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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Wednesday 19 december 2018
'Transformers' gets a great savior in 'Bumblebee'

By MARK KENNEDY and her distracted mom
Associated Press and stepdad. If the film
The "Transformers" movie seems to have that kid-
universe has lately been sized, wistful '80s Steven
leaky and rusted out. It's Spielberg feel, it might be
become shorthand for bad because Spielberg serves
blockbuster moviemaking as an executive producer.
— male-driven, mindless (Franchise helmer Michael
spectaculars with sopho- Bay has been exiled from
moric humor. How can it the director's chair to the
be saved? Just hand the executive suite.)
keys over to some talented Hodson is the first woman
women. to originate and write a
"Bumblebee," the sixth film film in the $4.3-billion "Trans-
in the series, is a stand- formers" franchise and she
alone origin story written proves extremely capable
with disarming skill by Chris- of blending loud action
tina Hodson and starring with human pathos, not to
the gifted Hailee Steinfeld. This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie and Bumblebee in mention tart with sweet,
It's a charming tale of a a scene from "Bumblebee." though she gets danger-
girl and her adorable car- Associated Press ously close to maudlin
robot, flipping the script when it comes to Charlie's
on the tired, bloated fran- LaBeouf at the start of the and listening to The Smiths. municate using word snip- dad. "I can't lose you, too,"
chise. While hard-core fan- first film.) Badly hurt while She is still mourning her pets he hears on the radio. the young woman tells
boys may complain it's too battling two evil tracking dead dad and feels gener- She warns that bad guys the yellow robot. Steinfeld
soft, this film may turn out Decepticons, he loses his ally unheard. For her 18th are sure to come and take nails teen alienation but
to be the perfect way to voice and memories. Then birthday, Charlie drives off him away, but she will pro- also can turn on empathy
save "Transformers." Could he disguises himself as a with the junked VW that tect him. "People can be beautifully and has a win-
Bumblebee rescue Opti- vintage Volkswagen Bug has a whole bunch of se- terrible about things they ning cockiness. Plus, she
mus Prime this time? and waits for deliverance cret options. don't understand," she tells sings the movie's signature
"Bumblebee " is set out- in a salvage yard (not un- Despite discovering that him. song (Talk about a trans-
side San Francisco in 1987, like the entire "Transformers" the car is, in fact, an alien, Thus starts a sort of "E.T." for former). Hodson and di-
where the loyal B-127 Auto- universe). she feels a kinship to this 2018, in which Charlie and rector Travis Knight ("Kubo
bot has been sent to pro- He's discovered by goth-y mute metal giant with ex- Bumblebee outfox another and the Two Strings") take
tect Earth and prepare the misfit Charlie Watson (Stein- pressive eyes, calling him pair of Decepticons, the full advantage of the film's
groundwork for the fran- feld), who is fond of car Bumblebee. He, too, is un- entire U.S. Army (led by a late-1980s setting to give us
chise (He'll befriend Shia repair, Motorhead T-shirts heard, but learns to com- mechanical John Cena) visual and audio jokes.q

1947 best-picture Oscar sells for nearly

$500,000 at auction

over $200,000 in a rare auc- $192,000, a hover board
tion of Oscars that ended Marty McFly rode in "Back
Friday in Los Angeles. to the Future II" that sold
A best-picture Oscar for for $102,000, and a golden
"Gentleman's Agreement," ticket from "Willy Wonka
the 1947 film starring Greg- & the Chocolate Factory"
ory Peck that took on anti- that brought in $48,000.
Semitism, sold for $492,000. The "Mutiny on the Bounty"
A best picture statuette for Oscar price came close
1935's "Mutiny on the Boun- to auction-house projec-
ty" fetched $240,000. tions, but the "Gentleman's
Both were outpaced by an Agreement" statuette
archive of papers on the brought in more than twice
origin and development what was expected, for
of "The Wizard of Oz" that reasons that are not clear.
brought in $1.2 million. The buyers of both Oscars
Auction house Profiles in and "The Wizard of Oz"
This undated file image pro- History announced the re- document chose to remain
vided by Profiles in History sults after four days of bid- anonymous.
shows the best picture Acad-
emy Award for "Gentleman's ding on Hollywood memo- Auctions of Oscar statu-
Agreement." rabilia that brought in more ettes are very uncommon
Associated Press than $8 million in total. because winners from 1951
Other items sold include a onward have had to agree
Associated Press TIE fighter helmet from the that they or their heirs must
LOS ANGELES (AP) — One original "Star Wars" that offer it back to the Acad-
Academy Award trophy went for $240,000, a Phaser emy of Motion Picture Arts
sold for nearly $500,000 pistol from the original "Star and Sciences for $1 before
and the second for well Trek" TV series that fetched selling it elsewhere. q