[Thief12]

Yeah, well, to celebrate another "milestone" I've decided to present a list of perhaps unpopular or controversial film opinions of mine.

Arguments, dissenting opinions, and comments are obviously welcome, as long as they are presented in an orderly, civil manner

First entry in a couple of minutes. Oh, and the list is random.

[Thief12]

The Suckage of Transformers

I will start with an easy one. Maybe not that controversial, but bear with me for awhile.

As a fan of the toyline and the 80's cartoon back in the day, I kinda looked forward to this. I was expecting a fun, action romp. After all, we're talking about giant alien robots that transform into vehicles. After the film opened, I started seeing the mixed reviews and the critiques. Most critics hated it while a lot of people thought it was "awesome!", so I backed off a little. But I still had that lingering curiosity.

When it came to DVD, I decided to rent it. After all, I know how to "turn my brain off" to enjoy the occasional "silly, popcorn film". Oh, boy, but I wasn't aware to how much it did sucked. As the film went on, I couldn't believe that Michael Bay could turn such a fun, action-packed premise into this piece of crap. It's not the stupid dialogue, or the cheesy acting, but the lack of "fun" that disappointed me the most. Despite the silliness of John Turturro and other things, there was a feeling around it that Bay was taking this stuff too seriously. There was some sort of attempt at "dramatic, epic feeling" around it that wasn't right. By the final half hour or so, I literally dozed off, while my wife endured it. I sorta woke up when Megan Fox was trying to protect the injured Bumblebee, then dozed off for a little longer, until I woke up again close to the end. Ugh...

Ever since, it has remained as the worst 2007 film I've seen. Believe me, I've tried to rewatch it some of the countless times they've had it on USA, but I just can't take it. However, I've seen how many see it as "fun" although acknowledging its inherent crappiness. I just didn't see the fun. Not to make a straight comparison, but having seen G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra recently, I think Summers succeeded in his approach to the subject and I did enjoy that one. Bay tried to go all bombastic and epic, but failed. Ironically, most of my students consider it one of the best things they've seen But then again, they say the same about the sequels. BTW, I haven't bothered with the other two. Knowing that I hated the first one, why would I subject to the other two that most people say are worse?

[Charles]

You should bother with the third one at least. Maybe not the second, but the third is really the best of the three, in my opinion.

Also, you have students? you're a teacher? What do you teach?

[Sammael]

Proof-reading is your friend, Thief, old son.

[Death Proof]

"wah transformers is awesome wahhhh" - Randy



Subscribed.

[Rock]

I'll be reading.

[Thief12]

Originally Posted by Sammael

Proof-reading is your friend, Thief, old son.

Was it the "unaware/aware" one? Cut me some slack, I speak Spanish

[Thief12]

Originally Posted by Charles

You should bother with the third one at least. Maybe not the second, but the third is really the best of the three, in my opinion.

Also, you have students? you're a teacher? What do you teach?

Computer and networking at a post-secondary institution.

[Noface]

I'd like to be able to argue about Transformers, but I walked out of that one feeling like someone had rammed a dental drill through my temple. Even my ten year-old son hated it.

[paizlea]

I've never seen any of the Transformers movies, but I sometimes think I should check one out just to know what people are talking about. You've convinced me my instincts were right on this one, thanks.

Wasn't it only a few months ago that you did your 5k thread? You're quite the prolific poster!

Anyway, congrats on the 10k, Thief.

[Sammael]

Originally Posted by Thief12

Was it the "unaware/aware" one? Cut me some slack, I speak Spanish

I totally never knew that, carry on sir

"Bay tried to went all bombastic." Was the other one I noticed.

[Rumpled 4 Skin]

Mucho Rápido Senor

[Rumpled 4 Skin]

...and yeah the transformer films have ultimate suckage

[Matt the Hat]

I'll be reading. I predict Scorsese will get a mention.

[arcadefire325]

transformers were bad yet i saw all three movies. the badness draws me in out of curiosity. i want to see why these movies are so bad. it's my downfall. watching crappy movies on sunday afternoons.

[Thief12]

Originally Posted by Sammael

I totally never knew that, carry on sir

"Bay tried to went all bombastic." Was the other one I noticed.

Fixed

[Thief12]

Originally Posted by paizlea

Wasn't it only a few months ago that you did your 5k thread? You're quite the prolific poster!

Anyway, congrats on the 10k, Thief.

They're all in my signature. My 5K was two years ago (May 2010) so it wasn't that close.

[wil-san]

I hated Transformers too. It literally made me angry (particularly the attempts at humor), and it took all my willpower to finish out the movie. Worst use of John Turturro ever. I have not gone back to view the sequels of course.

[Nocturna]

If you think the first one is enraging, the second one will literally make you shoot blood out of your eyes.

[carl the critic]

Originally Posted by Thief12

The Suckage of Transformers

I will start with an easy one. Maybe not that controversial, but bear with me for awhile.

As a fan of the toyline and the 80's cartoon back in the day, I kinda looked forward to this. I was expecting a fun, action romp. After all, we're talking about giant alien robots that transform into vehicles. After the film opened, I started seeing the mixed reviews and the critiques. Most critics hated it while a lot of people thought it was "awesome!", so I backed off a little. But I still had that lingering curiosity.

When it came to DVD, I decided to rent it. After all, I know how to "turn my brain off" to enjoy the occasional "silly, popcorn film". Oh, boy, but I wasn't aware to how much it did sucked. As the film went on, I couldn't believe that Michael Bay could turn such a fun, action-packed premise into this piece of crap. It's not the stupid dialogue, or the cheesy acting, but the lack of "fun" that disappointed me the most. Despite the silliness of John Turturro and other things, there was a feeling around it that Bay was taking this stuff too seriously. There was some sort of attempt at "dramatic, epic feeling" around it that wasn't right. By the final half hour or so, I literally dozed off, while my wife endured it. I sorta woke up when Megan Fox was trying to protect the injured Bumblebee, then dozed off for a little longer, until I woke up again close to the end. Ugh...

Ever since, it has remained as the worst 2007 film I've seen. Believe me, I've tried to rewatch it some of the countless times they've had it on USA, but I just can't take it. However, I've seen how many see it as "fun" although acknowledging its inherent crappiness. I just didn't see the fun. Not to make a straight comparison, but having seen G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra recently, I think Summers succeeded in his approach to the subject and I did enjoy that one. Bay tried to go all bombastic and epic, but failed. Ironically, most of my students consider it one of the best things they've seen But then again, they say the same about the sequels. BTW, I haven't bothered with the other two. Knowing that I hated the first one, why would I subject to the other two that most people say are worse?

Having little brothers suck. I had no choice but to subject myself to this stinkpile.

[Thief12]

I'm glad so many people are with me on the first one. I'm afraid it won't be that way for most of the rest

[Thief12]

The Matrix Revolution

Not the third film, but all the revolution and the hoopla caused by the success of the first one.

I rented this film back in 1999, when everybody was caught up in it. But unlike most people, the film didn't captivate me at all. Most of the time, I rolled my eyes at all the pseudophilosophy in the script, and Keanu Reeves' delivery of silly one-liners like "There is no spoon" or "Whoa! I know kung-fu". Plus I disliked the "style" in it, and its attempts at trying to be über-cool and whatnot, with the way people talked, dressed, and walked. I wasn't even crazy about the special effects. I literally hated all the slow-mo mumbo jumbo, and Neo dodging those bullets, but also, some of the CGI was awful.

If anything, I have to say that I enjoyed Hugo Weaving's wickedly fun performance as Agent Smith, and scenes like his "interrogation" of Mr. Anderson. To me, that's the only thing that makes the film barely watchable. But then, Neo wakes up in the Matrix and we get all those boring scenes of Neo's training and Morpheus waving his hand in a "cool" way asking Neo to come forward, ugh. And to top it all, they decide to end it with a silly, romantic curveball in which Trinity confesses her love to the "dead" Neo, instantly reviving him, woo-hoo.

I know a lot of people here, and in other forums, have it as a milestone in sci-fi and special effects, but I just can't stand the film (other than the aforementioned Agent Smith). Whenever he's not on screen, I have to cringe. One of my co-workers just can't believe I didn't like it and automatically deduces that I probably "didn't understand it". I mean, c'mooon!

One of my best friends is a huge fan of it and forced me to watch the second one, and I hated that one more. That rave scene? WTF? The only thing that's barely watchable here is the highway scene towards the end. Surprisingly, after years of avoiding this series, one Saturday afternoon they had Matrix Revolutions on TV, and I decided to watch it. Boy, what a waste of time. I would've been better off taking a nap.

[wil-san]

You done fucked up now, Thief. The Matrix sequels suck but the original is awesome. It is one of the greatest action films of all time.

[Nocturna]

Compared to the vast majority of action movie schlock we were being subjected to in the late-90s, The Matrix was a welcome breath of fresh air. Remember Armageddon? Yeesh.

[Death Proof]

Originally Posted by wilsondukeoflizards

You done fucked up now, Thief. The Matrix sequels suck but the original is awesome. It is one of the greatest action films of all time.

I love The Matrix (the first one, any way) but it suffers from one thing that makes it painful to watch: dumbing down the dialogue.

The best example is someone having to explain to Neo, a computer professional, what an EMP is. I get that the average person may not have heard the term, but it was such a heavy-handed way of explaining it so the audience knew what was going on. You know what? They'll figure it out. It's an energy blast that kills sentinels. And they still could have done it better, like:

"Arm the electromagnetic pulse cannon!"
"EMP armed."
"You ever see what an EMP can do to electronics, Neo?"
"Yeah... fries them like a corn dog."


Anything would have been better than the way they did it. It's little things like that which make the movie hard to watch.

[carl the critic]

Originally Posted by Nocturna

Compared to the vast majority of action movie schlock we were being subjected to in the late-90s, The Matrix was a welcome breath of fresh air. Remember Armageddon? Yeesh.

Yes, The first Matrix really astonished me when I saw it. Even though I was pretty young and didn't fully understand it at the time, I still knew that I was watching some unique. In my mind, it still remains a masterpiece in it's own right, even if the stuff it spawned my have been less than satisfying to some people. But even Revolutions is less revolting than Armageddon, and really anything that Michael Bay has done.

[Rumpled 4 Skin]

Originally Posted by Thief12

I rented this film back in 1999, when everybody was caught up in it. But unlike most people, the film didn't captivate me at all. Most of the time, I rolled my eyes at all the pseudophilosophy in the script, and Keanu Reeves' delivery of silly one-liners like "There is no spoon" or "Whoa! I know kung-fu". Plus I disliked the "style" in it, and its attempts at trying to be über-cool and whatnot, with the way people talked, dressed, and walked. I wasn't even crazy about the special effects. I literally hated all the slow-mo mumbo jumbo, and Neo dodging those bullets, but also, some of the CGI was awful.

[Philip J. Fry]

Dark City >>>> The Matrix.

*Runs away*

[Captain Dills]

Originally Posted by wilsondukeoflizards

You done fucked up now, Thief. The Matrix sequels suck but the original is awesome. It is one of the greatest action films of all time.

I'm definitely still reading though.

[Rumpled 4 Skin]

Originally Posted by Wolfo

Dark City >>>> The Matrix.

*Runs away*