Tag Archives: Roger Ebert

What Bay Got Right

(This article originally appeared in a less edited form on Mike The Pod, 7/11/11. Please note that since then, there has been a fourth Transformers, which grossed over a billion dollars, and there’s a fifth on the way in 2017. There is a schedule of yearly releases stretching a decade into the future, the same as Marvel, and Disney’s Star Wars.)

SPOILERS covers all three movies in the Michael Bay Transformers trilogy (until it becomes a quadrilogy, or quintology, which I wouldn’t complain about).

If this article becomes too insular for you, dear reader, may I heartily recommend you to tfwiki.com. Mostly because I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to link every whatsit on this page. If you’re a repeat visitor that doesn’t like it when I go off about robots, this is going to make you hate my guts. Continue reading

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Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Idiot's Delight, Movies You Missed, Nostalgic Obsessions, Robot Toy Fetish, Saturday Movie Matinee, Unfairly Maligned

MYM: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Movies You Missed: BIUL spotlights great films you probably overlooked. Tonight: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie.

In the mid-1970s, things were as different from now as night and day. The air and the sky seemed clearer, even though they were largely exhaust. The texture of everything was tougher, like cigar ashes and concrete. Getting into an automobile was like stepping into a luxury carriage; sunset and neon glinting on chrome bumpers, silk shirts against hand-tooled leather interiors. Music always evoked the experience of a show-stopping live performance. The worries and tensions of the 21st century were too far off to even surmise. The night sky glimmered with promise and energy.

They used to say, “anything could happen.”

And out of all this strides the late Ben Gazzara, sporting a white leisure suit, king. “I’m great,” he states with absolute certainty. “I got a golden life.” Continue reading

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Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Movies You Missed, Nostalgic Obsessions, Saturday Movie Matinee