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Seems like a small war is starting to brew between Michael Bay and Megan Fox, after the latter said some unflattering things about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, telling the Early Show recently that she still doesn't understand the movie and that it's apparently made for geniuses. Bay, of course, is not one to take criticism lightly -- especially from some girl who was nobody until he dropped her into the first Transformers movie.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal about the situation with Fox, he says, "Well, that's Megan Fox for you. She says some very ridiculous things because she's 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing to do. You roll your eyes when you see statements like that and think, "Okay Megan, you can do whatever you want. I got it." But I 100% disagree with her. Nick Cage wasn't a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in "Armageddon." Shia LaBeouf wasn't a big movie star before he did "Transformers"-and then he exploded. Not to mention Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, from "Bad Boys." Nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her and put her in "Transformers." I like to think that I've had some luck in building actors' careers with my films."

We shouldn't worry whether this war of words will hurt either person's involvement in a third Transformers movie because according to Bay that's not happening anytime soon. On a third Transformers film, he says, "I just want to take some time off. It's been almost three years that I've devoted myself entirely to this world of robots. At some point, enough is enough-and I literally carried this movie on my back. ... I don't know who [would] want to take on my shoes with this franchise. We might just take a year down."

The numbers are in. Moviegoers worldwide voted with their hard-earned dollars (and euros and other monetary currencies) and elected to go see Michael Bay's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Box office receipts placed the sequel at the top of this year's heap o' blockbusters, and by the time all is said and done, the film could rank among the top box office earners of all time. But why did so many people go buy tickets? Why did you?

As pointed out by Eugene Novikov, Transformers 2 "received the most hysterically negative reviews of 2009." Only 21% of reviews by critics at Rotten Tomatoes were positive. (Surprisingly, it fared better at the pickier MetaCritic, with 36% positive.) Eugene acknowledged that it's the kind of movie that defines "critic-proof." So, obviously, critical opinion had no bearing on the box office. Why did this movie hit so big? In his analysis, industry observer David Poland felt that producer Don Murphy and director Michael Bay should be celebrated, the former "for truly believing in this concept being a big home run" and the latter "for understanding the images that will draw massive numbers of people based on 2 minutes or less of images." So was it all about the concept and the trailers?

Marketing obviously plays a huge role in determining how a movie opens, as does, to a somewhat lesser extent, the cast and director. But what was it about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that pushed your button(s), elevating it to "must see" status? Take our poll and let us know!

Welcome back to another edition of Insert Caption -- the game that might seem like it's repeating itself from last week when in fact it's returning for a second helping of robotic awesomeness. Last week we asked you to chime in with a caption for a photo of Shia Labeouf from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Well, over 100 of you tossed some funny our way, and while we'd love to reward everyone, fact of the matter is only three get to play in the winner's circle.

1. "Megan is where? Optimus Prime did what?" -- Jacob S.

2. "What do you mean my car insurance doesn't cover damage by decepticon?" -- Mallory L.

3. "Bumblebee, I thought I told you not to call me at this number!" -- Jeremy C.

See full image and all captions



When it comes to this summer's biggest sequel, we figured it's only right to double the pleasure (and the prizes), so we're returning once again this week to caption-ize Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ... though this time we're targeting the film's other (more beautiful) co-star, Megan Fox. Now about those prizes -- this week we're giving away three copies of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game; one for each system: Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 and XBox360. Here's where you should pay attention: When leaving your comment, please specify which game you want under your caption (Wii, XBox or PS3), because our three winning captions will each represent a different gaming system. Got it? Good. Now sound off below ...



Read the official rules for this contest

Us critics, we don't hate Michael Bay. Well, not all of us, and not all the time. I wasn't a fan of his Transformers, nor Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and I haven't watched The Rock or Armageddon in their entirety in years, but I distinctly enjoyed 2005's The Island during its ill-fated theatrical run (gross: $35 million, cost: between three and four times that), and I still do as a decent sci-fi/action matinee outing.

But how?, I've been asked. It does after all bear every other trademark of a Michael Bay outing: explosions, rampant product placement, blatant racial stereotypes, explosions, perpetual dusk lighting, explosions, and a female lead constantly flattered by her wardrobe (yeah, a real woe-is-us scenario).

I spoke too soon. We all did. After the heartening news that Shia LaBeouf wasn't interested in being the last man on earth (to which every other guy on the planet yelled "Fool!!"), he's hastily amended his brush-off to Collider.

While he still feels the part of Yorick is too "Sam Witwicky" and stresses that he wants to do something that's "foreign," he's still very interested in Y: The Last Man. He just wants to wait a few years, and he'll have the time to get the Witwicky out of his system.

"I love Y! Y is my favorite comic book ... Brian K. Vaughn, Neil Gaiman, the guys who write the Criminal series, these are all my favorite, this is my favorite stuff to read. It's the stuff that I love. Y: The Last Man is my favorite comic book. It's also DJ Caruso's favorite comic book. We DO want to make it ... Absolutely, man! In fact, that's what's going on right now. Vaughn and Ellsworth and DJ are writing the script now. The script is not ready to be shot. DJ is making a different movie right now. He's making Jack and the Beanstalk. There's just other things going on with DJ and I wouldn't want to make the movie with anybody else because he loves it like I do. But I don't think Vaughn is trying to give it to anybody else. I think that it is something that's very realistic, it's just not in the pipe for the next year."

Well, I'm pleased that he's a fan of the series and who knows? Maybe a few years will see me warm up to him, and be delighted that he was the first pick for the last man.

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]

As a high-school graduation present to myself in 1993, I stayed up all night watching the original Star Wars trilogy on video. When the Extended Edition of The Return of the King arrived on DVD, I camped out on my couch and sat through all three Lord of the Rings films in their longest versions, one after the other. And for two separate retrospective assignments in anticipation of their recent big-screen rebirths, I endured all ten Star Trek movies and all eleven Friday the 13ths. But I can honestly say that as a film critic and lifelong cinephile, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen may be the most movie I have ever experienced.

Michael Bay, condensing the cumulative total of the spectacle from all of his seven previous films into one unwieldy, gargantuan opus, has exceeded even the possibilities of sequel-driven "moreness," combining his own muscular, high-gloss sensibility with the conventions of blockbusters past, present, and probably future to create a monolithic action masterpiece that feels destined to be the biggest movie of all time.