Recent Viewing Part IV

Well yes he does, in his own distinct way... he has a trademark style of visualizing and shooting a scene. And using quick cuts to make the story move faster. If it's not your style, that doesn't mean he doesn't reach others that are into that.

Like I said, he ain't no Tarantino, but then old Quentin must have haters too.

Well yeah but to be fair Bay's producer on Transformers is the big man himself, Mr. Jaws. So Mike must be doing something right.

Spielberg executive produces about 40% of all film and TV made these days...your point?

all about money

Bay is fantastic -- one of our foremost auteurs of today.

What's worse - having no style or having a style that actively irritates? I think that's a tricky aesthetic debate and I'm not sure which side of the fence I would fall on.

But I do know that there are only one-and-a-half Michael Bay movies I can even watch: The Rock being one, and Armageddon being the half, because while that one still does work as a guilty pleasure for me, it is overwhelmingly, barbarically stupid. The rest I just can't stand, including all of the Transformers films. Admittedly I have not seen Bad Boys or its sequel, though. Or Pain and Gain. Or the new one about Benghazi. I don't tend to actively seek out work by someone I don't like (except for in film music, the better to bitch about it on these here forums).

And you know, Bay's style would not bother me that much (still, all that quick-cutting and editing does his impressive VFX no favors at all) if he was able to muster up even the most rudimentary of (likable) characters to underpin everything. That's the key difference between a movie like Transformers and a movie like Independence Day for me. Not that I'm saying the latter is any sort of deep psychological study - far from it, oh, very very far indeed - but you actually enjoy spending time with those characters. Now cue Thor for saying "that's not what Bay is about"...

The first Bad Boys film is good. Can't say that about the latter (yeah, because a car chase featuring dead bodies stolen from the morgue falling out of one of the cars is HEEEE-larious), there is one great long take shootout where the camera literally circles around all the characters, but except that... well, yeah.

Armageddon is quite decent. The Rock is his best film and I think that's even self-admitted by Bay (the only time where actual storytelling concerned him more than being visually great).

The problem with Bay (for Thor that's his biggest advantage I think) is that like a few of the directors coming out of commercial (with Tony Scott being more laid-back in these terms, because there IS a storytelling concern in his work, the problem is that his taste for scripts was even worse than his brother's sometimes), he's all about the particular moment. There is no emotional arc to his scenes. It's all making the most of a single shot. And yes, it's not just in the camera movement, it's even more all about the framing (a shot that stood out of me is right before the Transformers are sent into space, with Turturro in the frame) that brings the most pathos possible visually not always when the script calls for it.

I agree with the quick cutting. I have the same problem with John Woo, even in his Hong Kong mode (where his stories were far more compelling than whatever he got from Hollywood, with the possible exception of Face/Off): It's fantastic camera work (in Bay, remember that scene with one of the robots flying over a terrified Megan Fox in the frame?!), but if it took one-two seconds more, the whole choreography (in Woo a musical number basically, same with Bay who is told to be inspired by... West Side Story) AND the ballet-like camera work would stand out. It just ends a fraction too early for the beauty to sink in.

That's actually the one Bay flick that I felt didn't work at all. Maybe I should revisit it to see if I can spot the self-parody, because I certainly missed it.

And about Bad Boys: seeing it's his first action feature, it was also the most restrained. Lawrence and Smith made the comedy work, and to an extent in the sequel too if one isn't too repulsed by all the tasteless humor (which I'm not).

Emmerich is a very good point of comparison. His film are dumb as a sack of hammers as well, so it's not that - but I find him entertaining where I find Bay off-putting. (Although I do draw the line at Godzilla.)

That's actually one of Bay's visual problems you address here. Bay's choreography is, actually, impeccable. He just doesn't let us linger on that. But the choreography itself is fantastic. He's one of the masters of blocking movement. Again, one of the best example is the third Transformers and the whole "skydiving" sequence, which also happens to feature some of the film's longest takes.

This entire discussion made me watch 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' this evening and I had a blast.
Don't feel sorry for me because I'm as serious as a Vulcan scientist.

The Rock is one of my favourite films from the 90's and it never seems to lose anything with further viewing. Pure escapist fun, and the score is deliciously over the top but nevertheless appropriate. Both Cage and Connery were perfect for their roles and I feel Bay's direction was much much better than it is now. In fact, quite minimalist compared to his more recent outings. All his trademarks are there but in just the right amount.

I pretty much hate everything he has made since. Armageddon had it's moments but... meh.

Well there are a couple funny nods to Star Trek, not to mention the voice of the Vulcan scientist himself as Sentinel Prime, is that enough of an answer?

Oh c'mon that WAS funny. It makes me chuckle, especially because the first time I wasn't even aware it was Nimoy.

I just thought of something. Maybe the main reason I like Bay films is because they don't take themselves seriously. I can honestly have a good time watching them, not ashamed to say that. Guess I'm just not into the whole 'lets make dark serious movies because the earlier ones were too camp' approach that Hollywood has gone into in the last 10 years.

For sheer entertainment value I also prefer Burton & Schumacher Batman over Nolan Batman. They're ridiculously over the top but they're loads of fun.

And don't speak to me about Snyder's take on Superman. That movie can just go suck itself.