“All I did was write the press notes and visit the set, once. I remember very little because I knew it was a cheeseball enterprise from the get-go and I didn’t give a shit about any of it. The idea of the Golan & Globus machine attempting to arouse the geek/comic-book fanbase was hopeless from the start… pathetic. Everyone knew it was a tank early on so there was this air of funereal resignation all through production and post-production… everyone just going through the motions.” [ Hollywood Elsewhere ]
Yes, I just wrote the words ” Transformers Oscar campaign.” Sigh. It’s time we come to terms with the fact that each installment in Michael Bay ‘s robot action series has technically been nominated for one or more Academy Awards — deservedly so, really, given the technical achievements these CG metal-on-metal bashfests have under their belt, even if everything else in these films are aggressively, brain-numbingly mediocre. But Paramount aims to take home one of them statuettes this year, by god, and so they’ve created an awards campaign to break through to Oscar voters in the most effective way possible: Through their TV sets. Bay’s billion-dollar summer hit Transformers: Dark of the Moon is nominated in three technical categories: Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects. No matter how much you may loathe this series, one thing is irrefutable: Transformers 3 boasts some of the best vfx of the year. That churning building-chomping giant bot thing cutting down a skyscraper in glorious, shiny detail? Mesmerizing, really. Bay slowing down his previously indistinguishable CG robot action for the third film actually helped highlight the amazing visual work he and his team pieced together out of bits and data, and though the first Transformers lost the Visual Effects Oscar to The Golden Compass (the second lost Best Sound Mixing to The Hurt Locker ), 2012 seems like the year for a Transformers win for vfx. ( Dark of the Moon is up against Hugo , Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 , Rise of the Planet of the Apes , and Real Steel in the category.) Which brings us to the two sound categories. Does anyone out there who’s not a sound engineer actually understand the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing? Fine, I’m sure there are a handful of expert McKnowitalls out there. (Essentially, editing is the selection/assemblage of sounds and mixing is the blending of all sounds/dialogue/audio for the final film.) But you know who doesn’t understand the difference between the two? Normal people, and a whole lot of Oscar voters. That’s probably why Paramount’s Transformers Oscar spot doesn’t even bother distinguishing between the two sound categories. “Just vote for us across the board!” the campaign practically screams, and why not? The goal of these spots is basically to put Transformers in the minds of the voters — the ones who can be swayed by a TV commercial telling them that these are the best effects of the year. Take a look at the ad below and chime in below: Do you think this campaign will finally earn the franchise their Oscar? [via Deadline ]
Banned in France! Well, kinda: Movie posters featuring Oscar -nominated Jean Dujardin , up for Best Actor for his turn as a silent film star in the sweet and wholesome The Artist , have been deemed too racy by French censors who recommended that certain billboards for Dujardin’s French language film Les Infidels ( The Players ) be taken down. Judging from the film’s redband trailer, Les Infidels is a comedy that features lots and lots of sex. Dirty sex. Upside down sex, suggest the naughty, naughty posters! According to The Hollywood Reporter , who picked up the trail after French media went to town on the racy materials, Les Infidels is “a series of sketches from directors including Dujardin, Lellouche, Fred Cavaye, Eric Lartigau, Emmanuelle Bercot, Alexandre Courtes and Michel Hazanavicius all centering around the theme of male infidelity.” Dujardin and co-star Gilles Lellouche appear in the posters in pseudo-in flagrante poses, boasting douchey looks of self-satisfaction accessorized by faceless women and female body parts. Of course, pointing out the ridiculousness of these fellas’ wanton use of women for sex is probably the entire point of the film (I’m guessing/hoping), but y’know… Above tagline translation, per THR: “It’s going to cut out. I’m entering a tunnel.” Tres classy! But you tell me: Are these posters (courtesy of the film’s Facebook page) so bad? And, more relevant to this season: Can these raunchy images damage Dujardin’s hold on the Best Actor race? For more of a sense of the film, and to see Oscar’s leading man get down and dirty, watch the French language redband trailer (via EW ): [ THR , EW , Facebook ] Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
