Doug Goodman

Happy Fourth of July, Everyone!

It is July 4th, the big weekend for summer movies.  It's also the half-way point in the summer schedule.  I have spent too much money on popcorn and coke, but I saw plenty of movies.  Check that:  plenty of mediocre movies.  I'm not sure what's going on, but there was a lot of "okayness" at the theaters over the past 2 months and not much in the unforgettable realm.  Here are my notes so far, according to how I had ranked movies going into the summer season.  Numbers in (parentheses) are the old rankings.  Otherwise, the rankings fit for seven movies instead of twenty.

5 (16) Eclipse

Stars: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart

I would have called myself Team Eclipse prior to this movie coming out.  But the first Twilight movie was better.  Half-way through the movie, Jasper gets a Southern accent.

6 (13) Jonah Hex

Stars: Josh Brolin, Megan Fox

I had high hopes for this film, which I don't think was as bad as critics made it out to be.  I originally liked the idea of a movie one part Sergio Leone and one part Constantine, but it wasn't much of either.  It was a standard shoot-em up movie.  There was a lot of unrealized potential, though Josh Brolin was excellent as Jonah Hex.

(10) Predators

Stars: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Danny Trejo, Laurence Fishburne

Just wanted to say that I am looking forward to this one more and more...

4 (9) Knight and Day

Stars: Cruise and Cameron, based on the poster

"This looks like a slick, fun thrill ride," I said.  What do you know?  It was.

3 (8) A-Team

Stars: Sharlto Copley, Bradley Cooper, that MMA fighter, and Liam Neeson

I really enjoyed this escapist movie.  One of my favorites from the summer, so far.

7 (6) Splice

Stars: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polly

The big surprise of the summer.  I walked out of this one.  It was praised by critics, but I got bored.  Two scientists develop a human/animal hybrid that sometimes looks like a girl with kangaroo feet and other times looks like a girl with a beluga melon head.

2 (5) Toy Story 3

Disney/Pixar keep their perfect track record.  My wife made the comment that it is one of the rare times that a trilogy has three good movies.  Not that we expect this to end as a trilogy...

1 (1) Iron Man 2

This movie set the tempo for at least the first half of the summer.  It was okay.  Not spectacular, but not obnoxious or annoying either.  The final climax seemed a bit of a let-down, though.