MY TOP 5 FILMS OF THE SUMMER 2013

The summer movies season is over so it’s time to deliver my top 5 films of the summer.

I watch a lot of films but I don’t see everything and outright ignore certain films (Lone Ranger, Fast & Furious 6). During the summer I don’t watch as many indie films so this list is blockbuster heavy, so without further ado….

#5 - The Conjuring



The Conjuring doesn’t do anything I haven’t seen before but it’s hard to ignore the craftsmanship on display. As a result, what could have been another drive through terribly familiar territory turns into of the most engaging and effective horror films of the year.

#4 - The World’s End



Honestly, I was ready made to love this movie. I’ve loved all of Wright, Pegg and Frost previous works (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) so I’m an easy mark. Still, I was surprised at how much heart and contemplation was on display. In addition to the zany fun and sharp dialogue of course.

#3 - The Great Gatsby



I love Baz Luhrmann as a filmmaker, he’s not for everybody’s taste but he’s given me some of my favorite movie going experiences. Needless to say The Great Gatsby was pretty high on my list of most anticipated film of the summer and he delivered in spades. I was thoroughly engaged with the film from start to film and left impressed with Luhrmann’s restraint in the 2nd half of the film. This was my favorite movie of the summer for a good while.

#2 - This is the End



The cast of This is the End is made up of actors and comedians I love so I was worried it’d never live up. Thankfully it didn’t. I’ve seen the movie twice and each time I laughed so much that I’d felt like I’d just finished up an ab workout.

#1 - Pacific Rim



Guillermo del Toro is one of my favorite and dependable directors. Pacific Rim was right up my ally from the start. This is one of the few films I’ve seen that actually made me feel like a kid again. There were a handful of moments that literally gave me chills. This is a perfect summer film which deserved a much bigger audience.


Biggest Disappointments:

Star Trek Into Darkness

Being a Trekkie, this was the film I was most looking forward to this past summer. Sadly, it left me terribly disappointed. Everything in it was predictable. It wasn’t a huge surprise since so much of it was simply rehashed from previous films. It really seemed like a waste of talent. I really hope the 3rd one, Karl Urban agrees, blazes a new original path. All that being said, I am going to give this another shot on video.

The Hangover 3

I can’t say I had huge expectation for the 3rd film but I’d hoped it deliver some laughs with the non recycled plot. I think I only laughed 2 or 3 times during the whole. Please put a fork in this franchise.


Random surprises:

2 Guns

The trailer was a lot of fun but really didn’t know what to expect with the actual movie. Sure it’s stupid even though it’s overly complicated but its also a lot of fun!

The Purge

The Purge was a lot better than expected especially since I probably would have skipped it if there was something else playing that weekend. Personally I’d love to see sequel to flesh out some of the ideas thrown out.

I think I might have overrated:

Man of Steel

I gave Man of Steel a B- originally but I can’t say I remember much about it outside of a few bits here and there. I’ll give it another watch on video to make sure I liked it as much as I thought I did.

World War Z

Meanwhile, I won’t be watching World War Z again. I did give it a fair shot when I saw it and I think I ended up being too lenient on it. It was decent but fairly generic and forgettable.



That’s it, that’s all of it.

Now on to the Fall movie season!

MOVIE REVIEW: THE PURGE

A family living in a gated community fight to defend their home against vicious attackers during the one night each year when all crime is legal in this high-concept thriller from writer/director James DeMonaco (Staten Island). In the not-too-distant future, rampant crime and prison overcrowding have inspired the U.S. government to implement a unique solution to restore the peace: Each year, for a 12-hour period, any and all crime becomes permissible as police put their jobs on hold, and hospitals close their doors. It's called the Purge, and remarkably, the annual event leads to drastically reduced crime and record-low unemployment levels throughout the rest of the year. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: James DeMonaco

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Max Burkholder, Adelaide Kane

Release Date: Jun 07, 2013

Rated R for strong disturbing violence and some language

Runtime: 1 hr. 25 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller

Review:

The Purge is a bit of a throwback to those 70’s sci-fi dystopian future set films, think Charlton Heston, which were high concept delivered in schlock packages. Writer/Director James DeMonaco’s film has a lot on its mind and there’s nothing subtle about it. Ignoring some of the more obvious logical holes, yearly destruction of infrastructure hardly seems productive, you can appreciate the ideas being thrown out about class warfare and humanity’s perchance for violence. DeMonaco throws these ideas out but never fleshes them out, missing a massive opportunity. Instead he opts for more blasé home invasion story which works well for what it is. The cast turns in workman performances with Ethan Hawke seemingly yearning to flesh out his home security sales man with greater depth. Lena Headey gives one of her better performances, showing a tad more range than she usually does. They all provide the audience proxies to root for as the tension grows especially during a minor twist near the end. DeMonaco moves his film at a brisk pace, before you can think about anything too much it’s over. It leaves plenty of questions unanswered some of which could be addressed in a sequel (early box office numbers nearly guarantee one).

B-