Review: ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’

There’s not a whole lot to say about Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” From the first shot to the last, the whole affair is such a mess that for 151 minutes you just wait for the end. Not a single scene, not one, is coherent or capable of holding your attention. The humor is juvenile in a potty mouth kind of way, the performances don’t mean much because no one’s playing anything other than a cartoon, and the action is no more stimulating than watching kids play with action figures.

Numbing doesn’t begin to describe the experience. The movie is simply awful, Bay’s worst since “Bad Boys 2.”

Sam (Shia LeBeouf) and Mikaela (Megan Fox) are still together, but he’s on his way east to college and a long distance romance via webcam looms. His first day at school, Sam’s brain starts to go haywire just as the Decepticons ready some kind of comeback that can only be accomplished with what’s in Sam’s head. With the help of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and a number of “comic-relief” Autobots, Sam and Mikaela outrun explosions as big robots fight over something that could kill the sun or something. (more…)

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Tags: Autobots, megan fox, michael bay, Optimus Prime, Shia LeBeouf
Posted Jun 24th 2009 at 3:08 pm in Featured Story, Reviews | 1686023 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/06/24/review-transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen/Review%3A+%27Transformers%3A+Revenge+of+the+Fallen%272009-06-24+22%3A08%3A04John+Nolte

Turnabout: ‘Transformers 2′ Takes a Shot at President Obama?

To My Obama-Loving Friends:

Please read on, this is fifteen years of experience talking….

You’re excited. Why wouldn’t you be? It’s summertime, it’s Michael Bay, the trailer’s loaded with explosions and hot chicks and mayhem and by gawd you need this – no… you deserve this. You deserve a couple hours in the dark, in the air conditioning, in a place where you’re lifted from the stresses, worries, and hassles of an all-too real world. 

And dammit, you paid good money for this escape, this drug, this promise of both. Hell, crack is cheaper … and lasts longer (from what I hear).  (more…)

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Tags: bush, michael bay, Obama, Transformers 2, Variety
Posted Jun 24th 2009 at 8:21 am in Entertainment, Politics | 1679508 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/06/24/turnabout-transformers-2-takes-a-shot-at-president-obama/Turnabout%3A+%27Transformers+2%27+Takes+a+Shot+at+President+Obama%3F2009-06-24+15%3A21%3A28John+Nolte

At 25, ‘The Karate Kid’ Still Packs a Punch

Looking back at The Karate Kid (1984), which turned twenty-five years old this week, a thought keeps recurring.

Wow. . . Avildsen made it work twice.

John G. Avildsen is, in some ways, a director of little distinction when compared with well-known marquee names like Spielberg, Scorsese, Nolan, and Tarantino. The vast majority of his movies are utterly forgotten by the average filmgoer — indeed, he’s been nominated for Worst Director at The Razzies three times. And yet, like Victor Fleming decades earlier with his twin successes The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind (both 1939 — read a great recent article on Fleming here), Avildsen has twice punched way above his weight, netting himself an Oscar for Best Director and giving birth to some of the most memorable moments in motion picture history. (more…)

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Tags: "Cruel Summer", "Sweep the Leg", Andrew Shue, Asians in Hollywood, Bananarama
Posted Jun 24th 2009 at 6:50 am in Entertainment | 1663063 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lgrin/2009/06/24/at-25-the-karate-kid-still-packs-a-punch/At+25%2C+%27The+Karate+Kid%27+Still+Packs+a+Punch2009-06-24+13%3A50%3A07Leo+Grin

Megan Fox: Another Cowardly Conformist Who Makes Things Worse for Women in Hollywood

Megan Fox recently stated that her solution to a real life evil Transformer invasion would be to negotiate and ask, “instead of the entire planet, can you just take out all of the white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beating people in Middle America?”

I also found these quotes from Ms. Fox:

“I don’t want to have to go on talk shows and pull out every single S.A.T. word I’ve ever learned, to prove, like, ‘Take me seriously, I am intelligent, I can speak.’ I don’t want to have to do that. I resent having to prove that I’m not a retard.”

And… (more…)

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Tags: "Transmorphers", Bette Davis, Britain, Fan Boys, fraternities
Posted Jun 10th 2009 at 6:39 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, News, Politics | 1550388 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lscott/2009/06/10/ladies-with-balls-2/Megan+Fox%3A+Another+Cowardly+Conformist+Who+Makes+Things+Worse+for+Women+in+Hollywood2009-06-10+13%3A39%3A54Leigh+Scott

WATCHMEN with $25.2M opening day, but “ticking downward,” now targeting $57M 3-day & $145M domestic!

“Who is watching the Watchmen?” Just about everyone…or so it seems.

The brand new film adaptation of the classic graphic comic Watchmen is a hit of monstrous proportions on its opening weekend, but not everyone loves it. In fact, not only is there a prominent character named Rohrschach (played by Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley), the film itself is serving as a Rohrschach Test for critics, fanboys and the broader public.

The Zack Snyder-directed $120M epic started with $4.5M in Thursday midnight business which is outstanding. There was no way for Watchmen to approach the $18.5M midnight start for lat summer’s The Dark Knight. First off, it is March and not the middle of summer blockbuster season. Kids have school. People are working. These are not the lazy days of July when it is easier for many to see a movie at midnight on Thursday, and hit the office late on Friday. The other factor is the movie’s rating. This is an R-rated movie, not PG-13 like The Dark Knight. (more…)

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Tags: 2-d, 3-d, 300, a.r. rahman, academy awards
Posted Mar 6th 2009 at 10:32 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Media Criticism, Steve Mason's Box Office | 7469826 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/06/estimates-7/WATCHMEN+with+%2425.2M+opening+day%2C+but+%22ticking+downward%2C%22+now+targeting+%2457M+3-day+%26amp%3B+%24145M+domestic%212009-03-07+06%3A32%3A56Steve+Mason

Studio Estimates: Tyler Perry is the undisputed box office king of Oscar weekend as MADEA GOES TO JAIL grabs a stunning $14.65M opening day for a $41.12M start!

Tyler Perry is the king of the Hollywood box office for Academy Awards weekend. Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes To Jail (Lionsgate) debuted with just 2,032 playdates on Friday and scored a monstrous $14.65M for a Per Theatre Average of over $7,000. The final weekend take could be $41.12M.

The box office king....err....queen of Oscar weekend

Although I am not necessarily a fan of Tyler Perry movies, I am a Tyler Perry fan. He traveled the country for years doing live stage shows in order to fine-tune his act, and he identified an under-served audience – African Americans, and more specifically black, Christian women. Now he makes two movies a year, and he has two television series’ on TBS – House of Payne and Meet the Browns. He built a multi-million dollar studio in an under-served area in Atlanta, taking advantage of tax credits for building in a blighted neighborhood. Now he is building a mini-empire. He produces, writes, directs and stars in his projects, and he even helps to finance them.

(more…)

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Tags: 3-d, a.r. rahman, academy awards, adam sandler, atlanta
Posted Feb 20th 2009 at 11:21 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 5665825 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/20/estimates-6/Studio+Estimates%3A+Tyler+Perry+is+the+undisputed+box+office+king+of+Oscar+weekend+as+MADEA+GOES+TO+JAIL+grabs+a+stunning+%2414.65M+opening+day+for+a+%2441.12M+start%212009-02-21+07%3A21%3A10Steve+Mason

No Academy Award for entrepreneur Tyler Perry, but MADEA GOES TO JAIL should easily win the Oscar weekend box office battle!

Filmmaker Tyler Perry, with Oprah Winfrey as a role model, has consistently outsmarted Hollywood moguls since his debut feature Diary of a Mad Black Women. That Gospel-infused “fat-suit-in-drag” comedy was made for a mere $5.5M and scored an opening weekend of $21.9M, ultimately generating $50.6M in domestic sales.

The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well with Tyler Perry

At only 39, Perry is building an empire. He officially christened Tyler Perry Studios last October in Atlanta with a star-studded event. The multi-million dollar project is a sprawling 30-acre working production facility in southwestern Atlanta, and the opening night party featured appearances by legendary African American actors like Sidney Poitier, Cicely Tyson, Ruby Dee, Lou Gossett, Jr. and Will Smith.

(more…)

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Tags: 3-d, a.r. rahman, adam sandler, atlanta, ben affleck
Posted Feb 19th 2009 at 9:57 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 5564225 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/19/final-tracking/No+Academy+Award+for+entrepreneur+Tyler+Perry%2C+but+MADEA+GOES+TO+JAIL+should+easily+win+the+Oscar+weekend+box+office+battle%212009-02-20+05%3A57%3A13Steve+Mason

FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH producer already talking sequel, while prepping NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET reboot!

After I posted my original Early Estimates column on Big Hollywood last night, I received a Facebook message from Platinum Dunes partner and Friday the Thirteenth producer Rob Fuller saying “I hope you’re right.” My Friday estimate last night was for a robust $20M, and Variety is reporting $19.3M this morning. “We were hoping to do $10M-$11M yesterday,” he told me this morning.  “In our wildest dreams we couldn’t have imagined that.”

I originally projected $51.25M for the 4-day weekend on Friday night, amd some analysts have the new Jason Voorhies saga sailing higher basec on early rerturns (I am now projecting $47M for 4 days). The combination of Valentine’s Day and a school holiday Monday for President’s Day make predicting the movie’s long weekend haul a tricky call, but regardless, this is great news for Warner Bros, which has the domestic distribution rights, Paramount, handling international distribution, and Platinum Dunes.

(more…)

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Tags: andrew form, box office, fiasco heights, frank miller, freddy krueger
Posted Feb 14th 2009 at 1:52 pm in Entertainment, Steve Mason's Box Office | 5107013 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/14/rob-fuller/FRIDAY+THE+THIRTEENTH+producer+already+talking+sequel%2C+while+prepping+NIGHTMARE+ON+ELM+STREET+reboot%212009-02-14+21%3A52%3A03Steve+Mason

What Recession? Biggest President’s Day Weekend in Hollywood History as FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH scares up $19.3M Friday and has a stab at $47M for 4 Days!

Although America is suffering through its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, there is no recession in the movie business. Led by the Warner Bros reboot of Friday the Thirteenth and a couple of surprisingly strong chick flicks, Hollywood’s top twelve grossing movies may grab a combined $201.5M over the long President’s Day weekend holiday, which marks an all-time best for the annual 4-day movie-going bonanza.

TOP GROSSING PRESIDENT’S WEEKENDS FOR HOLLYWOOD
- combined gross of top 12 films -
1. 2009 – $201.5M (estimated)
2. 2007 – $167.8M
3. 2008 – $141.1M
4. 2003 – $141M
5. 2005 – $137.1M

Director Marcus Nispel (2003’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake) and the Platinum Dunes production company have gotten the all-new Friday the Thirteenth off to a spectacular $19.3M opening day. That could translate to a well-above-expectations $47M by Tuesday morning. The new Jason restart quickly follows the Platinum Dunes success of The Unborn, released on January 9 to a $19.8M 3-day take. That David D. Goyer written and directed genre pic was made for just $16M, and The Unborn has generated an estimated $42M in the US.

(more…)

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Tags: 3-d, a.r. rahman, academy awards, adam sandler, box office
Posted Feb 13th 2009 at 11:02 pm in Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 506709 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/13/estimates-5/What+Recession%3F+Biggest+President%E2%80%99s+Day+Weekend+in+Hollywood+History+as+FRIDAY+THE+THIRTEENTH+scares+up+%2419.3M+Friday+and+has+a+stab+at+%2447M+for+4+Days%212009-02-14+07%3A02%3A02Steve+Mason