A good summer for movies

Thu, 08/23/2007 - 4:17pm
By: Michael Boylan

Sorry, I didn’t have time to hit the theaters to review a new movie for this week. I don’t even know what came out and I didn't really care either. There’s some good stuff coming, but I think the summer movie season officially ended with the release of “Superbad.”

Overall, I was pleased with the releases this summer, even though most of the “threes,” left at least a little to be desired.

My top movies of the summer:

• “Superbad” - Much like some of my favorite movies of all time, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “Dazed and Confused,” “Superbad” gave viewers a good story, great characters, hilarious dialogue and huge laughs.

• “Knocked Up” - This movie is like the older, slightly more mature brother of “Superbad.” It was a big hit because of its mixture of heart and humor. Both this film and “Superbad” prove that Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow are operating at the top of their game right now. It is exciting to watch and every release of theirs should be eagerly anticipated.

• “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” - While most of the sequels released this summer were a little off of audience expectations, “Potter” knocked it out of the park. This was especially impressive considering the director was a bit of a no-name, at least stateside. It gave fans everything they’d want and more, while presenting a rather streamlined film.

• “Sicko” - In a summer where I was laughing a lot, kudos to “Sicko” for making me angry while tickling my funny bone from time to time. I’m not one to take everything Michael Moore says as the absolute truth, but there’s enough in this film to make you question our current health care system.

Good enough:

• “Transformers” - I enjoyed this film but in hindsight it hasn’t really stayed with me. I loved watching the toys from my youth come to life, but I don’t really want to see a sequel.

• “Hot Rod” - I laughed a lot, which was great because I wasn’t expecting much. It still had some holes though and I hope that the next film from “The Lonely Island” boys (seriously, find them on YouTube and watch episodes 1 and 2) will be much better.

• “Ratatouille” - I’m sure this will be a part of our DVD collection, as all Pixar films are, but the story of a rat and gourmet food in Paris didn’t have the mega-impact of a “Finding Nemo” or “Toy Story.”

• “Spiderman 3” - I loved lots of parts of this film, but Mary Jane wasn’t one of them and there was too much mopey stuff with her. I’m looking forward to seeing this again and being reminded of all the good stuff.

Disappointing:

• “The Simpsons Movie” - This is probably only a disappointment to hard core Simpsons fans like me, but not having enough of popular side characters kind of hurt. If they ever make another one, relegate The Simpsons to the sidelines (like in “32 Short Films About Springfield”) and give us more Apu, Chief Wiggum, Mr. Burns, Professor Frink, Cletus, etc.

• “Shrek 3” - Wow, this was just way off the mark of the previous two films. I can barely remember a great bit from this movie and there are two more coming. And now there are Shrek babies. I’m trying to hold back my nausea.

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