Little Push Movie News Report 07.04.09: Happy Fourth, Hollywood Machine!
Posted by Rick Tym on 07.04.2009
Grab a burger and a beer while we discuss the good and bad of Transformers 2, some Lost tidbits during the hiatus, a new Avatar image popping up in San Diego and a View-Master movie?!? All this and more while you take a break from grilling!
Transform This
As promised, the Push went to see Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen last week. Popcorn in hand, extra butter and salt at the ready to cover the stale taste, watered down Wild Cherry Pepsi in hand to quench the thirst inherent with the afore-mentioned theater foodstuff of choice, I bravely walked into the darkened theater last Sunday. My timing was perfect as I missed the inane trivia reel that precedes the real ten commercials that come before the previews—and one day I'll time it so I miss those stinking Ford and Chevy ads too, because dammit, all those ads are really starting to wear on my nerves. Must I be subject to Sarah Chalke telling me how to revitalize my skin? Does the audience really need to know that like a good neighbor, State Farm is there?
(The fact that I paid for a ticket to see a two-and-a-half hour car commercial was not lost on me, in case you were wondering.)
Eventually the previews ended. (For the record, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince looks good, M. Night Shamalamadingdong's The Last Airbender [which thanks to James Cameron can no longer use the Avatar part] looks meh and G.I. Joe looks about the same.) Then that really cool transforming noise accompanied the Paramount logo and it…was…on.
The movie, that is. Revenge of the Fallen unspooled itself in front of my eyes in all its inane, explosion-laden, nonsensical-plot-driven glory. Yes, oh yes, the Push liked it.
Did everybody think they were really that bad???
Let's start with the elephant in the cinema that seems to be irking the ever-loving hell out of anyone with an internet connection these days, the Twins. Also known as Skids and Mudflap, the two ghetto robots that Jesse Jackson will most likely use as a campaign platform in his bid to get nominated for presidential candidacy in 2012. My question is simple: is everybody really that uptight? They were dumb homeboy robots. Sure, one had a gold tooth, but that was more of a visual goof than an attack on the African American race. If anything, it's white boys who should be embarrassed by this—because these guys reminded me more of Eminem wannabes in suburban Caucasia than any black person I've ever met. Sure, their presence was slightly annoying at times but nowhere near the Jar Jar level of proportions that I'd prepared for. Their existence also provided most of the more crass humor that's being debated in the entertainment world, and while I can agree that some of the harder stuff may have been better left on the cutting room floor, it obviously didn't offend me. Sure, I heard some fathers awkwardly deflecting their sons' questions and attention when it came to things like "suck my popsicle" and the like, but they knew it was PG-13 going in. Long story short, it is what you make of it. The Push did not make these guys the basis for a possible race war, and didn't think it was much of a stretch not to.
People love Optimus Prime.
Here's a real problem that no one has addressed. Okay, they have, but it's a new day so work with me on this one. It was great to see the Autobot leader back on the big screen. Even better was that cool idea they had for NEST, a team of American soldiers and Autobots that go around the world killing the bejesus out of any Decepticon scum. (Seriously, did you see Optimus mercilessly execute the enemy gangster style? That was harsh.) When Prime faced off with the government representative that had notions other than grandeur when it came to NEST, it was a real treat. Finally, some added levels of characterization to the metal stars of the film! Good stuff.
The Optimus got his internal combustion engine life force exterminated in an excellently staged forest battle scene. (What I would've given for another three or four of those.) And then it was sayonara to the big guy for pretty much the remainder of the movie until ten minutes were left in the final act unless you count shots of canvas flapping over his lifeless body or said dead Prime being dropped from helicopter tethering high above the ground. (And what was up with that anyway? Dude fights for your rights to non-Decepticon parties and you drop him so hard the entire screen shakes from the thud? For shame!) Of course, the audience knows he's not going to remain deceased forever since he'll eventually be revived so he can take care of the Fallen. (Who turns out to be quite a wussy, in this viewer's opinion. C'mon, they could've fought a little bit longer.) Just like the rest of the audience, I loved me some Optimus Prime, and even though I know that was kinda the whole plot of the movie—Sam Witwicky doubts his place in the robot wars, Sam dies for his hero and gets sent to robot heaven (?), hero always knew that Sam was worthy of his faith, etc.—it would've been nice to see more Prime. Optimus, flames or not, makes the Transformers the Transformers, cool inclusion of Devastator or not.
The man on the left reached out and grabbed himself some redemption.
John Turturro's acting and character in the first film was always a sore spot for the Push. Not because the Sector Seven agent was overbearing and whiny but because Agent Simmons had some real potential, especially when being played by such a master thespian, which was unfortunately not fulfilled. In the sequel, it was. It was really enjoyable to see the actor seemingly having fun running around the desert with his "One man, alone, abandoned by the country he loves" schtick. Even if he had to stand under enemy scrotum to do so, it was nice to see Turturro fare better than in the first outing.
The Push could go on and on about head scratchers like Sam's mom and the pot brownie incident, the fact that the only way to tell the good guys from the bad guys is knowing that the Decepticons are mostly gray in color, how Mikaela got that goodfella robot through airport security, why the Fallen is such a wuss, how a machine that could destroy the sun was never discovered given recent archaeological advances, and just why in the blue hell Bay decided to spend so much bleeping time in the dull, dull desert, especially after that oh-so-cool forest fight scene. I know that it's expensive to blow stuff up and there's less safety concerns when weighing wooden versus sandy backdrops, but c'mon, they already spent $200 million on it. How about moving things around a little more?
The simple fact is that I was entertained even as my brain struggled to posit logical arguments to what it was seeing and hearing. There are only a handful of films so far this summer that have done that, and of course Star Trek and Up (which I kept meaning to mention I saw while out on bereavement leave, and it was everything great you've read about it) are still the reigning champs. But even though I was a fan of the toys and cartoon growing up, I just don't have a problem with what Bay is doing here, mostly because I don't have any misconceptions of what I'm getting going in other than 150 minutes or so of enjoyment. Like one of the other writers on this site, I left Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen with a smile on my face, and at no time while leaving the theater did I hear anyone clamoring for their money back. The same could not be said for Terminator: Salvation, the greatness of the Bale aside. So for that reason, thanks to all of you that encouraged me to spend my hard-earned on it, because unlike some other stuff released this summer, this one was worth the cash, warts and all.
Robot heaven, though? That's just silly.
Lost Gets Extra Hour
The creators of the hit television show have spoken, and ABC has listened; the Hollywood Reporter tells those interested that the drama previously allotted seventeen hours for its final season has been extended to add an extra sixty minutes. All this and they haven't even started shooting yet! Oh man, I can't wait for next year (he said begrudgingly).
In other Lost news, Maggie Grace has been dropping hints that she may be back in Hawaii soon for some filming while the producers maintain that the whole Libby thing will never be resolved because Cynthia Watros doesn't ever want to come back. How badly do you think the fans wish the actress names cited in that statement were reversed? I kid, I kid. Mostly.
Never gonna happen.
But the biggest news of the Lost offseason comes from Michael Ausiello, scoop master galore for Entertainment Weekly. He and his cronies caught up with Michael Emerson, aka Benjamin Linus, at the Saturn Awards and gave his thoughts on how is all might end:
"I don't think Lost will have a happy ending," Emerson said. "It's the end and I think we are going to start seeing more casualties. I would put money on major characters being killed. I believe it will be a sad ending to the show -- or at least bittersweet. I think it will definitely be a series finale for grown-ups."
When asked about the season five finale, the actor shared this with EW's crew:
"I killed Jacob... maybe...probably," he hedged. "It isn't like we haven't seen plenty of other people be killed and somehow come back. And what does it mean if I did kill him? Who the hell was he anyway? Obviously, Ben wanted a father. So much of our show is about bad fathers. It is one of our biggest themes. And Jacob disappointed in those final moments. And maybe Jacob made it easy for him. Maybe that was all meant to happen. Is it all ordained? Maybe. And for that matter, can Jacob even be killed? Stay tuned is my response."
"And good times won't be had by anybody."
Ahh, that Emerson. Just as wily as Benjamin Linus himself. It's always great to hear some Lost news, especially during this, the longest hiatus of all. The Push really was joking about the whole Shannon thing above although it causes some concern about where Lindelof and Cuse are taking the final season, because I really don't want a Matrix-like reboot of the system. And it would be great if the entire Libby situation was a huge red herring being thrown to fans. Seeing Charlie and Mr. Eko back would be great as well. Like I said, the hiatus is apt to seem like the longest ever endures by Lostites, so we might as well start speculating, right?
And Now, A Word from Our Soul-Trafficking Partners…
Seen the trailer for Cold Souls yet? Well I haven't, so here goes…
Great concept, good supporting cast, Paul Giamatti headlining. Who needs to know anything else? Cold Souls has been making the festival rounds and is slated for limited release on August 7th in the States.
A Semi-Real Glimpse at Cameron's Avatar
Does this count? It's no production still, but it's also not a piece of concept art or screen grab from the video game, both of which have been making the internet rounds lately. As preparation for the San Diego Comic-Con gets underway, citizens will be seeing stuff like this in the streets:
Anybody that's been following the latest James Cameron opus knows that one of the alien races inhabiting the Avatar universe is the blue-skinned Na'vi shown on the banner above. The Push would expound upon this but there hasn't been much else leaked anywhere at all about this film yet, so look for some informational splashes once Comic-Con gets underway.
This Is Just Bizzarre
In our final news piece of the week, I bring A Little Push full circle with the lead-off topic. Play along with me. Let's just say we all liked Star Trek and are willing to split the difference on Transformers 2. That would give the writers of both projects, Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, some leeway when it comes to future projects, right?
Wrong.
Orci and Kurtzman, along with Fringe scribe Brad Caleb Kane, are getting together to write a feature film treatment based on, you guessed it, the popular children's toy View-Master. Kane confirmed via Twitter that the Revenge of the Fallen and Trek writers are involved and that the movie would be in the vein of great Eighties family adventures like The Goonies and Young Sherlock Holmes.
Expect for credit: darkhorizons.net, that's all I got.
Outtro
Not much to report in the Outtro this week. When it comes to entertainment this weekend the Push will be sticking to fun in the sun, fireworks, burgers and maybe even a hot dog or two along with a beer as it celebrates America's birthday. Happy Fourth of July to everyone out there of the proper persuasion, and thanks for tuning in during your holiday weekend. See you next time.
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I'm keeping my Transformers 2 comments to myself. BUT I will say that if they flipped it and made the same movie with the Gobots...let's say there would be NO debate.
Leader 1 Lives!
Happy 4th!
Posted By: stevethegoose (Registered) on July 04, 2009 at 02:58 PM
I find it hilarious that the only people getting upset about the so-called racism in Transformers 2 are white people. Fucking hilarious.
Posted By: Guest#4333 (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 02:35 AM
speaking as a white person, i didnt find the robots to be racist. just dumb as shit characters that didnt add anything to the movie.
Posted By: Guest#5337 (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 04:27 AM
First of all, it's not hilarious that white people are getting upset about the so-call racism in the movie. How the hell do people know that white people are getting offended? Maybe it's asians that are getting offended. Or Muslims. You guys are retarded.
And, yes, it would be awesome for Mr Eko to come back. He was funny
Posted By: GeeSpotter (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 09:07 AM
