Open Forum Friday: Was the 2009 Summer Movie Season a Success or Failure?
As another summer movie season draws to a close, and the final weekend offers up low budget leftovers to pry just a few more dollars out of reluctant moviegoers’ hands, there’s only one thing left to do: look back and reflect on the past few months’ worth of film. As much as we all love to pick on the emptiness of big budget blockbusters, it’s hard to deny that there’s a sense of excitement surrounding some of these event movies. When a few of them finally manage to deliver the goods, somehow it makes all the whining and complaining totally worthwhile.
For me personally, the one-two punch of District 9 and Inglourious Basterds ended the summer on a high note, with two amazing cinematic experiences that I won’t soon forget. Putting these aside, however, I still think the 2009 summer season was surprisingly solid. Star Trek, The Hangover, Up… a lot of the highest grossing movies of the summer were also fairly well-regarded critically. There were even some great indie films to round things out including The Hurt Locker and (500) Days of Summer. What is your final judgment on the 2009 summer movie season? Was it all that you had hoped for? What were the highlights and lowlights? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.
Comments (23)
My grades:
A-:The Hurt Locker
B+:Up, Inglourious Basterds
B:District 9, Bruno, Star Trek
C+: Pontypool
C-: Fifty Dead Men Walking, Public Enemies
F: Terminator Salvation
Those are the Summer 09 movies I watched. Of the 63 movies I watched (yes I keep count) this summer (May-August), the best would be:
A+: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (rewatch; one of those childhood classics that has earned this spot through sheer consistent reviewings)
Posted by Glendon on August 28th, 2009A: 12 Angry Men, Magnolia (rewatch), The Wrestler, The Battle Of Algiers, Happiness
with nothing getting green lit unless its a franchise or a work supported by a top 5 director and all the independent distribution arms folding up, and film festival releases getting next to no support – I think the whole system is a failure.
Posted by rus in chicago on August 28th, 2009Amazing that the movies I had hi hopes for failed this summer.
My HIts & Mrs
Only 3 movies made the grade for me.
A Star Trek :: sorry Reed:) – I thought this was going to be luke warm.
+B District 9 :: again Reed sorry – I did not like the beginning at the time, but was blown away at the end. I look back and I know that the beginning made it work at the end as well as it does.
-A Drag me to Hell :: would of not see it with out your review.
Misses
-D Terminator – The end sucked the heart out of the movie
D Transformers – robot scrotum need I say more
+D Gi Joe – Gi Blows
Home Hits I watched.
+A Dark City
-A Apocalypto
-B Underworld 3
Wish Movie List — wished it got better distribution
Posted by Big Hungry on August 28th, 2009–Hurt Locker
–Moon
Y’know every film season is what you make it. There’s always something good out there you have to find it. I sort of identify with Rus’s cynicism but there’s still good work being put out. We’re approaching a time when literally every film will be Legos and Go-Bots, but we’re not quite there yet. So lets enjoy what we have.
The best films I saw this summer
Inglourious Basterds ****
Posted by Rusty James on August 28th, 2009Ponyo ****
Away We Go ****
Moon ***1/2
Drag Me to Hell ***1/2
Up ***1/2
Brothers Bloom ***1/2
Hurt Locker ***
Paper Heart ***
Star Trek ***
District 9 ***
All in all, not a terrible summer season. But as far as big blockbuster flicks, which I do look forward to, it was pretty disappointing. I guess Star Trek takes the popcorn award, with GI Joe following that. D9 was better then Terminator Salvation, Transformers 2, and Wolverine, which is kind of like winning the gold at the Special Olympics.
My Top Ten:
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Up
3. Drag Me to Hell
4. Moon
5. Star Trek
6. Whatever Works
7. Brothers Bloom
8. Tyson
9. 500 Days of Summer
10. GI Joe
I didn’t see The Hurt Locker yet, I worry about movies like that basically being Army commercials (ie Top Gun), but I do want to check it out.
Posted by Justice on August 28th, 2009Well here’s my list of the films that I saw this Summer.
Highlights:
Inglorious Bastards
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Drag Me to Hell
The Hangover
UP!
Thirst
Moon
Fast & The Furious 3
Low points:
Terminator Salvation
Last House on the Left
Night at the Museum 3
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Disappointments:
Brüno
Public Enemies
The Taking of Pelham 123
Epic Fail and utter crap:
Transformers 2 ROTF.
All in all I had a good time at the movies this summer despite the success of Transformers 2 and the legions of lemmings who loved it. District 9 was a revelation, Inglorious Bastards was a masterpiece, and the rest on my tops list were good fun and and very entertaining. Those films will be on my must by list when they hit Dvd/Blueray!
Hopefully Hollywood will move more towards movies like District 9 and steer clear of TF2 ROTF!
Posted by Marc on August 28th, 2009The best-1.Drag me to hell 2.Inglorious Bastards 3.TF2 4.Moon 5.last house on the left.
The shit-1.Terminator-4 2.Up 3.District-9 4.G.i joe 5.FF4.
Posted by jaime on August 28th, 2009“I didn’t see The Hurt Locker yet, I worry about movies like that basically being Army commercials (ie Top Gun), but I do want to check it out.”
Justice, what year is it where you live? There hasn’t been a major Hollywood film that portrays the US military in anything close to a positive light in quite some time… Hurt Locker is no exception. Besides, it’s not very good.
Posted by Shut-Up Ed on August 28th, 2009@ There hasn’t been a major Hollywood film that portrays the US military in anything close to a positive light in quite some time… Hurt Locker is no exception.
In general I’m appreciative of those who serve in the military. But S-UE, your shrill sense of entitlement exhausts any sense of good will I’d otherwise have.
I guess Hurt Locker is terrible film because it doesn’t toss your salad enough.
Posted by Rusty James on August 28th, 2009I actually had higher hopes for Hurt Locker. In the end I just found it a version of Lethal Weapon. Drag Me To Hell, Moon, Basterds, District 9 and 500 Days of Summer are my top 5. Honorable Popcorn mention goes to Orphan, Land of the Lost and Pelham 1-2-3.
Posted by ProjectGenesis on August 28th, 2009There was a lot to love about this summer. In chronological order, I enjoyed Star Trek, Drag Me To Hell, Up, The Brothers Bloom, Moon, The Hurt Locker, Public Enemies, (500) Days of Summer, District 9 and Inglourious Basterds. Up, Hurt Locker, District 9 and Basterds were my favorites.
On the other hand, Transformers 2 is in contention for the worst movie I’ve ever seen. I thought maybe in this post-Dark Knight world we live in that the standard for summer blockbusters had been raised, but the 800 million plus this crap fest has made worldwide would suggest that the bar is lower than it’s ever been.
Posted by Nate on August 29th, 2009Thank you for good article. I agree with a author that District 9 and Inglourious Basterds are really great movies. Well My top :
1. District 9
Posted by Andy movies on August 29th, 20092. Inglourious Basterds
3. Up
4. Transformers
5. Drag Me to Hell
6. Bruno
7. Moon
8. Underworld 3
9. 500 Days of Summer
10. GI Joe
it gave us, Star Trek, The Hurt Locker, Drag Me to Hell, District 9, Inglorious Basterds, Brüno.. Better than most summers I´d say
Posted by pcch7 on August 29th, 2009Hmmm.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine: D-
Star Trek: A+
Terminator Salvation: D-
Up: A
Land of the Lost: D+
The Taking of Pelham 123: C
The Proposal: B+
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: F
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: B
Public Enemies: A-
Bruno: C
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: D-
G-Force: B
Funny People: C+
G.I. Joe: B
District 9: A+
Inglourious Basterds: A++
I guess I saw more movies than i thought (im a projectionist). So in the end. I believe this summer was kind of a fizzle.
Posted by Dr. Sesiom on August 29th, 2009Success
Posted by joe on August 29th, 2009Thirst, Moon, Inglourious Basterds, District9, Public Enemies and The Hurt Locker make this summer a pretty big success. Lots of quality interspersed amongst the Big Studio Crap.
And yea, Up, Drag Me to Hell, (500)Days of Summer, The Cove and The English Surgeon (both distributed in Toronto this summer), The Brothers Bloom and Away We Go were icing on the cake.
Posted by Kurt on August 29th, 2009I live in the UK, where District 9 and (500) Days of Summer aren’t being released until September the 4th. But I’m still going to see both of them before I go back to college. I missed Moon (none of the nearby cinemas were playing it), and I’m going to watch The Hurt Locker next week. I wish that Up had come out here during the summer, but unfortunately I’ve got to wait until October to see it. So for now, here is my current Top Ten list of the summer:
1. Inglourious Basterds (10/10)
2. Star Trek (9/10)
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (9/10)
4. Public Enemies (8.5/10)
5. Coraline (8.5/10) (released on May 8th in the UK)
6. Funny People (8/10)
7. Drag Me to Hell (8/10)
8. The Hangover (8/10)
9. Bruno (7/10)
10. Bandslam (7/10)
I’m pretty surprised that no one has mentioned Harry Potter as a success yet. I really loved this movie, both in terms of its stunning artistry and pulsating humanity. After watching Funny People yesterday, I felt that it was really underrated. Here was a comedy with heart and soul. Sure, it wasn’t a classic, but I wasn’t disappointed by it either. Another underrated movie this summer was Public Enemies. Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard were great (as were the rest of the cast), the period detail and gun fights were jaw-dropping, and the film provided heart with the tragic romance at the centre of the story. Plus, it actually made you feel like you were right in the middle of the action.
This is my list for the time being. I’ll (hopefully) readjust it after I’ve seen The Hurt Locker, District 9 and (500) Days of Summer.
As for the failure side of the side, there were only a couple which I considered to be disappointing. Both Tranformers and Wolverine failed to meet my expectations, whilst Night at the Museum 2 and The Proposal were generic pieces of studio entertainment. However, there was one movie which I considered to be a failure on nearly every level; Year One. With all the comic talent involved in this movie, one should be able to expect just a hint of quality. But this movie sank like a rock after the first ten minutes and never recovered. I know I may be being too harsh, but I just wanted to have a fun time at the cinema (at least). Boy, was I punished.
Posted by Ben Lee on August 29th, 2009Stop suckig District 9’s dick people.
Posted by jaime on August 29th, 2009This summer showed us big names like Tarantino and Apatow can give us something besides what we’re used to always getting. And it can be quite good, too.
Also, come on, people. Let’s see more “Ponyo” love!
Aside from “Star Trek”, I’d say that was my favorite film this summer.
Posted by Falsk on August 30th, 2009“Stop suckig District 9’s dick people.”
I endorse this comment. The continued praise of a film people like has got to stop. If anything we must teach our children more about blighted cynicism and less about just enjoying stuff.
Also, my opinion is the best opinion. Here’s to ya!
*pops cork, takes swig*
Posted by Patrick McShittypants on August 30th, 2009The only films I cared to see were: Tranformers 2(1.5 out of 5) and T49(3 out of 5).
Posted by Matt Keith on August 30th, 2009harry potter and star trek were the best movies this summer for me, as well as transformers ranking close in my opinion.
Posted by rick on August 31st, 2009I agree with Falsk…Ponyo was my fave of the summer as well–just so imaginative and touching. Didn’t see much, but here’s my summer list:
1. Ponyo
2. Inglorious Basterds
3. Drag Me to Hell
4. Valentino: The Last Emperor
5. Moon
6. Public Enemies
Still want to see Thirst. The first 1/2 of D9 was awesome, but just too much action for me in the latter 1/2–it made my mind numb. Hurt Locker was cool.
Posted by dan on September 1st, 2009Leave a Reply