Posted by Bob Muir on Aug 19, 2014 in
Animation,
Cinema,
Fandom 
Up is well known for tugging at your emotional heartstrings, especially in that bittersweet opening sequence that sort of overshadows the rest of the film. So what if Michael “Explosions” Bay, known for cinematic fast food like the Transformers franchise, directed Up instead of Pete Docter? The result would be something like this fan trailer by YouTube user MrStratman7, which makes Up seem much more epic and action-focused than it actually is. And naturally, there are explosions — tons and tons of endless explosions. In fact, keep watching after the title appears for one final explosion. Read more…
Tags: Michael Bay, Pixar, Up
Posted by Bob Muir on Jun 25, 2014 in
Cinema,
Comic Books 
Okay, so there’s a lot of horrible things about the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Michael Bay is producing it, the CGI turtles’s faces look creepy, and the whole thing looks very overblown. But you know what? The turtles themselves still look like a fun crew of outcasts, and ideally, they’ll be the heart of the film. I’m skeptical that they will be with the way Bay tended to make the Transformers guest stars in their own film series, but at least it doesn’t seem like you can keep the turtles down. And at least it seems like they’ve got a sense of humor about the original concept for the film, where the turtles were aliens instead of, you know, mutants, because they mock that idea at the end of the trailer. Read more…
Tags: Michael Bay, Teenage Ninja Turtles
Posted by Bob Muir on Jun 19, 2014 in
Cinema 
I’d say expectations are pretty low for the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, since we’ve already seen how Michael Bay handled the Transformers franchise. Still, it would be nice if it were good, and so TMNT Fansite posted a good look at Shredder’s armor in the new movie. On the positive side, it looks very imposing and still retains the Japanese armor look used in previous designs. But I can’t help but feel that the armor is very over-designed, like the concept artist started drawing and never stopped adding things. There’s too much going on, when a simpler design would have sufficed, but this looks too over-the-top. I guess this isn’t surprising after seeing Bay’s Transformers movies; each Transformer is an intricately-animated combination of thousands of moving parts that looks like a jumbled mess of technology anytime there’s an action scene. Read more…
Tags: Michael Bay, Teenage Ninja Turtles
Posted by Ben Huber on May 16, 2014 in
Cinema 
It’s Transformers! It’s the fourth film! This is a new trailer! Thanks Michael Bay! Yes, all your dreams have come true, and Grimlock is in the new film. It appears to be more of what you’d expect: explosions, robots, explosions, people screaming, and more explosions. Usually Michael Bay/explosion jokes are just tired and lame, but now I feel like I’ve come to a new level of acceptance. These explosions are basically just like breathing air. I just expect them to be there. Constantly. Also, why does Duck Dynasty Transformer have a robo-cigar? Is that a thing in Transformers? Perhaps my Transformers lore knowledge isn’t up to snuff, but that seems way too silly (in the good way) for Michael Bay to have come up with. Check out the full trailer below. Read more…
Tags: Michael Bay, Transformers: Age of Extinction
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 28, 2014 in
Cinema 
At long last, fans can watch the trailer for Michael Bay’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, and either assuage or confirm their fears about the film. Probably “confirm.” Even though this film is advertised as a Michael Bay film, it’s actually directed by Jonathan Liebesman. I don’t know if having his name eclipsed by Bay’s is either a good thing or a bad thing. The turtles appear to have some good effects behind them, but the thing that’s unsettling everyone is their faces. Those lips and the nose are a little too… prominent. Check out the trailer below. Read more…
Tags: Michael Bay, Teenage Ninja Turtles
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 6, 2014 in
Cinema 
That Super Bowl spot for Transformers: Age of Extinction might have whetted some appetites, but it didn’t give a good sense of the film besides “Optimus Prime wielding a sword while riding a Dinobot.” Actually, that’s still probably a good summary of what the film will be, but regardless: the first trailer is here, with Shia “I Am Not Famous Anymore” Labeouf nowhere in sight. Mark Whalberg is headlining this film, which takes place four years after the last movie. Honestly, with Michael Bay still at the helm, it looks fairly similar to the previous films. Maybe this one will be more than just explosions? It would be nice if they used some restraint in animating the Transformers’ immeasurable moving parts, because they reach visual overload far too often. Read more…
Tags: Michael Bay, Transformers: Age of Extinction
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 23, 2013 in
Cinema,
Comic Books 
No no no no no! It looks like Michael Bay and Megan Fox have gotten over their previous quarrels (or perhaps there was a little money involved in this movie making thing), because Bay confirmed on his website that Fox will be back into his “family” for his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. The first poster will also reportedly run with the catchphrase “Abandon all hope, ye who enter,” or something to that extent. The obvious assumption is that she’ll be April O’Neil, but I think they should cast her as an all-new TMNT character: Megan Fox. Because I just can’t see her as April. Read more…
Tags: Michael Bay, Teenage Ninja Turtles
Posted by Ben Huber on Jun 17, 2012 in
Cinema,
Comic Books,
Television 
Movie studios have been a little wishy-washy lately, haven’t they? No surprise, I suppose, given the economy, but here we go again: Paramount Pictures has reportedly halted work on Michael Bay’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot. You know, the one in which they weren’t teenage mutant ninja turtles, but were just ninja aliens that kind of looked like turtles. But maybe they were at least still teenagers. Or something. It was originally planned as a 2013 holiday release but with Paramount tossing out the pre-production staff and pushing the date back to May 2014, it looks less likely for the film to happen anytime soon. Who knows what’ll happen – perhaps it’ll start back up to meet the May 2014 date, or maybe it’ll just fade away till the next inevitable reboot. One can only hope!
Tags: Michael Bay, Teenage Ninja Turtles
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 19, 2012 in
Animation,
Cinema 
I remember a time when the only thing Michael Bay did to ruin a film was add a few too many explosions. Now he seems content ruining our favorite Saturday morning cartoons — I’m not sure how we let it come to this, but something tells me it’s all you who went to see Transformers in the theaters, just to stare at Megan Fox. Earlier today, Michael Bay caused a bit of a stir when he let slip that his upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film wouldn’t feature any mutants, but rather aliens. Yeah, that’s right, he actually said they’d be from an alien race, so let me ask — was sitting through three of films starring Shia LaBeouf really worth this?
Read more…
Tags: Michael Bay, Teenage Ninja Turtles
