Thursday, August 28, 2008

summer movie recap

first of all, look at this awesome poster that will blow your mind:   
(click poster for link to source)

Second I've decided to make a count down of the best movies I saw this summer since really, its been the most consistent movie going summer in years if not ever. I saw one dud and had a lot of fun watching it.  DISCLAIMER: I'm not a movie critic. I just ranked these movies on how much fun I had watching them. 

8)The Happening
This movie is hilarious. It plays out like a 50s-60s B-Movie: bad acting, over the top plot, its so much fun to sit in the theater and wonder how and why this thing got made. My only regret is that went on the opening day (too much$$) and didn't wait until the dollar theater. 

7)Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
I had a lot of fun at this movie but my expectations were way higher after seeing Pans Labyrinth.  I thought I was going to get a touching poetic movie about a sarcastic demon but instead I got a special effects ride that wizzed by in the matter of minutes (kinda like Men in Black but with magic instead of aliens) It also bothered me that they did tons of set up for a third movie which will most likely not happen.

6)Wanted: 
I had a blast seeing this one with my girl and her parents. Ultra violent over the top action. Nothing more. I like the author Mark Millar a lot too and apparently the movie strays quite a bit from the comic, but really what ever gets this guy more work in hollywood is fine by me. 

5)The Incredible Hulk:
What a surprise. This turned out way better than I was expecting. It's basically the Hulk smashing stuff with tons of nods to the comics....and thats all I ever wanted. 

4)Pineapple Express:
I had this hyped up in my mind as the movie of the year because of how much I like the artsy director David Gordon Green and the concept of him making a stoner action comedy. In the end it was good not great barely rising above the rest of the Apatow films (which are all generally good.) 

3)The Dark Knight:
I really liked this movie. Ledger, Eckhart, and Oldman nail their roles and Chris Nolan is a great story teller but over all too many great aspects of the Batman character are sacrificed in order to give the movie its perfect structure. Someday we will see a movie where Batman A) is a genius detective that relies on his brain instead of his gadgets B) gets to jump around a little bit and take down enemies as some one whose perfected every martial art in the world would and C) isn't motivated by a love interest. 

If I didn't know anything about Batman I would have loved this movie.


2)Tropic Thunder:
Yes, I liked this more than Batman. It's silly, not all the jokes work, but the ones that do work really well. This might be the best Ben Stiller film ever. 

1)Ironman: 
I don't need to say much about this. It's funny, its action packed, and its true to the characters. Definitely the best comic adaptation so far. 


still on my list to see: Wall-e, The Foot Fist Way, Indy 4


film nerd rant off. 

UPDATE 9/9/08: I saw Indy 4 and it was horrible. The next day I saw Hancock and it was alright even though it lacked a considerable amount of sassy zings from Will Smith. 




 



2 comments:

pla said...

I just read an article today about Del Toro's upcoming films that included another Hellboy sequel, to be filmed after he finishes The Hobbit, Frankenstein, Slaughterhouse Five, etc. It might be a bit of a wait, but I think he is planning to make it eventually.

The differences between the comic and the movie of Wanted are kind of a mixed bag. Less overt misogyny, homophobia, and hostility to the readers in the film, but also loses all the superhero metafiction (and adds in the not overly coherent plot device with the loom).

Eric Edward Fishboy said...

yeah I read that too. I'm still really doubtful. The Hobbit is going to take like five years to make and the box office figures for HB2 are pretty poor. I don't know if the studio will want a third movie once Del Toro has time to do it and I can't imagine it with another director.