A whiny email from Transformers director Michael Bay to bosses at Paramount Studio pits the recreator of Optimus Prime against the rules of English grammar.

The electronic missive (pdf), sent in May and leaked to gossip site TMZ, takes issue with Paramount's alleged lack of effort in promoting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the second instalment of the toy-based film franchise.

The Armageddon director, ridiculed in South Park for his perceived over-reliance on special effects, let rip with a rant against Paramount for its allegedly lacklustre publicity push for his latest film. He's since revised his opinion in a second email (pdf) sent a month later describing how the studio is "like family" to him.

Extracts from the first email (below) illustrate why New York magazine is not exaggerating when it describes Bay's rant as "grammatically horrifying".

I'm sure the Yahoo downloads of the trailer are far lower than last movie--I would of got something saying how we broke download records like last time.

And:

I still run into so many people even this weekend with kids that ask 'is that movie coming out this year?'

Grammatical sticklers might well be tempted to emulate the response of noted critic Mark Kermode to the film itself, and run headfirst into a brick wall. ®

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