Not all the way done listening to the 'cast, but I’m loving it. There’s something about the sound of laughter in the background…
I recently read that Arcee was actually supposed to be all 3 motorcycles… 3 robots, one mind. Kind of interesting, I think I would have preferred the 3 merging into one robot though.
The 3 motorcycle toys get separate names. I think this is because you can’t sell a parent on 3 different colored toys with the same name…
I’ll admit that we’re still learning a bit how to adjust the 'cast for maximum fun with a live audience, but I really, really enjoyed the experience. It’s so cool to be able to have everyone involved.
To that end we’re totally working on planning some additional trips/meetups/live podcasts this year. And there’s always the national meetup early next year (details forming up and out this summer for advanced planning).
I’m only a bit into the 'cast, but I love that a few of the audience were comfortable throwing in their thoughts along with you guys. It makes it feel much more of a community and friendly than if you were doing the show with no audience interaction… I hope my wife and I have a chance to be involved some time.
Chuck, do I understand correctly that Sean was using Skype to participated during the podcast? I’m surprised, because he sounded perfectly clear.
I’ve heard other podcasts that have callers call in using Skype the the Skype calls sound horrible.
That is very true, many a podcast is ruined by poor audio via Skype. Maybe Shockwave boosted the signal for him.
I purchased Chromia, she was the only bike transformer I could find, man what a b!#ch to transform. I prefer Sideswipe, I guess a humanoid form is more intuitive to manipulate and play with. Anyways fun podcast people.
I can’t wait. Give me the dates and I will try once again to the be first person to put in my RSVP.
I knew I couldn’t be the only one who thought some of that stuff was a little over the top for kids. I was thinking more along the lines of ages 7-10 but even with an 11-year-old I wouldn’t want to be in the position of explaining pot brownies. Am I a prude about this stuff? I think if the jokes were more worthwhile it might not have bothered me as much, but the leg-humping thing has never amused me!
I had a lot of fun doing this 'cast with everybody. It was a new setup for us in the studio like that and not being able to see Sean as we talked, and everyone just had fun with it. Thanks to all who came to the NYC meetup and to all who listen!
I agree with you guys as well. One of the things that really bothered me about the new Transfomers movies (particularly the '09 one) is that they’re trying too hard to make it appeal to both young kids and adults alike and winding up with a PG-13 movie that falls halfway between an adult movie and a kids movie. With so many scenes involving serious military strategy and deployment, a college-age and sexually active Sam, and a lot of sex/drug references, they’re clearly targeting the movie at adults. Yet they still keep so many aspects of the Transformers animated series reminiscent of a kiddie cartoon such as hiding the giant Autobots from the parents, having Sam’s parents present throughout most of the movies, and a lot of immature child-like Transfomers.
Personally, I don’t mind if an adult movie rated PG-13 or R delves into sex and drug-related humor. But IMHO they’ve tried so hard to keep a kid’s franchise appealing to current adults/kids of the 80’s that I seem to find myself wanting to take the movie more seriously but don’t and if I was a parent, I’d really be on the fence about letting 10 or 11 year olds watch it.
I had a lot of fun doing this 'cast with everybody. It was a new setup for us in the studio like that and not being able to see Sean as we talked, and everyone just had fun with it. Thanks to all who came to the NYC meetup and to all who listen!
It was a lot of fun! Thanks for coming to visit us Northeasterners!
I don’t think you’re a prude a bout it at all! I went with my sister & her kids who are 7 & 10 & several of those scenes are clearly not appropriate for kids that age. I’m not sure about my sister, but watching that chick crawl all over Sam like that made me uncomfortable having the kids there. A scene like that is completely appropriate for a movie like Species, I don’t think it belongs in Transformers. It’s a completely different mindset for the material.
There is a way to do humor that adults will get but is completely over kids heads. They used to be able to pull that kind of humor off before. Somehow it seems Hollywood has lost the art of doing that. If I remeber right, you guys touched on the subject briefly during the Back to the Future podcasts. There were several movies from the 80’s & back who were able to walk that line very well. I don’t know why they stopped, unless they fell victim to the same forces radio did. Janet Jackson’s Super-Boob!
I haven’t noticed you being a prude about this type of stuff on the podcasts, on the other hand you make off color jokes that are actually funny–dog humping, come on, is that really necessary when you have big cool robots.
You guys on the cast kept saying how much you loved the movie, but you also kept talking about certain “disappointments” and frankly…everything you said on that score just cemented my feelings that this is a FAR worse movie than Tran 1. That’s just my opinion of course. I still think there’s action and there’s overkill…and this was the second.
I’m about transformed out–sorry Sean–looking forward to the next arc. Keep up the good stuff.
Audra, we are gald that you came by to see us in the big city. Don’t be a stranger and bring Sean with you next time!
As for the movie, I really liked it, But, the scenes at the university made me very uncomfortable. It wasn’t due to the really hot girl crawling over Shia, although I can see how that would bother people with kids. It has to do with how cheezy that whole school scene was. Chuck said that he never saw a Frat party that looked like the one we saw. I would have to apply that statement to everything that was happening in the the school. There is no school like this one on our world. What freshman has a two room dorm room in a Co-ed Dorm, and all of the women are super hot models? This is a Hollywood veiw of a school.
Yeah, but would smaller dorm rooms have made the movie about giant robots who can disguise themselves into various vehicles have made it more realistic?
As for the posts about scenes not suitable for 7-10 year olds, the film was rated pg-13
ExacTly. I did comment that they were to real frat parties as, say, Bumblebee is to my Dad’s old '82 Camaro. But then again, I generally don’t go to movies for reality.
Trust me, your average 11 y.o. is familiar with the concept of pot brownies.
I thought the movie was a little uneven but overall very watchable. The humor was trying to walk…or explode the line between adult , and kid humor but just ended up unfunny. The robots who can’t read were probably in bad taste epsecially in a movie a lot of kids see. But you do have a likeable cast with cool action scenes. I was never bored with it. I never thought they’d upgrade Optimus Prime like they did. It reminded me of all those times in the franchise when a character came back in a cool way. Transformers 2 is like an episode of the show on a crazy giant scale.
Michael Bay might not come back for 3. I hope they might choose some one with a better story telling ability. I think Steven Speilberg could easily improve the movie franchise.
while in perth, au I went today and saw the movie. It was totally a boys movie and I thought thier was so really funny parts, but since I’m stationed on a US carrier I hated see them use the same Carrier for all the navy parts. first the carrier is distoryed and then it’s name changes and the same carrier is lanching planes which are F-18D/E/F models, but then thier are F-16’s attacking. at the end of the movie they use the USS Bush for one far shot, then when you get close to the ship and see prime talking it’s a different carrier all together. but thats just me being a navy guy.
Hey Robert! Great to see you here again! I think it’s cool how your critique of the film involves the improper use of a naval carrier. They can totally pull the wool over the eyes of someone like me with that. Glad we have some pros around who can point that stuff out!
I must say that I liked this a lot more than I was expecting to, given the scathing reviews. That said, I agree about the crass humor being a little too over the top and really unnecessary in an otherwise enjoyable movie.
[spoiler]One concern I did have, however, was something I’ve given a lot of thot about in the past week: the relationship between Megatron and the Fallen. Was I the only one getting the Vader vibe when he called the Fallen “my master”? And then, at the end of the movie, when the Fallen is destroyed, Megatron seems genuinely hurt by the loss. In general, I’m all for “fleshing out” (see what I did there? :p) otherwise one-dimensional villains, but come on, this is Megatron we’re talking about. He has many strengths, but compassion, subservience, and personal loyalty aren’t among them. Megatron is a great villain because he’s unmitigatingly brutal, representing the kind of evil that our most petty human dictators could only dream of.
Sure, he willingly called Unicron “master” as well, but as we’re well aware, when dealing with a planet that eats other planets, his bargaining posture was highly dubious. Here, though, the roles were reversed. Megatron had been restored to full power, while the Fallen was in a weakened state, depending on the energon scraps the Decepticons brought him. Presumably, Megatron knew where the weapon was and how it worked, so why bother keeping the Fallen alive, unless he cared about him.
This is not the Megatron we know. :([/spoiler]
We definitely need a vidcast for next time.
How about “Thumper”?
Practice.
…which is not to say that they won’t still ask, if just to watch Mom and Dad squirm. 
Can’t belive I forgot to post this. I took this back in 2005 at the Smithsonian Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia (not DC).
Click for full size.
I had no idea it was a Transformer at the time.