SpongebobSquarepants Tagged Articles at Cinematical

While I have yet to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (mainly because a little newborn baby has kept me from leaving the crib), I've been real interested in the cries of racism being echoed throughout the internet when it comes to the new Transformers robots Mudflap and Skids (pictured above). Here's how director Michael Bay described them: "Some of the junior Transformers are just dumb. But it's great for kids because they're like the Little Engine That Could. They're (screw)-ups, but they get really heroic at the end." And here's how Movieline described them: "There are two robots in the film called Mudflap and Skids, and despite being red and green, respectively, they are voiced in a way that clearly designates them to be the "black" robots. Also, Skids has a gold front tooth (no, I'm serious) and both cannot read."

CHUD's Devin Faraci adds to the debate: "Simply put they are offensive beyond measure, and if their names were Stepin and Fetchit I could maybe argue that they were a joke or a bit of meta-commentary or anything except horrible, horrible racial stereotypes." So what does this all have to do with SpongeBob SquarePants? Well, funnily enough, those expecting a comedic black actor to be the voice behind both Mudflap and Skids will certainly be surprised to learn that, in reality, Tom Kenny (aka the voice of SpongeBob) is the dude who brought The Twins to life on screen. I'm not sure this info makes the whole thing any less racist, but I just found it kinda funny and interesting and bizarre. (Kenny also voices various robots in the Transformers animated series as well.)

For those who have seen the new film, what did you think of Mudflap and Skids?

[via Movieline]

AMC Theatres is continuing its lead in exhibitor promotions by giving out more free movies this summer. Perhaps you remember last summer when the cinema chain offered a money-back guarantee for Cinderella Man. Then last month it gave out free Akeelah and the Bee tickets to teachers. This time, the deal includes 12 different movies, is open to anyone and goes through the season.

In select cities (listed after the jump), G- and PG-rated films will be shown for free on Wednesday mornings. The films are not new, of course, but they are all popular family fare that are undeniably good deals. They include Shark Tale, Shrek, Shrek 2, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Racing Stripes, Because of Winn-Dixie, Ice Age, Dreamer, Madagascar, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, March of the Penguins, and, the movie I will go see free any time, Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit. In addition, The Cartoon Network is producing the pre-show entertainment, which will include bonus cartoon shorts.

It doesn't get any better than free movies, and the only catch is that the program's sponsors will likely be showing commercials during the pre-show. Like that is any different than when we pay, right? AMC's plan is brilliant, especially if they have their concession stands open at 9am. Since the movies aren't first-run, the theatres don't have to pay a lot to the studios to show them. In fact, the program's sponsors might be paying for the titles by themselves. And as packed as any of these shows is likely to be, seeing as they're free, they should be guaranteed to sell out on any rainy wednesday morning. If they sell popcorn to a good percentage of the audience, AMC will be making a ton of money (If they would sell better popcorn, they'd get some of the money from me, as well).