'Transformers' Reviews: How Do The Three Movies Stack Up?
Third installment of the Shia LaBeouf-starring 'Bot franchise is getting the best notices yet.
By Eric Ditzian
Sentinel Prime in "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Photo: Paramount Pictures
We've now seen "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" — during a raucous pre-release IMAX screening that left our ears ringing and our senses tingling — and can vouch for the consensus critical opinion surrounding the summer blockbuster: It's the finest film in the franchise.
That's the overall take. But how do the three films — including the 2007 original and 2009's "Revenge of the Fallen" — stack up when you're gauging various cinematic elements? To get to the bottom of that question, we have to dive back into the historical record.
The Story
"T1": "The screenwriters, Alex Kurtzmann and Robert Orci, don't bother to explain as they go along; they just pile up the bang-crash action sequences and, when things get too confusing, screech to a halt for some plodding explanatory dialogue." — Dana Stevens, Slate
"T2": "There is much absurd backstory and crammed-in explanation for what is going on and despite much of it being voiced by the thunderous Peter Cullen ... it still gets annoying." — Jordan Hoffman, UGO
"T3": "Writer Ehren Kruger ... had script duties all to himself, and he has fashioned a narrative of ornate silliness — which is to say, pretty good pulpy fun." — Kurt Loder, Reason
The Visuals
"T1": "The visuals are the real stars here. Though they grow repetitive, the robots' transforming scenes — joints bending, appendages stretching, gears whirling — are too cool to ever become boring." — David Germain, The Associated Press
"T2": "The battle scenes are bewildering. A Bot makes no visual sense anyway, but two or three tangled up together create an incomprehensible confusion." — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"T3": "By showing a measure of restraint and using 3-D to excellent effect, Bay finally enables the Transformers to emerge as players in their own right, with hopes and dreams, declaiming their philosophies of fate, humankind and the universe in grand Shakespearean style." — Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times
The Performances
"T1": "LaBeouf has the hefty job of single-handedly injecting the action with personality, and he brings it off, though without offering much variation on his nervous, hipster-squirt charm." — Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
"T2": "Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, who are definitely the stars as far as how much of the movie they're in compared to anyone else, both throw themselves into the physical demands of the film with admirable zeal, which is good, since there's nothing else to the roles." — Drew McWeeny, HitFix
"T3": "LaBeouf is highly physical and crowd-pleasingly jerky as the little man and the franchise's centerpiece, Sam Witwicky. If all Tom Cruise consumed were juice boxes of Red Bull, LaBoeuf is who he'd be." — Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
The Bottom Line
"T1": "We knew it would be dumb. But we had no idea it would be so much dumb fun." — Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinal
"T2": "[Though] it has plenty of popcorn moments that can be big, dumb fun (alien secrets under a pyramid, sexy girls who sprout mechanical tails at the worst moments), director Michael Bay's sequel is louder and more illogical than the megasuccessful 2007 original." — Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
"T3": "'Dark of the Moon' is hardly a fleet production, but here Bay makes his best, most flexible use yet of all the flamboyant bigness at his command: computer-drawn characters and human actors seem to occupy the same narrative for once." — Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Check out everything we've got on "Transformers: Dark of the Moon."
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666614/transformers-dark-moon.jhtml
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Coldplay, Led Zeppelin Album Covers Featured On New British Stamps
Album art from Pink Floyd, Blur and David Bowie also included.
By James Montgomery
Coldplay's new British stamps
Photo: Royal Mail
On Thursday (January 7), the U.K.'s Royal Mail unveiled a series of 10 new stamps, honoring the most iconic album covers of the past 40 years.
The albums featured in the new series are the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed, Led Zeppelin's IV, David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, The Clash's London Calling, New Order's Power, Corruption and Lies, Primal Scream's Screamadelica, Pink Floyd's The Division Bell, Blur's Parklife and — the most recent album on to make the cut — Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head.
Meant to honor "the most potent graphic images of modern times, many of which have provided a visual soundtrack to people's lives," the series is the end result of a lengthy research process by the Royal Mail, who looked through thousands of album covers by British artists before deciding on the final list. And, during a Wednesday night BBC Radio broadcast, it was revealed that the queen herself actually approved each design.
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page — who helped design the cover for IV — was on hand to celebrate the release of the stamps and recalled the mysterious nature of the album's iconic imagery.
"Almost 40 years after the album came out, nobody knows the old man who featured on the cover, nor the artist who painted him," he said. "That sort of sums up what we wanted to achieve with the album cover, which has remained both anonymous and enigmatic at the same time."
Of course, any great honor is befitting of an equally great contest, so, on the same day the stamps were made available to the general public, Coldplay decided to give one of their Rush of Blood stamps away. In a message on their official site, the band held a contest to send one lucky fan "a letter using a Coldplay stamp, postmarked with today's issue date."
"We visited our local post office earlier today and bought some of the Coldplay stamps," the message read. "Very nice they are too."
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Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror
- Artist: Michael Jackson
- Label: Epic Records
- Director: n/a
- Album: Moonwalker
Source: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=1102&vid=206759
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Justin Bieber, Mark Wahlberg Open Up About Basketball Flick
'It's going to be crazy,' Bieber promises at MTV Movie Awards.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Josh Horowitz
It seems that things are well under way for the basketball movie starring Mark Wahlberg and Justin Bieber. How do we know? Well, the guys themselves updated us this weekend at two of the biggest events of the summer.
Wahlberg told MTV News on Saturday night at Spike's Guys Choice Awards that while he thought he'd be playing Bieber's part initially, he eventually came around to playing the "old guy" role.
"Wait till you see me and Bieber in the flick. Think of like 'The Color of Money,' " he teased. "So I get this call from Paramount [where they tell me about the story about] an old guy and a young guy. I'm like, 'Cool, let's get Jack [Nicholson]. Let's get Robert De Niro. Let's get Robert Duvall.' And they go, 'What about Garrett Hedlund?'
"I'm like, 'For what?' " he further recalled. "They're like, 'For the young guy.' "
(Check out photos of Justin Bieber and tons of other stars backstage at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards!)
The next day, at the MTV Movie Awards, Justin Bieber seemed equally excited about the project, if not a bit tight-lipped. "I know ," he promised. "You'll have to see. I can't really reveal too much about it."
According to previous reports, Wahlberg has been keeping tabs on the young star. "He loves the idea," Wahlberg said last month. "He's been sending me video, he sent me a video of himself, and, yeah, I think he's really talented." The idea was sparked after Wahlberg and partner Stephen Levinson caught Bieber playing basketball in February during a celebrity game held during NBA All-Star Game weekend.
MTV News has all of the highlights from the 2011 MTV Movie Awards. Relive the best moments, watch red-carpet interviews with your favorite stars and read all about what went on behind the scenes on the big night.
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1665220/justin-bieber-mark-wahlberg-movie.jhtml
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Ke$ha - Tik Tok
- Artist: Ke$ha
- Label: RCA
- Director: Syndrome
- Album: Animal [Clean]
Source: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=3213641&vid=445445
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Justin Bieber Rebounds From Fan Run-In At Fragrance Launch
Overzealous NYC admirer jumped a barricade and knocked down the Biebs, but teen sensation recovered and got right back to fans.
By Jocelyn Vena
NEW YORK — Justin Bieber took over Herald Square in Manhattan on Thursday (June 23) as he greeted fans at a Macy's event for his women's fragrance, Someday. A legion of dedicated Beliebers lined up outside and gathered at the famed department store hoping to catch even a glimpse of the star.
When MTV News caught up with the Biebs, he told us how much he appreciated his fans' overwhelming enthusiasm.
"My fans are crazy. They wait out in the rain and anything, so they're crazy, they're awesome!" he said. "I just think that what we decided to do — making the fragrance for females, not getting a cologne for males — I said it before and I'll say it again, I'm more concerned about how girls smell 'cause I'm a guy and I know what smells good and I know what I like so girls should know, if [I like] it, then other guys are going to like it."
But some fans may have been too enthusiastic. While some fans (and press) were allowed to wait inside Macy's, many were still standing outside, and according to reports, Bieber was knocked down by a man who jumped the barrier. [Editor's note: ABC News has since reported that the man was not a fan but a plainclothes police officer who the NYPD say was trying to help the singer.] Bieber wasn't hurt, though ABC said that he seemed "shaken" before he went right back to work and greeted more fans inside.
Once inside the store, Bieber seemed relaxed, sharing with us the nuances of designing a perfume for his fans. "I think cologne and perfume are different. Cologne is more kind of a body-wash-type smell and [perfume] is kind of flowery, fruity," he said, adding that mentor Usher, who has his own cologne brand, "didn't really give me any advice.
"There was a long process 'cause they brought it out on the road and stuff," he added of the fragrance, whose proceeds will go to charity. "I picked out the bottle and designed everything."
So what kind of cologne does Bieber use? "A bunch of different stuff; I switch it up all the time," he said.
Will you bag a bottle of Someday? Tell us in the comments!
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666360/justin-bieber-someday-perfume.jhtml
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Usher - Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)
- Artist: Usher
- Label: JLG
- Director: Chris Robinson
- Album: Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)
Source: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=1270&vid=476362
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Ke$ha - Tik Tok
- Artist: Ke$ha
- Label: RCA
- Director: Syndrome
- Album: Animal [Clean]
Source: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=3213641&vid=445445
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