Apparently, I am not the only one who thinks this Summer’s movies Sucked, Newsweek Magazine had an article wondering what Hollywood was thinking with it’s movie offerings.
What Movie was the Worst this Summer?
For me it was The Hulk, and Bad Boys 2, but all the Movies were pretty bad, and I didn’t see as many as past years.
No, not all of them were bad. X Men 2 was very good, Matrix: Reloaded was good, though not as good as the first movie. Open Range was good. Pirates of the Carribean was EXCELLENT.
The worst was obviously Gigli, by common affirmation, though I freely admit to not seeing it.
I didn’t like Hulk, Hollywood Homicide, SWAT, or Terminator 3.
However, I really enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean, X-Men 2, Finding Nemo, Charlie’s Angels 2, A Mighty Wind, and yes, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
I don’t think this summer’s offerings were any better or worse than other recent summers, and obviously tastes are subjective. However, it does seem like we had an extra lot of sequels this year, and no far-and-away standout, like Spider-Man or a Star Wars movie that dominated the box office all summer.
I liked the Hulk. It wasn’t a perfect movie, but I thought the use of screen-dividing tricks was creative, original and interesting, I thought it had a decent (if, towards the end, rather abstract) storyline and good acting and direction.
In fact, the only part I didn’t really care for was the action sequences. Just goes to show.
Actually, the screen-dividing tricks (comic book panels) were my favorite part. That and the lovely Jennifer Connelly.
Among the non-blockbusters, I liked both Bruce Almighty and Bend It like Beckham.
I don’t consider X-2 a Summer Movie, since it was out in May.
I did like Bruce Almighty and Pirates of the Caribbean. Matrix Reloaded was good.
Pirates of the Caribbean was so good it made me forget Legally Blonde 2
This was a crummy year for summer movies, indeed. Of couse, my area doesn’t get a lot of limited release and indie flicks so I usually have to catch those on DVD.[ul][li]Identity. I enjoyed it, although I could have done without the mind-fuck, twist ending. Hollywood has definitely gone to the well too many times with this gimmick.[/li]
[li]Finding Nemo. I loved this one. Beautiful to look at, engaging characters, and a story meaningful to both children and adults. Easily the best of the summer.[/li]
[li]Pirates of the Carribean was also very enjoyable. Johnny Depp is absolutely stunning as Keith Richards. A camp classic.[/li]
[li]XMen2 was a crushing bore. At least the first one, as flawed as it was, provided depth to the characters to keep me interested. The sequel was needlessly busy and long.[/li]
[li]The Matrix: Reloaded. I loved the first movie and thoroughly enjoyed The Animatrix yet I thought the sequel was TERRIBLE. This easily counts as the summer’s biggest disapointment for me. Everything that worked so well for the original was a major stumbling block in the sequel. The filmmaker’s desperate need to top the kick-ass special effects and fight scenes of the original led to needlessly over-the-top and overlong sequences that did nothing to enhance the movie. The quasi-philosophical musings on the nature of reality in the first movie at least kinda-sorta made sense, while the endless, incoherent ramblings on the nature of fate ground the sequel to a halt in more than one place. Not to mention the fact that Zion turned out to be somebody’s grotty basement over-populated by ravers with crap taste in music.[/li]
[li]The Hulk. I went in prepared to love this movie. Afterall, I’d liked just about every other movie of Ang Lee’s but, instead, I regard it as an interesting failure. I respect his commitment to character development and exploration of deep psychological themes but, more often than not, the plot came across as muddled as the cinematography.[/li]
[li]Bruce Almighty. Contemptible Shit. I’ve come despise Jim Carrey and his desperate craving for mainstream acceptability. Between this, The Truman Show and The Majestic I’ve had quite enough of his moist, cornball cheese.[/li]
Terminator 3. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this flick. Not as good as the first two, but the action played out in a tongue-in-cheek manner that proved to be an effective counterpoint to the bleak storyline.[/ul]Sadly, I’ve not had an opportunity to see more movies this summer but I’m hoping to correct that during the non-crap movie season this fall.
I guess I’ll just go through the movies I saw this summer and at the end I’ll pick a worst - seems easiest…
Daddy Day Care - If I remember correctly, I thought this movie was relatively respectable. I’m a big Eddie Murphy fan so that probably helped.
X2 - It was a decent flick. I wasn’t pleased with it as I hoped I would be, there was something small missing - still saw it twice though.
The In-Laws - Laughed my ass off, one of the funniest movies I saw this summer. I thought the reviews were a bit harsh.
The Italian Job - Good movie, top to bottom. Glad I saw it.
Bruce Almighty - Not as impressed as I hoped I would be. Not the worst movie all summer but certainly by no means the best.
The Matrix Reloaded - It was certainly an action movie, that much is for sure. Maybe a little too much action.
28 Days Later - Enjoyed the movie a great deal.
The Hulk - Really enjoyed it, hope they decide on a sequel.
Hollywood Homicide - respectable.
Charlies Angels - Attractive woman beating people up…what’s not to like.
Whale Rider - Think this was at last years Toronto Film festival but the release date was June 6. This was hands down my favorite movie this summer. I really got into this movie and was on the edge of my seat near the end.
T3 - The ending made the movie (for me) plus there were lots of splosions.
Seabiscuit - Very good. A clear cut second best movie this summer.
Lara Croft - I’m a guy, of course I liked it. It was admittedly, a full on rip off of Indiana Jones.
Legally Blonde 2 - Thought it was very funny. I guess it just rubs my funny bone the right way.
LXG - yuck. A lot of potentially great characters that I had absolutely no relationship with.
Bad Boys II - very funny, kinda gross.
Pirates - This would have to be my third favorite movie of the summer.
I guess, for me anyway, this seems to have been a fairly respectable summer for movies. Far and away, the worst movie was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Of the ones I’ve seens;
X-Men 2 - Very good. Better than the original in my opinion
**Terminator 3 **- Very good stand alone action movie. Suffers when compared to T2 though
2 Fast 2 Furious - Very good in a brainless way. I preferred it to the first one
The Hulk - Good. A bit slow but I still enjoyed it overall
Matrix 2 - Awful. An hour too long. Boring fight scenes. Pretentious, drawn out dialogue.
Charlies Angels 2 - Awful. I loved the first one but the only decent thing about this one was Bernie Mac
Bruce Almighty - OK. Not a classic but quite funny in parts. Anything was Morgan Freeman tends to be quite watchable though
Films I saw this summer (beginning of May to now), on a scale of 1 to 10:
10: Marooned in Iraq
9: Capturing the Friedmans, Down with Love, The Man on the Train
8: Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary, A Mighty Wind, Open Range, Raising Victor Vargas, 28 Days Later…, Whale Rider, Winged Migration
7: The Good Thief, The Housekeeper, The Hulk, I Capture the Castle, Identity
6: Bend It Like Beckham, The Dancer Upstairs, Finding Nemo, Lilja 4-Ever, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spellbound
5: The Eye, The Italian Job, Seabiscuit, The Shape of Things, Swimming Pool, X2
4: Matrix Reloaded, Northfork
****: **