The Big Picture: Untransformed

[Woodsey]

"Grow up."

I was referencing that. Think about it.

"but because Bob didn't find it too bad it's suddenly not worthy of being hated on as much by the general audience."

The point of the video was: "Is The Phantom Menace the film-equivalent of the Anti-Christ, and is it worth 13 years of venomous spite?" The answer - in his opinion, and I'm hoping I don't have to tell you how hard it is for someone to supposedly contradict themself when every single factor in the equation is subjective - was no. He didn't say people should love The Phantom Menace, he said it's not fucking worth it after all this time.

I'd imagine he'd actually say the same for the Transformers films if that were the case. But since Transformers is NOW and since it's making astronomical sums of money NOW and since people are defending this mindless shit NOW, it is worth encouraging people to get up in arms about it.

The thing he keeps going on about in regards to the Transformers movies is how all the people that like it are supossedly retards. Just as his whole hissy fit about The Expendables taking in more money than Scott Pilgrim, and blaming everyone that saw the former in theaters for the downfall of cinema.

When has it become the general assumtion that someone's taste is in direct connection to their inteligence? Bob himself is a rather smart fellow, yet he likes movies such as Sucker Punch. Does that mean he's an idiot who shouldn't be allowed to operate vehicles? No, it means he's a guy who likes the occasional crap film. He's no different from the people who happen to like the Transformers movies.

Referring to people en masse is not the same as picking out individuals; this is not a difficult concept to grasp. He didn't address you personally and call you a stupid twat for liking Transformers. He is talking about the average movie-going audience who'll go off to see other stuff just like it, and swallow whatever shit they're fed.

Furthermore, there is a difference between liking a film that most people do not like and actually defending it, compared to the sort of defence the Transformers films (and their ilk) usually get. Namely, the "just leave your brain at the door argument" (and variations thereof) - a defence for which all who speak it should be executed.

 

[Casual Shinji]

"Grow up."

I was referencing that. Think about it.

"but because Bob didn't find it too bad it's suddenly not worthy of being hated on as much by the general audience."

The point of the video was: "Is The Phantom Menace the film-equivalent of the Anti-Christ, and is it worth 13 years of venomous spite?" The answer - in his opinion, and I'm hoping I don't have to tell you how hard it is for someone to supposedly contradict themself when every single factor in the equation is subjective - was no. He didn't say people should love The Phantom Menace, he said it's not fucking worth it after all this time.

I'd imagine he'd actually say the same for the Transformers films if that were the case. But since Transformers is NOW and since it's making astronomical sums of money NOW and since people are defending this mindless shit NOW, it is worth encouraging people to get up in arms about it.

The thing he keeps going on about in regards to the Transformers movies is how all the people that like it are supossedly retards. Just as his whole hissy fit about The Expendables taking in more money than Scott Pilgrim, and blaming everyone that saw the former in theaters for the downfall of cinema.

When has it become the general assumtion that someone's taste is in direct connection to their inteligence? Bob himself is a rather smart fellow, yet he likes movies such as Sucker Punch. Does that mean he's an idiot who shouldn't be allowed to operate vehicles? No, it means he's a guy who likes the occasional crap film. He's no different from the people who happen to like the Transformers movies.

Ah but Sucker Punch is different and quirky and alternative and whatnot. Therefore it's great!

C'mon dude, we all know that the best films out there are the ones Bob likes and the ones that he doesn't like must be total shit.

Thing is, I don't mind if he says something like that. If I think a movie is terrible, I'll call it out on being shit, too.

But I'm not going call everyone who likes said shitty film a braindead bottomfeeder. And it always makes me break out in hives whenever I hear Bob talking like that. Everyone has movies they like that aren't particularly good, that doesn't make you stupid.

 

[Triality]

Post edited because I am a leap-first idiot. But still, 40 year old Harley Quinn... what's the emoticon for vomit?

 

[El Luck]

Shoulda realised that this would have probably ended up a "stop liking what I don't like" episode. Ah well, my bad.

 

[ewhac]

Wait a damn minute. Madonna - who played as Cat Woman [ ... ]

Uh, since when? Apparently Madonna auditioned for the role, but it was Michelle Pfeiffer who ended up in the film.

BTW, Bob:

Most of the audience, at least judging by the box office, just seems to want to watch generically attractive non-actors dive out of the way of gasoline pyro-fireballs while tossing off monosyllabic one-liners as background noise for their weekend popcorn binge intermittently interrupted by a volley of texting.

Dunno why, but I quite like this line.

 

[RJ Dalton]

I stand proud and tall in my claim that I have never gone to any of these movies in theaters and that I have not seen any of them except the first (which I watched out of morbid curiosity because my mom had already bought the DVD; I am ashamed of this).

 

[Vausch]

I still do not know why he is harping on the green lantern it was not that bad all things considered.

Actually, it was. I don't think it was as terrible as Bob made it out to be, but it was pretty darn bad. I went into the movie fairly unbiased and had a friend with me that had never read a single comic and she hated it too. Yes, I knew who the Green Lanterns were, had a basic rundown of the story, and understood a lot of the lore, but I haven't gone through the entire history of the comics (yet) and was going to pick at them for not getting a character's hairstyle right.

And yes, it is understandable for different opinions, but there are times when a film can just be provably bad. This was one of them.

 

[gameoni]

I tip my Hat to you bob for using my favrite line out of the men in black movie.

 

[anthony87]

Thing is, I don't mind if he says something like that. If I think a movie is terrible, I'll call it out on being shit, too.

But I'm not going call everyone who likes said shitty film a braindead bottomfeeder. And it always makes me break out in hives whenever I hear Bob talking like that. Everyone has movies they like that aren't particularly good, that doesn't make you stupid.

Yeah that's pretty much how I feel down to a tee.

I guess I just didn't notice that my post looked more like it was saying that not liking movies is bad. Not liking movies is fine.

Talking down to people who like the movies you don't like, in the way Bob does however, just comes off as being a bit cuntish.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Glad that you brought up War For Cybertron, because I think that the only way that a Transformers movie will be any good is if High Noon writes it.

You mean, "if High Noon writes it and doesn't have to trim out the interesting parts to stuff it into a boring, "Gears of War" style shooter."

I played through WFC multiple times (achievement whore), and while the foundation for a solid story is there, they didn't do enough with it. I like that they touched on just why Megatron was leading an uprising against the Autobots--because all the other Primes were a bunch of power-hungry dicks who abused those they outclassed. And while the Decepticons stood for freedom from oppression in a sense, they were going about it the wrong way--murdering any and all Autobots they came across (even some who may have agreed with their opposition to the Primes' rule) and corrupting the very core of their planet. The burden of keeping the peace while still supporting the idea of "freedom for all sentient beings" falls to Optimus.

Of course, this is just what I gathered from the cutscenes, because I kind of zoned out during the actual gameplay part. It's like every time they had a chance to flesh out a character's motivations or goals, the game went "NOPE, STORY IS BORING LET'S GET BACK TO THE SHOOTY PART. HOPE YOU LIKE A RIDICULOUSLY OVERPOWERED MELEE BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO RUN OUT OF AMMO A LOT."

Seriously--people bash the Bay movies because they're "loud, obnoxious, the characters spout off bad one-liners, and there's so much spiky metal flying around." Really? That's the impression I got from WFC.

one part og the story in WFC i WISH they would have expanded on was late in the Autobot half (the prison break) when Prime and Megs are talking and Prime says something to the a effect 'your still pissed about that? that was a long to ago' with out ever explaining what 'that, was (like Meatloaf, only, with robots XD) other then that,i liked that game, looking forward to Fall of Cybertron to

 

[cthulhumythos]

I have no idea what any of you are talking about.

The Transformers movie was FANTASTIC!

Death of Optimus Prime! Megatron reborn as Galvatron! Orson Wells as Omnicron! Stan Bush's "The Touch"!

It was everything a Transformers fan could've ever wanted.

it also had stan bush's dare. which strikes an equal amount of my nostalgia chords.

 

[daxterx2005]

Rebooting but keeping the same director....
Whats the point?

 

[Deacon Cole]

Apply this to the "review" of Phantom Menace two weeks ago.

 

[z121231211]

Im hating Bob More and more every single episode he does.

I mean, god. Sucessful movies are sucessful for a reason, man.

I mean, He stated something along the lines of "These movies are popular, Therefore the audience is dumb. The more people that watch the movie, the more people are dumb."Jesus Christ, bob, That is up there with some of the most stuck up arsehole-ish comments Ive ever heard; you didnt like this movie because you don't like mainstream cinema, and everyone who does like mainstream cinema is a idiot?

Unless im completely missing what hes said in this video, this is what i heard.

I remember watching his earlier vids and not really sensing this sort of idea; So either i was completely blind, or bob has morphed into a Hipster.

Say what you want about Bob, but that is not what he said. He said that movies *intended* for a much larger audience are dumb. Making a movie that appeals to the most amount of people requires studios to dumb it down. Now you can make a movie that wasn't intended to appeal to a lot of people but suddenly gets popular, which really proves that we need to experiment more rather than actively dumb something down.

And there are more reasons to why something is successful than the quality of it.

 

[Gunjester]

So Bob doesn't like Hawkeye's Ultimates costume?

 

[MovieBob]

When has it become the general assumtion that someone's taste is in direct connection to their inteligence? Bob himself is a rather smart fellow, yet he likes movies such as Sucker Punch. Does that mean he's an idiot who shouldn't be allowed to operate vehicles? No, it means he's a guy who likes the occasional crap film. He's no different from the people who happen to like the Transformers movies.

Alright, responding to this is probably a mistake on my part but I've had about enough of this particular point - the Sucker Punch thing, I mean.

Firstly, there is a difference between a movie (or any other piece of art) being smart/stupid/meaningful/shallow and being GOOD or BAD (or "well-executed" or poorly-executed) in any one person's opinion. I don't "expect" everyone to call, "Sucker Punch" GOOD; but that it's NOT a "stupid" film - that it's actually slightly over-stuffed with IDEAS, meaning, layers of symbolism both thematic and visual, genuine imagination and actually attempts (with mixed results, to be sure) to actual SAY something is objectively provable simply by watching it... which I'll give you the benefit of the doubt by assuming you did. It is, in as measurable a way as possible, a smarter movie than any of the Transformers films (which are OPENLY "about" as little as possible); to the point that there's really no discernable reason to compare them.

However, if you're looking for the "difference" between appreciating these two nothing-to-do-with-eachother films, it comes down to where the appreciation comes from. I can find you other legitimate reviews - positive and negative - of "Sucker Punch" aside from mine that found something intellectually engaging about the film. This is NOT as true for the "Transformers" films (though I'm sure a few can be found) whose most passionate defenders tend to come down on the side of "I just want to turn off my brain and watch the fireworks!" "not every movie has to be high-art!" or some variation thereof.

 

[BrotherRool]

I like all those things you hate.

I'm also (technically) allowed to operate a motor vehicle, although it's not advisable

 

[Atmos Duality]

Back to insulting the audience again, eh Bob?
Well, here I suppose it's relevant; the three Bay Transformers movies are hideous, awful movies, even when you subtract any fanboy-nostalgia bias for the source material (and I can argue from precisely that point of view, because even as a child of the 80s, I could not watch the original show, didn't see the movie, and I never owned any of the toys), and the only logical reason they're made that way is because they sell, so SOMEONE loves them in an un-ironic (non-riffing/satire) way.

I recall the Spoony One saying this during a discussion about the movie: "I sometimes wonder if movies have left me behind."
And that's precisely the kind of feeling I get when I see shallow trainwrecks like these inexplicably make shitloads of money. It tells me that the art of good story-writing, and filming is pretty much dead during the summer, and it's increasingly bothersome to see the most shallow movies make the most money.

Hell, James Cameron managed to resurrect an entire worthless gimmick with his shallow, preachy bling-fest solely on the fact of the incredible profits he turned on it.

And when that's what dictates exactly what movies get made, it eventually becomes the ONLY thing that dictates what movies get funded besides Oscar Bait and art films (which in themselves are incredibly rare). Small wonder I got to the movies so rarely now: I'm not the target audience, nor do I understand the target audience's taste.