I'm starting a series in which I'm highlighting several directors and authors I like on their birthday. I'll give a little background info and tell why I like them.
Michael Bay was born February 17, 1965. He started out a commercial and music video director, working for Nike, Victoria Secret, Meat Loaf, and others.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer gave Bay his first film, Bad Boys, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawerence. After that, Bay has been responsible for some massive moneymaking films: The Rock, Armageddon, the Transformers franchise, just to name a few.
I love Michael Bay. He is a love-or-hate guy. He is an easy target for critics but you have to admit, Bay knows what he is doing. He is a commercial director who knows his movies make lots of money and he wants to make his producers and the studios happy. And he is perfectly okay with that. I think that riles a lot of people. I think critics and film students want directors to aim for loftier goals, to rise above "commercialism" and reach some sort of transcendence with their films. Bay doesn't care about that, and I think that is a good thing. We need popcorn movies. We need entertainment. Bay delivers that in a slick visual style with explosive action sequences, beautiful cinematography, and humor.
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