Is 'Transformers 2' shamelessly sexist and racist?

To be fair, I haven't seen Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I've just been reading up on what people who have watched it think. Admittedly I didn't mind the first one, but I only watched it for Shia LaBeouf and I didn't think a sequel was needed, even though, I'd be a fool not to have expected one. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. A couple of movie blogs have pointed out that the new Transformers could possibly be racist and sexist:

From Movieline via The Playlist:

2. There are two robots in the film called Mudflap and Skids, and despite being red and green, respectively, they are voiced in a way that clearly designates them to be the “black” robots. Also, Skids has a gold front tooth (no, I’m serious) and both cannot read.

3. Every single woman in this film is sexually objectified, save for John Turturro’s mother. Every single one — even Shia’s mom! Whenever there is a scene set in a combat unit or government office, there are no women featured or even glimpsed because then they’d have to be wearing pants, presumably.

From The Movie Blog:

Saw Transformers 2 last night. There is an embargo on reviews until opening day (which is stupid since the European guys all have their reviews up already. So all I’ll say right now is this: Lots of things to love, lots of things to hate… but the “Twins” are the new Jar Jar Binks in all the worst ways you can imagine.

Now John over at The Movie Blog doesn't say outright that the two robot characters are racist in his post. But he does say that they are racist caricatures in the comments section. So, I can't judge until I see the film in its entirety. But when movie blogs not known for heavily discussing things like racism in movies start saying something is racist, I pay attention. I'm going to have to do a follow up post when I see the movie.

Shia LaBeouf says 'Indiana Jones' sequel is happening and I ask WHY?!

Okay, so most of us saw this coming because Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull made a gazillion dollars, and was the second highest grossing film of 2008 (it was beaten only by The Dark Knight). Shia LaBeouf did an interview with the BBC to promote Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but also got around to some Indy news as well:

"Steven [Spielberg] just said that he cracked a story on it before I left and I think they're gearing that up." He doesn't say much else, except that there are "definitely no special effects in that movie," but it's enough of an update to remind us that this is indeed coming soon, whether you like it or not. [FirstShowing]

I actually kind of liked Crystal Skull (vine swinging with monkeys and all), but even the most die-hard fan of that film will admit the film was heavily flawed. It's the sort of film you love in spite of the flaws. I liked Crystal Skull, I liked the actors, I have a thing for Shia LaBeouf, but as of now, I am not excited about this. If Crystal Skull is the best we are going to get (and I suspect it is), then the true greatness of Indiana Jones will be a thing of the past and we'll have to settle for a fun, but slightly above mediocre spectacle of a film. Why can't they just let it die?

Javier Bardem cast as villain in 'Wall Street 2'

Javier Bardem has joined the cast of the upcoming Wall Street 2 as hedge fund manager Bretton Woods. Oliver Stone will be back to direct the sequel, along with Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, and Shia LaBeouf has a new role in the film. Fox has scheduled a release for February 2010 to capitalize on the current clusterfuck of doom global financial crisis. Apparently it only took Gordon Gekko nearly two decades to learn that greed probably isn't good:

The story in Wall Street 2 will span from June 2008 to the federal bailout in September. "We wanted to see some perspective in the same way that the original dealt with insider trading." This is certainly moving along swiftly and I think Bardem is a great choice, especially given how worldly Wall Street has become. The only other tidbit is that in the beginning when Gekko gets out of prison, he believes that the "end is coming." [FirstShowing]