Summer 2010: The Few Highs and the Several Lows

Often the summer movie season gets a bad rap from showcasing films that lack what the majority of the cinema literate would call class or the human condition. These are usual big spectacle movies that are there to bring in the people for what could be a really great entertaining experience that isn't so in need to getting heavy critical attention. And really without those money making, often empty headed films... those art pictures or award pictures either wouldn't have the funding (because 90% of them never really make back their budgets) or in the case of foreign films, wouldn't be bought by our companies for distribution here. So perhaps some film snobs (or wannabe film snobs) ought to think before they're so quick to condemn the profit season.

All this said for the most part this past summer sucked. The few bits of relief that all hope in the creative world wasn't lost came near the end of the summer or from getting to watch spring released films that got to my location late (like 'Exit Through the Gift Shop', which is still the best film I've seen all year). In truth before hand there wasn't nearly as much to look forward to as it had been in previous years. In 2009 for example there was something almost every weekend that had potential to be a lot of fun and even with junk like "Terminator Salvation" and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" I still think overall it was a pretty descent summer season. This time around not so much. Generally what seemed to be the biggest issue was either films played things too safe or just flat out didn't try at all. Coming up with a best and worst of the summer was rather tough, but this is what I've boiled it down to. Enjoy.

BEST

1."Scott Pilgrim vs. The World"
Edgar Wright didn't just make a movie, he made a love letter to the medium. He filled this movie with so much care and attention to the things he enjoys and by extension his fans tend to enjoy with geeky delight. He also effectively makes Michael Cera into an impressive fighter while making us constantly laugh. It's creative, fun, joyful and packed with hilarity. The biggest shame of all is that the film has yet to really find an audience. My wish is that come DVD that will all change and people will get to see Cera in a new light as well as experience just how gleefully cool the movie is.

2. "Inception"
Gotta love the success of a twisty sci-fi action, thriller about dreams. Along with S.P. I've been meaning to re-watch this in theaters, but from that first viewing and all the after thoughts I simply was engrossed from beginning to end. DiCaprio has done two of his best performances this year (the other being 'Shutter Island') and Christopher Nolan has added another impressive mark to his filmography.

3. "Valhalla Rising"
Brutal, transcendental and thought provoking. Nicolas Winding Refn's "Valhalla Rising" is simply a film that has got to be seen to be understood. It's as nasty as any hard R-action film, but with so much soul and haunting beauty filling the frames. A real work of art.

4. "Salt"
A type A-summer action movie with the big star, the violence and the attitude, but damn if it wasn't effective and fun. I've liked to various extents Jolie's action work, but not until this did I really, really dig her at it. As Salt, the pursued possible Russian assassin she takes part in a lot of CGI-less stunt sequences, geekily fun espionage scenes (like the 'Mission: Impossible' homage that's far more realistic, but also silly) and some surprisingly rough and bloody fights. Director Philip Noyce really just reminded me about all the fun summer movies CAN have in the right hands.

5. "Piranha 3D"
Cheerfully stupid and proud of it is the way Alexandre Aja's reboot aimed and accomplished with flying colors. The difference between this film and the many, many imitation B-movies we see is that this is the real macoy. Aja seems to have finally hit the right mark with his casting of C to D level stars that we know, giving them all their moments and then providing us with exactly what he said he would; gore, breasts and laughs in gimmicky 3D.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
-"Toy Story 3"
-"Splice"
-"The Last Exorcism"
-"The Other Guys"
-"Dinner for Schmucks"

WORST

1. "Grown Ups"
A bitter, bitter taste was left after seeing this movie. A taste that has stuck with myself and my friends. So bad is this taste that it has hurt our ability to sit back and endure shitty movies for the sake of enduring them. I don't hate Adam Sandler movies generally. And I'm not saying that because of "Punch Drunk Love" or "Funny People", I'm talking about traditional Sandler fair. I still enjoy 'The Waterboy', '50 First Dates', 'Happy Gilmore' and a couple of others, but this is like the lowest of the low for him. This is "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" bad. And worst yet all these comedians deliver their worst work here. However bad Chris Rock or David Spade or Kevin James has been... they top themselves.

2. "Sex and the City 2"
142 minutes of piss poor jokes and women behaving like self important, ignorant savages in foreign and domestic lands. It's a film that might make you hate women for a while. Or rather women who think THIS is how they should act.

3. "Macgruber"
Will Forte is not funny. I'd like to find him funny, but I don't. "Macgruber" ends up being a testament to just how painfully unfunny he actually is and how crappy of a character and satire the whole mess is. Barely any of the jokes work and often it's own irreverence works so strongly against it that you start to wonder were they trying to make the movie THIS unfunny. If so mission accomplished.

4. "Marmaduke"
Boring and crappy kids movie SUCK to endure. At least with some other films you might be able to see some nice locations or have a vice to fall back on, but traditionally in really bad kids films there is nothing. "Marmaduke" is no exception. All there is are rough CGI mouth movements, bad writing filled with puns and somewhat creepy animal romances.

5. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
Better than the first two, but still crap. The other day I actually re-watched a few scenes and realized just how goofy and funny some of finale really is. Pretty much all the mountain soap opera stuff was way funnier this time around and the set looked even more unrealistic. Furthermore 'Eclipse' actually serves to show even more than NOTHING happened in "New Moon". How these books got so popular out of re-treading the same plot with characters saying the same things the entire time is beyond me. All I know is that with two movies left based on the final book there is a chance (a slim one) that acclaimed director Bill Condon can do something to make them at least bearable.

And now we look forward to the fall season. From how it looks right now we could be in for A LOT of really impressive stuff. For me cinema is working at it's best when we're seeing a nice diversity of art and entertainment. It's great looking forward to new films by Fincher, Aronofsky, Boyle, Eastwood, Stone, Redford, the Coens, Rodriguez, Noe, Russell and possibly new stuff from Malik, Payne and Weir. What'll end up being the big talk of the season? The field is wide open right now and the possibilities are currently endless.

Best Films of the Summer

Sadly enough I didn't see nearly as many summer flicks as I usually do and I missed a few that I was really excited for like "The Hurt Locker" and "(500) Days of Summer", but at the same time there was a ton of really, really impressive and fun summer films that I did see. Some bigger than others, but equally great. Now instead of doing a list, I've decided to just do as I did with my worst list and discuss the ones I loved the most. Oh... and there's more than three.

I'll begin with the first great summer film I saw and that was "Star Trek". This is real sci-fi adventure. Not action or any other sub genre, this is the real deal. J.J. Abrams proves AGAIN why he is considered one of the most impressive and original talents in Hollywood, by taking something like this franchise and not just giving it a face lift but giving it enough pop for both older and newer audiences. His casting choices were perfect, effects were dramatic and Michael Giacchino's score is PERFECT for this film. Definitely one of the best this year.

Next is Sam Raimi's more than impressive directorial return to horror. "Drag Me to Hell" marked the "Spider-Man" franchise's director's first horror picture since "Army of Darkness" in 1991 and this is about as perfect a Raimi film as it can get. Allison Lohman's main character development is great to see as she goes from sheepish office girl, to curse fighting badass. Also this film is tearfully funny. It's clear that Raimi has NOT lost his touch by any means and it just makes us long for an "Evil Dead 4" or some more of his brand of horror-humor. Definitely one of the best PG-13 horror films I've seen in recent memory.

Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" is probably his strongest film in his digital film making portfolio. Johnny Depp and Marion Colliard's performances are flawless in their realism. The film itself is a mix of crystal clear digital picture and very gritty and intense photography by Dante Spanotti (a Mann alumni from "The Last of the Mohican's", "Heat" and "The Insider") . All wrapped up in a great epic crime drama that's up among the most impressive gangster pictures of the 2000's.

The final few are ones I've talked about extensively since starting the site. The first being Judd Apatow's dramedy "Funny People" that show cased a slew of great performances. Among them Adam Sandler's somewhat self-reflective lead character that shows he can still be funny and can be dramatic and believable. Then there's the sci-fi thriller "District 9" which invokes the spirit of an independent film mixed with James Cameron's "Aliens". And finally the center piece to it all, Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds", a masterwork that's far better than I could've imagined and with far more layers then I expected.

So now we await to see what the fall and winter bring us this year. A lot of really impressive comedies are coming up by a lot of big names. I think the Oscar race this year will be interesting with 10 Best Picture spots open, it's very possible that a film that doesn't come out between November and January could get in for change. And who knows what other surprises lay in wait. Till next time guys.