EJ

I kinda liked this one a lot. It delivered what it was supposed to deliver and nothing more: Big ol' robots beating the shit out of each other, property damage be damned. I walked out of the theater feeling that I got my money's worth. Rosie H. Whitley was perfectly fine in the role she was supposed to play. Considering her lack of experience in front of the movie camera, I think she did well enough to not deserve some of the ire we have been reading about her. The Beef was the Beef and he did a good job as well. I think he has some good comedic timing.

There seems to be a lot of "all or nothing hyperbole" flying around about this one. If it wasn't awesome then it most definitely sucked. I agree with a lot of what JNewcomb said earlier. People have to have common sense when it comes to their choice of entertainment. Michael Bay's movies all seem to be reviewed the same way: Big explosions, slow-mo, gratuitous shot of comely ladies weak plot and exposition, blah, blah, blah. Common sense would tell most people to stay away from these abominations. Yet, his movies seem to make a shit ton of money and he never seems to be wanting for employment. Why? Because despite all the bitching, people, for some reason or another seem to enjoy his work on screen and throw money at it (most of us included). For Christ's sake Stephen freaking Spielberg got behind these supposed unholy affronts on good taste not one, not two but three times. You are going to see a movie about giant walking, talking, transforming robots. Stop and say that out loud to yourself and really listen to what you are saying. Go ahead, I'll wait. No really, do it. Okay. Then say that said movie about walking, talking, transforming robots somehow missed the mark by being weakly written or had plot holes. It's ridiculous. All of these genre movies are ridiculous and can be torn apart if you look too closely. Even the supposed "classics" are not immune. I may be too forgiving in my criticism for movies and my entertainment in general but I can guarantee you that I'm a lot more satisfied in my moviegoing experience.

Highlights:
Optimus Prime and Bumblebee kicking ass and tearing out spines.
Frances McDormand introducing the Wreckers as assholes.
The Beef screaming like a bitch during that scene where Bumblebee transforms from car to robot and back while shuffling the Beef in and out of the passenger seat.
Mama Beef commenting on the new Beef-mobile as a sad piece of shit.
The whole 3-D experience.
Wheelie and the other little robot were amusing.
Alan Tudyk going all "Born Identity" in that mexicanrussian standoff scene.
The whole idea of the real reason behind the race to the moon and the inclusion of Buzz Aldrin.
Sentinel Prime reciting the "Needs of the many..." Spock line.
The establishing shot of Rosie H. Whitley. (I think I heard the kids in the row in front of me spontaneously go through puberty during this one.)
Optimus Prime and Bumblebee kicking ass and shooting off heads.

I have been in the printing industry for about 20 years now and It has indeed come a long way in my time. When I started most of the prep work was done conventionally "on the table" with actual film stripped onto flats to be burned onto lithographic plates. Nowadays, the bigger printing outfits process all of their work through a digital/electronic workflow where plates are imaged with a laser as opposed to vacuumed film in a light frame. Once all the legwork is done to make a comic, (or any printed piece for that matter) ready to print on a press, the process to optimize that file for "digital viewing" is pretty easy assuming you are using a simple PDF workflow or something comparable. A simple Acrobat Distiller type program would make saving out a print ready file to a smaller screen resolution appropriate version in no time at all. All I'm talking about here is getting the actual files ready to view in a smaller format. As to whatever interface the publisher chooses to use as the carrier for the finished product is beyond me and could very well take many man hours and copious amounts of money. However, I would assume that once a standard has been set and a proper workflow organized, this should become a relatively easy and cheap way to publish.