Scene - Blogs - The next big thing

The next big thing
Published: 6/15/2007 3:50 PM
Last Modified: 6/15/2007 3:50 PM

Most of the movie talk this summer has been about spiders, ogres and pirates. But I think it’s possible the biggest, baddest movie of the summer has yet to be released.

It stars action figures come to life, metal monsters who look as though they could eliminate all enemies with ease. But that’s not all: They’re armed with so many accessories that each can morph into a Greyhound bus and fix the leak under my bathroom sink.

“Transformers” has an unusual buzz going on around it, something like I recall “Independence Day” having about a decade ago. It feels retro and new at the same time. It’s still three weeks away, and it’s the one that most teens (read: average ticket buyer) want to see next.

They want to see it now.

The Steven Spielberg-produced, Michael Bay-directed “Transformers” has that “whoa” factor going for it. It’s gone beyond the fanboy phase of bated-breath desire.

I see plenty of movies with audiences, but reactions to trailers don’t regularly happen like at a recent radio station advance screening for “Knocked Up.”

Mind you, these ticket-giveaway showings usually draw an extroverted crowd anyway, full of those hoping to have a free movie promo T-shirt launched at them.

But this extended preview of “Transformers” showed a helicopter turn into a robot the size of the BOK tower, another emerge from desert sands wielding what appeared to be giant egg beaters, and yet another climb out of a swimming pool, dwarfing a tiny girl who had this stunned look on her face.

Every actor in the trailer had this look on their face. Everyone in the theater had this look on their face, too, until it was over.
The applause was deafening. Many people stood for an ovation. For a film trailer.

Something big is coming.

Reader Comments

1 Total

Show: Newest First

Learn About Our Comment Policy

Brian B. (6 years ago)

I've had to overcome my visceral hatred of Michael Bay to get riled up about this movie, although perhaps it's the other way around: I got so riled up about this movie that my visceral hatred of Michael Bay no longer mattered to me. I had the toys as a kid, I watched the cartoon every fricken day, and for as much time as I spent imagining what it would be like if cars and planes could transform into giant robots, they never looked this real when I pictured them as a kid. I think that's part of why it's so exciting.

1 comments displayed

To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

To sign in to your account, go to tulsaworld.com/signin.
To activate your print subscription for unlimited digital access and to post comments, go to tulsaworld.com/activate.
To purchase a subscription, go to tulsaworld.com/subscribe.

I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

Follow Michael Smith on Twitter

Subscribe to this blog

Archive

Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

Michael Smith's Blog Archive:

2/2013	1/2013	12/2012	11/2012	10/2012	9/2012
8/2012	7/2012	6/2012	5/2012	4/2012	3/2012
2/2012	1/2012	12/2011	11/2011	10/2011	9/2011
8/2011	7/2011	6/2011	5/2011	4/2011	3/2011
2/2011	1/2011	12/2010	11/2010	10/2010	9/2010
8/2010	7/2010	6/2010	5/2010	4/2010	3/2010
2/2010	1/2010	12/2009	11/2009	10/2009	9/2009
8/2009	7/2009	6/2009	5/2009	4/2009	3/2009
2/2009	1/2009	12/2008	11/2008	10/2008	9/2008
8/2008	7/2008	6/2008	5/2008	4/2008	3/2008
2/2008	1/2008	12/2007	11/2007	10/2007	9/2007
8/2007	7/2007	6/2007

michaelsmithTW
michaelsmithTW

Join the conversation

Your bookmark will appear on your Profile page. Please give it a title, and short description so that visitors to your page will understand where the bookmark leads.
Bookmark Title :

Bookmark Text :