Happy Birthday Hitchcock, King Of The Director's Cameo

Many directors have inserted themselves into their films.  Some quite obviously, like Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese, and others somewhat more discreetly, like Michael Bay. Perhaps the only discreet thing in his films! 

However, Alfred Hitchcock takes the consistency prize for placing himself in small non-speaking roles in all of his feature films. Often his appearances are comical and can somewhat take you out of the action (i.e. lumbering onboard the train with a large musical instrument in STRANGERS ON A TRAIN).  While other times they are subtle and more organic, such as my personal favorite which is his appearance in the gay guy's apartment in REAR WINDOW, standing behind him as he plays piano. Is he a sugar daddy? An gentleman caller? Or the backer of a potential Broadway show?  All interpretations work and add to the fun of the guessing games involved when spying on your neighbors, which is what the film is all about.

A clever and diligent editor has compiled all of Hitchcock's appearances into a clip on YouTube. I found this through my friend Paul Maggio, who often posts celebrity birthday's on his Facebook feed. Anyway, watching this is a great way to celebrate the master of the movies on what would have been his 113th. Happy Birthday Hitch! :)

Michael Bay's Movies Get Buck For Bang

I found a nifty graphics chart today via Videogum which shows the direct correlation between the number of explosions in Michael Bay's films (he did the TRANSFORMERS blockbusters, amongst of summer movies) and the amount of money his films take in.  It was done by a graphic designer named Jeffrey Frankenhauser and you can see the chart on his own site (nicknamed Bayhem!).  There are also some additional graphics and figures on the body counts of Bay's films too, which reached an incredible 206 in the last TRANSFORMERS film.

Honestly, I don't know how you could actually count the on-screen deaths as there was so much general mayhem going on during that film. But someone did.  That someone is named Kyle, a freelance writer in Sioux Falls who provided the cold, hard data for Frankenhauser's chart.  It's a remarkable feat in that I have trouble sitting through a Michael Bay movie once whereas as he had to go back and forth to count all these things.  Anyway, not surprisingly, the higher the body count/explosions the bigger the box office.  Not really news but nice to see someone has taken the time to prove an old Hollywood adage.

The Most Hated Filmmaker In America

Despite grossing over $300 million in less than a month, the "Transformers" sequel is clearly one of the most profitable films of the year. It is also one of the most hated by film critics, garnering a low 19% on the Tomotao Meter @ Rotten Tomatoes. While some of their critical vitriol is directed at the film and Hollywood franchises in general, a great deal of it is aimed at Michael Bay, the film's infamous director. Here's a sampling:

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” directed by the stunningly, almost viciously, untalented Michael Bay, is much closer to the norm of today’s conglomerate filmmaking." DAVID DENBY, The New Yorker

"You may recall that its 2007 predecessor was a mostly capable commercial for Transformers toys and Bay's previous films, from which most of the iconography was lifted as the man continues to pay homage to his favorite filmmaker." ROBERT WILONSKY, Village Voice

"It's tempting to dismiss Michael Bay's long, loud and ludicrous sequel to 2007's Transformers with one word — hunkajunk. It carves out its own category of godawfulness. I do accept that Bay is unique. No one can top him for telling a story with such striking, shrieking incoherence." ROLLING STONE, Peter Travers

And those are the nice reviews. When I was in film school, there was the notion that getting any reaction from an audience was what was desirable, whether it was love or cinema vendettas. Thus, one could argue that Bay is a master of terrible cinema. In fact, the NY TIMES reviewer Manhola Dargis suggests just that: "Make no mistake: Mr. Bay is an auteur. His signature adorns every image in his movies, as conspicuously as that of Lars von Trier, and every single one is inscribed with a specific worldview and moral sensibility. Mr. Bay’s subject — overwhelming violent conquest — is as blatant and consistent as his cluttered mise-en-scène."

Though I'd agree his movies are consistently terrible, I don't know if that makes one an auteur. According to the Encylcopedia Brittanica, auteur is defined as "theory of filmmaking in which the director is viewed as the major creative force in a motion picture." In the case of Mr. Bay in general and "Transformers" in particular, I'd have say to the major creative force is the EFX department followed closely by marketing. It is, afterall, a movie about Hasbro toys.

Though TROTF has proven to be "review-proof", it's hated director may not be. In a curious turn of events, despite the franchise's nearly billion dollar success, Bay says he will not be directing the next Transformers movie which Paramount has announced for July 2011. On his own website, he said he's had enough of robots. Is this code for film critics, perhaps?