Jul 20 2009 Your Weekend Box Office Top Five
Use these weekend box office figures to determine if you, a studio executive, can afford that new boat:
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - The only way a Harry Potter movie wouldn't open at #1 is if people's heads started exploding when watching the Quidditch scenes. But that didn't happen, so it made $79.5 million
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - $17.7 million. Time to move on beyond the Ice Age and use CGI and Ray Romano to make a representation of EVERY age, so that we can finally throw away our history books and replace them all with charming family films.
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - $13.8 million, easily besting last week's winner, Bruno, even though, if you pay attention, this film actually has far more exposed penises.
4. Bruno - $8.3 million, taking a massive, 73% drop. I guess the old Irish guy's admonition worked in scaring everyone off.
5. The Hangover - $8.3 million. I had no idea this would remain in the top 5 for so long. There's absolutely nothing else to comment about it. You win, The Hangover.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Jul 6 2009 'Transformers 2' Still America's Favorite Thing to Pay to View
So close, Ice Age. So close. The weekend box office:
1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - $42.3 million. Continuing our nation's great tradition of celebrating our independence by watching explosions. And robots that turn into construction vehicles.
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - $41.7 million--unusually high numbers for a historical-fiction piece.
3. Public Enemies - $25.3 million. I suspect it could have done better if the advertising did a better job pointing out that, in this version of the story, Dillinger uses riddles to antagonize Purvis, who is Batman.
4. The Proposal - $12.9 million. If your girlfriend dragged you to this, don't necessarily assume she's hinting that she wants you to propose; she may just have very dull taste in movies.
5. The Hangover - $11.3 million, probably paid largely by people with actual Fourth of July hangovers.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Jun 29 2009 'Transformatons 2' Easily Beats 'My Sister, the Reluctant Organ Donor' and Everything Else
Somehow the smashing, clanging robots sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen beat the weekend's other wide release, the sister-dying-of-cancer melodrama My Sister's Keeper. Go figure:
1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - $112 million, giving the film a five-day domestic total of $201 million and a worldwide total of $387.3 million. And that's all in Bay Bucks, the new, Michael Bay-printed international currently that we're using now.
2. The Proposal - $18.5 million--pretty respectable against such explosion-filled competition. Just goes to show that faking-a-relationship-for-a-green-card comedy works better as a movie than it does as a part of the TGIF sister lineup, I Love Saturday Night.
3. The Hangover - $17.2 million. Can we give Zach Galifianakis another televised talk show yet?
4. Up - $13 million, still scoring ticket sales from all those kids whose parents thought robots smashing each other would be too violent. Come on, moms; lighten up.
5. My Sister's Keeper - $12 million. And that's the last time you'll hear of this movie until ten years from now when it's coming on TV and you watch 45 minutes waiting to see Juliette Lewis play retarded, because you're confusing it with The Other Sister.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Jun 26 2009 There's More Than Transformering to See This Weekend
Looking for an incomplete list of new releases? Hey, here's one!:
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Yes, it already opened Wednesday. You got me.)
Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, CGI
Good if you want to see: giant robots; explosions; mild racism and sexism; absolutely nothing but the previously mentioned items.
My Sister's Keeper
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin, Abigail Breslin, Speed 2
Good if you want to see: a child harvested for her organs; melodrama; Cameron Diaz shave her head--so daring! Give her a Golden Globe!
Cheri (limited)
Director: Stephen Frears
Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, Rupert Friend
Good if you want to see: period romance; an audience of weeping/applauding middle-aged women; your testicles wither and magically transform into a set of beautiful opalescent earrings (males only).
Hurt Locker (limited)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes
Good if you want to see: how the military's bomb squad technicians deal with their dangerous job in some of the world's most hostile territories; possibly tips for how to diffuse your own bombs at home, giving you an impressive party trick; one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, if you care about that kind of thing.
Jun 25 2009 'Transformers 2' Had a Great Wednesday, Thanks for Asking
Maybe that MTV Movies Awards preview wasn't "so lame" after all. Transformers 2, a film that is by most accounts atrocious, yesterday had the highest ever Wednesday opening for a film. By early estimates, the robot punch-'em-up grossed $60.6 million, besting the previous record, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix's $44.2 million, by a wide margin, and coming within $7 million of The Dark Knight's highest all-time opening.
Just goes to show that... making a ridiculous movie based on a cartoon made to sell toys, and then making an even stupider sequel to that movie, is a good business plan? I don't know what it goes to show. Something depressing.
Jun 25 2009 Michael 'Turd' Bay Wants 'Transformers 2' More Event-Like, Less Lame
It should go without saying that Michael Bay is something of a turd. There's already plenty of turd evidence to support that theory, and I don't think anyone, including Bay himself, is really disputing the notion, but just in case you find yourself in a conversation where you need the additional support of a turdy email to prove that Michael Bay really is something of a turd, fellow turd TMZ has this report on a turdy email the director sent:
Michael Bay sent a scathing email to Paramount Studios before the release of "Transformers 2," complaining in effect that his famous director friends would be shocked at the way Paramount was promoting the flick.We've obtained an email dated May 4, 2009 -- from Bay to Paramount head Brad Grey, along with a bunch of other Paramount honchos. Bay complains bitterly that Paramount's ad campaign for "Transformers 2" was tepid and ineffective.
"... I have been waiting, and waiting for the anticipation of an 'event movie' to make it into the 'public zeitgeist,'" Bay writes.
Bay calls the print campaign an "abject failure," with a "pathetic presence" in the L.A. Times. He's especially pissed about the profile of the movie on the MTV Video Awards, calling it "so lame."
But here's the best part. Bay name-drops Jerry Bruckheimer, saying Jerry always told him "a studio that does not make [the opening of a movie] an event ... will get bitten in the ass." He then adds, "Besides my good friend Steven [Spielberg], Jerry has made a lot more successful movies then (sic) all of us."
Why isn't Transformers 2 in the public zeitgeist, guys!? SO LAME. If this were a Stevesy--Spielberg, heard of him?--film, it would definitely be in the public zeitgeist. That print campaign was just so lame. Everyone knows print is the way of the future, so that really should have been the focus for this public zeitgeist event, you lame-heads.
God, what a turd.
(Thanks, Elmo.)
Jun 16 2009 Finally, You Can Have Optimus Prime's Head on Your Body
Have you ever dreamed your head could be replaced by Optimus Prime's, allowing you to pose as the Autobot leader in coquettish senior picture poses? Well, time to have that dream, and then have that dream immediately fulfilled by We Are Autobots, a new Transformers: It's Us Again promotional site that tracks your movements and envelops your head in robot. Requirements: a webcam, a location where your dignity is not at stake.
As this demo video shows, it's great for having "I'm Optimus Prime!--No, I'M Optimus Prime!" parties, which are quickly replacing Rock Band parties as the primary form of nerd social gathering:
Continue Reading " Finally, You Can Have Optimus Prime's Head on Your Body "
Jun 8 2009 'Transformers 2' IMAX Cut Slightly Longer, Thus Impossible to Hate
Watch out, haters! You bes' keep yo hatin' to the audience of the Jerry Springer's Security Guy Show and out of IMAX theaters. Michael Bay has made the IMAX cut of Transformers 2 slightly longer, and some shots are on big film, so he's warning "haters" for some reason! From Bay's forum (via Coming Soon, thanks to Rick):
Hey everyone,In Japan today. After a month and half seven days a week most days going till midnight me and my crew have just about finished Transformers. I have never seen such a level of dedication from every crew member in a movie before.
Even today after the press in Japan and right before the premiere tonight, I have to sneak out to a digital house to approve the last few effect shots.
It has been a long hard road, but really fun one to travel. What you will notice that is strikingly different than Transformers 1, is the level of animation detail. The robot characters (42 in all), you really can feel empathy for them. What is also very different is the sheer scale of the movie. We have been very tight holding back much of the best imagery in commercials and trailers.
The way to see this movie is on IMAX. Never before has there been 4k rendered character animation shot on full IMAX 70 mm film. This is a first and the results are stunning. You will see Optimus Prime in a few shots where he is actually perfectly to scale on the IMAX 50 foot tall screens.
For IMAX, I created a slightly longer cut with more robot fighting. Four scenes were shot on IMAX cameras so the screen will fill the full IMAX screen for these scenes.
Haters beware.
Michael
Yeah, haters! Since the only criticism of Transformers 1 was lack of 1:1 scale shots of any of the robots, I don't see what anyone could say about lack of coherent action, absence of compelling characters, and overall feelings of pointlessness. Game, set, Bay.
Jun 5 2009 Optimus Prime the Tranforming Truck has Orange Swords
/Film has some new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen stills, and any concerns you might have had that Optimus Prime would not wield giant orange blades should now be alleviated--he's got them. And now my inner child is frustrated in the knowledge that if I'd bought this toy I'd have already broken off the swords and lost them in the couch before finishing this post.
Jun 4 2009 Run! It's Another 'Transformers 2' Poster!
GM may be bankrupt, but lack of stable sponsorship isn't going to stop the Transformers from turning into awesome GM cars and trucks!
Oh, wait, it is. Looks like they're just going to jog place to place now. Fair enough.
Final Transformers 2 Poster [Empire]
Jun 1 2009 Giant Robots Smashing Things
For those too self-righteous to watch an awards show where Twilight is treated like Gone with the Wind but also still immature enough to want to see a clip of giant robots smashing shit, here's the Transformers 2 scene shown at the MTV Movie Awards last night. You won't believe how hard it is for several massive sentient machines and a couple robot animals to catch two humans. Really, you absolutely won't believe it. You might even shout at your screen, "Jesus, just fucking stomp on them, you're the size of a building!"
May 8 2009 Optimus and Bumblebee are Concerned About the Pyramids
We've reached a new level of the Floating Head poster. Not even celebrities anymore. Just some nearly-emotionless robot heads. You can really tell how serious Optimus Prime is about saving pyramids because how the metal around his eyes is shaped. So much emotion in those apostrophe-shaped slits.
They could have learned from Shrek 2: when you have a sequel starring a computer-generated character, you should simply show the number two swathed with the flesh of the character. That's a surefire hit-making technique.
'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' Poster [Trailer Addict]
May 6 2009 Transformers Take Tourist Photos
Yahoo has put up some new vacation slides from Transformers 2: Egyptian Break, so if you'd like to see two more transforming computoids posing in front of pyramids, here they are.
May 1 2009 K'BOOOOSH!!: 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' Trailer
Shia LaBeouf just got to college, leaving behind his robot friend that turns into a Camaro and his ridiculously hot girlfriend-cum-motorcycle showroom model, and already things are going crazy. A shard of something that fell out of Shia's bag has given him A BEAUTIFUL MIND! And Megatron wants his brain to decode some pots in a pyramid or something! And there's a robot that devours sand like he doesn't even give a shit!
You'd better just see for yourself:
Continue Reading " K'BOOOOSH!!: 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' Trailer "
Apr 20 2009 'Transformers 2' is a Serious Melodrama
Michael Bay heard you, critics. You wanted more character drama mixed into the explosions? Well, here's a scene from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen where Shia LaBeouf has to explain that he's decided to go to college instead of sticking around town and hanging out with his alien robot car, and the news makes the alien robot car WEEP. How about that for pathos? And if that doesn't do it for you, the scene is also intercut with shots of Megan Fox changing, because it wasn't ridiculous enough with just a robot crying:
Continue Reading " 'Transformers 2' is a Serious Melodrama "
Apr 15 2009 Michael Bay is Living Your Steven Spielberg Fantasies
Some Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen news from Michael Bay's forum: it's AWESOME. To quote Bay:
Steven Spielberg sat next to me in a big 100 person theater at Sony today. There were 98 empty seats. The lights came up after we just watched my cut of Revenge of the Fallen. He turned to me and said "It's awesome".
And I was like, "Sweet, I know. It rules." And then we started making out, but it wasn't gay because it was all just mutual respect oozing between our slightly parted lips. And then he was all like, "Do you have a hoverboard?" And of course I'm like, "No." And he's like, "Good, then you can take mine--I'll ride this dragon." And this giant dragon bursts out from behind the screen! And then--wait, did I say the rest of the seats were empty? Sorry, I meant at first. By this point there were all these babes--swimsuit models--in them, and you could tell how bad they wanted to make it with us. It was really awesome.
(via CS.)
Apr 9 2009 You Can Tell These Transformers 2s are Both Best Brothers and Best Friends
TransformersWorld2005 has just posted a bunch of new pictures of the new robots of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, including these two dudes you see above. These guys are my favorite. I want to know when I get this pair on a leather jacket. As far as I'm concerned, they've out-Thuggy-Taz-and-Bugsed Thuggy Taz and Bugs.
(Sorry, Thuggy Taz and Bugs.)
Apr 2 2009 This Year's Transformers Line-Up is as Follows...
Start making your checklists early: Dreamworks/Paramount has released the official list of robo-characters in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. You'll probably notice that Megatron, who has been rumored to return since the moment after his defeat in the first film, is conspicuously absent from the Decepticon line-up, while on the Autobot side, a pants-pooping-themed pair has been added.
My Transformer memory is really fuzzy from all these years of not playing with Transformers, so you guys will have to tell me, are there any other characters whose inclusion/disclusion is disappointing? Personally, I'd have like to see my childhood favorite Rad make the cut, even though my sole reason for liking him so much was that his name was Rad.
Feb 16 2009 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' Teaser Has So Many Explosions
My favorite explosion is probably when there's the construction equipment--or so you think!--that starts rotating around and ends up being a transforming metal man, and he's like, BOOSH!! EXPLOSIONS!! What's Your favorite?
Continue Reading " 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' Teaser Has So Many Explosions "
Feb 11 2009 Devastator's Face is a Green Nebula
TFW2005 has some leaked shots of Devastator and "The Fallen" from the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line. Devastator's face is PURE ENERGY! I think, at least. Who can tell with these things? I'm only confident that his arm is a crane, which I'm hoping he uses to do moves like Scorpion in Mortal Kombat. Otherwise he's really wasting having construction equipment as appendages.
Here are your sort of spoilers:
