The summer movie season has been over for a couple of weeks. Overall it was a pretty good summer for movies. It wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t disappointing either. The following is a look back at the movie season that was the summer of 2011.
- Most surprising movie – Fast Five. This might have been my favorite movie of the summer. I don’t like the Fast and the Furious movies but I loved this one.
- Most disappointing – Green Lantern. The previews looked bad but I was holding on to hope that this would actually not stink. My hope was lost.
- Movies that got two thumbs up – I do a review system on my blog. It’s hard for me to give a movie the top rating, two thumbs up. The following made the cut; Fast Five, Super 8, Cowboys and Aliens, and The Help.
- Movie that I liked a lot because I thought it would stink – Cowboys and Aliens. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t expecting much but I enjoyed this movie a lot.
- Best movie I saw with my wife – The Help. The Help is a great movie!
- Best Superhero movie – Captain America. Thor was a close second, but I really liked Captain A.
This summer I saw a grand total of 12 movies. 5 received two thumbs up, 1 received a thumb and 1/2 up (Captain America), and one film received a thumb to the side (Green Lantern). If I had to give this summer a grade I’d give it a solid B +.
What was your favorite movie of the summer 2011?
Didn’t see any Rob. My wife lost her job (cutbacks) so we didn’t have money to spare. I will wait for the DVD on Thor (out now) and Captain A.
Bill, I’m sorry to hear that about your wife’s job. Thankfully for movies they come out on DVD 3 to 4 months after they hit the theaters.
I don’t go to theaters, so I’m behind. I enjoyed Thor the other day. Looking forward to most on your list. Looks like we have the same tastes.
Larry, if you liked Thor you will really like Captain America. I was shocked by Fast Five. It’s like Oceans 11 on steroids. It’s a great action flick. It shouldn’t have even been called Fast anything. It should have been called the Rock and Vin Diesel beat the tar out of each other.
Good recap. I think I agree with you on Capt. America then Thor but I did like Thor. Green Lantern never looked good for one second and I still have not seen it. You’ve just confirmed that. I saw a buncha movies but the last official one of summer was probably The Debt, a powerful movie and very good. Highly recommended and it’s got mad sermon illustration potential for a pastor 😉
I wanted to see the Debt. I missed that one. Can’t wait for it to come out on DVD.
I don’t remember which movies came out this summer, but I think I saw 5 movies this year, which is a lot for me. (What can I say? I’m usually too cheap to go to the movies.) I saw “Madea’s Big Happy Family,” “Kung Fu Panda 2,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “Crazy, Stupid Love,” and “The Help.”
The stories in many of the Madea movies are a little out there for me, but Madea always makes me laugh. There are also some good wisdom in them.
Kung Fu Panda 2 was okay; I like looking at the details in those animation movies.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was one I went to because my sister wanted to see it. It wasn’t bad, but then I felt like the ending left you hanging. (And then I found out later that it was a prequel to the Planet of the Apes movies…which I’ve never seen. Please don’t judge me.)
Crazy, Stupid Love left me feeling sad. I don’t usually watch that kind of movie (it’s another one my sister suckered me into), and I just remember thinking that if the moral choices that the characters made are standard in our culture, no wonder people are hurting; they’re making their lives harder and more painful than it needs to be. It left me unsettled when we walked out of the theater, and I just felt like we needed to try to figure out how to change the culture–at least the culture of the people around me that I love (friends, family, youth group, etc). (I also didn’t really buy Ryan Gosling as the character he played. He was the skinny kid on the football team in Remember the Titans; I guess that was stuck in my head.)
The Help was the best one of all. It was moving and funny at the same time. I want to meet Minnie. =)
Hmmmmm…I didn’t realize how often I went to the movies this year until I made this list (and it didn’t even count Soul Surfer–which also inspired me). That’s crazy. I feel like I don’t even know myself anymore. =)
TJ, I agree about Crazy Stupid Love. I wanted to like it but I left feeling sad for them. That is almost the exact thing that I said on my blog when I did a review.
Only saw two movies this year in the theater. The Help and that X-Men movie(can’t remember the name of it). I agree, The Help was fabulous! It was the first time I’ve ever been in a movie theater where people applauded at the end. I love going to the movies and so the X-Men movie was a completely selfless act on my part. My teenage son and I had an opportunity to go to the movies and I let him pick. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Wish movies were cheaper! I’d go all the time! Thanks for the reviews. Now I know what to get at the Redbox.
I saw X-Men First Class at a midnight showing. I want to see it again because I got so tired that I had a hard time paying attention.
Oh and you can go for cheaper. I go to matinees and I only pay $5. AMC has shows that start at 10 AM. I went today to see Moneyball and I only paid $5.
I would have to say Transformers 3 was a lot better than I thought. I mean that had a lot of action in it. I am looking forward to Couragous coming out this month. Also, and not sure if anyone knows this or have heard. But I have spoke with some people that work at Cloud Ten, and guess what. Mid’ 2012 they are completely redoing the Left Behind movie, big budget style. I hope they do, also they are going to depending on the revamping of the LB, might be able to do some of the other movies. I know some people might say LB was cheesy, and honestly yest there were parts that were, but man, to see that big budget, they could really do a lot with it. Oh, did anyone see Rise of the Planet of the Apes? I haven’t yet, but would like too.
Joseph, I saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It’s good. Very good story and great CGI. I went in with low expectations so that might have helped. But I liked it.
I thought Fast Five looked promising. Looking forward to renting it. Cowboys & Aliens was a movie I really wanted to see in theaters but haven’t gotten the chance yet.
My 3 favorites of the summer were Transformers 3, Pirates od the Caribbean 4 & X-men First Class.
I missed seeing Pirates 4. I had a hard time sitting through 2 and 3. Because of that I didn’t see this one. I heard it was good though.
Rob, glad that you could get out to see some movies and get to find some to enjoy. I have not seen any of these movies.
The only two I saw in theaters were Thor and X Men first class…. liked Xmen much more!
Saw a bunch in the theater this year:
Thor
Pirates
Green Lantern
Transformers
Captain America
Bridesmaids
Kung Fu Panda 2
Crazy, Stupid Love
Our Idiot Brother
Harry Potter 7, pt2
The Help
I Don’t Know How She Does It
Larry Crowne
And yes, Larry Crowne was worse than Green Lantern
Have to checkout Fast Five