Transformers 2 as an Oscar nominee sounds like the most ridiculous oxymoron ever constructed, but Michael Bay was actually chatting at a Q&A recently about potentially taking home a statue. Don’t worry, he’s not keeping his fingers crossed for a Best Actress nod, more like technical categories like sound editing, sound mixing or visual effects.

But there’s only so long you can talk about sound before the Transformers 3 questions creep in. Sure enough, the LA Times reported “Although the number of robots increased significantly from the first film for the second, the third film -- which will hit theaters in summer 2011, won’t be as robot-heavy and there will be fewer explosions, a tight-lipped Bay said after the Q+A.” The article also quotes Bay as having said, “There will be a nice crescendo ending.” He added, “It gets much more into the robot character. The last time you kind of met a few of the robots; this time you’re gonna get a much cooler landscape.”

I’m glad to see massive box office success didn’t cloud Bay’s filmmaking judgment completely. Perhaps the dizzying non-stop explosions and incoherent robot battles in Transformers 2 made Bay understand that tons of special effects are not a suitable plot substitute. A heavy actioner like this requires a crescendo ending, but let’s just hope it’s limited to the actual grand finale.