Summer So Far

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The formula that I determined from Iron Man for a good superhero movie was a balance of good story with good action sequences. Because after all, the only thing people want from summer movies is mindless entertainment. Wolverine, in this case, succeeds completely in the mindless department. The first thing I thought about when I walked out of the theater was how bad I felt for Gavin Hood. After really touching me with the conventional yet still emotionally resonant Tsotsi, he proceeded to completely ruin his career with his Hollywood fare so far.

This film was poorly written, poorly executed and actually bored me at times. Deadpool was woefully underused as was Sabretooth. Hugh Jackman did his part but when the screenplay is so terrible to begin with, there is no way to recover. That final battle sequence looked contrived and bored me to death. Admittedly, my expectations were terrible which, coupled with my relative indifference for the first three movies, made my experience with this movie all the more miserable. I was pretty much just looking for all of the film's flaws unfortunately. And boy did the film deliver in that department.

Grade: D

2009 Marlon Welles Awards Nominee:

Most Ridiculous Moment: Boy Wolverine's dramatic(?) "NOOOO!"


Star Trek

I mean, there is very little I can say about this movie. It made me a fan of the show. I'm actually planning on revisiting the original tv show just to make the film all the more enjoyable. However, I must admit: I wasn't blown away. I saw it opening night in IMAX and enjoyed myself but thought it was only light fare. Which really confuses me. Have my summer expectations been so hardened by the nihilistic stylings of The Dark Knight? Perhaps. More realistically, I think the lack of eminent danger was the real deal breaker for me. I never really got a sense that the characters were ever in danger. This coupled with the failure of the villain as anything more than an angry, funny running man prevented the film from being truly great for me. However, the film is still good fun and reaffirms my belief that J.J. Abrams can do no wrong.

Grade: B+

2009 Marlon Welles Awards Nominee:

Best Scene Stealer: Simon Pegg's take on Scotty
Best Trailer
Best "Best Moment of the Film": The action sequence with Kirk and Sulu stopping the laser is incredible in IMAX.

Terminator: Salvation

I don't really agree with the critics on this one. I've been trying my best to avoid all critic's opinions of a movie until I see it this summer. When I went to Rotten Tomatoes to check on the score for this film, I was expecting a 60%, maybe 50. However, a 33%? Worse than Angels and Demons? Nay I say.

Sure the script is treacherous at the end. There are many cheesy parts but I think this was loads better than T3 even with the digitally altered Arny making an appearance. To be honest, the week preceding my viewing of this film included seeing T2 and T3 in their entirety for the first time. For the sake of avoiding another entry, Terminator 2 is probably the best action movie I have ever seen. Such depth and dense themes coupled with absolute fantastic action sequences equals brilliance.

Knowing this, Salvation obviously comes short. However, I like the idea of a brand new Terminator franchise. Essentially, the film would do better to avoid the label of Terminator since it is fundamentally a different movie. The weathered and drab look of the film is fantastic as well as the acting. I don't care what people say about Christian Bale, the script didn't ask for a dynamic and marvelous performance so Bale gave what he gives best: intensity. Overall, the ending really sucked but I enjoyed most parts of the film and I look forward to seeing the next film in the franchise. On a side note, movies Salvation reminded me of: the giant machines=War of the Worlds, the tiny arm machines=Transformers, the scene in the white room at Skynet=Mission Impossible.

Grade: B-

2009 Marlon Welles Awards Nominee:

Most Surprising Moment: You're gonna kill John Connor? Oh right.
Most Ridiculous Moment: "Tell them I'll be back."
Best Trailer

Recovery Time

I really needed a break after that Alphabet Film Festival. I managed to spend the entirety of this past week trying to catch up on season finales of my favorite shows. However, now that I have distanced myself from the marathon of movies that I experienced, I can finally share a few highlights:

• I think the movies that will most stay with me are Days of Heaven and sex, lies, and videotape.
• If I were ever to sacrifice my soul to become a film director, my only purpose would be to make good movies that begin with the letters "q" and "x".
• No, really, The Quiet Man sucked.
• Movies on the cusp of greatness: The Adventures of Robin Hood, Full Metal Jacket, His Girl Friday, Malcolm X and y tu mama tambien.
• The drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket is one of the funniest characters in cinema history.
• Holocaust movies can very easily lose their relevance.
• I really shouldn't have made someone or something eat it for every movie I watched. I quickly ran out of ideas.
• I reluctantly learned to enjoy and appreciate horror movies although I'm still not a horror junkie. Horror movies are still only good when suspense is built from an unknown opponent.
• Crime movies also don't age well. White Heat was good but not great yet it was still more timely than Little Caesar and Key Largo.
• Edward G. Robinson is still the shit though.
• I can't seem to hate movies very easily. That's a good sign, right?

I think by the final stretch, I was really exhausted. In the midst of my Woody Allen marathon now, I'm liking the idea of just enjoying a movie instead of having to watch it. Until the next ridiculous idea of mine!