General Discussion

Hey,

If you're a monthly or yearly paid member, this message is for you. We're putting together some lists of our favorite and least-favorite films of the summer, and I'd like to hear from you guys as well.

Basically, if you're interested, try to put together a paragraph or two paragraph-long description of your favorite or least favorite film from the summer. These shouldn't be overlong, so don't worry about describing plot or anything like that; just go for an aspect or two of the film that you loved or hated and try to sum it up in 100-150 words. It's tough! But you're smart!

I won't have room to run every submission to this, so don't feel bad if you write something and it doesn't get selected. I'll pick a few entries based on readability, lack of misspellings, uniqueness of thought, and other mystery factors. I'll likely only use one entry per movie, as well. Be unique! And original! I'll need whatever you want to try and throw into the feature by Wednesday afternoon at the latest.

will definitely get cracking on this :D

Hobo With a Shotgun was my favorite movie of the summer. Yes, Hobo with a shotgun was my favorite movie of the summer. It was everything a summer blockbuster should be, maybe for an indie crowd that likes guns going bang, and bad one-liners. It is a movie that succeeds in what it really tries to do, be as fun as everyone wanted it to be. Just dumb stupid fun, all you should want out of a summer movie. The Plot is so simple and even hilarious in it self.

It's a movie that sadly won't even be thought about when we look back at this summer. It's the little engine that could, the little engine filled with a hobo, a hobo with a shotgun.

Hmm...I haven't seen a lot of movies this summer but I'll take a look at some I have and see what I can I do.

Sounds like an awesome idea for the Whiskey members! I'll have to think fast and get in submissions. Should we leave our thoughts here or PM them to you or Alex?

If it had to be released this "summer", then I'm going to try and write up something on Cowboys and Aliens as the worst movie I saw this summer. It was by no means god awful, just the worst of the summer releases I've seen so far.

Another Earth, a movie I know Rorie didn't care much for, is the movie that has stuck with me this summer ever since I saw it during Science week at a museum here in NYC.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was the best movie of the summer for me simply because it was as good as it could have been. Rowling's books are extraordinarily hard to adapt to the screen for it is her simple yet vivid writing style that gives the series its charm. Hallows Part 2 comes closer to this magic of the books than the previous movies because it is less burdened with plot. The exposition has already been done away with in the first half, and what is left for part 2 is the climax of the series; both in terms of action and emotion. Instead of rushing to hit all of the necessary plot points, the movie can give the proper amount of time to the important scenes. As someone who has grown up with Harry Potter I will say that I didn't cry, but I came pretty damn close.

Favorite- Midnight in Paris

In an era where movie trailers reveal the entire movie, the trailer for Midnight in Paris didn't tell me much, but left me wanting to see it nonetheless, and the experience of going in pretty much cold gave the film an unpredictability that I miss. The one aspect that surprised me the most was the films characters. The way Woody Allen creates famous writers' and artists' exaggerated personalities from their respective styles put a smile on my face I couldn't get off. Even the original characters shine and emit wonderful energy that resonated with me. The best word I can use to describe MiP is delightful and I mean that in the most genuine way. There's always something to be said when you come out of the theater feeling more elated than you were before, and it was the only movie this summer, with the exception of The Tree of Life, that has moved me in any way emotionally.

Man, I had to edit this multiple times to get it to at least 160 words! This is hard.

My least-favorite movie of the summer is X-Men First Class. I came into the movie admittedly a little hyped because of the amazing advertisements; "peace was never an option" with that background music just pumped me up when I saw that teaser and Michael Fassbender hooked me with his Don Draper-like charm. But the movie itself was boring, the climax never stuck with me, and Fassbender just came off as too emotional. There are certain characters that you can relate to by showing their human qualities and there are certain characters you respect for their super-human traits; any of Eastwood's characters fit this mold as does Magneto. I was never really engaged in the movie at any point in time; the advertisements spoiled all the best moments and there were just way too many characters jammed in. When I started laughing hysterically at the hilariously super-serious and unaware Soviet "War Room" scene, I knew that this movie was irredeemable and I rue the $11 I spent on the ticket.

Super 8 stands as my favorite movie this summer because it is the perfect popcorn flick. Everything a person could desire is in Super 8, Aliens, military conspiracies, small town troubles, and of course a group of kids who seem to have been stolen straight out of Stand By Me. There is absolutely nothing special about the plot, the main pull is how a group of kids handle this extraordinary situation. By the end of the film I had my fair share of laughs, heart pounding moments, and dare I say maybe even a tear all thanks to the outstanding performance from the kids.

Sounds awesome. I'm not sure if I'm going to write about Super 8 or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. When's the deadline?

As far as summer surprises go, definitely Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Apart from having a ridiculously long title, and knowing the entire plot from the trailer, the movie was full of great (Goodman) to competent (Franco) performances and knowing-without-being-overt references to past films. Draco Malfoy (I refuse to call him anything else) is taking one step closer to being typecast, but as an audience member, who cares? I'm sure he was supposed to be menacing or cruel, yet I laughed through most of his dialogue as it was so genuinely entertaining.

And as someone who is extremely critical of CG in movies (One of the many reasons I couldn't stand Avatar), the CG in this was incredible.

And to think the Simpsons had ruined Apes movies for me forever.

When walking out of the theater after seeing Transformers 3, my friends and I all kinded of nodded and agree'd that "it wasn't the worst movie ever". Over the next hour, we began deconstructing what we had just seen, and slowly began to realize how foul and pointless the entire movie was. A sign of a horrible movie to me is when I feel like nit-picking the movie to death over praising the elements that the movie did right. The movie could have easily shedded 30 minutes if it just started off with Labeouf having his job. Malkovich turned from being a feared boss into a dumb comic relief character in a blink of an eye. Why is Megatron yelling at elephants in the beginning? Also, why is Megatron so easily tricked by Megan Fox whoever that girl is? I'm not asking for The Godfather of robot movies, but I would like something that makes as much money as it does to not be tailor-made for the lowest common denominator. It's not worse than Transformers 2, but it isn't better than any other summer movie that I got to see this year.

What I like most about going to movies during the summer is the possibility that one of the many blockbusters is going to surprise me. It was looking very grim up until Rise of the Planet of the Apes came along. I had this movie pegged as a boring rehash, a simple attempt to take money from my pocket to make more useless summer drivel. What I found was a film with substance, tension, and intensity. The story arc between James Franco's character and his father, played by John Lithcow tied up a reason quite nicely as to why the experiment was happening in the first place. It then went one step further to create a similar, very engaging, father son relationship between Cesar (smart ape) and Franco. Follow that up with Andy Serkis and his Oscar worthy motion capture and let us not forget the power house that is WETA and their amazing effects team. The film had me forgetting it was a film and I think that's the sign of a solid summer movie going experience.

I didn't think it was possible, but Andy Serkis will now always be typecasted as a CGI ape. That's totally okay, though. His previous roles as Gollum and King Kong merely served as a build-up for the role that entirely saved the reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise all on its own. Personally, I've never been much of a fan of CGI, typically preferring practical effects over their computerized counterpart, and I was a bit skeptical of the mediocre plot and the mediocre acting of James Franco, but it was the beautiful harmony between Serkis' expressions and the adaptation of those expressions to the computer ape-palate that will undoubtedly keep people talking for years to come and study in the future as a stepping stone for the true capabilities of showing emotion through what is essentially a non-existant presence.

I really enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes more than any other summer movie I saw. I'm not great with words but I found it so engaging. After the CG wore off a few minutes in, the movie had me hooked. I really connected with Caesar. I loved the older Planet of the Apes films and I was more than ready for something that would keep those movies in mind but still create a new story. The references to the old movies and actors were awesome. I mean, they really were a treat. The Golden Gate bridge felt like a real true finale that many summer movies in 2011 have fallen short. Climbing Red Wood trees along with the apes made me feel so good. The apes weren't real, but you could have fooled me.

My least favorite movie of the summer was X-Men: First Class. I had rewatched X-Men 3 and I enjoyed it more now than before. Seeing the new movie, it just felt dumb. Here were a bunch of random teenagers that flew with wings, and sound. The female characters were determined to please the men at any cost. I have a limited knowledge of movie reviews, but I don't think I'd be alone saying that Michael Fassbinder was the best part of the movie. He felt like someone who was doing the right thing, even if it was wrong. He fought for what he believed in, so far as a mutant vs. human story can go. It was the teens taking refuge in the safe house that bothered me. They would give this silly exposition about their powers and their need to express themselves. The powers were just too far-fetched, the feelings towards humans too goofy. By the end of the movie I wanted to watch the first two X-Men movies and draw myself back into what I loved about those films. Kevin Bacon was fun to see as a comic villain, but I can't take any more angsty teen superheroes in my movies. I don't want the youth in revolt comic book story anymore. I want to see Iron Man and Batman deal with serious conflict that might have gray areas. First Class was focused on rebooting something that might not have needed the teenage treatment.

@Godzilla_Sushi said:

I really enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes more than any other summer movie I saw. I'm not great with words but I found it so engaging. After the CG wore off a few minutes in, the movie had me hooked. I really connected with Caesar. I loved the older Planet of the Apes films and I was more than ready for something that would keep those movies in mind but still create a new story. The references to the old movies and actors were awesome. I mean, they really were a treat. The Golden Gate bridge felt like a real true finale that many summer movies in 2011 have fallen short. Climbing Red Wood trees along with the apes made me feel so good. The apes weren't real, but you could have fooled me.

My least favorite movie of the summer was X-Men: First Class. I had rewatched X-Men 3 and I enjoyed it more now than before. Seeing the new movie, it just felt dumb. Here were a bunch of random teenagers that flew with wings, and sound. The female characters were determined to please the men at any cost. I have a limited knowledge of movie reviews, but I don't think I'd be alone saying that Michael Fassbinder was the best part of the movie. He felt like someone who was doing the right thing, even if it was wrong. He fought for what he believed in, so far as a mutant vs. human story can go. It was the teens taking refuge in the safe house that bothered me. They would give this silly exposition about their powers and their need to express themselves. The powers were just too far-fetched, the feelings towards humans too goofy. By the end of the movie I wanted to watch the first two X-Men movies and draw myself back into what I loved about those films. Kevin Bacon was fun to see as a comic villain, but I can't take any more angsty teen superheroes in my movies. I don't want the youth in revolt comic book story anymore. I want to see Iron Man and Batman deal with serious conflict that might have gray areas. First Class was focused on rebooting something that might not have needed the teenage treatment.

I just wanted to share those two movies. I'm horrible at writing anything, especially after the wine. Love Screened though!

I really disliked Captain America. After all the things I heard about it being a great stand-alone superhero story, all I got was a long commercial for the Avengers movie. Everything about it seemed rushed: character development, cinematography (two montages!), and even the general pace of the film. For all the talk amongst the characters about how bad and horrible Hydra and Red Skull are, you rarely see them doing anything other than being beaten into submission by Captain America. They really seemed to squander the characters of Bucky and all the members of Cap's team, reducing what should have been interesting characters to what amounted to a wink and a nod to readers of the comics. To me, it seemed like a movie that couldn't wait to be done and over with so they could finally get Cap into the modern day Avengers.

My favorite movie this summer was probably 13 assassins. I generally love all of Kurosawa's work, and while Miike's work was less focused on the badassery of the characters and more on the realistic portrayal of the event, his movie still reminded me of the likes of Seven Samurai. I really enjoy the Japanese aesthetic and was fascinated by the use of harakiri as a political tool. Also, the characters were given their own insights and reasons for participating in the event, making me cheer for them in the battles that followed. Of course, the battles themselves were really well done, being a perfect demonstration of masterfully executed swordplay that kept me on the edge of my seat. Overall, I feel like fans of Kurosawa's work and fans of Japanese lore in general really must check this movie out.