Summer Wrap-Up: Movies, Inglourious Movies!

Hey gang, it's the last blog of the Summer. Why is it that such an awesome season is only three months long? It only makes Fall look stupid. Fall needs to suffer a fate worse than death (by which I mean it should have to spend an eternity in Fall, the worst season there is.) Anyway, like my last blog I will be talking about my favorite movies on the Summer, as well as the ones I didn't like. Let's get to it with the countdown of the best movies.

Best Movies of the Summer:
5. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - At first, I was annoyed that it had taken the folks across the pond so long to put this one out I didn't want to see this one. But Harry returned in full force. Awesome visuals and a great connection with the characters we've all come to know and love really made this the best Potter film yet. Only thing I didn't like was the lack of Voldemort memories and the fact the makers of the film were afraid to go against Twilight (hence it's six month delay).

4. Star Trek - Seriously, I am not a Trekkie. I know the basic backstory and the characters, but I couldn't tell you what Kirk did in episode 47 against some horribly designed aliens. Fortunately, this film can easily bring anyone up to speed on voyages of the Starship Enterprise while still creating an epic adventure all its own. The action has been upped, the characters are believable and the lines that made the classic TV show famous are said without the feeling of "OMG he just said that line". Hats off to J.J. Abrams, or should I say "Live long and Prosper"? No, I shouldn't...

3. Inglourious Basterds - Saw this one this afternoon, actually. Even so, it's living proof that Quentin Tarantino has still got it. In all seriousness, this may be the coolest movie I've ever seen (not the best but still oozes badassery). Brad Pitt is phenomenal, funny and *insert synonym for "cool" here. Think of it as a Spaghetti Western meets Casablanca; everything pops off the screen. Action is intense, dialogue is sophisticated, and the plot (in which the ending is one of the greatest and most American things I have ever seen, /salute) is wrapped in "I don't give a fuck how WWII actually went down". Though a little too long, overall, one of the best action films to date.

2. District 9 - A friend and I went to see Terminator Salvation when the trailer for this film emerged. All he and I needed to see was "Peter Jackson presents" and we were sold. The film is, quite frankly, not only one of the best movies of this year, but also one of the best sci-fi films of all time. The CGI is very present, but it's not overdone so it creates a sense of realism to the aliens (spoiler: there are aliens). Though filmed like "The Blair Witch Project" for the first part of the film, it actually differs quite a bit from what I was expecting (cuz "The BWP" sucked ass). Really cool action and a plot of epic proportions. Go see it, now.

1. Up - Yes, I know it's an animated film. But don't you dare say that this is a regular "Disney" affair for little children. This is Pixar doing what Pixar does best. Going in, I thought how this would compare to Wall-E; leaving I knew it was in a category all it's own. Not only is this one of the most beautiful animated films ever, it's story and characters make it one of the best movies of all time. It's physical comedy and comical allusions (i.e., dogs playing poker) make it hilarious for everyone, not just little kids. It's the perfect example of why you don't need goofy looking animals with celebrity voices to make a succesful and timeless story (fingers pointed at you, Dreamworks).

Worst Movie of the Summer:
Transformers 2 - Epic fail. A festoring cold sore in cinema history. AIDS in movie form. Whatever you want to call it, it was TERRIBLE. The first Transformers had a pretty quirky plot that was explained fairly well. Rather than going the route of most sequels by having no plot at all, this movie's plot spits in your face and tells you to like it. Somehow or other, Michael Bay took everything great about the first one (character development, focused and cool-looking action, semi-cohesive story) and replaced it with sex jokes, dialogue-less transformers, and robot testicles. The action is big but many scenes had action that didn't affect anything and was purely aesthetic. Megan Fox became a mindless drone with no intelligent lines instead of the goddess of hot that she is. The most frustrating parts: a random teleportation from Washington D.C. to Egypt and Shia LaBeouf going to robot heaven. The inverse Dark Knight.

Movie that actually didn't suck:
G.I. Joe - What appeared to be a horrible looking movie actually turned into a fun, action packed revamp of those dolls that pedophiles played with when they were seven. The action is solid, especially when Snake Eyes gets on-screen. Accelerator suits were a little much, but it was still a great salute to the old animated series of yore. A better budget and the return of Sienna Miller smugglin' hams and Stephen Sommers will finally have a new franchise.

Best Trailer:
The Last Airbender - I am a big fan of the Nickelodeon show and I can't wait to see what M. Night Shyamalan does with this. It already looks to have a solid cast (a martial arts expert as Aang, Shaun Toub of Iron Man fame as Uncle Iroh and the standout of Dev Petal as Prince Zuko). Here's hoping it has the success of The Sixth Sense rather than the... ahem... of The Happening.

Been a good summer overall and I am very excited to keep blogging. It really has become fun to just vent my views on stuff and I hope that I can continue to talk about the things that matter to me. For now, this is Apple Juice Jones, signing off...