Has Anybody Actually Seen A Decent Movie This Summer?

[Beek1]

Okay,

So other than Shrek (which was a tad over-rated), has anyone actually paid money at a cinema and been rewarded with a decent movie this summer?So far I've suffered through:

Tomb Raider - An hour and a half of rapid cuts and padded breasts hardly constitute a story do they. And if it was simple gratuituous pleasure I was seeking then I'd simply watch a porn film as they actually deliver the goods.

Pearl Harbour - Offensive, soul-destroying trash with a storyline written by children and performances which bring new life to the term 'wooden'. Even the spectacular FX can't save this dud as you have to wade through hours of garbage to get to them, and then it all seems a touch anti-climactic. Still, it's nice to know that the only reason the Yanks got trounced at Pearl Harbour was because Ben Affleck couldn't find a plane in time. And for those who say that a film doesn't have to educate, just entertain, well they could at least have kept the events true to life, or wasn't what happened in the real world exciting enough?

Jurassic Park III - God! It should be so simple... Dinosaurs + Human Victims = simple, bloody entertainment. However, thrown a complete lack of story, the decision to kill all expendable characters in the first five minutes on the island and kid-friendly director Joe Johnston into the mix and you have a real cinematic travesty. For JP4, get it together and make it violent.

Final Fantasy - A perfect reflection of the current state of the mainstream videogame market. Flashy graphics which look great, but absolutely nothing going on underneath. A tremendous waste of money which only goes to show that CGI blockbusters can be just as bad as the live-action kind.

Dr Doolittle 2 - Eddie Murphy, nuf said.

<br />The only three mainstream films I've enjoyed this summer were all kids flicks, Cats and Dogs, Atlantis and Shrek. All of which were flawed in some way, but still offered more invention and entertainment over the course of five minutes than the entire running times of those bloated festering corpses listed above.

What with Planet of the Apes and A.I. apparantly looking set to add nothing particularly great to the mix, it looks as if I'm still stuck with waiting for Lord of the Rings to cheer me up.

Oh well... roll on Christmas

[Ian Cox]

Have to agree with you totally on this. It seems the major studios can not make a decent summer blockbuster anymore. But saying that there does seem to be a whole host a exciting prospects coming our way over the next couple of years

Fellowship of the rings<br />Matrix 2 and 3<br />Attack of the clones (Episode 2)<br />Terminator 3<br />X-Men 2<br />Spiderman<br />Star Trek X<br />Minority Report

Hopefully one of these is going to cut the mustard, but seeing the standard of films the major studies are releasing at the moment maybe I should not hold my breath.

swordfish is good fun. the beginning is great and the whole thing is just 2 hours of good, violent fun. oh and as for halle's berries.....<br /> <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

[Keyser Soze]

Swordfish (Halle's puppies were quite spectacular!), Ginger Snaps, Rush House 2, One Night at McCools, The Dish all great summer movies <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[Beek1]

Gotta agree with you on a couple of your choices. The Dish was good in that kind of why-can't-the-British-make-movies-like-this-rather-than-all-those-bloody-awful-gangster-flicks kind of way. Although the material did seem a little over stretched for the rather meagre running time (all of those quaint little sub-plots which didn't actually go anywhere).<br />Ginger-Snaps was sheer, unbridled fun. A superb script and great performances managed to overcome the slightly lacklustre effects in the finale. Still, this is a real must-see film.<br />As for Swordfish, well the only reason I didn't mention it was because I've being trying to block the damn thing out of my mind ever since I first laid eyes on it. I'm not even going to comment on Halle's 'assets', although while they were nice enough, they still didn't make it worth the £6.50 price of admission.

[Ars longa, vita brevis]

£6.50, thats a bit steep, thats half a dvd!

[ReTrO]

Ars: That's what you get for living near Lodnon i'm afraid!

I thoight both Shrek and JP3 were quite good, and i'm awaiting FF just for the graphics of it.

[meva]

I reckon Lord of the rings will be crap, Tolkein is much too dull and crusty to make a decent movie.

Cats and Dogs was quite a good laugh, if maybe a bit simple. Perfect date material though <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> And Swordfish looks like it could be quite fun. Anyone seen that?

BC

[Reiner]

My vote would also go for Swordfish, and no, not just because of the two reasons shown by Halle Berry. Not that I mind though ... <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

Can't recall anyother movie ... but stop, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon wasn't mentioned yet!<br />Didn't see it at the movies as it was only in Chinese, but got the DVD and love it.

Those two are probably the only two which I would rate, I will actually get the DVD of Swordfish when it comes out - the two reasons where censored here ... oh no, what did I say above!?. <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

Anyhow, else I don't think there is much too look forward to, nothing seems to be really promising or offer some really new or unique story.<br />Leaves just to say I am sick and tired of remakes.

[MonkeyBoy]

Rush Hour 2 is very good and the funniest film I have seen in a long-time. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

I thought Swordfish was a fantastic movie..as said above, it will become one of THE best demo DVD's around upon it's release.

I also think Blow was a great movie and widely forgotten about due to the onslaught of 'blockbusters' that were being forced down our throats.

[ptmbradley]

Having just started a job as a long distance lorry driver, I have virtually no time for cinema these days and have missed most things this summer. <img src="frown.gif" border="0">

But I'm hoping to get to these when I can:

Rush Hour 2<br />JP 3<br />Planet of the Apes<br />The Parole Officer

I'll probably also be dragged along to see Moulin Rouge by the missus.

I saw Swordfish last night and couldn't believe it. What a roller coaster ride of tension. Loved it to bits. Definite must see, and I am sure it will go down as a legend for dem purposes once it is out on DVD.

So what do you reckon, was it a 'happy' ending after all?

Cheers!

[Beek1]

Thought I'd add a new one to the list as I caught Rush Hour 2 at the weekend. As much as I love Jackie Chan (and he's right up there along with Jet Li), the original film left me pretty cold thanks to the focus on Chris Tucker. Part 2 rectifies this somewhat, although the stunts are nowhere near as good as those featured in Jackie's Hong Kong stuff, and the story is little more than a retread of the original. The biggest falw with the film is that once agin they put Tucker up against the martial artist in the final fight, meaning Jackie doesn't get to demonstrate his superb fighting skills in an all-out action finale. Still, it's watchable stuff.

As for looking forward. Well, Fellowship of the Ring is getting me more excited than anything else at the moment, simply because Peter (Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, Braindead, Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners) Jackson is behind the camera. Oh yeah, the trailer looks pretty awesome as well. Much as I hate to say it, Star Wars: Epsiode II - Attack of the Clones will probably be absolute s*** as Lucas seems to have completely lost his way (he should have handed over the director's reigns again). I've heard nothing good from anyone who has seen Planet of the Apes apart from the quality of the make-up, but I'll catch anything with Tim Burton's name on it. Apart from these, Moulin Rouge (gotta love musicals) and The Others are the only things intriguing me. Can't make my mind up about A.I. yet.