Transformers 2 - $390 million worldwide in 5 days

Isn't that one of the signs of the apocalypse?

and i say this as someone who religiously watched the cartoon, got the toys and read the comic book...don't know how i grew up and seemingly the rest of the world didn't...

the 'real' apocalypse will be when 100 percent of hollywood offerings are officially remakes of old TV shows/comic books/other famous movies or sequels or other cgi-heavy crapfests...(hollywood is already halfway there now)

as they provide what the teen audience requires: continuous shooting/explosions. For as long as you want it.

(slaps forehead)

but you make a lot of sense.

The jive talkin robots
The explosions for no reason
Shia Lebouf "dies" and goes to Transformer Heaven!?

Serious, "Transformer Heaven"? Holy shit, and I thought the first movie lowered my IQ 10 points by osmosis....

underestimating the intelligence / taste of the American public. Right now I'm feeling too lazy to look it up.

but then I noticed - John Tuturro was in this?

and wonder what he would think of the turn movie making has taken.

I doubt much would surprise him.

although I doubt even he would believe that a number one hit would be a movie based on cartoon that was based on a toy, with few actors and even less acting.

His role in the first movie was pretty funny, actually.

I would have sworn that that was the final trumpet, but here we are six years later.

Wiki doesn't have KJ's earnings figures, though.

G.I. Joe will open in a few weeks...until i saw all the promo stuff at 7-11 on the way home

in their relentless defunding of the educational system here.

I'd love to see a breakdown of this movie's profits to compare the better educated populaces of the world with the US populace.

I saw the movie, and I had a lot of fun. It's a perfect summer movie - giant robots, famous landmarks being destroyed, and lots of 'splosions. I like being able to turn off my brain for a couple hours and enjoy some good, stupid fun.

critical acclaim, now *that* would be a sign of The Apocalypse.

There have been so many BETTER movies that have already come out this summer that have done well, but nothing touching this level of blockbuster. And I'm not talking about pretentious indie arthouse Oscar-bait wank, either. Star Trek was a genuinely good story WITH cool explosions and SFX, and it certainly did respectably, but nothing to the tune of $200 million in its FIRST WEEKEND. Up was superb, and it's on track to do very well, but again, nothing comparable to Transformers. Shit, Terminator Salvation was Citizen Kane compared to this tripe, and it barely cracked $100 million. It had exploding robots and shootups and it at least TRIED to have a plot.

WHY ARE PEOPLE GOING TO SEE THIS MOVIE WHEN THERE HAVE ALREADY BEEN AT LEAST 3 BETTER ACTION MOVIES THIS SUMMER?

Plus, I fucking hate Shia LeBouf. I won't even see Transformers, even out of curiosity, because I hate him so much. And no way does a prepubescent loser like him end up with a hot girlfriend. In any universe. Ever.

*Spoilers*

I saw it last night with my brother. I thought the first movie which I caught on cable one lazy afternoon was alright for what it was, but I didn't anticipate the level of god awfulness to which this thing could sink. There are two new Autobot characters that are basically blatant ghetto stereotypes that have gold teeth and talk jive. Also, they can't help Shia Lebeouf translate the runes in his head, because they can't read. There's a plot point involving a bureaucrat sent from President Obama who is portrayed as meddling and who slows down the military by insisting that they explore a diplomatic approach. They throw him out of a plane to teach him a lesson, and when he calls the military commander to complain, he hangs up on him. Basically, the message is the military should be left to do whatever they think is best. There are three humping scenes, two involve dogs and one involves a robot and someone's leg. There's an extreme closeup of John Turturro's bare ass. There's a shot of a Decepticon's metal robot testicles for no apparent reason. I'm not kidding. Near the end there's a near death, white light experience that I chuckled all the way through. So, yeah, I'd say don't repeat my mistake. Please, don't repeat my mistake.

I can't say that I really enjoy bad movies, except for the superior feeling they give me... but sitting through this two-and-a-half hour long abomination in the midst of a crowd that was eating it up the whole time... that made me fear for the very future of mankind. It's crazy how jingoistic this movie is... I don't think this movie so much presents the case that the military should be left to its own devices, but rather that "peacenics" and "diplomats" would be completely ineffectual in the face of a true global cataclysm (obviously untrue and obviously the whole "killer robots from beyond the stars" is about the biggest hyperbolic thing conceivable and there's no way anyone would *not* react to that, period). There's also a pervasive message of belittling the rest of the world in general in this movie (the Jordanians are completely ineffectual and there only to get blown up while the American soldiers slap their foreheads, the little person Egyptian military guard--not that it's bad to have a little person in a position of power like that, but in *this* particular movie, it was clearly some kind of biased and racially-insensitive statement about Egyptians... the Egyptian Muslims about whom the US soldiers need to be reminded "are friendlies"--because, God knows, we're at war with Islam and anyone with a turban is the enemy ::eyeroll::--and then, there's the French... aaah, mimes...) Anyway. And the "Brobots" as they're being called... yeah, I've heard the argument "but some people really talk like that, white AND black" and that's true... but the fact is the way they talk isn't the most offensive thing about them, so much as it's the fact that they LOOK like racist cartoons from the 1940s! (That along with everything else about them Abby said).

And I've also heard the argument, "Oh, you shouldn't take it so seriously... it's just a kid's movie... (and kids are dumb)"--No, that argument is completely invalid. For one thing, just because something's for kids doesn't mean it has to be dumbed down to the point of downright *ism. Disney classics from the first wave and the 90s wave proved that... The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hunchback of Notre Dame... yes, they all had some comedic relief, but they were still dealing with powerful and potent issues in a serious way. AND besides that... because of the crude humor and sexual innuendo, I would NEVER EVER take my child to see this movie! So who the hell is this great steaming pile of rancid @ss vomit is this movie intended for?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Sorry. I went a little bit insane there.