Day 10: A Movie From The Director You Hate The Most

THE ROCK (1996)

This was a hard one because it didn't state whether you liked or disliked the movie but hated the director, so I've chosen a movie that I've enjoyed from time to time from a director that I truly can’t stand – Michael Bay.

The movie really isn't that bad. It has a decent cast (outside of Nick Cage, but I'm not getting into that today), an outlandish concept and plot, but in the end, it's put together pretty well. My bet is that it had more to do with the producers putting out a decent product from start to finish. Jerry Bruchheimer, as much as you may like or dislike the dude, has produced some top-rated material in his day. Michael Bay wasn't too big for his britches yet... so I think Bruckheimer was able to hold the reigns pretty tight and close on this one.

The movie lacks believability, but then again, most of Bay's films aren't believable. So in the end, this was Bay's most believably unbelievable movie. (That made sense, right?) Everything else he's done pretty much resembles large cinematic turds, starting with Bad Boys (which was more like a music video), and then a brief pause, which then picked back up with Armageddon.

Additionally: In all seriousness, who's brilliant idea was it at Criterion headquarters that Michael Bay deserved not one, but TWO Criterion DVD releases? (The other release was Armageddon, by the way.) I've never understood how this came to be, considering the rest of their library. "The Criterion Collection is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions of the highest technical quality, with supplemental features that enhance the appreciation of the art of film." Um, yeah... sure it is.

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