A history of Michael Bay

GQ has a very lengthy article about Michael Bay. Here's a bit about Bad Boys:

Klein: There's this scene where Will Smith runs down a street, and at the first test screening in Lakewood, California, women were screaming because Smith's shirt is flying open. That was it. He was a star.

Bay: We had an argument about that shot.

Smith: He was like, "Oh, take your shirt off and run with the gun!" And I was like, "Come on, man. That's just on the edge of corny." But he can take things that you'd think of as corny, and make it supergalactic iconic.

Bay: I was like, "Look at this! You look like a movie star!" And he's like, "Shit, I do!"

Smith: That was the moment for me where I learned how important single images are. That single image took me from a comedic television actor to a potential movie star. The scripts that I started to get offered changed dramatically. It was the first time that I heard women react to me with an audible gasp. There was a transformation from the cute guy next door who could make you laugh to a guy who might be able to handle himself in a bar fight and a bedroom.

And Armageddon:

Klein: Ben [Affleck] was new on the scene. We put him through the Bruckheimer-Bay machine—like, You're no longer chasing Amy. You're going to have to go to the gym, get a tan, get a haircut.

Bay: Jerry had a problem with his teeth. "He's got baby teeth. I fixed Cruise's teeth. We're going to fix his teeth." So Ben got a beautiful set of teeth out of it.

Relatedly, here's a great recut Transformers 3 trailer by Monocular honoring Bay's special brand of movie-making. "Shut up and eat your awesome":



Finally, speaking of Transformers, here's color photos of the Revoltech Optimus Prime available for preorder at the BBTS:




Via these sites.