Transformers

CHICAGO – The giant robot film genre is in trouble. It wasn’t enough that “Transformers” has ground it to dust, but now the “Pacific Rim” sequel is going the same direction. There is action-a-plenty in the followup to Guillermo Del Toro’s fun and light first film, that lightness is missing in “Pacific Rim Uprising.”

CHICAGO – “You’re a sick f**k, Fink” is the movie quote I was tempted to throw at John Turturro, the actor who played the title role as “Barton Fink,” and dozens of other memorable movie characters. Turturro is breaking out again as a writer/director, producing a new film co-starring Woody Allen, delicately entitled “Fading Gigolo.”

CHICAGO – Considering its iconic nature, it’s funny that “The Transformers” franchise has never been about its story. Outside of Optimus Prime dying, or that time Ultra Magnus fought the junk-bots to a Weird Al song, casual fans would be hard pressed to remember a specific episode or occurrence in the series that really stuck with them.

CHICAGO – Writer/director Alex Kurtzman has been an incredibly powerful creative voice in the world of sci-fi from TV’s “Fringe” to film’s “Star Trek” & “Transformers” but his new work comes from someplace much more personal. Starring Chris Pine, “People Like Us” was born from Kurtzman’s own desire to find the half-siblings that his father had left behind years earlier.

CHICAGO – Based on the incredible box office returns, a lot of the people reading this have probably already seen Michael Bay’s divisive “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.” It’s understandable that they may want to continue the adrenalin-pumping adventure at home with Activision’s latest game based on the legendary Hasbro toy line. Sadly, as much as the movie pops in 3D, the game is disappointingly flat.

CHICAGO – The final 45 minutes of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” are such an orgy of CGI insanity, falling skyscrapers, and battling robots that the film approaches some sort of summer movie nirvana, or at least it will for the right audience.

CHICAGO – With Michael Bay filming “Transformers 3” in downtown Chicago, it’s reawakened our childhood love for the famous toys and we wanted to share arguably the best product to bear the “Transformers” name in the last several years — “Transformers: War For Cybertron.”

CHICAGO – “Transformers 3” director Michael Bay has set up shop in Chicago at Chicago Studio City to audition local actors and actresses, according to a new report on Tuesday from a site that regularly publishes casting information.

CHICAGO – Our wonderful DreamWorks contact just sent over the DVD and Blu-Ray details, along with the cover art, for the biggest movie of the year, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”. The Michael Bay blockbuster with Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, and Tyrese Gibson will land in exactly two months, on October 20th, 2009.

CHICAGO – There are often many reasons sequels should not be made. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is one of them. Seeking that “Allspark” exhilaration pumped into many of us from the original “Transformers,” moviegoers will flock to the sequel with anticipation.