SUMMER MOVIES WRAPUP

As many of my friends know, Susan and I love watching movies. We go to the theater when we can, but we also thoroughly enjoy just sitting in our family room and watching rented films, too. We subscribe to Netflix, and I put my Netflix-related e-mails in a special folder so it dawned on me the other day that I should open that folder and look back at the movies I saw this summer and maybe write a brief review of each one (including the few we saw at the theater if I can remember them). We are both teachers/educators, so in the summertime we up our subscription to "three-at-a-time" and then back down to "one-at-a-time" when school starts.

So here they are, in no particular order:

1. Slumdog Millionaire - This is a rental we got back in June when summer first started, but for whatever reason we never got to watch it until early August! But boy, was it worth the wait! I have to readily admit that we're usually not "impressed" with Oscar-hyped movies. They're just not usually our cup of tea. They are often haughty and full of themselves, in our opinion, and aren't usually very "entertaining." In this case, the Academy got it right! Slumdog is a wonderful film and I recommend it tremendously! Interesting story, heart-breaking scenes of living conditions in India, and inspirational. And most importantly, something that is lacking in many of the lauded films lately (disappointingly so), it has a GREAT ending! I wanted to use another adjective besides "great" (another one that starts with "g"), but I don't want to give the ending away since much of the movie's story is tragic. Loved it! Grade: A+

2. Marley & Me - Another feel-good movie. Not as "family-friendly" as it may look, though. I think we eventually sent our kids upstairs because there is a lot of sexual innuendo and references; but this is a good movie about how a family dog really is an important member of the family. This movie basically takes you through the life of a dog and how he is as much a part of his owners' family as their children are. It's one of those, "I can relate to this"-type films because many of us have experienced how important pets can be in a family. Thumbs up! Grade: A

3. The Tale of Despereaux - Good family film with a heart-warming story. Illustrates the importance of self-confidence and bravery. Grade: B

4. Frost/Nixon - We also really enjoyed this movie. I am a politics and history buff, but I can honestly say I had no knowledge of this event before seeing this movie. Excellent acting! It's the story of an Australian Entertainment/Gossip Talk Show host who was given the high privilege and responsibility of interviewing President Richard Nixon a couple years after he had resigned from office. In some ways, this film is much more about Mr. Frost than Nixon! It shows us the "journey" that Frost makes from being a "fluff" talk show host to a serious, challenging interviewer asking Nixon unexpectedly tough questions. Very interesting indeed, and history was made in this story. Again, I had no idea. You learn something new every...few months. :) Grade: A

5. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas - Oh boy. This is one of those "see it, but see it once" kind of movies like "Passion of the Christ" or "Legends of the Fall." We did not expect how heavy this film really was based on the trailer we had seen for it. Sure, the Holocaust is no "light-hearted" matter, but the trailer made this look like an inspirational film about an unlikely friendship. It was partially that, and I don't want to ruin the ending for anyone, but the film ends in complete tragedy. However, it effectively underscores the reality of what happened in Germany during WWII. I recommend it, but warn you in advance. We saw this on the evening of Susan's birthday, of all days. Don't see this on any festive occasion! Grade: A-

6. Swing Vote - Meh. It was OK. You pretty much get the gist of it from the trailer, and there's really nothing else to gain from seeing it, except maybe the importance of our civic duty to get out and vote. But again, you could learn that from the trailer alone. Grade: C-

7. Gran Torino - Here is another excellent film that was better than we expected. It wasn't very long into the movie that I said to Susan, "You don't get much better than Eastwood!" Someone told me this summer that Torino is Eastwood's swan song. I don't know about that, but if so, he ended his career on an extremely high note! Eastwood plays an old, crusty Korean War vet who refuses to move when his old neighborhood transforms around him into a neighborhood of poor minorities. Eventually, a Hmong family moves next door to him. Eastwood's character is extremely prejudiced and very anti-religious (I was glad to see they didn't make him a religious racist--that would have been too tempting for many other writers/directors, I'm sure). But Eastwood's character eventually makes an unlikely friendship and mentoring relationship, and ultimately takes on a major gang in his neighborhood to protect those he loves. While filled with expletives and violence, the inspirational theme of this film vastly outweighs the "uncomfortable" scenes. Grade: A++

8. Green Lantern: First Flight - I've been enjoying the recent string of DC Comics' "movie-length direct-to-DVD" animated films that are more adult in nature. The most recent that I recall which were all very good are: "Justice League: New Frontier," "Wonder Woman," and "Batman: Gotham Knight." I readily admit I've never been a big Green Lantern fan. I mean, a guy with unlimited power centered in a magical ring that can do whatever he imagines? I know it might seem hypocritical for a superhero/fantasy/sci-fi/Star Wars nut like me to say this, but that has always seemed a little hard to swallow for me with regard to this particular character. This movie only reinforced those doubts for me. For GL fans, I'm sure this was excellent. In fact, I have a good friend who's always loved GL and really enjoyed this movie. For me? It was OK. I hear they're working on a live-action GL movie which I'm sure I'll also see. But I'll go in with these same expectations, so hopefully I won't be too disappointed. Grade: C+

9. Race To Witch Mountain - Good, fun, family-friendly movie. It was sort of neat to see this movie, inspired by the films of the 70s that I grew up with. Duane Johnson is always enjoyable, and the kids were believable in their parts. Disney rarely disappoints. Grade: B+

10. Rachel Getting Married - We like Anne Hathaway, and of course there was Oscar buzz for this film. It was OK. You sort of feel like a fly on the wall in this dysfunctional family, the way it was filmed and directed. Hathaway plays a model who is just released from rehab to visit her family for her older sister's wedding. The family's dirty laundry is quickly aired for all the guests to see, and it's sad in that way. Many of us can relate, I'm sure, as all families have their "dark patches." In some ways, it very much has a "Prodigal Son" theme to it: older sibling who is stable, "perfect" in the eyes of the younger sibling, while the younger sibling has made so many poor decisions that it ultimately created a tragedy in the family's past, yet the older sibling is amazed and resents her father's affections on the younger sibling (Hathaway). Interesting. I'm sure I'll never see it again, but it wasn't a waste of time to watch. Just not the type of movie we usually see. If I could grade the acting separate from the story, I'd give the acting an A-. Overall Grade: C

11. Push - I really tried to get into this movie, but ultimately, the story is hard to follow and is never fully fleshed out. And boy, you sure learn that Dakota Fanning has grown up as an actress, even if she doesn't really look like it yet! Grade: D+

12. Watchmen - While I was disturbed by the graphic violence in this film, which I always maintain is completely unnecessary in any film and really is unhealthy to watch, I had to admit by the end that the story is compelling. I watched this by myself as Susan had no desire to see it. It did seem a little self-indulgent at times, particularly with the film's length. Grade: B+

13. The Secret Life of Bees - This is a movie that came out of nowhere for us! I don't recall seeing trailers for it when it was being shown in theaters, but we saw a DVD trailer for it on an earlier rental and it looked good. Well, golly...it was really good! Great cast, touching story, excellent acting. Again, not appropriate for the very young. Also starring Dakota Fanning (who is again acting more "grown up" than she should, but maybe in this case it was appropriate given the life her character has experienced). I definitely recommend this movie! Grade: A

14. Hannah Montana: The Movie - OK, so I put this on the list for my 11 year-old daughter. Then my wife really wants to see it. Then it was a lazy Saturday morning and I watched it with my family. Guess what? Good movie, and I'm not ashamed to admit it! It's a story about proper perspective and priorities. Acting? Well, what do you really expect? Not high-caliber. But the story is touching and fun. Grade: B+

15. G.I. Joe - I was disappointed in this movie. Maybe it was the whole "Green Lantern" thing again for me: I mean, I was never into the cartoon in the late-80s. But this movie just came across as cliche after cliche, down to the stereotypical arch-villain with weird gadgets and maniacal laugh. Meh. Grade: D

16. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - We've always enjoyed these movies, and this one does not disappoint. Dark in tone, it also has some more light-hearted fun moments for the characters. Grade: A

17. X-Men Origins: Wolverine - While a little on the long side, I don't agree with the many armchair critics of this film. It was a good thrill ride and it was interesting to see the backstory of this character. I liked the origin story they came up with. Of course the action and effects were excellent, as expected. Looking forward to the next Origins movie, "Magneto"! Grade: A

18. Star Trek - This is probably my favorite film of the summer. As a longtime fan of the franchise (since I was knee-high to a tribble), it was delightful to see a more detailed origin story of these beloved characters than we've known before. While I was nervous about whether or not this "reboot" would be palatable to old-timers like me (all the hype said the studio was more interested in starting the franchise over to win new fans), I was pleasantly surprised and entertained to the very end. While I wish they didn't do what they did to dramatically change the events as we knew them in the old franchise, I can accept it and move on. Terrific movie! Grade: A++

19. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - This was another film I was disappointed in this summer. I really liked the first TF film, even though it pushed the boundaries for a toy movie with sexual stuff and language. Well, this one amped both of those up tenfold, which is so unnecessary! I saw this in the theater with Susan (thankfully we made the right decision to resist the temptation to take our kids), but there were TONS of kids in the theater (not surprisingly so--it's a TOY film)! So that made me really uncomfortable throughout the movie, knowing that little kids were being exposed to this stuff. As a counselor, I can tell you that kids don't know how to process this stuff and they end up with a false impression of sexual matters when they're older. Why don't studios understand this?? Okay, tirade over. The action and effects in this film were actually better than the original. Too bad the other stuff ruined it for me. Grade: D+ (because I guess I liked it better than G.I. Joe)

Films I wanted to see but didn't, so you can add your comments about them:

1. Terminator: Salvation
2. Night At The Museum 2
3. Up (I heard this was really good!)
4. Land of the Lost
5. Year One
6. Public Enemies
7. Funny People
8. District 9 (might still be able to catch this one)

NEW KISS ALBUM COMING!

This will be their first new studio album since 1998's Psycho Circus. The hype for this one just gets better and better, though! Read on...

"KISS TO RELEASE 'SONIC BOOM,' FIRST NEW MUSIC IN 11 YEARS, EXCLUSIVELY AT WAL*MART AND SAM'S CLUB"