Sci-Fi Monday: Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen Special + More Genre Movie News

The biggest thing in genre movie news this week is the opening of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen coming in two days, we have all the latest on Orci & Kurtzman’s giant robot follow-up. Plus we updates on the next entries in the Ghostbusters, Indy, LOTR, Hellboy, Harry Potter, and Jurasic Park franchises, and much more. Plus more previews than you can handle, so dive in./p>

 

MOVIE NEWS

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Opening Weekend News
Don Murphy, one of the producers of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (hitting theaters this Wednesday, June 24th), told SCI FI Wire that director Michael Bay deserves much of the credit for getting the film on track amidst the writers strike:

"Michael was really amazing," Murphy said. "He sat down with the screenwriters. He knew that there was a possible strike. He had his ideas, which are always very exciting, and he managed to get the script done and get the film done, strike be damned. For that, we end up with a really cool movie."

Murphy also said that he’s holding out hope that screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci will return for a third film despite them saying they wouldn’t be back.  Meanwhile fellow producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura was interviewed by Collider about the making of the film — you can watch that video below — and Michael Bay told reporters that he was inspired to put President Obama in the movie (references to the president will be in the film, including images on background TV monitors) after an encounter with then candidate Obama during an airport layover in Las Vegas, to which the President referred to him as "a big-ass director":

Bay introduced himself to Obama and complimented a recent speech. When Obama asked him what Bay has directed, the president-to-be recognized names such as The Rock, Armageddon and Transformers. "Oh, you’re a big-ass director," Obama said, according to Bay.

Bay also discussed how Shia LaBeouf’s hand injury last July threatened to shut down production on the film and how they got around his injury [via SCI FI Wire]:

Producer Ian Bryce…wanted to close up shop to accommodate LaBeouf’s recovery. Bay knew it would be too expensive to shut down and thought of a way to work around the hand.

The scene on the schedule for the next day was a library action sequence. Bay shot as much as he could with LaBeouf’s stuntman. Then, while Bay figured out what shots he could fake with the double, he ordered a top-of-the-line cast made for his leading man. LaBeouf’s film cast included Kevlar fingers so thin they would photograph as skin.

The film was halfway into production when the injury happened, so the bulk of earlier scenes had been completed. For the latter part of the film, the filmmakers easily wrote an old-school white cast into the Egyptian climax. Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) suffers a teleportation injury when he lands on his hand in the desert and gets a cast to wear for the rest of the film.

And rounding out the week’s "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" news, which by the way is sitting at a very weak 38% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes, Shia LaBeouf revealed that the remixed version of Stan Bush’s "The Touch" will be in the film.  Watch him sing some of the lines below.

New images [more at /Film and USA TODAY]

Concept art [via Transformers Movie Chronicles and seibertron]

New Clip

ET Interview with Tyrese Gibson

Collider interview with Lorenzo di Bonaventura

Doug Jones on Frankenstein, The Hobbit and Hellboy III
Doug Jones offered a few details about the various upcoming Guillermo del Toro projects he’ll likely be involved in, including "Frankenstein":

"We are going to do some tests just to see, because he has five years to play with this. He’s taking that luxury of time to make this absolutely perfect. This is his dream. He was inspired by Frankenstein when he was a kid. It was the monster that made him want to make monsters. So, because of that, it’s been [a] lifelong [dream], and he wants to be perfect with him."

In regards to "The Hobbit", Jones says he hasn’t been told what character he’ll play but has been ensured by Del Toro that he’ll play a part in:

"We have not had any conversations about what he wants [for The Hobbit]," Jones explains, "but he’s ‘wink-wink, nudge-nudged’ me a couple times with that ‘Yeah, yeah, The Hobbit, yeah, we’ll see you,’" Jones told us. "I don’t know what I’m doing or how many characters it will be, because he tends to like to use me the whole time depending."

And finally, Jones also discussed the possibility of a third "Hellboy":

As if that weren’t enough, Jones says not to count del Toro out for a third Hellboy somewhere down the line. "The idea of the storyline is in Guillermo’s mind," Jones says. "He knows exactly the story he wants to tell, and he’s hashed it out with [Hellboy creator] Mike Mignola as well. Now it’s just a matter of time, and … if Ron Perlman wants to don the makeup again. It’s hard on all of us, and Hellboy II gave us a run for the money: six months, six days a week, 18 hours a day, so it took its toll. But when I see the finished product, it’s worth it, and I would do it again. If there is a Hellboy 3, Doug Jones will be in it."

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci Talk Cowboys & Aliens and The Defenders
Writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci talked to SCI FI Wire about adapting the Platinum Comics graphic novel  "Cowboys & Aliens" to film:

"…we always have to remove ourselves a little bit from it … in the same way that a screenwriter adapts a novel," Kurtzman said. "It’s very rare that you adapt a novel word for word and structurally as it was written as a novel. You have to find a way to say, ‘All right, how am I going to take this blueprint and turn it into a screenplay?’ In the case of Cowboys and Aliens, what I think is true to the spirit of the comic book is the idea that it’s a genre mash-up—it’s a western and a sci-fi movie and everything we love about both genres—and they just kind of collide. But I think there was an enormous amount of invention in Cowboys and Aliens for us."

The duo also discussed a new project they’re involved in called "The Defenders" which is described as a real-world MMORPG about a group of teen gamers who have to come together to save the world.  "Heroes" actor Masi Oka created and will produce:

"We developed it with Masi," Kurtzman said. "When we were writing Transformers, he came to see us and pitched us the movie, and we thought, ‘This is such a wonderful way to reinvent kind of an Amblin movie.’ So we’ve been developing it with him for the last year while we’ve been working on these other movies and then sold it a couple of weeks ago."

Specific plot details are being kept under wraps, but Kurtzman did offer some hints in regards to its inspiration:

"What we can tell you is that we grew up on movies like The Goonies and movies like Back to the Future, where kids were thrown into these extraordinary circumstances and the movie itself allowed you to buy into the reality of it even though it was so escapist," he explains. "Those kinds of movies are deceptively tricky, and they’re not easy to come by; a really good version of an idea like that is very, very hard to come by. So when Masi came in, even though he just had the kernel of something, there was an extremely personal angle to the story that made it an access point that I think will reach kind of everybody, and that’s what made us say, ‘We’ve got to do this.’ But it’s kind of a kid’s sci-fi adventure."

Shia LaBeouf Still Interested in Y: The Last Man
Turns out Shia LaBeouf is still interested in starring in "Y: The Last Man" after all, just not at the moment.  Here’s what he told Collider:

Shia: It’s not as big as a variation for me. I want to do something that’s foreign.

Collider: I know you’re doing “Wall Street 2″ and you have other things on the horizon. Could you see yourself coming to it in two or three years?

Shia: Absolutely, man! In fact, that’s what’s going on right now. Vaughn and Ellsworth and DJ are writing the script now. The script is not ready to be shot. DJ is making a different movie right now. He’s making “Jack and the Beanstalk”. There’s just other things going on with DJ and I wouldn’t want to make the movie with anybody else because he loves it like I do. But I don’t think Vaughn is trying to give it to anybody else. I think that it is something that’s very realistic, it’s just not in the pipe for the next year.

Collider: Okay, so you’re saying there’s still a chance.

Shia: Yeah. Absolutely, man.

You can watch the video of the interview below.


Harry Potter Producer David Heyman Reflects on Franchise, Talks Deathly Hallows Split
Long-time "Harry Potter" producer David Heyman talked to Film Journal (via SCI FI Wire) about several different aspects of the hit franchise, including his personal reflections on coming up to the end of the story:

"It hasn’t hit yet because it’s a 248-day schedule, and we’re on day 67 or 68. There’s 180 to go—and then there’s a year of post—so the horizon looms much closer than ever before, but it’s not yet upon me. I suppose there’ll be mixed feelings. I’ve learned a huge amount. I continue to learn. The material continues to inspire and challenge. Being on this adventure, working on the Potters, has been the gift of all gifts."

Heyman also touched on the somewhat controversial decision to split the final book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" into two parts.  Heyman says that at first it wasn’t something he was in favor of doing but that he later came around to it:

"In the seventh book, Harry is at the center of so much of it that, when we looked at what we would cut, it was impossible. There was almost nothing that we could comfortably cut, so it became a very clear decision that we had to make two films.

"Once we made that decision, the challenge is to find out where you cut it. I think we’ve made a really interesting choice. It’s acknowledging that actually this is one book, and there are two parts to the story, and I think it will be really exciting.

"Actually, there’s almost enough material in here to make three films, but I think that would have probably tipped it over the edge. The book is a very rich canvas."

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" hits theaters on July 15th (July 29th in IMAX).  ‘The Deathly Hallows, Part I’ will hit theaters on November 19, 2010, followed by ‘Part II’ on July 15, 2011.

New Posters [three more at SpoilerTV-Movies]

New TV Spot

Dan Aykoyrd and Ivan Reitman Talk Ghostbusters III
"Ghostbusters"
star and co-creator Dan Aykoyrd was interviewed by iF Magazine about the upcoming game "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" (which he wrote) and although the interview deals mostly with the game, Aykoryd did discuss "Ghostbusters III".  Here’s an excerpt:

iF: What would you need to make a successful new GHOSTBUSTERS movie?

Aykroyd: Well, for sure we need new recruits. We need a whole new team of Ghostbusters, because the generation of my Ghostbusters are all getting hip and knee replacements. Also, we don’t have the strength to handle the heavy equipment to catch the ghosts. We need fresh and new blood to fill up the uniforms. That’s the first element we need. And if we can train them with the ethics we had and a similar sense of humor, I think we can have good characters and a good story there. I think as far as bringing back the old cast it will be more like in the new STAR TREK — with cameo styles. But for now, I call this video game our third sequel. I really think that I always treated this game as our third sequel and I think you will feel it when you play the game. I don’t think it feels only like a game, but it’s the closest you can get from being in a movie and what’s great is that everyone felt this way by doing it.

Read the rest of the two-part interview here and here.  Meanwhile MTV has an interview with "Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters II" director Ivan Reitman in relation to the just-released Blu-ray version of "Ghostbusters", but he too offered up some of his thoughts on the upcoming third installment in the franchise:

MTV: What’s the latest on the third film?

IR: The script is going to be turned in a month or so and we’ll see. All the casting and directing speculation is really just speculation.

MTV: Did Lee and Gene pitch you?

IR: They had a pitch and Harold Ramis and I met with them. I kind of liked the idea and suggested some ways that it could improve further. My biggest problem is that it’s taken them so long. They’ve been very busy with “Office.” We’ve frankly been delayed by almost a year from the moment that we met them until now.

Frank Marshall and Shia LeBeouf Talk Indy 5
Producer Frank Marshall told Empire that a follow-up to "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is now near the script development stage:

“It’s really about the script,” says the veteran Indy producer. “Once we see that, we’ll see. We’re not going to wait another 20 years. We’d all love to make another one. I’m anxious to hear the idea!”

Marshall also revealed that in addition to himself, Spielberg, Ford and Lucas are all on board for the fifth outing: “Yeah. We had a great time making the last one and, as Harrison said, we need to make this one soon. We’re not getting any younger.”, although he cautioned that until “there’s a script, nothing’s definite…”  Star Shia LaBeouf got the ball rolling on the ‘Indy 5’ chatter earlier last week in an interview with BBC: “Steven [Spielberg] just said that he cracked the story on it, and I think they’re gearing it up,” he said.

Frank Marshall on Jurassic Park 4 and The Never Ending Story
Marshall also talked about several other projects to a group of reporters, including the recently announced "The Never Ending Story" and the long-rumored "Jurassic Park IV".  As for the former, Marshall thinks that although it’s some time away, he sounded an optimistic tone:

"We love the book. We’ve always thought there was an opportunity there because there are a lot of elements in the book that aren’t in the movie. It’s another one where we’re still working on the rights. It’s a huge thing to get it. And once we get that, we’ll bring on a writer. But that’s kind of off in the distance, but it’s a great story."

"Jurassic Park IV", meanwhile, is much less certain, with Marshall declaring the film a "back burner project" which is more of "a long shot" at this point.

NEW IMAGES

Alice in Wonderland [more at USA TODAY]

Character stills [more at Yahoo! Movies]

Astro Boy [SCI FI Wire]

Avatar (Video Game)

New in-game shots [one more at news.com.au]

The Box

Poster [SCI FI Wire]

Delgo

DVD (August 4, 2009)[DVD Active]

Green Lantern: First Flight [more at io9]

Halloween II

Final poster [Rob Zombie via STYD]

Inception

Leonardo DiCaprio, Christopher Nolan and Ken Watanabe [NolanFans via Dark Horizons]

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Jackie Earle Haley on the set (note far right side of the image…) [Twitter]

Pandorum

Poster [IMPAwards]

Shorts

Poster [IGN]

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Set images of Monica Bellucci [SpoilerTV-Movies]

Sorority Row [SCI FI Wire]

Thirst

Poster [io9]

The Time Traveler’s Wife

Poster [SCI FI Wire]

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Deadpool Concept Art [Phillip Boutte Jr. and Jerad S. Marantz via Mania]

NEW VIDEOS

2012

First full trailer

International trailer

9

Five-minute clip


Cold Souls

Trailer

The Last Airbender

Teaser trailer

Thirst

Red-band trailer

The Time Traveler’s Wife

First trailer

Zombieland

Trailer

CASTING BITES

  • Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins have joined the cast of Andrew Stanton’s adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs book series "John Carter of Mars"… [THR]
  • …also likely joining the cast is Thomas Haden Church, who remarked that he is "probably going to do a huge science fiction drama at Disney called John Carter of Mars" and that the role is "very dramatic". [ReelTalk via The Cinema Post]
  • Olivia Munn, co-host of G4’s "Attack of the Show", has been cast in Marvel’s "Iron Man 2".  Her role is unknown. [Variety]
  • Danielle Panabaker will star opposite Amber Heard in John Carpenter’s psychological horror thriller "The Ward".
  • Matthew McConaughey may have a cameo in the upcoming horror film "Zombieland". [MTV]
  • Josh Peck and Adrianne Palicki have been cast in MGM’s remake of "Red Dawn".  Peck will play Matt Eckert (played by Charlie Sheen in the original), while Palicki will play Toni (played by Jennifer Grey in the original). The two join the already cast Chris Hemsworth who will play Jed Eckert (played by Patrick Swayze in the original). [THR]
  • Roland Kickinger has NOT been cast as "Conan" in Lionsgate’s upcoming project. [Latino Review]
  • Natalie Portman is attached to star in Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming supernatural thriller "Black Swan".  The actress will play the lead character, a veteran ballerina. [THR]
  • At Wizard World in Philadelphia over the weekend, Michael Papajohn (the carjacker/original killer of Uncle Ben in "Spider-Man") revealed that he would be reprising his role for "Spider-Man 4".  [Superhero! Hype]

MOVIE BITES

  • An early draft of "Tron 2’s" script shows promise but also reveals some problems and is "too short by half an hour.", according to one review.  Read the spoiler-filled review at CC2K (via io9).
  • Here’s what Megan Fox had to say about her upcoming project, the Diablo Cody-scripted horror comedy "Jennifer’s Body": "Diablo’s so wicked and funny, it’s hard to really make a film that lives up to her script, but I think Karyn did a pretty good job," Fox said. "I think it’s one of the most interesting movies that’s coming out this year, for sure."… [SCI FI Wire]
  • …More from Fox about her character: "I’m sort of a zombie, but not really. I get improperly sacrificed [and it possesses me]… my character is a frighteningly vapid high school girl who’s captain of her flag team." [MTV]
  • New Line executive Craig Perry said that filming "The Final Destination" in 3-D allowed for them to come "up with a bunch of scenarios that were fresh, original and yet familiar."… [SCI FI Wire]
  • …And also, check out an interview with one of the film’s stars Bobby Campo at SCI FI Wire.
  • Director Ti West will direct "The Haunting in Georgia", Gold Circle Films’ sequel to "The Haunting in Connecticut". [Bloody-Disgusting]
  • Oscar-nominated screenwriter Tony Gilroy ("Michael Clayton") has been brought on board MGM/UA’s remake of "Red Dawn" to rewrite the script. [Latino Review]
  • "Quantum of Solace" director Marc Foster said that the upcoming film adaptation of Max Brook’s zombie war novel "World War Z" will have to wait a bit.  Foster told Migros Magazin that the film’s script needs a lot of work and is "still far from realization".  Due to that, he’s moving on to another project called "Disconnect".  [Dark Horizons]
  • Warner Bros. is in early development on a remake to the Michael J. Fox 1985 hit "Teen Wolf".  The studio is currently out to writers. [Moviehole]
  • Jackson Rathbone, who plays Jasper in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon", talked about what is different in the sequel and more in a new interview with io9.
  • Producer Don Murphy says that his live-action adaptation of the Vertigo comic book "We3" has a script and director (John Stevenson) and that he’s ready to move on to the next phase which is to seek out a studio to distribute the project [SCI FI Wire]
  • Framelight Prods. and David Uslan will adapt the "Tom Trueheart" children’s book trilogy into a series of feature films.  The first film will be based on the 2007 novel "The Secret History of Tom Trueheart" and is being targeted for a mid-2010 production start on a planned $60 million budget. [THR]
  • Summit Entertainment won a bidding battle with New Line and Screem Gems for the rights to the thriller "The Conjuring" from writers Chad and Carey Hayes.  [Variety]
  • Stuart Beattie will make his directorial debut with an adaptation of the young-adult novel "Tomorrow When the War Began", the first of seven novels written by Australian John Marsden and published from 1994-99.  Beattie also wrote the screenplay. [THR]
  • "Batman Begins"/"The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan has yet to commit to a third film in the Batman franchise.  Unlike star Christian Bale, Nolan is not locked into a contract. [Batman-On-Film]
  • Speaking of Nolan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who stars in Nolan’s upcoming psychological sci-fi thriller "Inception", is keeping mum about the project but did offer up a reason on why Nolan is being so secretive about the film: “He’s got a really specific idea and way he wants people to be presented with this thing,” he said… [MTV]
  • … Sticking with "Inception", the film will shoot in five different countries including Canada and will reportedly carry a budget of $200 million (possibly Canadian dollars). [Calgary Sun]
  • Focus Features has launched a new website for the upcoming Park Chan-wook film "Thirst".  Check it out at thirstmovie.com.
  • To go along with the recently released poster and trailer for "The Time Traveler’s Wife", Warner Bros. has launched a new website at www.thetimetravelerswifemovie.com.
  • Despite opening up in just two markets overseas "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" managed to premiere at #1 with an estimated $19.9 million from 846 screens.  The film took in $14.1 million from 517 screens in the U.K. and added another $5.8 million from 329 screens in Japan…
  • …Meanwhile "Terminator Salvation", which hasn’t done great business domestically (it sits at $119.7M through five weekends), continues to perform very strongly internationally.  The film took in a second place $18.4 million from 9,400 screens in 74 territories raising its international cume to a healthy $200 million… [THR]
  • …Sticking with "Terminator Salvation", while doing press for his latest film "Public Enemies", star Christian Bale confirmed that there has been no development on a fifth "Terminator": "We’ve had no talks about it or discussions about it," Bale said. [SCI FI Wire]
  • Director M. Night Shyamalan says that he still has hopes in regards to making a sequel to his 2000 thriller "Unbreakable": “I don’t know where all the parties are in the world. Sam [Jackson] is like ‘Mr. Comic Book’ now. And Bruce, I don’t know what he’s up to. I don’t know where Disney’s at in their head and what kind of movies they’re up for making. But yeah, I love that movie.” [MTV]
  • Marvel editor-in-chief, Joe Quesada about Marvel’s relationship with the directors of two of the studio’s upcoming projects: Jon Favreu’s "Iron Man 2" and Kenneth Branagh’s "Thor". [CBR]
  • "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp acknowledged criticisms of the prior films, but says a fourth installment could improve on those problem areas. [SCI FI Wire]
  • Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment are in talks with Neil Burger to write and direct their long-in-development remake of the 1935 monster movie "Bride of Frankenstein". [Reuters]
  • Jack Black and Kyle Gass’s rock band Tenacious D have written a song for the "Heavy Metal" remake. [MTV]
  • If this test screening review of Stephen Sommers’ "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" is any indication of the film’s quality, we’re definitely headed for major disappointment. Watch the new trailer below [/Film]

Final "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" trailer

MISC BITES

  • "Wednesday Comics", DC Comics 12-week 14×20 inch newsprint Superman strip, will premiere in USA TODAY beginning July 8th.  The remaining 11 strips will be available each Wednesday at both usatoday.com and in print. [USA TODAY]
  • Christopher Lee’s black cape from the 1958 film "Dracula" sold for £26,400 at an auction in London. [SCI FI Wire]
  • Earlier this year Marvel Comics asked fans to pick the top 70 Marvel Comics covers of all time in celebration of the company’s 70th anniversary.  This week the company announced that the cover to 1988’s "The Incredible Hulk" #340 was selected as the best. "Amazing Fantasy" #15, which featured the premiere of Spider-Man, finished in second.  You can see a gallery of all 70 covers at Marvel.com. [via SCI FI Wire]


Follow Russ on his blog: Your Entertainment Now and on Twitter: Twitter.com/YourEntNow.

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Transformers 2 is pushing Star Trek out of IMAX.
:(

Revent? Revenge?

Ah, never mind…..

The Time Traveller’s Wife looks an awful lot like Journeyman. Maybe that’ll prompt Fox to release Journeyman’s 13 episode run on DVD…..

I don’t care what anyone else says. G.I. Joe looks great!!

“If this test screening review of Stephen Sommers’ “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” is any indication of the film’s quality, we’re definitely headed for major disappointment.”

Huh? That reads kinda snippy if you ask me.

I don’t really have anything to pin this on as I’ve not followed any of the cartoons or other entertainment venues regarding “GI Joe,” but this clip looks entertaining enough to me. I doubt it will be any more or any less entertaining than any of Michael Bay’s films (and I do not wish that to sound like an insult… it is not).

The intelligence factor in these kind of films is hardly ‘2001,’ but generally are just action-packed mindless fun.. sometimes that is okay too.

Oh… and while we’re at it (don’t roll your eyes Anthony), I am STILL waiting for news for the proposed Steven Spielberg/Stephen Sommers’ project “When Worlds Collide.”

That said, I really think the project would be better if instead of filming it as one movie it should be a two-parter… or more if they were to decide to also film its sequel “After Worlds Collide” as well.

A trilogy? (says me)

If you haven’t read the 1932 classic, I recommend it highly.

More zombies! More zombies!!!

#5

Probably am being a bit harsh. ;)

My point of course, is that anyone going in for top-notch quality is likely gonna be disappointed. I guess good mindless fun is still possible. Set my expectations low.

I’m just thrilled to hear “The Touch” is in Transformers! It was missed in the first one!

5/8:

The issue is,no matter how “entertaining” a film based on toys is, it is going to be crap. “Transformers” made a billion, and it was crap on toast. “Transformers 2,” if it is as supremely crappy as they say, may go the way of T4.

GI Joe, as an unknown property these days outside of those who watch “Robot Chicken,” unless it is absolutely stupendously good, will get trampled by Transformers and Harry Potter.

I love people who pass off their opinions as facts.

I agree with Obama that Bay is a “big-ass” director. Though not quite in the same sense he meant.

I just got finished watching Transformers 2 and let me tell you all… It is a steaming pile of crap! I was astonished how bad this film was. Worst movie I’ve seen since Batman & Robin.

It is filled with enough gratuitous sex jokes, racist humor*, and self congratulation to make even the most ardent Michael Bay fan blush. TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE MOVIE!!!

*And for those whom question my validity, the characters called the TWINS are portrayed as stereotypes of black people complete with gold teeth, a penchant for slang, and an inability to read (ie. illiterate). There is an RC Transformer who makes little people jokes and humps Megan Fox’s leg, and an aged Decepticon that’s a pastiche of a grumpy Scotsman complete with cane. RIDICULOUS TRASH!!!

And just think, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci wrote this worthless sequel! I’m now officially afraid for the future Trek movie.

Ha, Transformers has been out here in Ireland since Friday…..

Will I ruin it????

Will I tell ye what happens??

Nah, I wont.

Tempting though.

It opened here in the UK and Ireland on Fri the 19th.

I don’t ever recall a mainstream Hollywood movie ever opening anywhere else before the US before.

Does anyone know why? (I’m not complaining – I really enjoyed it)

Although there seemed to be extra security & notices on hand at my cinema for the purposes of stopping it being recorded. Even saw soemone being ejected.

Oh dear lord no!!! Remaking teen wolf… come on thats like remaking Back to the Future! So stupid… and Red Dawn too! THese are good movies and still hold strong in the present day. NO NEED to remake them!!!

Alas, some people already have ruined it on Rotten Tomatoes.

And just randomly flipping through the novelization, my eyes came to rest right on it.

#16 Agreed.

The only giant robot movie i liked was on futurama..otherwise i dont get into them. and i have been watching giant robot movies that date back to the 50’s

14 – Yup, I saw it in Vue on Friday morning, too. And I’m not afraid to say that, although I enjoyed the first Transformers movie, the new one really is terrible. Star Trek fans wouldn’t be satisfied at the convenient nature of the above explained hand injury if it happened in a Star Trek film. The fact that it happens in Transformers doesn’t make it any less stupid. My girlfriend actually fell asleep and I could easily have done the same halfway through so bored was I of the monotonous action scenes where every frame was so busy that you just couldn’t look at one piece of the screen. A stupid, stupid movie. And not in a good way.

I saw Transformers at the weekend and I couldn’t believe Orci & Kurtzman were involved in it, it was one of the worse summer blockbuster I’ve ever seen. Too long, full of way too many boring fight scenes, awful comic moments that didn’t work and plot twists which were so predictable. I fell asleep during at last 20 mins of it. I enjoyed the first movie but this was awful.

Aaahh. No Lightning Thief stuff yet.

I hated the first movie, while many liked it. So if the people that liked the first movie (which was basically metallic balls rolling around on screen for two hours) then there’s is no f***ing way that I’ll see this new one.

@15
Star Trek opened in Australia.

Transformers is a fun film, much better than I ever expected it to be. The sequel seems to have lost some of the fun factor, if reviewsare to be believed, so I may use my rare baby sitter for “Drag me to Hell”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRS90V8BQGo – Better than Transformers 2

#23 – True, but that was like a day or 2 depending on the country. However they were still in the same opening “weekend”.

This is a different week altogether.

13: I wondered about the racial thing too with those twins. (Voice by Tom Kenny, who is about as white as they get, however.) There was some sort of ethnic gag going on there.

But one could also point to similar examples in the supposedly intellectual and egalitarian Trekverse, e.g. the Ferengi who embody the stereotype acquisitive Jew.

This is not to defend The Fallen, which was an extremely lazy movie, being more of the same rather than an elaboration.

Do I blame Orci and Kurtzman? Not really. Structurally, the script gets us in and out of the action setpieces pretty well, and the setup-payoff formulas are there. The dialogue was largely improvised according to interviews, so they can’t have that hung on them.

I do blame Bay for indulging his military fetish to an absurd degree. I get that he loves our troops, but the loving shots of hardware and tersely barking generals (contrasted with the utter contempt given for civilian oversight) pad out the movie to a ridiculous 150 minutes, hence the pacing problems.

The real culprit I think is time. The movie came out quite quickly (2 years vs. the 3 years between most studio event flicks) and it indeed feels rushed, like they weren’t sure what to do so they just did more of what worked previously. And what didn’t work, i.e. the puerile humour.

Errrm, is it just me or is Monica Bellucci still seriously hot? I mean she puts Megan Fox to shame!

28- No, not just you.

I have no doubt Trans2 will be the highest grossing film of this year, but Trek will be remembered better. Now, wouldn’t I love it if I was wrong and Trek takes 2009…

The moment I saw the accelerator suits I lost faith in the GI Joe film. They should have just filmed Warren Ellis’ “Resolute” cartoon script as a movie. It looks far more layered and thought out. I do hope I am wrong on that as well.

Last Airbender intrigues me. With the exception of “The Happening” I have been very happy with all of Shymalan’s films… even “Lady in the Water.” I hope he gets his vibe back with this one.

BobOrci,

RE: Transformers 2, oh well, you can’t win ’em all ;-)

They’re seriously planning a sequel to that ghastly thing called “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”???

Please, just say NOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Saw Transformers 2 on Saturday… Came away from it disappointed, it could have been so much better.
It just didn’t try and do anything different.. alot of the characters had nothing to do with anything, they could have been extras! (including Rachet and Ironside).
And towards the end you couldn’t tell which Decepticon was which.. they looked too similar!
And ‘revenge’ of the fallen??? where was the revenge part? he kinda sat on his ass for the most part, pretending to be like the emperor from star wars, then turned up on earth for the last 5 mins and got.. well.. y’ know..

optimus in the first one was gettin’ bitch slapped all over by megatron.. in this one he is hard as nails.. (like he should have been), but megatron is turned into a little bitch-boy.. even calling the fallen ‘my master’… yet another star wars emperor/vader reference..
film just didn’t work.. it just didn’t try and improve or develop from the first one.. shame really.. and, i swear the effects weren’t as polished either..

for a film about big fighting robots, i actually found myself wanting a decent plot and script instead! go figure….

Ironside? why the hell did you people let me write that??? lol
although, might have been better to have a 30ft Ironside in it… squaring up to a 30ft Prof X… no?

The first Transformers movie was truly painful to watch…sorry Mr. Orci :(. It wasn’t painful because it was a kids movie, it was painful because it was just written on such a low level. Kids aren’t stupid. The muppet show is a great example of writing that can be enjoyed by kids and adults. I still watch the muppets and find layers I didn’t notice when I was a kid. It was just extremely clever. Today it seems like the writing for movies like this is extremely careless and in your face, as if it has to be written badly just because it’s a kids movie. It may only be Transformers, but damn it…it could have been a masterpiece of monumental proportions. Instead, I walked away from the first movie feeling like it was a truly wasted opportunity. This movie is sounding much worse.

The Transformers: Revenge of the fallen clip reminds me of Gremlins. Maybe it should be called Gremlins: Revenge of the fallen. Lol. For those of u old enough to remember the movie.

It seems that to keep up with the Sci-Fi movies this year you almost need a second or third job just to buy tickets, and if you have kids better be able to mortgage the house a second or third time.

It looks like Hollywood does not feel the economic slow down, or is it a plan to get a bail out for the actors and behind the screen people.

I might be able to afford a few but how do you pick good ones so you do not waste your hard earned cash.

At least the DVD makers will be getting rich this fall.

27.

The Ferengi are more of a crude generalization of capitalists than of the Jewish people in particular. Now, if that broad characterization of greed and avarice strikes you as being specifically Jewish, well then that’s on YOU.

I feel your pain about the cost of going to see movies these days, especially considering the lack in quality. Most movies these days try to make up for a lackluster script with special effects. Sorry, just doesn’t do it for me. I could care less about the effects if the story sucks. I have an attention span and can’t be distracted by fireworks.

My wife volunteers at our local independent cinema and gets 2 free tickets a week. I get to see GOOD movies for free! Some mainstream movies cross over into the independent cinema from time to time, but they’re usually quite good too and not the standard Hollywood drivel. That’s where I saw Chris Pine for the first time in the movie Bottle Shock. I’m one of the lucky few.

Yeah, I’m looking forward to Transformers 2. Especially those hysterical and incredibly clever urban twin robot characters who make Jar Jar Binks look like Sidney Poitier. While Star Trek was no masterpiece, I do admit it was a passable popcorn flick, these types of lowest common denominator laughs are seriously what the writers have been reduced to??

Also, regarding #37. Since you feel the Ferengi are a caricature of capitalism, don’t you think it’s hypocritical and a bit ironic that Roddenberry, while a liberal bordering on socialist, was one of the BIGGEST capitalist in Hollywood who found fame and wealth with Star Trek? His forcing Nimoy to wear jewelry just so he could market it through his company. His selling of Star Trek trinkets for profit after the show was cancelled, again exclusively through his company. And let’s not forget the unprecedented money he made and the pats on the back he gave himself when the Next Generation continually set new syndication buy records. I’ve got no problem with social commentary through storytelling. However, his eagerness to vilify the very system that made him a wealthy man is a little annoying.

How many times is Hollywood going to destroy the planet? Its getting tiresome. Here’s a thought, what about a movie set in the near future where the good old USofA is just fine, how rare would that be?

40 – How boring would it be? Kind of defeats the purpose of movies.

34 – I think Transformers was aimed at probably the same market as Star Trek was. I wouldn’t have said it was a kids’ film. That said, I have to disagree with your saying all kids films these days are poorly written (although I do agree with what you have to say about the Muppets – I still love those guys, and my 39-year-old older brother has a poster of Kermit the frog and Jim Henson on his wall, from the Apple Think Different ad campaign about 12 or 13 years ago). I think a lot of Pixar’s films appeal to an adult audience, too. Heck, I even bought a copy of Monsters, Inc. pretty recently, so much did I enjoy it, and I thought Ratatouille was excellent too (though that might have something to do with being in that field of work myself). These are films which kids just soak up, have a pretty good message, but manage to charm the adults who might be bringing the kids to the cinemas in the first place. I’d say it’s a pretty difficult task, getting all these demographics catered for in one film, but I think Pixar do it so well.

32 – Had the same problem with the Decepticons myself. I’m glad I’m not just getting old.

Alice In Wonderland pictures are outstanding. Can’t wait till next March!

41. Phil – June 23, 2009

Ahh, but I didn’t say ‘all’ kids movies were written badly…I said ‘movies like this’…meaning, the bad ones. They’re either written on a very low level intentionally, or because the writers just can’t write. Having seen what Orci and Kurtzman did with Trek, I know they are capable of far better than Transformers…so I’m assuming it was written that way on purpose..which is silly, because kids ‘get’ good writing. That’s not to say Star Trek was a masterpiece, it still left me longing for something a bit tighter and more refined. I’m not saying I’m a good writer by any means, but I do enjoy good writing.

Perhaps the new Trek team would ask Nicolas Meyer to give the script for the next movie a final pass to polish it up a bit. While I do find Meyer’s heavy handed Shakespearean laced scripts a tad much, the man certainly knows how to polish and tighten an existing story.

37

I’m hardly the first or only one to notice that the Ferengi embody anti-Semitic stereotypes, e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferengi

39

Speaking of Roddenberry’s acquisitive moves, how about his taking 50% of Sandy Courage’s royalties by penning unused (and unusable, as they are atrocious) lyrics to the theme song?

Yammer,

Did not know that about Courage’s music. It sounds pretty consistent with what I’ve heard about Roddenberry’s greed and egotism.

“The Time Traveler’s Wife” was a pretty good book, but I don’t think it could possibly work as a movie. It probably didn’t, and that’s why it sat on the studio’s shelf for so long (it was filmed in late 2007.) NBC’s “Journeyman” was a good show, but had nothing in common with the book except a husband who travels involuntarily through time.

I have no interest in spending money to see “Transformers 2”. The first movie was spectacularly bad, and this one looks even louder, more idiotic, and full of even more pointless action between virtually indistinguishable robots. Sorry, Mr. Orci… Maybe my seeing Trek XI five times makes up for me not going within fifty feet of a Transformers 2 theater.