The Winners & Losers of the 2012 Summer Movie Season

……With both Labor Day Weekend and the start of school upon us, the 2012 Summer Movie Season is officially over – pretty sad, huh? It really does feel like it was yesterday that I was lining up to see The Avengers kick off the season in rip roaring fashion all the way back in May – seriously, where did the summer go? While it’s impossible to go back and start it all over again, we can reexamine the 4-month-long season in all its lackluster glory. Yup, I said it – with only a handful of stellar movies, the 2012 summer movie season proved to be a big “eh” with films that looked great but were utterly forgettable or flat out disappointing. To recap the season, here are my 2012 Summer Movie Season Winners & Losers :

“The Dark Knight”: Why It Truly Matters

……Four years ago, Christopher Nolan stunned the world with The Dark Knight, his blockbuster follow-up to Batman Begins that broke the opening weekend record (at the time) with $158 million and ultimately grossed over $1 billion worldwide. To say that The Dark Knight was the film of 2008 would be an understatement, for in many ways it was the film of the decade as well as the groundbreaking film for my generation. With a hypnotically dark sense of dread permeating through every frame, The Dark Knight redefined the superhero genre by being a haunting, realistic crime drama (think Heat) instead of a pulpy, humorous thrill ride (think Spider-Man, Avengers). More importantly, however, The Dark Knight did something even more monumentous: it reminded me why I love the movies in the first place. To this day, The Dark Knight remains one of my most beloved films not only because of its ambitious nature, its incredible performances, and its breathtaking cinematography, but also because it proved what the movies really are: a place where, even in just 2 hours and 30 minutes, a group of strangers can truly become a solid community.

Christopher Nolan: A Mind Bending Power Ranking

……Widely considered one of the most brilliant working directors in Hollywood, Christopher Nolan’s rise to legendary status is made all the more astonishing when you realize that he’s only made 6 major feature films. Yup, believe it or not, but this weekend’s The Dark Knight Rises marks only the 7^th major film from director Christopher Nolan; how remarkable? Through just 6 films, Nolan has not only become a definitive director of my generation but he’s also become one of cinema’s most reliable sources for sensational entertainment. While he hasn’t crafted as many masterpieces as Scorsese or Spielberg, many would argue that Nolan is equally as potent and masterful and it’s easy to see why: he’s a true visionary who knows how to tell an intimate, engaging story on an ambitious, blockbuster scale. With his latest, The Dark Knight Rises, out this weekend, I thought I’d take a look back at Nolan’s short but powerful filmography and rank his movies from least to greatest triumph. Here, then, is the Christopher Nolan power ranking:

PIXAR: Ranking the Animated Powerhouse’s 12 Films

……To say that I have an unadulterated love for Pixar is nothing really unique or special, for don’t we all have an obsession with the animated powerhouse? Through just 12 films, Pixar has become one of the most dominative movie studios in the world; not only have their movies earned an average worldwide gross of $600 million dollars, but Pixar has also won 26 Academy Awards and 7 Golden Globes and has made three movies that have placed in the 50 highest grossing films of all time. Wow, if that’s not success, I’m not sure what is! By combining a childhood sense of joy and imagination with an adult sense of drama and heart, Pixar has made hit after hit and, for the most part, classic after classic that can be loved by every gender and every age. Today, the animated studio releases its 13^th feature film, Brave, and in honor of their latest release, here is my ranking of every Pixar film from least favorite to most cherished:

Charlize Theron: When Great Beauty Meets Great Talent

……If there’s one thing I love most about the 2012 summer movie season, it’s that June brings us a double dose of Charlize Theron, one of Hollywood’s most beautiful and brilliant actresses. What’s even better is that Theron is gracing the screen in back-to-back blockbusters that open only a week apart from one another – Snow White and the Huntsman (in theatres now) and the highly anticipated Prometheus (out Friday). From her breakout role in The Cider House Rules, to her Oscar savvy turns in Monster and North Country, to her TV guest spot on the exceptional Arrested Development, Charlize Theron has proven herself to be a versatile powerhouse, a rare actress whose stunning beauty equals her exceptional talent. While her seductive eyes and graceful looks make her an actress that’s easy to watch, it’s Theron’s powerful screen presence and ability to engage the viewer that make her such a modern legend. Like Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, and Katharine Hepburn before her, Charlize Theron is yet another gorgeous actress with incredible talent to spare, and with two movies kicking off June in high style, I couldn’t be happier.

“Battleship” vs. The 2012 Moviegoer: Are We Finally Over CGI?

……Around the time when Michael Bay’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was ruling the 2009 summer box office, my faith in movie-going audiences was severely dwindling; what about this CGI-stuffed mess was so appealing that is was breaking records left and right and grossing more than $400 million? With no relatable characters or story elements, the only attractive part of Revenge of the Fallen was its flashy special effects, but was the chance to see incredible CGI a big enough reason to buy a $12+ ticket? At the time in 2009, yes, but after Peter Berg’s “Michael Bay-knockoff” Battleship underwhelmed with an opening gross of $25 million this weekend (it cost over $200 million to make), it’s clear that audiences are getting smarter and pickier when it comes to blockbusters -and thank god for that!

“The Avengers” vs. “The Dark Knight”: Film’s Most Pointless Competition

                     

……If demolishing Harry Potter’s opening weekend record with a gross of $207 million wasn’t enough, Marvel’s The Avengers also crossed the $700 million mark internationally after just 13 days in release. Wow! In less than two weeks, The Avengers has taken the world by storm and its box office rampage doesn’t seem to be slowing down as it races towards its inevitable worldwide gross of over $1 billion. What’s even more inevitable has been the makeshift competition that has started between Joss Whedon’s superhero team and the last superhero film to make such a strong critical and box office impact, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. If you’ve been on any entertainment website or movie blog, the question as to which superhero epic is the better film has been everywhere, especially as the next Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, gears up for its July release. So, which one is actually better, The Avengers or The Dark Knight?

Critiquing Movies: My 4 Star Rating System

If there’s one complaint about film critics that I can’t disagree with, it’s the fact that their rating systems seem to differ from critic to critic and from publication to publication. From Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert’s trademark thumbs to Entertainment Weekly’s letter scale (they rank films from A-D), it’s hard to keep track of which films are worth seeing when you don’t understand what each rating means in the first place. Traditionally, films have always been ranked on the 4 star system, a rating scale that I use to review films because I find it to be the easiest system for a reader to figure out – 4 stars is perfection while 1 star is a complete dud. However, between the confusing 2½ star rating and the minor differences between 3½ stars and 4 stars, even the traditional 4 star system has its share of confusions and ambiguities. To settle the confusion, I’ve decided to spell out the 4 star system as I see it so that we’re all on the same page by my next film review.

Meta Movies: Are We Entering An Age Of Self-Referential Films?

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It’s long been discussed that originality in Hollywood has been dead for quite some time. While the logistics of that statement aren’t entirely true, it’s hard to say that the current film era we’re in is anything but the age of sequels, prequels, reboots, adaptations and spinoffs. In fact, just one look at this year’s summer movie season will only prove this fact as The Avengers, The Amazing Spiderman, The Dark Knight Rises, and Prometheus quickly approach. However, originality isn’t completely dead yet, and two of the best films of the spring season, The Cabin in the Woods and 21 Jump Street, have thrived both critically and popularly thanks to a similar secret weapon: their hyper-meta and self referential screenplays. While Woods is a horror movie and Street a comedy, the two films have been some of the most entertaining movies of the year thus far by embracing their stereotypical plots and characters and using them as items ripe for satirizing, a move that often breathes new life into aging, one-note norms.

Machete (2010): 20 Reasons Why It’s The Perfect 4/20 Movie

 Let’s waste no time beating around the bush – today is April 20^th, so chances are that if you’re anywhere in your teenage to young adult years, you’ll be celebrating this high holy day in one way or another. With that said, I’m sure none of you will be interested in reading a lengthy review or film opinion piece, so instead, I’ve chosen a film I think many of you would enjoy in your mental state today and I’ve provided 20 reasons why I think you should see it. While you can certainly take the obvious route with films like Dazed and Confused, Pineapple Express, and Harold and Kumar, why not try something new this year? Just because a film doesn’t have a plot that coincides with your holiday festivities doesn’t mean it won’t be a good choice to screen tonight before you burn out and pass out for god only knows how long. So, in light of today’s holiday, I think it would be a perfect time to give Machete, Robert Rodriguez’s 2010 exploitation film, a fighting chance to win you over; here are 20 reasons why: