The Summer So Far

I remember last summer Adam started a thread reviewing the films of the summer. I thought I'd carry on that tradition with this thread and people can leave their own reviews.

Here Goes:
Van Helsing: C-
unfortunately what had potential turned out pretty hokey and sad. Dracula was whiny and Jackman's character was pretty one-dimensional. As Stephen Summers films go it was better than Mummy Returns but that doesn't say a whole lot.

Day After Tomorrow: C
Great special effects but very contrived situations. You think 'wow' and yet roll your eyes at the same time.

Soul Plane: F

I got dragged to this it was awful, jokes ran out about 20 minutes into it.

Troy: D+
Left me with a big 'so what' feeling. If you like the idea of Brad Pitt in a skirt for three hours by all means see this movie. But for me I felt it was a mess and a bore.

Chronicles of Riddick: B+
Very unexpexted continuation of the story of Riddick, great effects, action and story. It's just too bad we peobably won't see the next chapter.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azaban: B-
I've never read the books and the first two films seemed a little dull to me. This one has some pretty good moments though. The ending is a little anticlimatic but its the first one inthe series I can actually say I enjoyed.

Dodgeball: B
Sure we know where this film is headed but it doesn't really matter the movie makes you root for the Average Joes. Vaughn plays a great straight man among all the silliness and Stiller is the type of villian you can't wait to see him get what he deserves.

 

Fahrenheit 9/11: A-
I thought at times this lost focus but overall a very powerful documentary. I'm going to do a writeup for the newspaper on this one. If they let me.

 

Here are some more reviews:

Spider-Man 2: A. don't really need to explain this one.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy: B
This one was funnier than I imagined. One of Will Ferrel's best characters, But not as funny as ....

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle: A
One of the funniest movies of the year. Maybe even the decade. Its a bold statement I know but all I can say is I almost hurt when I left the theater I laughed so hard.

Catwoman: D
I got a free ticket when I bought the animated Batman DVDs. I'm glad it was free. The film was shot well and Halle Berry was halfway ok, but the script was sorely lacking. Departing from the Catwoman we know in the comments may have been forgiveable if the movie didn't suck so bad.

 

Well, here's my list (since everyone is dying to know)

Van Helsing: D-
Holy chessey and annoying and dumb. I don't think I've laughed so hard the rest of the summer, though.

The Day After Tomorrow: B-
The first half of the movie is really cool, with the weather-caused apocolypse. Good Stuff. The second half feels like it could've been ripped from the last hour of Titanic.


Chronicles of Riddick: B-
Better than I thought it would be. Vin Diesel is straight-up BADA$$ as this character. But I really wanted to know more about the Necromonger, and felt let down in that regard.

Dodgeball: B
Pretty funny, and a good preformance fron Vince Vaughn. And that pirate dude was awesome!!

Farenhiet 9/11: B+
Effective piece of propaganda. Funny, sad, angering, depressing, and makes you wanna be an activist.

Spidey II: A+++
I absolutely loved this flick. Maybe it's because I've had a lot of days lately where I feel like I can't do nothing right, like Peter. And Doc Ock ruled!!

Anchorman: B+
The dude from the Daily show steals the show. Watch out for flying tridents!!

I, Robot: C
Cool special effects, and some nice twists, but do we really need another "humans need someone to shepard them or they'll destroy everything" flick?

Napoleon Dynamite: A
Funny, funny, funny without being overly vulgar. If you ever been an outcast, see this flick!!

Hopefully, I'll get to King Aurthur, Super Size Me, Catwoman, and Harold and Kumar soon.

Don't think I'll be seeing the Bourne Supremacy, cuz I already saw Matt Damon do kung fu. Don't think I need to see it again.

Anyways, more to come...

 

I forgot my I, Robot review.

I'll give it a B-. I enjoyed it but not enough to tell people to run out and go see it.

 

My turn, my turn:
Van Helsing- Cool movie, the vampire chicks were pretty awesome, but Dracula was very very gay. B (only because I love Hugh)

Shrek 2- For an animation sequel, it was pretty cool, I still like the first one best. C+

Day After Tomorrow- Come on now, why didn't everyone die? I might have liked it more. It was cool to see everything frozen though. C+

Harry Potter- I actually saw this movie twice, and it was much better the second time. I too haven't read the books, but I am liking the movies. B+

Troy- Saw this movie twice too, and I loved it both times. It is probably because of all the scantly clothed men, but it was still a good movie. A-

Chronicles of Riddick- Most awesome movie. I really liked it, more so than I thought I would. The previews had me second guessing it, but the movie was well worth seeing, and to buy also. A-

The Notebook- Yes, I cried for most of the movie and got made fun of for it. This is a great love story, and I think it would do you guys some good to see it. A

Harold and Kumar go to White Castle- What can I say? This is by far the best movie of the summer. I wish more people would have gone to the sneak preview. I laughed so hard, and I can't wait to see it again, and again and again. I hope there are more Harold and Kumar movies!!!! A++++

 

Ok, so here's the movies I've seen this summer:

Spidey 2: A+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Spidey 2: (the 2nd time): A+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Spidey 2: (the 3rd time): A+++++++++++++++++++++++++

What an awesome summer of movies!!!!! Now I just can't wait to go see Spidey 2!!!!!!!

 

All right...my turn:

Chronicles of Riddick: A++++++, I love this movie! Riddick is a total bada$$, and I thought the story was good...

Spidey 2: DUH! A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shrek 2: Uhhh, I dunno. I don't like Mike Myers anyway, but I thought Banderas was good... C+

The Bourne Supremacy: A+....I haven't seen it yet, but I KNOW it's gonna ROCK!

That's all....

 

Ok, here's a new one:

Super-Size Me: B-
Interesting, funny, entertaining, and even a bit enlightening. But, it has some major logical flaws (like: how does one go from a vegan diet to a month-long McDonald's binge and not get sick?)

 

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle: B+

Very funny, in that dumb stoner sort of way. There's a couple of fantasy sequences that have to be seen to be believed. Good, but not up to par with Cheech and Chong, Jay and Silent Bob, or even Method Man and Redman.

 

The Village: C+

For the first hour or so, it's pretty interesting and tense. But, M. Night Shyamalan's insistance on plot twists and surprise endings weakens what could have potentially been a much stronger story.

 

The Village C-

I was very disappointed with the ending of this movie. Adrien Brody was awesome though. This movie taught me something though. No matter how sheltered you try and make people, bad stuff can still happen.

 

Collateral: B+

A pretty good, tense thriller. Tom Cruise is really effective as the bad guy in this flick and Jamie Foxx is awesome. A bit slow at times, but pretty rewarding if you sit it out.

 

AVP - Alien Vs. Predator: B

A lot of fun. Good monster fighting sequences, and some cool explosions. Takes a little too long to get going, though. And could have used more monster fighting.

 

Ok, so I don't get that super-size me film. The guy eats at McDonald's for 30 days in a row and has adverse effects. Don't buy it. Do you know how many days in a row I've eaten at McDonald's?

 

Yes, but do you eat there every meal of every day? If so, does it make you wonder what you would look like if you didn't?

I think that one would get sick eating there every meal for a month. Heck, after day two, I would be hating life I think.

 

You get used to it.

Riddick (just finished watching it) A++

Awesome movie, awesome movie, I'd say it's my 4th favorite film of the summer, after Spidey 2, Spidey 2, and Spidey 2.

 

Here is my take on the Supersize Me thing. The guy had a vegan girlfriend and probably didn't eat alot of fast food. He went from that kind of diet to eating Big Mac's and McGriddles everyday and supersized the meals whenever they asked. I think if anyone made a change to their diet that drastically its going to have some kind of effect. They guy's first meal was a supersized Double Quarter Pounder value meal and he threw up. When that happened I figured he wasn't use to it at all.

I think what the guy did was a stunt to get attention rather than a legitimate experiment. When we didn't see the guy gorging himself on McDonald's food the film did have alot of interesting facts and figures about the way people eat and the way food manufacturers operate. Some of the film was well researched but the McDonald's diet he went on was a little much.

 

Well, I don't know how the guy hasn't got sued yet, he shot in McDonalds stores, which means he should've had to have their legal permission. We've had to tell people to shut their camcorders off, because it's not allowed inside the store. Plus super-size is a registered trademark. And it's just plain slander, not to mention stupid. But yeah, I agree with Erik, that it was the guy's sudden change in diet, not the McDonald's diet itself that had such and adverse effect on him.

 

I'm not sure he should have gotten sued for what he did. What he did was pretty nutty, but I don't think he said anything that was not true. He also acknowledged that nobody eats that much McDonald's food in that span of time. I'm not sure the stunt he pulled put much weight, pardon the pun, on his argument. Most people know all sorts of things they eat aren't the best for them but the eat it anyway. Heck I'm as guilty as anyone else. I have mixed feelings about the movie because I thought it was very well researched and gave me a lot of food for thought.

 

I think the thing to remember is that this was a piece of propaganda, designed to elicit a repsonse. It's supposed to be completely biased and over-the-top.

 

This one's a bit late but...

Open Water: B

Pretty tense and I enjoyed it. The way the film was shot strands you out in the middle of the ocean with the lead couple. But it's not easy to watch, pretty depressing. I don't think I'd want to see it again.

 

The Summer in summation....

This was actually a pretty bland movie summer. Aside from Spidey II and Napoleon Dynamite, there wasn't really anything that blew me away. Anchroman and Dodgeball were suprises, as was Harold and Kumar, so it was a decent summer for comedy.

However, The Village was a crock and Van Hellsing was awful. And the more I think about Super-Size Me, the less water-tight the premise gets.

I feel kinda bad that I missed the following flicks:

Shrek II (hated the first one and woulda loved to complain about the second one)
Harry Potter (Still have not seen even one of those flicks all the way through)
King Arthur (Didn't look too interesting)
Catwoman (Looked frickin' stupid)
Bourne Supremacy (Matt Damon goin' Kung-Fu just doesn't do anything for me)

but I guess there's always next summer to look forward to, when we'll get SWIII, Fantastic Four, and Batman!! Rock on!!

 

So is summer over then? What about Resident Evil: Apocalypse or Shawn of the Dead?

They both look like movies to see. And I know you all hate sports and stuff but Mr. 3000 with Bernie Mac kinda looks good too.

 

With school back in session, I think it's safe to say that the summer movie season is over. But I'll start a new thread about coming attraction...