In recent weeks, we’ve taken some flack here in the blog for our negative coverage of Michael Bay and his stupid ‘Transformers’ movies. I still maintain that this is mostly the complaining of a small but vocal minority. So, I’d like to have the rest of you put it to a vote. Should we give Michael Bay a break?
I think it’s only natural that we’ve given Michael Bay a lot of attention recently. He’s a divisive personality who just released one of the biggest movies of the year. He also has a habit of doing and saying stupid things to keep himself in the limelight. How can we not talk about him? However, have we gone too far?
Regardless of the outcome of this vote, the summer movie season continues to march on. As more big blockbusters are released and people start to forget about ‘Transformers’, the conversation here and elsewhere will drift to other subjects. One way or the other, we’ll stop talking about Michael Bay.
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TJ Kats
Don’t care about Bay one way or the other but the back and forth as gotten slightly tiresome.
Shannon Nutt
Almost every major critic has criticized his shooting style and lack of story/characterzation for one film or another, so while we may be a minority, I think the minority is made up of intelligent people who love film, know Bay has some talent as a filmmaker, and wish he would set his ego aside and do a movie about something other than making a quick buck.
Dail Whiteley
yes. i love hating on michael bay. he makes crapola , he deserves scorn.
Julian
Nice neologism! Does Coppola make Croppola? 🙂
Dail Whiteley
ever see jack? 🙂 godfather 3?. sophia coppola?. i know the last one was in bad tatse but i was left with bad taste with her acting. 🙂
matt
I don’t like any of the choices. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about Bay. I have no opinion on him other than he makes the big dumb summer blockbusters, dumb meaning it’s just mindless fun…and I could say that about several directors.
But over the last few weeks, it seems that Bay is all you guys can blog about…and it’s all negative. I personally believe you’ve all made yourselves look a little silly. You can’t even say one word about him without saying something negative, not even in this blog post. Negative people just suck. Plain and simple. And if anyone has had a hard time letting this go, it’s been you (HDD).
I’d vote for an option that read, “I don’t care about Bay, but all the hate displayed is just plain wearisome. What ‘other posts?'”
Josh Zyber
AuthorMatt, in the past month and a half, we’ve written a total of 11 posts about Michael Bay, including this one. Our publishing schedule is a minimum of 4 posts per day. We have plenty of other posts that have nothing to do with Michael Bay.
I’m not writing this to diminish your opinion that you’re tired of the Michael Bay bashing. I’m just pointing out that, contrary to appearances, that topic is not our main focus here. 🙂
matt
Point taken. But in the history of this blog, has there been any other topic that you’ve beaten half as much as this one? I get what you’re saying about the “Bay Ratio” (Batio?), but when you look at all the stuff you covered over the last few years and all the energy you’ve dedicated to covering them, have any of them even come close to how much you’ve dedicated to Michael Bay?
Josh Zyber
AuthorI think it just looks that way because we currently have a couple of writers (myself and Luke) who feel basically the same about Bay and have written about him a few times each. So it may feel like we’re ganging up.
Dail Whiteley
i say one positive about michael bay. he was in a relationship with jessica alba. 🙂
Donat Torres
Keep it up, guys. I find his movies insulting to my intelligence. Pass more Malick over, please!
Jane Morgan
Michael Bay makes fetish porn, and fetish porn is not for everyone.
In this respect, he’s no different than Darren Aronofsky. Except with a larger fan base.
I guess you guys have to keep posting about Bay, regardless of how shallow the articles are, simply because Bay posts are getting the most hits and comments. Compared to, say, the last roundtable.
I doubt the ‘Harry Potter 8’ review will be as well populated, as the subject matter will be less polar.
Dail Whiteley
i’ve seen fetish porn. i’m glad he’s not ruining that genre too. 🙂
Jane Morgan
I’d pay ten bucks if Michael Bay shot a sequel to ‘The Dreamers.’
William Henley
LOL, I read “Dreamer” instead of “The Dreamers” the first couple of times I read your post. Michael Bay shooting a sequel to Dreamer – two giant horses of slightly different colors (but if you know about horses, you would understand they were different breeds and only a moron couldn’t tell them apart) start fighting and destroy half of Kentucky in the process. The pony humps Dakota Fanning’s leg because it is funny. Kurt Russel gets thown from a horse and, for no reason whatsoever, Kurt and Dakota never get hit by bullets, because somehow, these horses have guns! Presented in Imax 3D and in 7.1 at participating theaters! Yeah, I would pay $15 to see that one!
Ryan Megan
Maybe we can give this “Bay Hating” a nickname, how about “Bayting”. and for those of us who have gotten quite good and efflorescent at this activity could be called “Master Bayters”.
So if someone posts a rather hilarious or witty Bay slam you can respond with “That’s some master Bayting right there”.
Dail Whiteley
he does have the number one movie in america. it is easy to talk about him , good or bad. people like myself , feel that he didnt make a transformers movie. he made a movie about a boy and his robot car. and we have every right to come on here and complain that as film fans we were ripped off.
Kevin
Way I see it, it’s your site. You can post as little or as much about who/whatever you want when you want.
At the same time, I’ve always been one to find it a little odd to spend time focusing on that which I hate. Take for example some of the extreme Trekkies who hated J.J. Abrams’ film. Here we are over two years after that film’s release and there are STILL people out there calling Abrams and his team “hacks” and “liars” and bitching and moaning about “lens flares” and “Shatner” and “canon” and whatever.
I’m not saying you guys have been nearly as bad towards Bay as some of the “Star Trek” fanbase has been towards Abrams. Nor am I saying that Bay doesn’t deserve at least some of the criticism lobbed at him by people. I’m just saying that if one hates something so much, why spend time thinking/talking/writing about it, instead of putting that effort into something you do enjoy?
Finn Banks
I don’t like Michael Bay. I saw the first Transformers and thought it was a train wreck of a movie. I did not see the second and have no intention of seeing the third. However, the conversations around these movies here and other places are wholly entertaining. I enjoy reading them. A polarizing movie, or polarizing figure, are more fun to discuss then a universally revered or panned one.
Thulsadoom
I’m not fussed. I think Michael Bay is an arrogant ass, and it’s all pretty harmless (To an extent lol!) But it does get tiring re-hashing the same complaints all the time.
I think there are plenty of directors worthy of derision, and Michael Bay is only one. 😉 Time to move on, and pick on a few other guys. Like David Yates for making Harry Potter murky, desaturated and lifeless. 😉 Or Fincher from being a cutting edge director, to someone who made one of the most boring and tedious films I’ve seen in a long time…. (Social Network) I mean, what happened to the genius who gave us Alien3 and Se7en??? Now we get a over-tinted film that quite literally serves no purpose (Much like its topic) for story or character. Heck, even a Uwe Boll film will keep you more awake and entertained lol!
CK
I would say, for the sake of the people who like Bay, that it would be best to let it go, but really, it doesn’t bother me; probably because I’m in agreement with the criticism of the “transformers” movies.
There have been a couple articles that seemed a bit like HDD was on the offensive against Bay, but as Kevin wrote, its your site, so you can state whatever opinion you have and spend as much time on the subject as you like. And, considering what a hot topic it turned into, I don’t think anyone could blame you for writing so much about it. The comments did get pretty repetitive and heated, but honestly, I thought some of Bay’s defense was about as insulting to him and his movies as the criticism.