Summer Movie Review

Now that it's Labor Day and the summer is officially over, I can finally confess: of the top fifty grossing movies this year, I've seen only four this summer - Dark Knight, Iron Man, Indiana Jones, and the Incredible Hulk. Of the four, my Sweetie saw two of them with me, the best and the worst. Neither of us were happy with the Indiana Jones movie, and both of us were blown away by the Dark Knight. I enjoyed Iron Man over Hulk, mostly because of the actors involved. Downey did a great job with Tony Stark's character, and I'm quite looking forward to Shellhead's next adventure. Norton brought a greater depth to the Hulk as expected, and I was impressed by William Hurt in his role as Gen. Thunderbolt Ross, but there were some minor missed notes that kept me from enjoying it as much as Iron Man. She'll see both on video eventually, but I couldn't've dragged her to see another Hulk flick, because I don't think she's ever forgiven me for the first Hulk flick (thanks fer nuttin', Ang Lee!).

The ones I missed that I wanted to see were Hancock, Wall-E (both of which I still have a pretty good chance of seeing before they leave the theaters), Kung-Fu Panda (just because of Jack Black, but it also got pretty good reviews), Get Smart, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, Tropic Thunder, Cloverfield (out on video, but how scary can a monster movie be on video? I'll have to write a whole 'nother post on Godzilla - when I first saw it, on TV with commercials, and when I finally saw it on the big screen), Pineapple Express, Hellboy 2, and Harold & Kumar Escape (also out on video).

Actual movies (not TV series or other DVDs) that I've rented this summer were Paprika (quite delightful) and In the Shadow of the Moon. I suppose I should count Prey for Rock and Roll, as I watched it Saturday, but it kinda left me flat (not as sharp of a film as I like - OK, I'll stop with the music jokes so the rest of you can catch up after an appropriate interval of silence).

Now, what the hell did I wind up watching at home? I completed the Star Trek Voyager series, thanks to Netflix and my ever-indulgent Sweetie. It's become my second-favorite Trek series, behind Deep Space Nine and just slightly in front of the original series (which a lot of folks refer to as TOS). Not a lot, but slightly, and I credit both the completion of the series arc and the more-consistent writing with putting Voyager over the edge. I got lots of love for Kirk, Spock, Bones, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov, but Janeway, Chakotay, Torres, Paris, Neelix, the Doctor, Tuvok, Kim, Seven, Kes, and even Naomi Wildman stole my heart across the Delta Quadrant.

My Sweetie also found some love for Netflix, specifically at first for their streaming videos, where she got caught up in MI-5, Monarch of the Glen, and McLeod's Daughters, and wound up renting the ones that were not streamed. We wound up increasing our subscription from two to three so she could have her 'own movies' coming in. Good job, Netflix!

But now summer is over and it's time for some serious movies, and I really have no idea what's in store. I've not kept up online, don't know what's in the hopper (except that they moved STAR TREK - the only film I might've actually gone to see on a Christmas Day - and yes, I think it's awful that theaters are open on Christmas Day, but that's besides the point)... So, I'm just curious (and fishing for comments): what movies are you looking forward to in the next four months? Don't be shy, just reply!