The Buzz is a feature in which we round up the biggest and most popular film and television stories of the week. Why go through pages of blogs just to find out what everyone is talking about? We’ve got it all right here. Check out all the stories after the break.
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With the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen DVD and Blu-Ray being released on October 20th, Paramount is looking for inventive ways to promote the film. The marketing team behind the DVD release have established a new page on the official site titled www.transformersmovie.com/choose, where there are four different activities for you to do, including sending a phone message to a friend from Optimus Prime or Starscream.
The phone option is something we’ve seen before with other movies like Saw. You fill in all the appropiate info and you get a call from one of the Transformers. It’s pretty nifty, unless your name isn’t on their list. Another activity you can do is customize your Facebook profile or website with profile pics, banners, backgrounds, etc. Lots of good stuff for the Transformers fan.
Probably the best thing on this page is the contest where you can win a car from Chevy. The sweepstakes doesn’t start until October 9th, so check back to the site then to get all the details. Lastly, there is a game on the site that allows you to customize your own robot, including the option to put your own head on it! Here is what I did with myself at the helm of an Autobot:
So, check out the site and don’t forget that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is out on DVD and Blu-Ray October 20th.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is our latest film to have its viral end. How did the viral do? Was it interesting? Worth following? Did it give us any insight into characters and background details?
Official websites:
The Real Effing Deal
Run by Leo Spitz (played by Ramon Rodriguez in the movie), ‘TRED’ (as it’s become known as) was launched to follow the events that happened in Mission City at the end of the first film, as well as the other ‘transformer sightings’ that have popped up all around the world (example).
Giant Effing Robots
Run by ‘RoboWarrior’ (aka Agent Simmons, played by Jon Turturro), GER is in direct competition with TRED, often stealing their articles and shooting down their claims.
How do they play into the movie?
When Sam first enters his dorm room in college, he is greeted by Leo, who takes him into his ‘control room’ with his two work partners, who are shown watching a video of the Shanghai destruction seen earlier in the movie, and posting it on their site. Leo tells them to ‘FTJ’, which means ‘fly the jets’, seen in some of his articles on the site. Soon after, they announce that RoboWarrior beat them to it.
Later in the film, when Leo, Sam and Mikaela go to find Agent Simmons, Leo directly confronts him as RoboWarrior, to which Simmons responds with ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Now, it’s been known/assumed since the viral launched that it would never really be a ‘big’ viral campaign. The first movie had but one website to it’s campaign, which was Sector 7′s site. The sequel’s viral is not only effective, it gives background insight into some of the characters (mainly Ramon Rodriguez’s). It is incorporated into the movie so that people who DID follow the campaign will recognize and appreciate the nods, and people who didn’t aren’t missing any necessary background info.
The viral campaign for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen receives a B+ final grade: small, but effective.
In our latest ViralCast, the staff reviews Transformers 2 (the viral and the movie), and discusses viral news and the recent death of some of our most beloved celebrities.
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The buildup is huge, the TV spots are on every commercial break, the toys are on the shelves, and my ass is in the seat. God, did I love this movie. It was just too amazing. I know that makes absolutely no sense, but I don’t think I have ever seen action scenes that are so awesome that it completely negates the rest of the story. Which is a completely good thing. Since the plot is terrible (I really expected more from Orci and Kurtzman), it might have something to do with the Writer’s Strike, as I have heard that the script was rushed to beat the strike.
Now onto the action. The fight scenes in here are almost perfect, especially in IMAX (Which you have to see the film in; it’s totally worth it.). The IMAX screen really does add to the film, although the transition from IMAX resolution to up-converted 35mm can be a little rough. But, you get your moneys worth. I mean, I’m the kinda guy who’d pay $20 JUST to see Optimus Prime in life size, and to see Devastator on the huge screen, but like I said earlier, see it in IMAX, it’s completely worth it. (Make sure you go to a real IMAX screen, there is a Google map of real locations and the “LieMAX” locations at http://destroyfakeimax.blogspot.com)
Now onto the “plot”, not that anyone cares. The story follows Sam Witwicky, as he loses his mind, gets chased around New York, ends up in Egypt, goes all Indiana Jones on the pyramids, and he’s tapping Megan Fox. This part keeps your interest until the Transformers are on screen again. However, the sequences with Josh Duhamal’s character and Tyrese Gibson are very entertaining, its the closest thing to and actual plot in this film. Overall, the plot was very weak, yet it kept me interested, and that’s all it really needed to do.
Everyone knows why you want to see this movie: the Transformers, and are they awesome. Sure some autobots are shoved into the background after one big moment (Sideswipe, Ironhide, and Ratchet). But the main robots are funny, awesome, and they kickass. Now, I’ve heard some people complain about ‘The Twins’, saying they’re the racist/Jar Jar character in this film, and I honestly do not think they are racist. I will cover it in deeper detail on this weeks Soapbox. The real shining star in the film is Optimus Prime, who is the biggest badass of them all. Really, he is just that damn awesome here.
Overall, the film is good. Really good, but it’s definitely not for everyone. So check it out of you can (Preferably in IMAX).
I give Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen a solid 8/10
If you haven’t heard by know, Transformers is doing a viral campaign, or as they call it an ‘extended film experience’ campaign. Recently, there has been a plethora of videos with machines turning into Transformers. Take a look at the newest one.
Pretty cool if you ask me, and well done. This being released just a week before Transformers hits the theatres.
Check out some past ‘sightings’.
Some less obvious sightings are below:
The most recent sightings have been in France and the UK. In France, a model airplane turned into a Transformer: http://www.dailymotion.com/Vinnylemans/video/16143347 And the newest, the scooter turning into a Transformer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo0cwRY59X4.
And if you haven’t seen them by now, check out the viral website: http://www.therealeffingdeal.com/ andhttp://www.gianteffingrobots.com.
The official website is http://www.TransformersMovie.com and the movie releases nation wide June 24th.
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This was a good week for viral, especially for District 9, which saw more posters, an official website (finally), and now more footage. Matt will have a full breakdown of the footage screened in front of Pelham 123 in some theaters tomorrow. The clips showed more of the aliens (including full body and action shots) and gave a bit more info on Mult-National United.
This Week In Viral covers viral news from the week that for whatever reason didn’t make it into it’s own post. Read the rest of this entry »
Two of the three main viral sites for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen have had a couple significant updates in the past few days.
TheRealEffingDeal posted a blog update last week about potential alien sightings over Eau Galle, Wisconsin. Not long after, an eye witness report appeared with some new blurry photos along with it.
Moreso, the site has a new post about what could be Transformer landings. It contains a video of a couple guys in Italy on May 27th witnessing a Transformer walking around the city. Some pretty bad special effects, but it’s just a short viral video, so nothing to complain about. There is also an article with images of a Transformer walking out of the ocean near Australia.
The second site, GiantEffingRobots (run by Agent Simmons), has been updated for the first time since the sites were discovered. The article is about their investigation into the Eau Galle sightings, which ultimately ended with them finding nothing.
So what do the images show and what’s going on? Discuss it in the comments.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opens nationwide on June 24th, 2009.
Thanks to Transformers Live for the information.
Could Hasbro be going the way of Marvel? Matt found this tidbit of trivia on IMDB.com:
SPOILER: Tyrese Gibson confirmed that his character Sergeant Epps would make contact with Hawk from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra(2009). Both Transformers and G.I. Joe are Hasbro toylines, and have crossed over in the past: an episode of “Transformers” (1984) featured a character from “G.I. Joe” (1985), and crossovers have also occurred between the two in their own comics.
If you have yet to read Matt’s article citing the 5 reasons Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be the greatest flick ever, check it out here. This is my rebuttal: 5 reasons it will be the worst movie of all time.
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