The statement "Best Summer Movie" seems a little pretentious coming from a critic. I don't think you're pretentious from the times I've meet you, but I don't think your criteria for Best Summer Movie is the same that the general public would use. As for About a Boy, I haven't seen it. I hear it has some funny stuff, but the main character is annoyingly shallow, in the begining anyway. If the godfather scene is anyway indicative of the rest of the movie, I wouldn't enjoy it.
Dangerous lives of Alter Boys was pretty good. Very character driven story that would appeal to comic book fans. Flips between the lives of Alter Boys pulling pranks, etc. and their imaginary world as Superheroes.
Between my brother, my girlfriend, and my boys, I think I saw virtually every movie that came out this summer. (Pay for one, sneek into another afterwards ) Signs: A+, Easily they best movie I saw this summer. Suspensful, funny, just a great date movie or seeing it w/ a bunch of friends. Minority Report: A, Very interesting story. Well told w/ excellent effects. Reminded me of A.I. a bit b/c it could of ended at a point 30min. early but the extra stuff made the ending better. Spiderman: B/B+, Wasn't the greatest thing sincs sliced bread but it was cool. It did a good job of sticking to the early comic and explaining the relationship between Spidey, MJ, & the Osborns. Great SFX. Austin Powers 3: B, Better than thew 1st but not as funny as #2. The intro was halarious and my girl Beyonce was looking as fine as ever! Star Wars Ep. 2: B, Yoda wrecking shop was one of the, if not THE coolest scene of the summer. I know a lot of people hate the love storyline and the cheesy dialouge but EVERY Star Wars has cheesy dialouge and it is a prequal thats explaining how Darth Vader came to be so of course there gonna be a love storyline. Full Frontal: ?, I sat there and watched the whole thing, and to this day, I still have no idea of what was going on during that flick. If someone could help me out that would be greatly appreciated. The Rest - MIB 2: B- , Only b/c it starred Smith and Jones - Scobby Doo: C+/B-, it was okay, had its moments "Its Electric" - Insomnia: B, Solid film, good performance by RWilliams and you can't hate on a film w/ DeNireo in it right? - Sum of All Fears: B-, Affleck's a twirp sometimes in films but the story was good and Freeman did his thing. - XXX: B-, good for what it is; a fake-Bond action flick. - Mr. Deeds: C-, It just wasn't particually funny IMO. - Martin Lawrence: B, I saw him live when he came to Htown and it was pretty much the same thing. Raunchy but verry funny - Reign of Fire: C, Too slow IMO and the ending was weak. I didn't see About a Boy, Bourne Identity, or Road to Perdetion unfortunately but I'm sure I'll rent them all eventually.
You call me pretentious for picking About a Boy, then say that you thought Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys was pretty good. Ok. Insomnia's not your standard summer fare either. Sorry. The thread was about the best summer movie, and I picked the movie that I loved best that was released this summer (May 17). I guess that makes my girlfriend and my sister pretentious as well since they agree with me.
My full list: Spiderman: B+ About a Boy: A The New Guy: B- (That's my official grade, but looking back, it should probably be lower) Star Wars: C+ (uh-oh, I didn't love the beloved Star Wars, I must be pretentious) The Sum of All Fears: A Insomnia: B+ Unfaithful: B+ Enough: B Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood: A Bad Company: C+ Undercover Brother: B+ The Bourne Identity: A Windtalkers: F Mr Deeds: F Lilo & Sitch: A Men in Black 2: B+ Minority Report: A for the first 2 hours, F for the last 25 minutes Reign of Fire: B+ Eight Legged Freaks: C- Road to Perdition: A K-19: C Goldmember: A XXX: F Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams: A-
Spidey - B+ really impressed me. I don't think they could have done much to make it better. Star Wars - C marginally better than episode 1. I was hoping for more. Bourne Identity - B+ starts off good, then trails off at the end. Reign of Fire - B+ better than I expected. Entertaining. Minority Report - A goodness Austin Powers - D+ getting lamer exponentially with each new release. Perhaps I'll enjoy this better on video, but I doubt it.
besides the a- that you gave to SpyKids (I haven't seen either) I agree with all of your "A" rankings RM95. If you have Sum of All Fears as an "A" then you have to rank Spiderman as an "A" also.
It wasn't about About a Boy. It was the labeling any movie the best summer movie when it doesn't appeal to the masses.
I would argue that it does appeal to the masses, it just got lost in the shuffle with Star Wars and Spiderman. Regardless, this thread wasn't about which movie you felt was best that appealed to the masses, it was about the best summer movie. About a Boy was a major release in the summer. Hence, it is a summer movie.
I've got your back on this one, RM95. About a Boy was a summer movie. Was it a blockbuster? No. But that shouldn't matter. By your own admission, Joe Joe, you've got both The Bourne Identity and Insomnia on your "summer movie" list. Plus, you even mention The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys as well. Those movies don't really appeal to the general masses, either (i.e. not a blockbuster), yet you've included them in the list. About a Boy deserves its due. So what if it went head-to-head against Star Wars (counter-programming at its finest)? Does it have to make truckloads of cash to be #1? About a Boy was not an independent artsy film. Explosions, aliens, and exploding aliens do not a great movie make (most of the time).
I am eagerly awaiting LOTR II, but what I really can't wait for is when all three get released on dvd and I can enjoy 6 hours of LOTR all at once.
I'd have to disagree that The Bourne Identity isnt a blockbuster, it has made $115 million so far this summer and is a big action/explosion type movie...
I can concede the point about The Bourne Identity (even though, to me, it's a surprise hit). However, the others mentioned do not appeal to a broad audience... According to Rottentomatoes.com, here is the "fresh" rating (how good a movie is, based on almost every published review, online and offline) for the summer movies listed in this thread (in order of best to worst): About a Boy: 93% Insomnia: 93% Minority Report: 93% Spider-Man: 89% Lilo & Stitch: 84% The Bourne Identity: 82% Road to Perdition: 82% Undercover Brother: 77% Signs: 74% Spy Kids 2: 72% Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron: 70% Star Wars: Episode II: 63% The Sum of All Fears: 61% K-19: The Widowmaker: 59% Like Mike: 58% Austin Powers III: 55% Blood Work: 54% Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course: 51% XXX: 50% Eight Legged Freaks: 49% Reign of Fire: 43% Scorpion King: 41% Men In Black II: 38% Windtalkers: 34% Scooby-Doo: 27% Mr. Deeds: 26% Enough: 24% Bad Company: 13% Halloween: Resurrection: 8% The New Guy: 6% I know some of you hate movie critics, but when 100 of them pan a certain movie, I think it's safe to say it sucks... For comparison, some all-time Rotten Tomatoes vote-getters: Toy Story 2: 100% Toy Story: 100% The Wizard of Oz: 100% Gone With the Wind: 100% Pulp Fiction: 100% The Godfather: 100% Citizen Kane: 100% Chicken Run: 99% Saving Private Ryan: 98% L.A. Confidential: 98% Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: 97% The Truman Show: 97% E.T.: 97% SW: Empire Strikes Back: 97% LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring: 95% Silence of the Lambs: 95% Memento: 93% Ah, hell. View the list yourself... All Time top movies
Is About a Boy the "best" summer movie? It is definitely a summer movie and RM95's favorite movie. I think the title "best summer movie" can only be given out by the majority, not a single man since the highly objective nature of movie ratings. It would be like saying "I have the fastest first step in the NBA" when there are so many quick first steps....even if it were true. (that's more cockiness, but you get the idea). I name "off the wall" movies as being good, pretty good, but did not say they were the best movie period.
I haven't seen About A Boy but if you're going to flat out state it was the best movie of the summer your own figures posted here don't even agree with that. Insomnia and Minority Report have the same grade from that information. If you go to IMDB.com and check the grades you'll find that Minority Report and Road to Perdition have both received higher grades. According to the masses and apparently the critics as well, About A Boy was not the best movie of the summer and it hasn't broken even yet at the Box Office. About A Boy Released in US May 17, 2002 Total US Gross $40,803,000 Production Budget $27,000,000 Promotion and Advertising Budget $20,000,000
I can't believe all you people saying the summer movie season is over! What a bunch of sheey!te. What about "Blue Crush", opening this Friday nationwide? (sound of crickets chirping) Spider-Man B+ (needed better villain) About a Boy B (had some laffs) Attack of the Clones C (for Crappy Dialogue: "We would swim out to that island as children and play in the sand." "I hate sand. It's coarse and rough and it gets everywhere. But not like here. Here things are soft and smooth." Man, if I could get a hot girl with BS lines like that... XXX D+ (Hey, I was bored) Lilo & Stitch B Minority Report B+ (I predicted the ending too easily, even the way the suspected bad guy was dispatched; I said, "This is gonna be like the scene from L A Confidential....yep.") Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron Incomplete (why would I see this?) Sum of All Fears B (Not too shabby) Bourne Identity A- (I really liked this one, not too over-the-top) Road to Perdition B (Took itself too seriously) K-19 the Widowmaker C (Harrison, better get that Indiana Jones script going soon) Mr Deeds D (Winona's chest: A) Signs B+ (Ending weak compared to first 95% of film) Goldmember B+ (Some really weak scenes juxtaposed with hilarious stuff like the "prison rap video" scene) Reign of Fire B (At least it didn't take itself too seriously) Men in Black II C (Talk about a rush job.)
There's a difference between stating fact and opinion. I believe the film is the best movie of the summer. Am I trying to impose my will on you? No. This is merely one man's opinion. Joe Joe suggested it wasn't a summer movie because it didn't appeal to the general masses. I said it was indeed a summer movie (and that started all of this). If you read the post before yours, Joe Joe agreed with me and stated exactly what I said before in this post: My opinion is merely my own and does not reflect that of the populace of CC.net. As for your contention that movies have to gross obscene figures to be labeled "Best Summer Movie," that's a bit ridiculous. So you're saying that Spider-Man is the best movie of the summer? Highest-grossing? Yes. Best movie? No. By your logic, MIB II would be right up there for best movie (shudder). I find your logic faulty. Box office gross has nothing to do with how you feel about a movie. If you liked a movie merely because it made $150 million at the box office (like Pearl Harbor did), that's just strange. As for the Rotten Tomatoes ratings, I wasn't trying to prove my point. I just posted it so others could see what critics thought of the films they rated themselves. If I wanted to make a case for About a Boy, I would have italicized or bolded the name. I can't help it that 1) it's tied for #1 in ratings at 93% and 2) It comes first when alphabeticizing the tied movie names. Sure, it looks good, but it wasn't my intention.
You've really inferred a lot from my post. I think it started with RM95 saying flatly that movie A was the best of the summer. That was his opinion, but he didn't really state it as that and he is a movie critic so hey. You agreed with him and tried to show a consensus among critics to which movie was considered the best this summer and the info you provided that I followed up on doesn't show that. So both of your opinions aren't shared by the majority, that's simply what I was trying to illustrate. I haven't seen the movie so I might agree with both of you in the end, I dunno. The gross figures show a loss which speaks to your comparison about the audience with other movies. Bourne Identity is probably 2/3 times the gross and Insomnia is probably more also. Obviously gross isn't the only indicator of a film's quality and I didn't intend to say it was. I'm still trying to catch that Big Fat Greek Wedding movie and it's gross is probably less than all of these movies.
Great movie. I simply gave my opinion on which movie I enjoyed the most this summer. I can't believe it's turned into this.
