Transformers 2 Longer Than Necessary

147 minutes. That's the run time for Michael Bay's next action explosion, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Too long if you ask me.

I've stated on this blog before in previous Transformers 2 posts that I feel the original film is overrated. It's not overrated critically (it's only at 57% on Rotten Tomatoes), but fans ate that flick up like it was a last meal.

One of my big problems with that movie was that it was too long and the sequel actually eclipses that by a few minutes. Yippee.

I'm pretty sure that this might be the downfall of the movie business as we know it. If this movie does well (and assuming it's like most of Michael Bay's movies), we will be telling Hollywood that all we care about are explosions, gunfights and non-existent storylines. The time of simple, thought provoking movies that build their characters through meaningful dialogue and interaction will be all but forgotten. God help us all.

Transformers 2: The Revenge of the Way Too Long of a Movie hits theaters on June 24th.

Family Guy in Live Action

Adam Corolla has a podcast. Interesting. Seth McFarlane, creator of the hit show Family Guy, was recently chatting with Corolla and mentioned a Family Guy movie. Very interesting. And he said parts of it might be live action? What!?!

It seems that a Family Guy film is indeed on the way (although they already released a straight to DVD film called Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story), which is easy to note considering that McFarlane said about the flick, "I can say with definitive assuredness that it will be out." But live action? Bad idea.

When asked about this by Corolla, McFarlane simply said, "Possibly, possibly. It will not be a 90-minute Family Guy episode." So the movie may or may not feature live action characters, although it certainly is up in the air.

In my opinion, the Family Guy program has gone significantly downhill since it was originally canceled after the third season. If they make a movie, it better be damn good, and making the characters live action will do the exact opposite. McFarlane needs to do something amazing before this franchise is run straight into the ground.

Michael Myers Unmasked

Now here's a heaping portion of blasphemy for you. Michael Myers, the man behind the knife in the Halloween flicks will apparently not be sporting his trademark mask for the majority of the film.

Shock Till You Drop was recently on the set of H2 and is reporting that Myers will be mask-less for the first three quarters of the movie. Here's what I want to know. Why?

Outside of the original movie (which is a masterpiece of the macabre), the Halloween franchise certainly isn't the best and the mask has helped pull the franchise through even the worst entries. Why in God's name would the director, Rob Zombie, do this? Was his bloodlust not quenched after he destroyed the franchise the first time? Why kick it when its down?

And apparently, when the mask is introduced near the end of the picture, it won't even be the usual iconic mask. It's going to be completely different.

I'm a fan of the franchise (the original is my favorite horror flick), but this is ridiculous. Consider me uninterested in this movie. Let's just pray Zombie changes his mind and has enough time to rectify this horrible, horrible mistake.

Here Come the Men in Black...Again

Apparently it's become cool in Hollywood to resurrect franchises that, for all intents and purposes, have been long dead. Rocky, Rambo, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, all have been brought back in the form of a sequel. Luckily, all of those are pretty good (sans Ghostbusters 3--only time will tell).

President of Sony, Rory Bruer, recently told an audience at ShoWest that Men in Black 3 is currently in development.

I loved the first movie, but I can't remember the second because I only saw it once when it originally came out. I suppose it must not have been very good.

Either way, I suspect that if the time and effort is put into the script and Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith both return to reprise their roles, Men in Black 3 could turn out to be a jolly good time for all. Here's hoping.

Out with the Old, In with the New

After years of speculation and begging, it appears that Ghostbusters 3 is officially going to happen. Yes! Being a big fan of the franchise, I was elated to hear this news, but then my elation quickly deflated, and here's why.

According to Harold Ramis, the movie won't be focused around the original team. "We're going to be the sage mentors. There are going to be young Ghostbusters."

What? You're taking everything that worked so amazingly well in the original (and decently ok in the second) and abandoning it to "pass the torch" to a young, hip, new set of Ghostbusters? For shame.

The original script for the third flick is now being used for a Ghostbusters video game adaptation, and I'd be willing to bet that will be more interesting than the movie, which is depressing.

The new script is being written Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, who better exceed any expectations and deliver a masterpiece, or else my years of wanting a new flick will seem like a complete waste. Look for Ghostbusters 3 in 2010.

Bruno Bitch Slapped with an NC-17

Sacha Baron Cohen's upcoming film, Bruno, has been given an NC-17 by the MPAA, effectively limiting artistic creativity and banning the film from being released (most theaters do not screen NC-17 films). Besides, Cohen has a contract to deliver an R rated film for Universal, but what does this mean? It means cuts aplenty and an inevitable Unrated DVD release sometime in the future.

So what was the reason for the rating? According to Sharon Waxman over at The Wrap, Bruno appears to have anal sex with a man on camera and in another scene he sneaks naked into a hunter's tent, a non-actor who had no idea what was going on.

Gay anal sex and a naked seduction of a heterosexual redneck hunter? Sounds like a good time to me.

Cohen's last film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was absolutely brilliant and is among my favorite comedies of all time. Here's hoping he can hit that same level with Bruno.

The Expendables Release Date

After a brief scare that Sylvester Stallone's star packed, testosterone fueled extravaganza of manliness, The Expendables, had lost some of its awesome due to rapper 50 Cent being cast (which was thankfully rectified through his replacement by Terry Crews), it looks as if the film is finally getting a release date.

So when can we expect this heavenly slice of kick ass? Lionsgate has set a release date for April 23, 2010.

That's a long time to wait for what could be a mind explosion of pure action. In the meantime, check out the poster for Sly Stallone's last crazy awesome action movie, Rambo. You're welcome.