Summer 2009

After a prolonged summer absence, I have decided to return to the blogosphere. I really truly enjoyed writing about movies all last semester, and I think it was good for me. We'll see how this goes, but hopefully I will continue blogging for a while.

This kind of gap in the blogging requires at least a brief overview of the films of the summer. Here are the highs and lows of the movie theater events of Summer 2009.

Highs:
- UP: What a positively delightful, hilarious, heartfelt film. I haven't seen it again (and i truly believe that real love of a film can only happen after a second viewing), but right now I'll say its my favorite Pixar film. The story wasn't as momentous as "Wall-E", but the characters were just so darn cute, and the dogs were utter genius, and the look of the film was beautiful. Loved it.
- The Hangover: I laughed the whole time. It was clever, it set things up way in advance and only came back to them once you had forgotten them, and was a really well plotted comedy romp. I've unfortunately already seen an ad for a rip-off ("I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell"), but thats what genius breeds. Also, my uncle is on the soundtrack!
- Inglorious Basterds: Best Tarantino ever. Amazing costumes ( I call an Oscar nod for that). Good story. The past year has seen a lot of Nazi movies ("Defiance", "Valkyrie", "Boy in Striped Pajamas" etc.), but this one trumps them for feeling real darn good. And, surprisingly, not as gory/violent as most Tarantino films.
- District 9: This deserves its own post, really, so I'll only say that this should be seen by everyone. It is an instant Sci-Fi classic and is hopefully the beginning of a new sci-fi renaissance.

Lows:
-Transformers 2: While the first one was glorious popcorn fun with the right amount of sarcasm and ridiculousness, this one took itself seriously and forgot about the spirit of the first. A very muddled plot (I was even confused while watching it), too much ill-clothed Megan Fox, and some seriously awkwardly racist robots made this a terrible terrible blockbuster. Such is the nature of Michael Bay though. For every "Armageddon", there is a "Pearl Harbor"
- Bruno: Yes, "Borat" was crude, rude and offensive, but it was funny, and so I enjoyed it. This was crude, rude, offensive and featured an astounding amount of penises, but Sacha Baron Cohen really lost it. I can't say what wasn't right, but i rarely laughed, and I have no desire to quote any part of this film. Who knows if he's lost his American audience but Cohen may want to stay in Britain for a while.
- Julie and Julia: Meryl Streep was adorable, no doubt, but this film fell down. It was a souffle that deflated before served. The Julie story was just barely saved from moral depravity by Amy Adams' adorableness and I practically recognized the Paris streets from the Universal Studios backlot tour. I was expecting a biography of Julia Child but instead got pithy and adorable moments and quotes from her life that added up to a coffee table book, and not a deeper understanding.