The Island, directed by Michael Bay (1 Viewer)

[ThomasC]

I'm a fan of all of his works, but I can't believe he got Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson to star in his upcoming film. Djimon Hounsou and Steve Buscemi are also in it. I'm not shocked that they signed up because Hounsou hasn't gotten much good work lately, and Buscemi starred in Armageddon. Here's an article from the Detroit Free Press about the filming in Detroit:

http://www.freep.com/entertainment/m...e_20041028.htm

 

[Kevin M]

This is really a shock.......you're a "fan" of all of Michael Bay's works?

At first I thought he was remaking the 1980 Michael Caine film The Island

 

[KyleK]

I sincerely hope there's a "not" that goes in there somewhere...:p)

Anyway can someone please tell me what the heck a "harvested being" is? I've been hearing this term in conjunction with this project for a while now.

Here's hoping its a step up from his previous "films"

Kyle

 

[Nathan V]

This will be Michael Bay's first music vid- er, "film" NOT produced by Jerry "use more filters" Bruckheimer. In any case it'll be interesting to actually see if Bay has his own directing style without the influence of Bruckheimer. Who knows, it might actually be really good. (Then again, who am I kidding?)

Regards,
Nathan

 

[Jason Adams]

You know...I've never quite understood the intense loathing of Michael Bay around here. He makes action movies. Some of them you may not consider good.

I honestly believe if I offered someone $500,000 dollars to kill him on this board, and have someone else framed, I could get it done.

 

[Kevin M]

Jason, $500,000 could get practically anyone killed if you asked in the right places, now if you had said that you could give $100 to have him killed......yeah, that would be a true sign of the loathing people have for Bay around here.

 

[Jason Seaver]

That's an understatement. After a guy in the audience collapsed with seizures during Armageddon, the joke sort of became that any director could make a movie which sucks, but Bay goes the extra mile and makes one that's actually dangerous.

Basically, the guy has one skill - shooting a pretty picture. He's always had huge budgets and big stars to fall back on, so he's never had to learn, like the Sam Raimis/Robert Rodriguezes/John McTiernans of the world, how to make a really good action movie with good pacing and characterization and set pieces that are impressive because you can follow what's going on. But, that skill translates into a good trailer, which leads to a good show in the front-loaded box office numbers, which leads to more Michael Bay (or Michael Bay-like) crap.

I don't hate the guy; I think he'd make a really good director of photography for an actual skilled filmmaker. But as a director, he represents almost everything that's wrong with movies today.

 

[Jason Adams]

That's fair. In terms of characterization and plot and overall action scene coherence, he sucks. That still doesn't explain the Hitler-level treatement he gets here.

 

[TheLongshot]

I think it is because, for a lot of people, he is the poster boy for what is wrong with Hollywood. All noise, no substance.

Course, I actually enjoy "The Rock", so what can I say?

Jason

 

[ThomasC]

Which brings me to point out that all of his movies are only available on DVD in their original aspect ratio.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Hey, I enjoy The Rock, too, but that's enjoyable despite Bay - the cast was Ed Harris (who is incapable of a bad perfromance), Nicolas Cage (who didn't yet realize that he could get away with just mailing an action movie in) and Sean Connery (who wasn't going to let Cage and Harris make him look bad). But once you sort of take the cast out of the question, you get scenes like that godawful car chase, where you can't tell what the hell is going on and it doesn't even look like a good chase that was screwed up in the editing room a la The Bourne Supremacy.

The guy could really use some time in TV, or working under Roger Corman, or trying to make a movie with only a seven-figure budget, so that he can learn how to get the basics right. Instead, he came up via music videos which emphasize striking images but nothing else, and unlike other music video directors (Spike Jonze, David Fincher), he hasn't shown any inclination to master what makes for good movies as opposed to good trailers.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

Count me as one that doesn't loath Michael Bay but enjoys nearly everything he does. His action movies have a certain style to them. His camera movements (pretty much always moving), his angles, his pacing, and above all his grandeur adds to the excitement put on screen. They may not be the best movies storywise or brainfood, but I could eat popcorn all day long to one of his flicks.

I look forward to the Island.