summer movies

With summer winding down, I figured I do a summary of the movies I saw the past 3 months. In order from least favorite to most favorite.

10) Pirates of the Caribbean 4. This one was better than the third, but the third was so bad, it's not saying much. Jack Sparrow is back. And thaaaaat's about it. There were mermaids which I liked. There was Blackbeard, who was not really scary as a villain. And there was Penelope Cruz who is not that great of an actress. I'd give it a C-.

9) Water For Elephants. I wanted to see this one for two reasons: 1. I enjoyed the novel it is based on and 2. my sister Emily spent much of last summer doing background work for it. I was looking forward to seeing her. Sadly, Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon didn't have much chemistry and I didn't see my sister in any of the crowd scenes. The big-top circus scenes were pretty good, though. This one gets a C.

8) Transformers 3. I wasn't planning on seeing this one because the second one was so bad (like the third Pirates movie). But someone told me it was better than they thought it would be, so I caught a matinee. There were some really cool scenes (ie. the snake-like "Driller" going through the roads and buildings, the sky-flyers, etc). And yeah for not having Megan Fox in this one! I also enjoyed Shia LaBeouf in this movie (not so much in the previous 2). It still wasn't a fabulous movie. The writing and plot are lacking. I'll give it a B-.

7) GLEE 3-D Concert Tour movie. The only reason this one is down the list is because I had seen the concert so it wasn't new and unexpected. I went with my sister, Liz, who hadn't been able to go to the concert. One thing that was great about the movie was seeing all the kids singing and dancing close-up. Our concert seats had been pretty far back. (By the way, it didn't need to be 3-D). It gets a B.

6) Thor. God of Thunder! Before this movie came out, all I knew of Thor was from the 1987 movie "Adventures in Babysitting" where the youngest girl, Sara, idolized him and wore his helmet everywhere. I kind of went into this movie with low expectations but was pleasantly surprised. I loved the guy they picked for Thor and I liked the conflict within his family dynamics (Thor and his father, Thor and his brother) - it felt very Shakespearean. I even laughed a bunch which I was not expecting. This film gets a B+.

5) Super 8. Do you like E.T. and the Goonies? Then you will like this movie. It takes place in 1979 and the nostalgia was wonderful. Before the age of internet and cell phones. Kids played and went on adventures together. Small town. Your first crush. So so good. The kids (and their dialogue) in this movie were my highlight. B+.

4) X-Men First Class. I've seen the 3 X-Men movies and Wolverine so I was on the brink of X-Men fatigue. But THEN I heard James McAvoy was going to play Charles Xavier. Done. I'm going. I luff him. I don't care if he is Mr. Tumnus in The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe or the doctor in The Last King of Scotland or Tom Lefroy in Becoming Jane. I will go watch him. And yes, he was my favorite part of this movie. Actually him and his co-star Michael Fassbender (who plays Erik/Magneto) were the best part. It takes place in the early 60's and shows how they meet, become friends, and start recruiting kids for their school. B+.

3) Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Again, this was another example of not being interested in seeing it and going in with low expectations...and then being pleasantly surprised. I haven't seen the original Planet of the Apes, but I've heard it's about life in the future where apes have evolved into creatures with human-like intelligence and speech. And humans are their slaves. So this movie was supposed to be a sort of pre-quel to show how the apes became so intelligent. I really liked it! The eyes of the apes look freaky realistic. And then I found out Andy Serkis (who did motion capture for Gollum in the LOTR movies and also did King Kong) did it for the main chimp in this movie, Caesar. I recommend it. B+.

2) Bridesmaids. Oh my goodness, I loved this movie so much, I saw it twice. And I laughed my head off both times. Seriously, one of the funniest movies I've seen in a really long time. I love Kristen Wiig! And Melissa McCarthy! And we were introduced to a Mr. Chris O'Dowd, who plays Irish policeman Officer Rhodes. He was presh. If you are female, GO SEE THIS. Take some girlfriends. A-.

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Of course this is my number one summer movie. I blogged about the experience here. A.

So there you go, friends! Now...what movies did YOU see this summer? Are there any I missed that I should check out?