Over at USA Today, national enemy of thinking people, Scott Bowles, Film Editor and guy who believes that films suffer when their main character is unlikable, posted an article surveying the summer’s least original movies (and, for no reason, Public Enemies…apparently someone’s life is now a property) and how they fared with audiences and critics. Here’s the section on Transformers 2:

Was it worth it?  Not for fans of
art-house movies. But do they even watch summer flicks? “This is
exactly the movie fans wanted to see, if not critics,” says Paul
Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com. “The Michael Bay formula works,
especially for this kind of movie. You had the title and the toys for
adults, and the action for the kids.”

(click here to read the rest)

There
you have it. Perhaps the leading figure in box office analysis (which
requires about as much talent as being the leading figure in telling
time) has announced outright that adults only saw the movie for the
title and because they remember the toys. And his phrasing suggests
that this is a good thing.

You know…I’m not that
old, but I remember, as a kid, dying to see the movies my parents were
seeing. Now adults want to see whatever their kids are watching, and
not as a way of being involved in their kids’ lives. This is where they
find their entertainment.

Bill Maher is absolutely right.