tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post79773028808988396..comments2024-03-23T14:29:39.705-04:00Comments on Transformers Live Action Movie Blog (TFLAMB): Roger Ebert Rebukes Transformers 2 FansUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-48239749736123992692010-01-26T22:49:31.372-05:002010-01-26T22:49:31.372-05:00What amazes me here is how little people know abou...What amazes me here is how little people know about Roger Ebert. I read Ebert's reviews exactly because he LOVES "dumb" popcorn flicks. He's the sort of reviewer who's always open to a fun action movie. To call him out of touch is absurd. Ebert's great because he enjoys all kinds of movies. He gets angry because movies are his primary enjoyment, and if he doesn't like one he feels betrayed. Before you insult Ebert as "out of touch," see what he actually says about most movies. He gives Avatar 4 stars (out of 4), Terminator 2 3.5 stars, He gave Speed 4 stars. This is not a guy who hates on movies that aren't deep. He just didn't like Transformers 2 (he actually did like the first one). I don't blame him; I was bored, and I'm an action junkie. You people hating on Ebert really have no right.Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04485160686782230741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-38294510662450998882009-07-12T12:50:27.366-04:002009-07-12T12:50:27.366-04:00a movies primary purpose is to A. Make money for t...a movies primary purpose is to A. Make money for the studios so they can make more movies and B entertain the audience. In my Mind Transformers 2 has succeeded on both counts so to those who hated it...well dont go see transformers 3 then....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-92066050400700825152009-07-08T23:57:04.485-04:002009-07-08T23:57:04.485-04:00@Pilot
I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy it...@Pilot<br /><br />I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy it, and that's fine. But I don't think we're all sustaining ourselves on shit. I like good (i.e. Oscar-worthy) movies just as much as the next guy, but I'm also free to demand something like Transformers a couple times a year. That doesn't ruin the arts, it's just a part of the industry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-82060012672821045672009-07-08T23:44:24.090-04:002009-07-08T23:44:24.090-04:00To Slidersq
Here Anon 3:18. Yes I forgot about the...To Slidersq<br />Here Anon 3:18. Yes I forgot about the "party school" thing but also I avoided it as I'm not from the US, so I don't want to talk of something that I don´t fully understand. What I thought reading that part was like this: So because we saw just ONE party (a kind of welcome party) now this is the dream school of all those who just want to party. And yes (sarcasm) young people never involve themselves in things that can compromise their studies like selling/consuming pot or partying all night; at that age we're sooo mature that even the night before the classes begin, we dedicate our time to prepare ourselves studying rather than of relaxing and enjoying our last free time.<br /><br />I don´t hate the man, I just hate the way he trashes a movie that obviously never interested him (and so never cared to understand) this movie is just a tale not an essay nor a poem.<br /><br />We have seen how many of the points he complains about can be easily explained with what the movie show us, you just must pay attention to the movie specially if you are supposed to write a review of it. For me that's lack of professionalism, I would expect a more clear, intelligent and constructive criticism from a man in his position. <br /><br />Finally, at the start of his review he compares the movie with the noise made by a boy and a chorus in the background, well his review reads very much the same, just some noise (bitching) made by a boy (troll); there's nothing intelligent said in that "review" written by an intelligent person.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-64728270284294798972009-07-08T18:59:16.331-04:002009-07-08T18:59:16.331-04:00There's "art", and then there's ...There's "art", and then there's "entertainment". Two different approaches to moviemaking that do not have the same criteria for judgment. Unfortunately, only 5% of critics realize that.Deathbyfrostedcookiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09399873531135452710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-74705698395691129322009-07-08T14:10:45.391-04:002009-07-08T14:10:45.391-04:00Film criticism hardly has purpose to a general aud...Film criticism hardly has purpose to a general audience, dare I say NO purpose to general audience. It's only worth something to future filmmakers or movie buffs, who need to know how and why certain things work. Listening to critics' consensus is just listening to a smaller populist crowd, who'll NEVER be able to accurately know what's good for YOU. One can learn something important even from bad films, no one can predict where fresh knowledge can come from. If I followed Ebert on what to avoid half my childhood would've be thrown out the window. He's shunned some really inspiring, imaginative movies. Critics need to stop making these half-assed useless reviews aimed at the general audience that will never care, and start writing complete analyses for those who do. A walkthrough from shot to shot of what it made you feel and why, if you call yourself a "film critic".Ramonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072447759599018233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-52249533367691361162009-07-08T08:39:20.151-04:002009-07-08T08:39:20.151-04:00The problem with all movie critics is that they ca...The problem with all movie critics is that they cannot enjoy a pure action movie! they want a heart and soul to every movie, the want some sort of public injustice brought up in the movie like racial prejudices, gay rights, etc, etc. Roger Ebert is past his prime, he should have gotten his pink slip years ago and been replaced with someone of a new open mind and who is in touch with modern movie viewers. I loved the movie, yes the plot was thin, and some of the jokes we could have done without but overall it gave you that kick ass action movie you wanted to start off the summer with. Transformer 2 and the whole movie series as a whole will go down as one of the great movie series in the history of movies and be shown for years on every movie channel until the end of time. Roger Ebert will die someday and no will remember his name a couple of years after he is gone! One last thing to remember too, if you go up on the street and ask a person who Optimus Prime I would say 8 out of 10 would know. If you did the same for Roger Ebert, 3 out of 10 might know!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-85638194229736902742009-07-08T05:31:51.033-04:002009-07-08T05:31:51.033-04:00All I really have to say on the matter is this:
I...All I really have to say on the matter is this:<br /><br />Insulting somebody for liking a movie is NOT kickin'!Nitrostreakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07537904161274791372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-84444720335863292872009-07-08T01:55:22.241-04:002009-07-08T01:55:22.241-04:00First like many others I take critics reviews with...First like many others I take critics reviews with a grain of salt so with that saying<br /><br />Anon @3:18 great job breaking it down but you forgot one<br /><br /> quoted from Ebert: " Ron and Judy Witwicky, who are the parents of Shia' character, sam who Mephistopheles threw in to sweeten the deal. They take their son away to Princeton, apparently a party school, where Judy eats some pot and goes berserk"<br /><br /> Well have lived in New Jersey all my life and telling me Princeton is not a party school, well Mr.Ebert, you are dead wrong the 2nd highest party school in the state for over 15yrs and one of the best places to get some pot. Yes, if you live in NJ and have gone to Princeton for a visit most likely you didn't leave the same day because of all the partying you did. Princeton may be an Ivy League School but do you actually think the kids that go there stay locked up in the rooms and study all day, Come on Ebert where is you common sense there.Slidersqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13079885672248254534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-35177355881625180872009-07-08T00:39:28.898-04:002009-07-08T00:39:28.898-04:00Yeah see the problem is that I went to this movie ...Yeah see the problem is that I went to this movie expecting a poorly edited clusterfuck of horrible dialogue, gratuitous explosions, and lots of robots fucking shit up. And I genuinely expected to enjoy it. Well, apparently I didn't dumb myself down quite enough, because there was very little about this film that impressed me. <br /><br />Yeah, I think I have to agree with Ebert. While I'm not saying everyone should be a film snob, it's the attitudes of the people posting here that is killing the arts in America. <br /><br />You can't sustain yourself on a diet of steaming shit.Pilothttp://stripedwine.deviantart.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-8525335144013790402009-07-07T23:04:28.781-04:002009-07-07T23:04:28.781-04:00What bothers me is this:
"Those who think &q...What bothers me is this:<br /><br />"Those who think "Transformers" is a great or even a good film are, may I tactfully suggest, not sufficiently evolved. Film by film, I hope they climb a personal ladder into the realm of better films, until their standards improve. Those people contain multitudes. They deserve films that refresh the parts others do not reach. They don't need to spend a lifetime with the water only up to their toes. "<br /><br />So pretty much anyone who liked this movie, on any level, is "unevolved", and has never watched better movies. <br /><br />Blanket statements like that just shows out arrogant he really is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-10715199861464102052009-07-07T19:10:06.877-04:002009-07-07T19:10:06.877-04:00Made another 6 million on Monday. Worldwide the m...Made another 6 million on Monday. Worldwide the movie has made over 600 million. I think we can now say that this movie has legs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-75354342469556815592009-07-07T18:26:11.457-04:002009-07-07T18:26:11.457-04:00I'm a film journalist from Belfast, Northern I...I'm a film journalist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. I too reviewed the film and have to be honest it wasn't perfect in the slightly. Though I gotta say Ebert's review was far more harsh than mine<br /><br />http://the-book-thief.blogspot.com/2009/06/transformers-revenge-of-fallen-review.htmlAndrew Moorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05479597201375219945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-91927669412586505092009-07-07T17:42:43.361-04:002009-07-07T17:42:43.361-04:00I agree very much with the Anon @3:18 and the one ...I agree very much with the Anon @3:18 and the one @4:55<br /><br />Him calling US idiots, is just so childish. So now he's going to act like a child to get back at people that like something?<br /><br />Roger, You're F'n 67!<br /><br />Grow up.Supersaiyanbatmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12255041206629181241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-36506275609794059432009-07-07T16:55:45.475-04:002009-07-07T16:55:45.475-04:00To the anonymous poster breaking down Ebert's ...To the anonymous poster breaking down Ebert's review ... well done, sir! I've read his review as well and was thinking the exact same thing. The review seems to be written by a 13 year old, not someone "well educated in cinema".<br /><br />Ebert either didn't watch this movie, or went in hating it and so barely paid attention because he already knew what his review would be. And then on top of that he has the nerve to come back and bash those upset with his review, as if his review was completely free of bias.<br /><br />In the world of critics, he has joined with the fools.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-57938672704786250222009-07-07T16:20:51.000-04:002009-07-07T16:20:51.000-04:00I'm a bit of a movie buff, loving a wide range...I'm a bit of a movie buff, loving a wide range of movies, from Citizen Kane to 300, Casablanca to Crank. Roger Ebert is actually one of my favorite critics, and in the past, even he has shown an understanding of the benefit of popcorn flicks. (he loved Speed 2!) As an avid follower of his reviews I'm honestly shocked that he hated the movie so much. Does it deserve 4 stars? Of course not. It's not a "great' movie, but it sure is a lot of fun to watch and definitely does not deserve the venom he seems to have for it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-35408942654959814612009-07-07T16:15:24.356-04:002009-07-07T16:15:24.356-04:00to Anonymous at 3:18. Very good analysis. I ha...to Anonymous at 3:18. Very good analysis. I have not posted on imdb since there are so many trolls and the haters will bash anyone who enjoyed the film like me. When I saw Eberts review I was like, did he see the same movie? Ok he didnt like it but its like he went out of his way to bash some of the work that was done. The robots look like junkyard throw up? Are you kidding me? Thats a horrible dis on the tremendous work done by ILM and DD. This film has its flaws but for me the good outweighs the bas big time. He puts for this opinion as fact. Its not fact just his opinion. I think at times he is out of touch. I want to respect his opinion in this matter but dont think I can.mc7791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-68035353644160964982009-07-07T15:18:38.227-04:002009-07-07T15:18:38.227-04:00Part 4 (Final)
"Footnote 6/24: Does it strike...Part 4 (Final)<br />"Footnote 6/24: Does it strike you as a lapse of Pyramid security that no one notices a gigantic Deceptibot ripping off the top of the Great Pyramid? Not anyone watching on the live PyramidCam? Not even a traffic copter?"<br />Again the guy didn't saw the movie, because he didn't notice the other guys that where swallowed by Devastator; and really what did he wanted the pyramid security to do? Also Startscream screw electronic systems in the area with an EMP, so the PyramidCam wouldn't be functional; in the end what would be the point of showing what other people saw, the important thing here was to stop the decepticons from activating the machine. If they want they would address that point in the next movie, as they did in this one with the internet rumors.<br /><br />His review of Transformer ROTF looks more like a IMDB troll rant than a professional review, he should talk clearly about what he liked/didn´t liked and why he think that. Also he's forgetting to be humble (in fact he's acting much like the way he criticizes Bay acts) because instead of say "this movie is crap" he should say "I didn´t liked" in his personal opinion this movie filled all his requirements.<br /><br />After all if this movie has won almost 600 million its because there's something that appeals to the different people around the globe. Remember Hulk (2003), it had one of the biggest openings but dropped 70% in the second weekend leading it to be a flop, this because it failed to appeal to the general public, that is to have something for every one to like, whether it be visual the effects, the characters, the story, the style, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-53609786594632974812009-07-07T15:18:03.894-04:002009-07-07T15:18:03.894-04:00Part 3
"[Ron and Judy Witwicky] Later they sw...Part 3<br />"[Ron and Judy Witwicky] Later they swoop down out of the sky on Egypt, for reasons the movie doesn't make crystal clear, so they also can run in slo-mo from explosions."<br />Again the professional didn't pay attention to the movie, we get a scene of Soundwave searching them and calling to confirm the position, we get an scene of decepticons landing in France and another one them being captured. Then in Egypt Strascream orders Rampage to activate the trap, we see him in his alt-mode open a compartment and Sam's parents are thrown from there; and finally they are barely in the final act and they never run in slow-mo from an explosion.<br /><br />"I find it amusing that creatures that can unfold out of a Camaro and stand four stories high do most of their fighting with...fists."<br />Then Optimus, Megatron, Strascream, Mixmaster, Longhaul, the Twins, Arcee, Ratchet, Sideswipe, and some Decepticons protoforms shooting was just in my imagination. So they use melee weapons and fists ALONG SIDE fire weapons, but from what we see in the movie, it's much more efficient to kill their mechanical bodies by destroying the right spot rather than shooting randomly (they won't bleed like us).<br /><br />"After writing the above I looked up the first reviews as a reality check. I was reassured"<br />So the professional guy, secure of his own decisions and interpretations need to be see that others think the same as him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-74766105966534779112009-07-07T15:17:23.809-04:002009-07-07T15:17:23.809-04:00Part 2
"They are dumb as a rock."
Really...Part 2<br />"They are dumb as a rock."<br />Really I don't get this, any ideas what he´s talking about?<br /><br />"The human actors are in a witless sitcom part of the time, and lot of the rest of their time is spent running in slo-mo away from explosions, although--hello!--you can't outrun an explosion."<br />If I remember correctly there's only one scene in the entire movie when the characters ran in slow-mo from an explosion (Lennox, Epps, Sam & Mikaela). Also they didn't outrun an explosion, they run to get out of the targeted area, so they just had to keep running to avoid being caught in the carpet bombing, even you can see Ironhide getting hit by it but still managing to get out.<br /><br />"The humans, including lots of U.S. troops, shoot at the Transformers a lot, although never in the history of science fiction has an alien been harmed by gunfire."<br />OK, if I understand this, he says that the U.S. troop were useless because other movies make aliens impervious to gunfire...? Remember Aliens, Starship Troopers, etc. And didn't he saw the first movie where they figured out that Sabot rounds could damage them and being used against Scorponok, Blackout, Megatron and Brawl; or this one he's "reviewing" when they killed some of the decepticons protoforms, Mixmaster was forced to use his shields for protection and Megatron was stopped from getting to Sam.<br /><br />"There are many great-looking babes in the film, who are made up to a flawless perfection and look just like real women, if you are a junior fanboy whose experience of the gender is limited to lad magazines."<br />OK so for him 2 are "many", really the only ones we really know in this movie are Mikaela, whose character was always supposed to be this hot & Alice whose character was also supposed to be hot in an attempt to get to Sam. And really where do he went to college...? Where I studied it was full of hot girls, and even some of them are my friends, so nothing unreal there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-8215705270327107632009-07-07T15:16:33.181-04:002009-07-07T15:16:33.181-04:00Part 1
Reading his original review its obvious he...Part 1<br /><br />Reading his original review its obvious he wasn't interested in the movie at all (not even in a professional level where it is his job to see it unbiased) Read his review and you'll see that he never talks clearly about the movie and in fact it looks like he really just ignored parts of the movie. <br /><br />"The plot is incomprehensible."<br />So decepticons just wan't to capture Sam for the information he has to get something, Sam escape capture and goes to get what the decepticons are searching for and in the end there is the battle for the possession of the precious object; not really incomprehensible, I don't understand how a more mature, "intelligent" man can't understand this simple plot.<br /><br />"Their accents are Brooklyese, British and hip-hop, as befits a race from the distant stars." In the first one its clear they learned the human languages (and all their unique dialect and accents) and they just decided to talk in the way they pleased (jazz, twins, ironhide) After all they are living beings but with a mechanical body, with their own personality, so they choose to talk in the way they identified better. In fact in the first movie, when Jazz presents himself, Sam reaction is to ask "Where did he learned to talk LIKE that?" because he recognized that he talked with a very informal style (unlike optimus).<br /><br />"Their appearance looks like junkyard throw-up." So he didn't liked the design of the transformers and that makes it a bad movie; this is just his opinion winning over a professional view, and a completely lack of respect for all the people that worked so hard in the design department.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-27884148118215901182009-07-07T13:46:40.804-04:002009-07-07T13:46:40.804-04:00To the owner of this site, I completely agree with...To the owner of this site, I completely agree with your take on Roger Ebert's way of reviewing movies. Roger Ebert and many other reviewers are quickly becoming disconnected from the average movie-goer. Transformers 2 is just the most recent, and most obvious example of this. Roger Ebert called us idiots for liking it, but I wouldn't call him an idiot for not liking it. But then I also don't consider myself better than the next person, which Mr Ebert obviously does. The problem with Ebert and most other "professional" reviewers is that they have lost their objectivity.<br /><br />By the way, to the guy who said that Speed Racer was a good movie ... really? I only enjoyed the High Def visuals. Thought the movie and story was very cheesey, dialogue was bad and unrealistic, and acting was only ok. As for heart, I never felt any connection to the characters. But then the cartoon it was based on sucked too. So no surprise there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-78348954356269731622009-07-07T13:30:28.565-04:002009-07-07T13:30:28.565-04:00So, I don't really use movie reviews to decide...So, I don't really use movie reviews to decide what movie I want to see (I only see movies that really interest me, so I'm rarely disappointed), but where I do use reviews *very* extensively is in buying video games.<br /><br />It works exactly the same way as you mentioned in the post - video games are expensive (I probably spend ~$400 a year on them), so I want to make an informed decision before I purchase. I use the reviews to do that, because while a bad movie costs you 2 hours and 10 bucks, a bad game (which is much easier to make) will cost you 6-10 hours and 50 bucks.<br /><br />In the case of video games, critics' reviews are pivotal in my decision of whether or not to purchase, so it's important that they be as unbiased as possible. I've learned a trick: First, I look at the most postive 3 reviews. Then, I look at the most negative 3 reviews. This lets me get a feel for where all reviewers are coming from and how good, in reality, the game is likely to be. I've found that doing so often keeps me from being disappointed in my purchases.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03976761719483812386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-83003765010886495222009-07-07T12:43:25.515-04:002009-07-07T12:43:25.515-04:00last time i checked out a movie because a critic s...last time i checked out a movie because a critic said it was good, i went to that movie and fell asleep (Zodiac). that was the 1st and last time i listened to the critics. the critics are just as much a part of the entertainment, saying things to get their opinions heard.<br /><br />- HudAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14846463.post-89675932210403026072009-07-07T12:18:28.985-04:002009-07-07T12:18:28.985-04:00I loved this movie. The fact that critics bash it ...I loved this movie. The fact that critics bash it doesn't make me love it any less. The fact that MovieMistakes.com found it to be filled with errors (most of wich only nitpickers would notice) doesn't make me love it any less. The fact that i have, myself, found a few details in plot don't make that much sense, doesn't make me love it any less.<br />Why? Because i love it for what it is, 2 and half hours of fun, with giant, beautifully animated, robots kicking the crap out of each other.<br />I do have issues with some plot points and the use of (underuse) of the robots, theres's more than a couple of things i would have done differently, but do i focus on that and let that ruin it for me? No.<br />I don't care if the pyramids aren't close to the water, i don't care what model submarine Megatron rams into, i don't care how clean Megan Fox's pants are (anyone noticing how clean her pants are instead of how good they look on her has serious issues). What i do care is that i had a lot of fun watching it and for me, thats what counts.Luis Cotovionoreply@blogger.com