I could say that I haven't posted a "summer movie wrap-up" blog because I'm choosing to follow the official end-of-summer according to the calendar. Or I could say that it's because I'm desperately holding on to the idea of warmth and vacation. However, neither of those are true. The truth is I'm a teacher and as the summer ends, my free time becomes increasingly rare. However, I hope to make amends for that now.
The overall feeling I got from this summer movie season was...."m'eh". There were two great films, a hand-full of good ones and the rest was either blandly acceptable or really, really bad. Surprisingly, critics and the general public were, for the most part, in sync with each other this summer, with the three most acclaimed summer popcorn movies ("Toy Story 3", "Inception" and "Despicable Me") becoming three of the biggest hits as well and some of the most critically loathed movies (like "Jonah Hex", "MacGruber" and "Marmaduke") totally flopped. The few critical bombs that managed to turn a profit were all attached to franchises ("The Twilight Saga: Eclipse") or T.V. show adaptations with a huge fan base ("The Last Airbender"), but other than that critics and audiences all felt the same about the movies, which was a general apathy.
However, there were some pretty good movies among the rabble. Here are my five favorites of the summer:
5. "The Other Guys" - Whoever cast this movie is brilliant. Will Farrell and Mark Wahlberg aren't the most apparent pairing, but they worked so well together in this movie. I'm sure that Mark Wahlberg, who has been mostly seen as a dramatic actor in his post-model career, will now be getting a lot more comedy roles, and deservedly so. I thought this was flat-out the funniest movie of the summer. It had a terrific cast and several of the most surprisingly funny ideas I've seen in a movie in a long time. (The "Lion Vs. Tuna" argument, the whispered brawl at the funeral, the running gag involving Farrell's "Ball and Chain", Eva Mendes). It was unlike anything Farrell had done with frequent director Adam McKay, but it was instantly my favorite thing they'd done together and, considering they also made "Anchorman" and "Talladega Nights", that's saying quite a bit.
4. "Iron Man 2" - This one got a little bit of backlash, which I really didn't understand. Granted, there's very little there in terms of character arc, but it's a comic book movie and as a serialized entry in a franchise, it worked well. All of the humor from the first movie is in place and the action set pieces are a lot of fun to look at. I loved the first "Iron Man" and thought that this one was a worthy follow-up.
3. "Despicable Me" - I don't know if a movie surprised me more than this one this summer. The animated saga of a super-villain whose life is turned upside-down by a trio of orphan girls, "Despicable Me" was bright, funny and surprisingly heartfelt. It was also one of the few movies that I've seen recently that really benefited from a 3D presentation. The colors were bright enough that the darkness of the 3D process didn't detract and the filmmakers had fun with the potential of the format. Plus, the minions are awesome. Completely and thoroughly.
2. "Inception" - It's rare that a writer lets the audience think for themselves. It's even more rare that a writer encourages it. However, that's what Christopher Nolan, writer/director of the re-vamped "Batman" franchise does with "Inception". It's a cinematic logic-puzzle. A Escher-esque spy thriller with its heart as strongly represented as its head. It's a movie that demands multiple viewings, not just so one can get all the twists and turns, but so that one can just soak up the visual atmosphere. A masterpiece.
1. "Toy Story 3" - Yep. Shocker. I loved a Pixar movie. However, in my defense, I'm far from the only one. "Toy Story 3" was, by far, the biggest grossing movie of the summer, as well as being the most critically acclaimed, with a 99% positive review score from rottentomatoes.com . Plus, in regards to the effect the movie had, Entertainment Weekly ran a poll shortly after the release of "TS3" that revealed 87% of the audience cried at least once, with a fourth of the audience brought to tears "more times than I care to count". I've been concerned as I've heard Pixar planning more and more sequels, but if their sequels can continue to be as sharp, engaging, funny and poignant as this one was, bring 'em on.
I think I'll just leave it there. I can't really give a "worst" list because I avoided the movies that obviously looked bad (no "Marmaduke" or "Vampire Sucks" for me) As the season turns, I now look forward to the movies that'll be joining "Inception" and "Toy Story 3" on the Oscar watch. I'm particularly looking forward to "The Social Network", "Hereafter" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1". However, I'll try to do a better job keeping my thoughts on the movies topical by updating the blog more often. Thanks for reading!
