In the land of movie-going, this summer has been all about extremes. Explosions! 3-D! Genetically-spliced creatures! People surgically connected to one another, anus-to-mouth! In addition to concepts, it has been all about extremes in the sense of quality. They were either soul-crushingly awful, overwhelmingly mediocre, or just simply fantastic with very little middle ground between the three. So let’s delve into my picks for the best and worst of the summer.
Tom Six’s sickening “The Human Centipede” was no doubt the worst of the summer, and probably one of the worst, most sickening, soulless films I’ve ever seen. I’ve already explained the concept (see above paragraph), and rest assured that no matter what crap you see this year, none are as bad as “The Human Centipede”.
M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender”, however, was inept in just about every category in which his earlier films succeeded. It sports the worst direction of the year, with scenes, characters, sets, and effects all thrown in together that never come close to a cohesive whole.
And finally, Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood” wasn’t particularly awful, but because there was nothing whatsoever distinctive or interesting about it, one could argue it was even more agonizing than an awful film. It wouldn’t have hurt to have a cohesive story, either.
Now onto the “goodies”.
The fifth best film of the year was Pixar’s “Toy Story 3″. Although repeat viewings have somewhat diminished it’s initial emotional punch, it still stands as a really entertaining, hilarious, and yes, heart-breaking film about trying to hold on to one’s childhood.
“The Kids Are All Right” was a brilliant ensemble piece about a family attempting to hold itself together. Bolstered by great performances (Julianne Moore and Annette Bening stand out in particular) and a killer script, the film is heartfelt, emotional, and yet still feels realistic, which makes all the difference.
I tend to disagree with Oscar voters’ picks, which surprises me to say that their recent pick for Best Foreign Language Film, “The Secret in Their Eyes”, was dead-on. Basically a murder mystery yet at its core a resonant love story, this film sports strong performances and a 5-minute long tracking shot that ranks with the best.
It’s a toss-up for my second and first favorite films, but for now Edgar Wright’s energetic retro-action comedy “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” takes second. Although the financial disappointment of this movie pretty much crushed me, I have no doubt that on DVD it’ll find a following. This movie is a fantastic piece of entertainment, with literally hundreds of gags, a couple knock-out action sequences, and yet at its core is a great romance.
My favorite release of the summer was Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”. Brilliant on pretty much every level that a film can be judged on, after four viewings the magic of this movie still wows me. By the year’s end, this and “Pilgrim”s ranking may shift, but for now, “Inception” ranks supreme above all others this summer.
