I despise Michael Bay - not because of his back catalog of overstuffed, budget-husking flicks (The Rock and Bad Boys were A-OK action fluff IMHO). There are hundreds-upon-hundreds of hacks in Hollywood; to pick out Bay as the single, solitary bane of moviemaking existence is plausible, but not probable.
I despise Michael Bay for being such a jaded, wishy-washy, temperamental p**** when backed into the proverbial corner by Paramount execs.
When the head-honchos at Paramount decided to ditch the blu-ray format and go HD-DVD exclusive Bay flipped his wig and posted a nasty blog about their poor decision and stepping down from his directorial duties on Transformers 2 - mere hours later his inspired rant was completely retracted.
The ending prose in his “updated” blog is pure pussing-out:
“As a director, I’m all about people seeing films in the best quality possible, and I saw and heard firsthand people upset about a corporate decision.
So today I saw 300 on HD-DVD, it rocks!
So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!”
Yay, Bay! “As a director” you’re sappier than Vermont’s Finest and about as “upset about a corporate decision” as anybody who has lined their pockets with millions directing big-budget, action-packed weep-a-thons.
Naturally, I would understand that Bay’s job may have been at stake - but it wasn’t. Michael Bay’s name in the credits of a movie will make the indie-film collective groan and the average theater-goer buy and ticket (or four). In terms of box-office power, not many hold a candle to Bay’s track-record of maximizing a movies’ cash intake. Bay is that rare director who has absolute power to make decisions that matter - he posted the anti-Paramount rant on his personal blog for the world to see, keep in mind - but he quickly succumbs to executive pressure.
Maybe Bay should invest in some of that Roided-out mayhem that comes standard when purchasing Hulk Hogan’s former home.
Maybe Bay should direct a movie that doesn’t involve over-orchestrated music, a “heartbreaking” love story and big explosions.
Maybe Bay should be a director instead of being directed.
On a related note: who really gives a flying f*** about blu-ray or HD-DVDs right now, in 2007? Call me in two four years when one is selling marginally well and the other goes the way of Betamax.
