or were you just being sarcastic?

Ratner suffers from 'Vertigo'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Brett Ratner has signed on to develop a remake of the Hitchcock classic 'Vertigo' for Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and producer Brian Grazer. The script, to be written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, reportedly will adhere more closely to Hitchcock's source material, the French novel 'D'entre Les Morts' by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. "It's a wonderful novel," says Grazer, "and it deserves a faithful adaptation." He adds, "With Brett onboard, we're looking forward to presenting a new perspective on a classic tale." Grazer previously produced Gus Van Sant's remake of 'Psycho.'
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: SiliasRuby on May 26, 2005, 02:37:40 PM
and PTA should remake Rear Window with John C. Reiley in the James Stewart part.
I really hope that Bay doesn't remake it, but if he does and people crucify him for it maybe he'll start to make much more interesting films like van sant did after Psycho
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: squints on May 26, 2005, 02:40:06 PM
FACT/RULE/COMMANDMENT: You don't remake/reimagine/carbon copy Hitchcock
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: SiliasRuby on May 26, 2005, 02:44:42 PM
Of course you don't. I was joking around. That would be absolutely terrible if he did, and I would be really really disapointed, not that I'm already kinda disapointed in him. The island MIGHT (and that's a big might) change my mind.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Ravi on May 26, 2005, 03:00:34 PM
Quote from: GhostboyDid you miss this, or were you just being sarcastic?

Ratner suffers from 'Vertigo'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Brett Ratner has signed on to develop a remake of the Hitchcock classic 'Vertigo' for Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and producer Brian Grazer. The script, to be written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, reportedly will adhere more closely to Hitchcock's source material, the French novel 'D'entre Les Morts' by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. "It's a wonderful novel," says Grazer, "and it deserves a faithful adaptation." He adds, "With Brett onboard, we're looking forward to presenting a new perspective on a classic tale." Grazer previously produced Gus Van Sant's remake of 'Psycho.'

If Shia LeBeouf is in the cast, this would be the ultimate Xixax nightmare.
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Alethia on May 26, 2005, 11:16:45 PM
Quote from: Ghostboy
Brett Ratner has signed on to develop a remake of the Hitchcock classic 'Vertigo' for... producer Brian Grazer

FUCK.  fuckfuckfuckfuck are they serious?  they cant be.  fuck.  god damn it.

*sigh*
Title: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on May 27, 2005, 11:51:04 AM
I can't stand Michael Bay... I hear mixed things about the Rock, so I guess I'll see it again since I saw it when I was a kid and was entertained, I notice a lot of films weren't as good, and some were better than what I remembered from the movie.  

However, Pearl Harbor and Armageddon were totally shit.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on May 16, 2006, 01:31:20 AM
Bay master of Domain in VFX stunner
Source: Hollywood Reporter

George Lucas has Industrial Light + Magic, Peter Jackson has Weta, and now Michael Bay has Digital Domain.

Bay and private investment firm Wyndcrest Holdings, in which Bay is a principal, are set to announce today the acquisition of the 13-year-old visual effects studio. Bay and fellow Wyndcrest principal John Textor spearheaded the acquisition. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Bay broke the news to Digital Domain's 475 artists Monday at a companywide meeting at the Venice, Calif.-based studio.

"My simple goal is to make Digital Domain an effects powerhouse," Bay said in an interview after the meeting. "I think we can utilize this platform here to expand on production in terms of feature films and animation."

As a result of the acquisition, Carl Stork, Wyndcrest principal and former Microsoft executive, has been elected CEO. Bay and Textor will co-chair, while Stork joins the board of directors of Digital Domain. C. Bradley Call will remain Digital Domain president and chief operating officer.

Stork replaces outgoing CEO Scott Ross, who was the last remaining principal of the company founded in 1993 by Ross and Oscar-winning filmmakers James Cameron and Stan Winston. Cameron used Digital Domain to create the Oscar-nominated effects in 1994's "True Lies" and the Oscar-winning "Titanic."

Relations were strained between Digital Domain's management and Cameron following his "Titanic" production, which went over schedule and over budget.

Cameron and Winston ultimately resigned from the board at Digital Domain because of differing views on how the company should be managed (HR 8/20/98). Cameron and Winston have had little to do with the digital studio since then and in the meantime have formed their own respective shops.

Meanwhile, Ross sought to expand the company into original productions under the Digital Domain Films moniker (HR 3/4/02).

Parallel to those efforts, Digital Domain has continued to operate as a digital service bureau to a host of major studio, indie and commercial productions.

"The old owners are responsible for making it stagnant," Bay said. "They could not get along. The old owners didn't want to infuse it with cash, which is unfortunate because they have very good people and tools here."

Digital Domain has seen its business eclipsed during the past decade by such industry-leading effects shops as Sony Pictures Imageworks, Jackson's Weta and Rhythm & Hues. In the same period, highly competitive European facilities have risen because of production incentives abroad. Asian facilities also have taken a piece of the major studio effects jobs because of lower labor costs and financially lucrative co-production deals.

With new leadership and a cash-rich financial group to guide the company, Bay and Digital Domain execs hope to build on the original vision of the company while also expanding on potential business opportunities.

"We have a lot of work ahead," Bay said. "One of the ideas of this company has always been to make it more director-centric. That was Jim's vision; he had a really good vision, and I want to keep it great."

Building Digital Domain back up to its former glory will be a matter of aligning with top talent -- directors like David Fincher and producers like Jerry Bruckheimer -- while also expanding the digital studio's business units.

"We're targeting some of the best directors in the industry, and we'll also have key relations with producers, which should open up a whole new world of clients," Bay said.

Additional areas of expansion include computer-animated family films and video games, though Bay said he primarily was interested in those projects as a creative producer as opposed to directing.

"I would rather shoot myself in the head than sit on a greenscreen stage with actors covered in orange balls all day long," Bay said. "But I'm very interested in producing kid-friendly effects films, and I have always had a love for animation -- this could be my way in.

"I also love video games, but that's a whole area that needs a lot of investigation," he said. "It's not something you just move into lightly."

Another pending area of research and development is the commercialization of the studio's proprietary and Oscar-winning effects software. Thus far the company has brought to market Nuke, a Oscar-recognized digital compositing tool. The effects tool is sold through D2, the company's software subsidiary.

"We have four or five other tools that are very viable that we want to bring to market and package in order to support Nuke as more of a suite (of) tools," Call said. "We have had capital constraints in the past, but now we have the opportunity to turn that division around."

Stork will be key in the software subsidiary's evolution because it is his task to build out the studio's software platforms while also targeting other channels for the studio core visual effects business, execs said. While at Microsoft from 1981-2002, Stork was general manager of Windows 95/98 and general manager of hardware strategy and business development.

Bay is overseeing projects at his horror production company, Platinum Dunes, and also is in preproduction on DreamWorks' "Transformers." He said he has been taking notes from another famous filmmaker as to how to keep all his balls in the air.

"I'm working very closely with Steven Spielberg right now (on 'Transformers')," Bay said. "And I always ask him, 'How do you do it?' He's simply able to manage his time and do it well. I look at myself as an entrepreneur. I don't like to go out and fail. I've teamed up with very smart partners, and they're very committed. I think we all have a similar vision of where we want to take this studio."

Ross was not available for comment.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on March 19, 2007, 12:50:41 PM
Trio sees '2012' future
Bay, Orci, Kurtzman adapt book
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Director Michael Bay and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman -- the creative team behind the summer's "Transformers" -- are reuniting to bring sci-fi author's Whitley Strieber forthcoming novel "2012: The War for Souls" to the big screen for Warner Bros. Pictures.

Talks are in the preliminary stages, but it is known that Bay intends to direct, while Orci and Kurtzman will produce via their company Kurtzman/Orci.

Strieber's story centers on an academic researcher who discovers that multiple versions of Earth co-exist in different dimensions, but all are threatened by an apocalypse to occur in 2012 prophesied by the ancient Mayans. By opening a portal into a parallel universe, he makes contact with his double to stop the prophecy from being fulfilled. The book is due in the fall by St. Martin imprint Tor.

A search for a writer to adapt is under way.

"We've been looking for a way to have the kinds of thrillers that we are interested in that still take into account the latest theories and discoveries in Egyptology and in quantum mechanics and all those things that Mr. Strieber is so knowledge about," Orci said. 

"The idea of a man teaming up with himself to solve a cosmic mystery was way too good for us to pass up," Kurtzman said.

Kurtzman/Orci execs Steven Puri and Mandy Safavi brought the book into the company at the same time as Bay's producing partners Andrew Form and Brad Fuller got it via their exec Matt Smith. When Bay heard that the scribes had it, he called them up and suggested a team-up.

"2012" will be the third teaming for the trio, who first got together when the writers came on board to rewrite Bay's "The Island."

"It's been a great partnership," Kurtzman said. "I think we trust each other for what we all bring to the table. No one is better visually than Michael; the way he blocks out action is like no other director out there, and I think he trusts our story sense."

Greg Silverman oversees the project for the studio.

Strieber is known for such novels as "The Wolfen" and "Communion." His most recent novel, "The Grays," is being adapted by Ken Nolan for Sony, while "The Hunger" is in development at Warners. He is repped by Innovative Artists, Paul Canterna and attorney Lawrence Rose.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on April 15, 2007, 12:46:13 PM
Prince of Persia Director Buzz
Who might helm the vidgame-to-film?

It's been known for awhile now that Walt Disney Pictures and mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer were planning on bringing the Ubisoft videogame Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time to the big-screen.

Now a report has surfaced claiming that Bruckheimer is tapping a regular collaborator of his to direct the highly anticipated project.

According to IESB.net, Transformers helmer Michael Bay will direct Prince of Persia. The site adds that Disney sources have confirmed that the studio is "hopeful" they will land Bay for the pic, which is reportedly earmarked for a summer 2009 release.

Bruckheimer and Bay have previously teamed for The Rock, Pearl Harbor, the Bad Boys films and Armageddon.

The game's creator Jordan Mechner penned a Persia script at one point, with screenwriter John August supervising it and serving as an executive producer.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: meatwad on January 05, 2009, 01:44:42 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.screenjunkies.com%2Fwww%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Famazing%2520bay%2520photo.jpg&hash=ddc4430c9295d5b67d44d211217215592b1a2385)
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: pete on January 06, 2009, 10:35:13 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN25hFa1rms
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Stefen on January 06, 2009, 10:41:21 AM
Roids.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: SiliasRuby on June 18, 2009, 11:30:27 AM
Bay To Quit Transformers
18 June 2009 1:00 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news


Michael Bay has made his last Transformers movie - the director is set to quit the action franchise because he has "had enough" of making big budget blockbusters.

The filmmaker helmed the original 2007 movie and returned this year with its sequel - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

But Bay, who is known for his explosive action sequences, is sick of receiving negative reviews from critics who dislike his movie-making style and is determined to move away from the genre.

He says, "It's easy to go shoot an art movie in a winery in the South of France. But people have no idea how hard it is to create something like Transformers. They (the critics) review me before they've even seen the movie."

And Bay admits that if film bosses give the go ahead for a third Transformers movie, they will have to find a different director.

He adds, "After the three and a half years I've spent making these movies, I feel like I've had enough of the Transformers world.

"I need to do something totally divergent, something without any explosions."
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: RegularKarate on June 18, 2009, 11:45:19 AM
Quote from: Mikey Bay on June 18, 2009, 11:30:27 AM
"I need to do something totally divergent, something without any explosions."

Can't wait to see either the world's shittiest Frat-boy comedy or the world's shiniest Pulp Fiction rip-off.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Stefen on June 18, 2009, 11:56:32 AM
This is going to be a disaster.

*grabs popcorn*
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on April 15, 2010, 04:24:09 PM
Michael Bay & Magical Elves Team For Action Adventure Reality Show
By NELLIE ANDREEVA; Deadline Hollywood

EXCLUSIVE: I guarantee you this: something is going to blow up! Action film maestro Michael Bay is making his first foray into unscripted television, partnering with top reality producers Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz of Magical Elves to produce an action-adventure series. One Way Out, which is being pitched to the networks, is described as "a game with no rules." A cross between an extreme Survivor, The Mole and The Amazing Race, the show pits ordinary people from all walks of life against each other.

"For my first television project I wanted to do something that had never been done before, and I believe that One Way Out, Bay said. "Combining unique twists, death-defying challenges, and stunning visuals, we are reinventing the genre, showing just how far people will go when they are stripped of their bare necessities and forced to do whatever it takes to survive."

All players have secret pasts that they must keep hidden, setting the stage for an intense game of trust and betrayal. Additionally, the contestants have to adapt to a new environment every week as they travel the world, building towards what the creators bill as "a climactic showdown where all secrets are exposed and a shocking development revealed."

One Way Out also marks a return to the reality adventure genre for the Magical Elves, best known for their hit cooking series Top Chef on Bravo. Cutforth and Lipsitz, who were also the exec producers on Project Runway when it was on Bravo and are behind a slew of other unscripted series, including Kell on Earth, and the upcoming Work of Art, America's Next Great Restaurant, L Word and Top Chef: Just Deserts, executive produced the 2006 NBC unscripted adventure series Treasure Hunters.

One Way Out will take the reality adventure genre to the next level," Cutforth said. "The no-holds-barred format and the intimidating locations will allow a true primal test of endurance to unfold." Magical Elves and Bay, who is gearing up for production on "Trasformers 3," are repped by WME.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Pas on April 28, 2010, 08:30:18 AM
No wonder we rarely have good noobs, there is a fucking Michael Bay WORSHIP thread. Like Woody Allen said (quoting Groucho Marx I think), I would not want to be in a club that worships Michael Bay.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on March 22, 2012, 09:24:39 AM
Michael Bay will turn the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into aliens for upcoming reboot
"They're going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely lovable," says Bay of his studio's plans for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Source: IFC
 
If you thought that Michael Bay's treatment of the Transformers' universe was frustrating, wait until you hear what he has planned for the world of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

During the Nickelodeon Upfront presentation in New York last week, Bay spoke briefly about his studio's take on the ol' Heroes in a Half-Shell, which are scheduled to get a big-screen reboot next year. Apparently, the plan is to make the heroes into aliens, and...

Wait, what? Yes, you read that correctly. According to Bay, instead of being mutated turtles (hence the "Mutant" part of their name), the Ninja Turtles will be aliens.

Here's what Bay had to say about the project during his presentation (with the money quote in bold, and the video embedded at the end of this post):

When you see this movie, kids are going to believe one day that these turtles do exist, when we are done with this movie," he said. These turtles are from an alien race, and they're going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely lovable.

The new film is expected to hit theaters in December 2013, with "Wrath of the Titans" director Jonathan Liebesman named as the man behind the camera for the Turtles' reboot just last month. "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol" screenwriters Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec provided the latest script for the film.

Given the Turtles' origin as a hard-edged, graphic comic book series created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in the mid-'80s, their evolution into a wildly popular, kid-friendly animated series in 1987 was a bit of a surprise to fans — but Bay's take on the Turtles could present an even bigger shift, if his synopsis rings true for next year's reboot.

If nothing else, it could mean that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will become the Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles — which doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on April 23, 2013, 08:25:22 PM
Michael Bay apologizes for 'Armageddon'
Source: EW

It took 15 years, but moviegoers are getting an apology for one of the brashest, outlandish, craptacularly entertaining blockbusters of all time.
Buried in a Miami Herald interview published Sunday about his upcoming film Pain & Gain, director Michael Bay offered a mea culpa for his 1998 hit Armageddon. The discussion was sparked by the interviewer noting that Bay's new film, which stars Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson as bodybuilders who embark on a crime spree, has atypical editing for the director — the shots are held for longer than a few nanoseconds.

"I will apologize for Armageddon, because we had to do the whole movie in 16 weeks," Bay says. "It was a massive undertaking. That was not fair to the movie. I would redo the entire third act if I could. But the studio literally took the movie away from us. It was terrible. My visual effects supervisor had a nervous breakdown, so I had to be in charge of that. I called James Cameron and asked 'What do you do when you're doing all the effects yourself?' But the movie did fine."

Armageddon's rapid production schedule may have been caused by the film facing a creative arms race with another space-object-headed-toward-Earth title, Deep Impact. Deep Impact hit theaters first, but Armageddon still crushed at the box office, grossing $553 million world-wide compared to Deep Impact delivering $349 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

In the same article, Bay defends his spastic 1995 breakthrough hit, Bad Boys. "It's really funny," he says. "People have always given me a hard time on my editing. But if you could do a graph on my movies, you would see how my editing has slowed down over the years. Bad Boys was my first movie, and we cut that quite fast. Back then it was very new for action. Now you see a lot of that imitated. Call it what you will. Yes, critics have given me s–t about it. But when you watch the Bourne Identity movies, they are cut way faster."

To be fair, Armageddon is far from Bay's worst film. The movie isn't subtle, but as popcorn entertainment it's rather bluntly effective (sort of the way a sledge hammer is effective for pushing a thumb tack into a cork board). The film's ending, where Bruce Willis sacrifices himself to save his daughter's fiancee and humanity, had plenty of guys hiding their misty eyes from their dates in the theater.

Now Pearl Harbor is another story. And so is Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Thankfully, Bay already seemingly apologized for that one.

-------------------------------------

Never mind, Michael Bay does NOT apologize for 'Armageddon'
Source: EW

The Internet has been buzzing about Michael Bay's "apology" for his 1998 blockbuster Armageddon, but the director wants everyone to know that his words were taken out of context and that he is "proud of the movie."

While promoting his new film Pain & Gain, Bay discussed with a Miami Herald reporter the rapid-fire editing technique featured in many of his movies. Near the end of the interview, the paper quotes Bay as saying, "I will apologize for Armageddon, because we had to do the whole movie in 16 weeks. It was a massive undertaking. That was not fair to the movie. I would redo the entire third act if I could."

But in a post on his official website today, Bay wrote that the newspaper cut his words in a deceptive way. "[The reporter] has printed the bare minimum of my statement which in effect have twisted my words and meaning," the director said.

Bay goes on to clarify that while he does wish he "had more time to edit the film" before it hit theaters, he is "proud of the movie." Check out Bay's full response below.

"One press writer has gone too far in reporting false information. He has printed the bare minimum of my statement which in effect have twisted my words and meaning. I'm not in the slightest going to apologize for the third movie in my movie career, a film called Armageddon. On the red carpet for Pain & Gain some reporters asked me what are you apologizing for, and I said what on earth are you talking about?

What I clearly said to the reporter, is I wish I had more time to edit the film, specifically the third act. He asked me in effect what would you change if you could in your movies if you could go back. I said, I wish we had a few more weeks in the edit room on Armageddon. And still today Armageddon, is still one of the most shown movies on cable TV. And yes, I'm proud of the movie. Enough said.

Michael"
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: modage on April 24, 2013, 03:09:19 PM
In light of reading a lot (http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/64187/the-grantland-staff-squeals-with-delight-over-the-new-trailer-for-michael-bays-pain-and-gain) of people (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-best-commercials-and-music-videos-of-michael-bay-20130423?page=1#blogPostHeaderPanel) suddenly getting (http://[url=http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/opinions/the-case-for-michael-bay-as-visionary-auteur.php?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=rejectnation) onboard (http://thefilmstage.com/features/watch-the-early-works-of-pain-gain-director-michael-bay/) with Michael Bay, I would just like to point out that I was 9 years ahead of the curve on this one. Also: "Pain & Gain" is pretty good.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: ©brad on April 24, 2013, 03:16:18 PM
Hmm really? I keep reading terrible reviews. Is this accurate?

Quote from: RegularKarate on March 27, 2013, 10:43:52 AM
And it's finally revealed what I suspected the whole time, this is going to be as funny as the "comic relief" in Transformers. You can't just put funny people into a movie and have them curse a lot and all of a sudden, it's funny.

This is the kind of movie that I would have liked to have seen played a little more straight. It would probably actually be funny then.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: modage on April 24, 2013, 03:25:07 PM
It's hilarious but I don't think Bay does much to aid the comedy, so it's almost funny despite him. The three leads are great (Wahlberg is playing his perfect "naive but enthusiastic idiot" and The Rock has prob never been better, Mackie always solid), the script has some good lines and the story/setting is perfect for his style. That said, it's definitely too long (2 hours 10 minutes, yikes), tone deaf occasionally (scenes that should be snappy and funny, aren't, etc.) and pretty hateful towards people (a Bay trademark). The trailers kinda sell this as a "fun" movie but it's darker than they let on and it's a damn ballsy movie for Bay to make (working at 1/10th of his usual budget) and doing something this dark. I can't not applaud him for it.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Neil on April 24, 2013, 08:56:10 PM
i remember bad boys 2 being entertaining, but also waaaaay too long. BUT it was one spectacle after another. Ramping through houses, curse words, above ground pools that break and TONS OF SHOOTOUTS. Shit's great. I saw bad boys 2 at the cinema when it came out, so I was probably old enough to know better, but I was entertained. Oops.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Pubrick on April 24, 2013, 11:47:06 PM
la critics are fucking idiots.

they probably all talk like you too.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Neil on April 24, 2013, 11:56:26 PM
burn.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: MacGuffin on October 17, 2013, 03:55:21 PM
Michael Bay Attacked By Man Wielding Air Conditioner on 'Transformers' Set
Source: Variety

Michael Bay's movie sets are widely known for their big, explosive action sequences but on Thursday, the filmmaker became the action in a bizarre incident on the set of his latest movie, "Transformers: Age of Extinction."

According to a Paramount spokesman, a man ("allegedly under the influence of narcotics)", stormed on set and swung an air conditioner unit at Bay's head.

Bay, who was not injured, then "ducked and wrested the air conditioner from his attacker, preventing what could have been a serious accident."

Earlier reports suggested the director had been attacked by two brothers in Quarry Bay, where the Mark Wahlberg-starrer is currently shooting, which Paramount strongly denied.

"Contrary to several erroneous news reports made today, Bay did not get hurt in a fight on set," the studio said.

After the man was subdued by Bay, Paramount stated that police scuffled with the air conditioning wielding suspect as well as two other assailants before arresting the three men.

No cast or crew members were injured in the incident.

"Transformers 4," which has been filming for the past four months, hits theaters June 27, 2014.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Neil on January 06, 2014, 10:41:53 PM
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/6/5281542/watch-michael-bay-melt-down-onstage-at-ces (http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/6/5281542/watch-michael-bay-melt-down-onstage-at-ces)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IHq7uV6WHo
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on January 06, 2014, 11:11:28 PM
"Explodes" is definitely the wrong word in that video title. At the end of the video I was waiting for him to scream something from backstage. It's more like "quietly melts down without teleprompter." (spoiler)
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Neil on January 06, 2014, 11:35:30 PM
Agreed, the only reason I posted that is because when I went back to the original link, I couldn't see the video.  I kind of feel bad for the guy, and for the fact that his instinct is to blame the type-face.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: polkablues on January 07, 2014, 02:42:27 AM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on January 06, 2014, 11:11:28 PM
"Explodes" is definitely the wrong word in that video title. At the end of the video I was waiting for him to scream something from backstage. It's more like "quietly melts down without teleprompter." (spoiler)

Explodes is the wrong word because it's Michael Bay and I assumed there would be an ACTUAL EXPLOSION.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: 03 on January 07, 2014, 07:43:39 AM
hahaha thats just great. how the hell did he think that was the best way to deal with that situation? he's a celebrity for gods sakes, is he truly so incompetent that he can't improvise in a worst case scenario?
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Neil on January 07, 2014, 09:01:40 PM
Explodes is the definitely the wrong word for the video, but after a second thought I guess the guy is making a michael bay joke.  Instead we just made fun of his poor video naming skills. I think it says more about us than it does about the guy who named the video.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: 03 on January 07, 2014, 09:42:14 PM
he exploded in his pants and scampered off briskly.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Mel on January 08, 2014, 07:03:08 AM
Technology (teleprompter) fails at technology-oriented trade show? This is for me more a joke than reaction to that from Michael.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: 03 on January 08, 2014, 08:02:30 PM
i was actually kinda thinking that. teleprompters are pretty basic considering you can kind of use anything as one nowadays
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: wilder on July 05, 2014, 07:43:24 PM
This is really worth watching:

Michael Bay - What is Bayhem? (http://vimeo.com/m/99798626)
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: Just Withnail on July 04, 2017, 05:35:46 AM
The new Transformers has inspired some really fun and interesting pieces:

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the New Transformers (http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/06/23/how_i_learned_to_stop_worrying_and_love_the_new_transformers.html)

By Sam Adams

To borrow a phrase from the critic Robert Warshow via Roger Ebert: A man goes to the movies, and the critic must be honest enough to admit he is that man. Sometimes, that man must also be honest enough to admit that he loved Transformers: The Last Knight.

Perhaps loved is too strong a word, but nothing else accurately describes the sound of pure, incredulous joy that escaped my mouth when, after two incessantly clangorous hours of Mark Wahlberg doing battle with world-threatening robots, the piece of animate metal coiled around his swollen bicep magically transformed itself into a giant sword. I don't say magically lightly, either. This is a movie about giant robots in which Merlin, played by a bearded Stanley Tucci, plays a pivotal role. Remember the classic Simpsons scene where Xena: Warrior Princess's Lucy Lawless explains to nitpicking fans that any apparent gaps in the fantasy show's plausibility can be explained by the fact that "A wizard did it"? In Transformers: The Last Knight, an actual wizard did it.

Transformers: The Last Knight is, by the standards of the head and not the heart, an objectively terrible movie. Its plot, concocted by four credited writers and who knows how many other uncredited ones, is both absurdly convoluted and absurdly simplistic: You could spend the equivalent of the movie's entire 146-minute running explaining what happens, or you could sum it as "Good robots fight bad robots and also King Arthur." Michael Bay, who has directed all five (!) films in the series, is not just uninterested in but actively hostile to narrative logic, to the point that the Village Voice's Bilge Ebiri gave up trying to write about the movie in coherent sentences and styled his review as a string of keyboard-smashing gibberish. Great chunks of story are disgorged and then disregarded, and other apparently crucial developments take place off screen or are leaped over entirely. The movie obliterates any sense of conventional storytelling structure; it might have one act, or it might have 14. There was a point somewhere in the middle where I was no longer sure if it was the same day as it had been when I started watching.

But where most of Michael Bay's movies are merely bad, The Last Knight is spectacularly bad, bad in such a knowing, deliberate way, bad with such steroidal intensity, that it breaks through into a hitherto unknown dimension of badness. Watching it is like stepping into the spacesuit of David Bowman at the end of 2001, except instead of getting spit forth into a white-on-white room at the furthest reaches of space-time, you emerge into a multiplex lobby, knowing that your world can never be the same. It is a movie in which Mark Wahlberg—whose character's name, we must never forget, is Cade Yeager—trains sentient metallic beings in the shape of tiny dinosaurs to open his fridge and fetch him a beer; in which Cade Yeager adopts a teenage Latina orphaned by the cataclysms of a previous film and they agree to call each other bro; in which Anthony Hopkins plays a dotty English aristocrat who is the sole surviving member of the ancient order of Witwiccans, whose sacred task is to safeguard the knowledge that the Knights of the Round Table were backed up by 12 giant sword-wielding robots—who, by the way, could also combine their bodies into an even more giant three-headed dragon; in which we learn that Shia LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky, whose only appearance in The Last Knight is via a single wild-eyed 8"-by-10", was a direct descendant of Merlin. It is a movie in which Hopkins' aristocrat is attended by an even dottier, and also quasi-sociopathic, robot butler named Cogman, who has served Hopkins' family for generations, and one in which Hopkins warns Wahlberg, who is poking around the artifacts in Hopkins' cluttered manor, to be careful with one particular gewgaw, because "That's the watch that killed Hitler."

A just and true accounting of all of The Last Knight's absurdities would run for pages. I haven't even mentioned how the film keeps cutting back to the (supposedly) elite military force known as the TRF, who—despite the fact that they're present in nearly all of its major battles—never seem to do anything more than get in the way. (One of Bay's raisons d'être is to provide spank-bank material for the military-industrial complex, but in this case, they're shooting blanks.) Or how the movie's female lead, played by Laura Haddock, looks uncannily like Megan Fox, who was fired from the series after comparing Bay to Hitler. (So eerie is the resemblance that we might as well call this Bay's Vertigo as well as his 2001.) Or—and I'll stop after this one, I swear—how there are literally dozens of shots in which characters slide down hard surfaces on their hips, even when there's no apparent reason to do so. There is no circumstance in Transformers: The Last Knight which Mark Wahlberg cannot approach as if he is trying to steal second base.

For years, Bay was the emblem of all that is wrong with American blockbuster cinema. His movies were thuddingly bombastic, casually racist, overtly sexist, and incoherent to the point of idiocy. But with 2013's Pain & Gain, Bay seemed to turn a corner. He became self-aware, like an artificial intelligence that had finally learned the trick of seeing human. Pain & Gain—the story of three Florida gym rats whose attempt at extortion goes horribly wrong—didn't just embody the limits of thick-skulled bro-dude philosophy; it was about it, and that made all the difference. It's not clear that Bay knew exactly what he was doing with Pain & Gain—for one thing, the movie took a troublesome approach to the murderous real-life case that inspired it—but Bay knew he was onto something, and he's tried to replicate it in the Transformers movies he's made since. The Last Knight isn't exactly a comedy, although Bay encourages his actors to treat it like one. It's too desperate and noisy to let any of its jokes land. Bay's method is to throw everything at the wall, then pick up the wall and throw it at the audience. A lot of them are not funny, and a few are offensive, but the movie unloads so many gags with such reckless abandon that a few genuinely inspired ones make it over the transom. When Hopkins is delivering his big speech about how Wahlberg et al. need to save the world, Cogman jumps on a nearby pipe organ and begins playing ominous music to set the mood—a bit of tongue-in-cheek mockery you'd sooner expect from a Mel Brooks parody than a $200-million-plus summer blockbuster.

None of this makes Transformers: The Last Knight good, exactly. It's incredibly wearisome at times, and the more Bay tries to amp up the tension, the less engaging it gets. (The climax, an all-stops-out extravaganza that features Earth nearly colliding with the Transformers' home planet, is the dullest part of the movie by far.) But to be worthy of love, a movie need not be perfect, only pure, and this is as close to pure trash as it gets.




With "Transformers: The Last Knight," Michael Bay Has Become an Experimental Filmmaker of Pure Sensation (http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/review-transformers-the-last-knight-michael-bay-experimental-filmmaker)

By Richard Brody

Michael Bay is some kind of genius—though his ingenuity is smothered in such a stew of convention, a slog of narrative, and a slurry of bad taste that it's almost undetectable. It is possible to catch glimmers of his talent through the use of super-discerning equipment, known as the eyes, while bypassing the unfortunate obstacle to ecstasy that's usually posed by thought. His new film, "Transformers: The Last Knight," which opens tomorrow, feels at times like the longest night—it runs two and a half hours and encompasses a span of plot that ranges from the medieval battlefields to the primordial realms of Pangaea to the cosmic reaches of outer space. Yet, at its intermittent and fleeting best, "Transformers: The Last Knight" offers more to see and more to startle than do many films by auteurs of overt artistic ambition and accomplishment.

The movie has a story, of course. I would spare you most of the details, but it seems only fair for you to sit through it, too. The story risks being as long to recount as it is to endure, though its leaps of logic and of imagination are at least admirable in their crude audacity. The action starts in medieval England, where shattered bodies fly through the air. As elements of design, the bodies seem to affect Bay less than do the flaming arrows, catapulted fireballs, and clods of dirt that he sends hurtling toward the viewer in 3–D sensation. Sir Lancelot and his men are outnumbered and losing—but they're awaiting the arrival of Merlin, whose magical weaponry will presumably save the day. Why this matters at all will eventually become clear. But first, let's meet the giant toys again, in a different era: the Transformers are held captive by the American military, and the few surviving free ones are in hiding as scrap metal, after a devastating attack for which they are blamed. One young girl, Izabella (Isabela Moner), an intrepid fourteen-year-old orphan, has faith in their virtue. When Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) comes to the rescue of the Transformers, Izabella follows him and he grudgingly allows her into his family circle.

The problem is that the world is about to end. Not only are there six giant horns emerging from six different parts of the planet and threatening to burst it apart, but the evil Quintessa is flinging a planetoid—a gargantuan bundle of scrap metal, kudzu, tree branches, and random organic crud—at Earth. As the planetoid breaks apart, it's on course to destroy cities and kill tens of millions, if not the entire human race. Optimus Prime, the Autobot hero, can help, but he has gone missing, and he can't save the world alone—some extra help is needed. That's where Merlin comes in—or, rather, where his staff comes in—not his assistants and event planners, but his long magic wand, which has also gone missing. Cade needs to find it, so he teams up with a British professor of art and archeology, Vivian Wembley (Laura Haddock), who, in the course of her studies, has cast doubt on the very existence of Merlin.
Their go-between is a British lord, Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins), an aristocrat of manners and morals, disguising his deep and mystical knowledge in elegant bluster. Sir Edmund inhabits a castle and schools Cade and Vivian in their historically transcendent duties. His lesson adds to the otherwise vapid script one element of gleeful whimsy: he informs the staff-hunting team about the Order of the Witwiccans—a secret society that has endured through the ages and includes basically every notable from Shakespeare and Mozart to Harriet Tubman and Stephen Hawking (and, for that matter, Sam Witwicky, Shia LaBeouf's character in earlier "Transformers" installments)—which exists solely, believe it or not, to protect Transformers on Earth. Cade and Vivian (no spoilers here) have something to do with it, which is why they've got to get hold of Merlin's staff, conjure the return of Optimus Prime, and—with the help of faith, family, the U.S. Army, and the right brand of action figurines—save the world.

Yet, really, this is all beside the point. When Bay keeps these absurd plot-gears spinning, he's displaying his skill as a slick, professional entertainer. But then there are the images of motion—I hesitate to say, of things in motion, because it's not clear how many things there are in the movie, instead of mere digital simulations of things. It doesn't matter. What matters is that there's a car chase through London, seen from the level of tires, that could have gone on for an hour, um, tirelessly. What matters is that the defenestrated Cade saves himself by leaping from drone to drone in midair like a frog skipping among lotus pads; that he and Vivian slide along the colossal, polished expanses of sharply tilting age-old fields of metal like luge Olympians. What matters is that, when this heroic duo find themselves thrust out into the void of inner space from a collapsing planet, it has a terrifyingly vast emptiness that Bay doesn't dare hold for more than an instant lest he become the nightmare-master. What matters is that the enormous thing hurtling toward Earth is composed in a fanatical detail that would repay slow-motion viewing with near-geological patience.

Bay has an authentic sense of the gigantic; beside the playful enormity of his Transformerized universe, the ostensibly heroic dimensions of Ridley Scott's and Christopher Nolan's massive visions seem like petulant vanities. Yet his sense of speed works against his sense of scale and of detail. All the best moments in the movie—pure images, devoid of symbol and, for that matter, nearly empty of sense—go by too fast, are held too briefly, are developed too little. Bay's highest inspirations are those of a virtually experimental filmmaker of pure sensation; the rush of sensation is also a temptation for experimental filmmakers who often don't keep their own images onscreen very long (cf. Stan Brakhage). The absolute tastelessness of Bay's images, their stultifying service to platitudes and to merchandise, doesn't at all diminish their wildly imaginative power. If Steven Spielberg is the filmmaker without an id, Bay is a cinematic id that gets held in check by the tight superego of script and editing—a free spirit that is anchored to Earth by a pile of junk. In finding his career, he may have missed his calling.
Title: Re: Michael Bay Worship Thread
Post by: modage on July 06, 2017, 04:01:21 PM
Quote from: Just Withnail on July 04, 2017, 05:35:46 AM
The new Transformers has inspired some really fun and interesting pieces:

Starting this thread I was 13 years ahead of the curve!  :yabbse-grin:

But seriously I wish he would make more movies that aren't transformers. I haven't seen any since the first one and just have no interest. Pain & Gain and 13 Hours are Both  pretty great though.