This is the end, my friend.

Tomorrow night is the end of Summer Movie Madness. What began with “Iron Man 2” back in May looks like it will end “Going the Distance” (or “Machete” if Jenn’s up to it.) To be perfectly honest, I am kind of sad. I look forward to SMM partly because I have always loved going to the movie theater. I went to my first movie when I was two years old. The movie was “Popeye” and even though I spent most of my time  running up and down the aisle of the theater, (or so I have been told), the experience made a deep enough impact that I always wanted to go back. 

As I have said before, my parents did not have a lot of  money growing up. So a cheap family activity was going to matinees at the theater. And we saw a lot of movies. My parents had a strange philosophy when it came to what we could and couldn’t watch. As long as the movie did not have anything involving magic or the occult, it was fair game. Hence, I was able to see the Prince classic, “Purple Rain“, and not the children’s classic “Legend”. 

As I grew up and got married, Summer Movie Madness took on another meaning. No matter what was happening, I knew one night of the week, Jenn and I would be able to spend time together. I have grown accustomed to our weekly walk to theater, even though the heat at times has made it feel like we were “crossing the Sahara” (Jenn’s words). I love the chats Jenn and I have, our seat in the theater (right up against the railing, end of the row), and mocking the commercials that appear before the trailers. As this summer draws to a close, I wanted to use tonight’s post to talk about my three favorite movies this summer. 

It took until June for a movie to come along that I could honestly say blew me away. That movie was Toy Story 3. Now admittedly, I have a bias as I love Disney and everything that is tied to it. Even so, this movie was amazing.  It’s the conclusion of the story of Woody and Buzz. Andy is leaving to college and he has to decide what to do with what remains of the toys of his youth. Through a mix-up, the toys end up at a daycare where everything is not as it seems. The status quo among the toys is maintained by a stuffed Bear named Lotso, who maintains order through intimidation and his cult-like skills of persuasion. Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the toys need to figure out a way to leave the daycare and get back to Andy. 

Toy Story 3

 

Naturally, things turn around, but in that one scene, Lee Unkrich, the director, managed to use toys to convey some powerful emotions about death. As someone who has thought about the end on occasion, it inspired me. The calmness that spread over the toys as they approached their annihilation was beautiful. This may sound odd, but I hope that when my time comes, I can meet it with the same grace that they did. 

My second favorite film of the summer is one that had a lot of hype going into this summer. I started getting really excited about “Inception” when I heard the director, Christopher Nolan, speak about it at WonderCon, the comic book convention we go to every year. “Inception” is the story of a group of thieves who are able to sneak into people’s dreams and steal their ideas. They are hired by a businessman to plant an idea inside the head of rival. However, the leader of the thieves has a secret that could cost them their mission. 

Inception

 

The last great movie I saw this summer was one I had been looking forward to for over two years. It is also the one that made the least amount of money at the box office. “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” was a movie that was loved by those who saw it. Unfortunately for the studio, very few people did. Based on a series of 6 graphic novels, the movie is the story of a Toronto slacker who falls in love with a mysterious American delivery girl. In order to date her, he must defeat her seven evil exes. 

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

 

All in all, this summer did not have many stand-out films. The three I mentioned, while superior films, did not have much competition. There was a few that do deserve honorable mentions. “A-Team” was a fun throwback that was a great mix of action and comedy. “The Other Guys” was something we have not seen in quite a while: a funny movie starring Will Ferrell. Outside of those, Summer Movie Madness was a bust. Well, not totally. I got to spend a lot of time with Jenn. If only the movies were as entertaining as she is.

The Madness and The Switch

Summer does not have the same impact for me as it did when I was a child. When I was younger, “Summer” meant spending my days goofing off and then staying up extraordinarily late because all I had scheduled for the next day was…spending my day goofing off. (What I affectionately refer to as “The Sister-In-Law Schedule.”) However, when I finally entered the work force, “Summer” slowly evolved to be the time of year that I didn’t sleep well because it was so hot at night. In 2006, Jenn and I began a tradition that changed that. It’s called “Summer Movie Madness”.

Beginning in May and every week until Labor Day, Jenn and I head out  to watch a new movie. The first couple of years it was difficult to make sure that happened but now that we live next door to the movie theater, we are two movies away from making it through a complete summer. It figures that we would accomplished this in the midst of what has been widely accepted as the worst summer movie season in recent memory. Looking back at the 17 new movies we have seen so far, I would have to agree.

That’s not to say that there has not been a few diamonds in the vast coal mine that was the Summer of 2010. I have my personal three favorite movies of the summer. But, seeing as Summer Movie Madness has two weeks left, I think it’s only fair to that I wait and give the next two movies a chance. Does tonight’s film stand a chance? We’ll see. I am writing this literally an hour before Jenn and I walk to theater. So give me about a few hours and I tell you…

So I’m sitting on the couch after the movie and as I said in my Twitter post, this is why Jenn doesn’t normally pick the movies. Just so you know,  I’m not a guy who hates romantic comedies. However, they very easily fall into the same plot progression each and every time. As such, it’s up to the seasoning that the actors are able to bring to the film that make it enjoyable for me. This movie  was, for me, very bland.

The Switch

“The Switch” is story of Wally(played by Jason Bateman), a New York stock trader who is in a sort-of platonic relationship with Kassie (played by Jennifer Aniston). Kassie has decided that she wants to have a baby, as she is feeling the pressure of her biological clock. Wally, a nuerotic who is offended that Kassie did not pick him to be the donor, tries to convince her to not go through with it. She, upset that he does not support her, asks for a “timeout” in their friendship. Eventually they reconcile at Kassie’s insemination party (don’t ask) and he meets the donor, Roland (played by Patrick Wilson). Wally is having a hard dealing with the situation and ends up getting incredibly drunk and (it’s inferrred) high. While in the restroom, he comes across Roland’s specimen and accidentally drops it down the sink. Realizing his mistake, he replaces it with his own donation.

Due to his hangover, Wally doesn’t remember what happened the next morning. Kassie tells him that she is pregnant and she is moving to Minnesota to have the baby. 6 years later, Kassie moves back to New York with her son, Sebastian (played by Thomas Robinson). As Wally re-connects with her and gets to know Sebastian, he realizes that Sebastian is in fact his son. Kassie, meanwhile, begins a relationship with Roland. From that point, the movie follows the usual romantic comedy formula of boy likes girl, girl is in relationship, girl develops feelings for boy, an obstacle arises, and SPOILER ALERT, girl and boy get together.

The movie was promoted as a vehicle for Jennifer Aniston but the story mostly focused on Wally. As such, other than superficial character traits such as being impulsive, you never really got to know Kassie. With Wally front and center, I expected the movie to have a strong comedy base as I have enjoyed most Jason Bateman’s work since his career renaissance a few years ago. However, I have come to believe that he works best as either the straight man or a wildly outlandish character. It seemed that they were trying to portray Wally’s neurosis as abnormal but he was consistently over-showed by the more aberrant behavior of Sebastian. I do have to give Thomas Robinson kudos. He took what could have easily been a one-note character and breathed life into him.

There is not much else to say about the rest of the cast. Jennifer Aniston never strayed from her usual romantic comedy character. Patrick Wilson did a good job of not making Roland someone the audience hated. Jeff Goldblum was wasted in a small role as Wally’s boss and (apparently) only other friend. Juliette Lewis played also played to type as Kassie’s eccentric friend. The few times she was onscreen were grating as her schtick is getting old.

When I step into the movie theater, no matter the quality of the film, I try to be fully engaged. I look for story beats or character moments that could resonate with me. With a theme of the movie being a man who did not expect to be a father coming to terms with fatherhood, I thought that I would be able to relate as I was initially not to thrilled to be a dad. Wally’s supposed main issue was that his anxieties cause him to feel disconnected with the world. I expected to find some common ground there but as I said before, the film did more to tell you of Wally’s separation than actually show you. He was a fairly successful person who is able to have a healthy relationship with a independent and strong woman. Other than characters using “Wally” as a negative term, the movie does not seem to convey any reason that he would not be able to connect with his son.  Not very inspiring for someone who still has doubts about his skill as father.

“The Switch” has continued this summer’s streak of disappointing movies. In the interest of full disclosure, at a couple of points during our viewing, the projector’s shutter began to cut off the screen. I think it was trying to do me a favor. “The Switch” had most of the right ingredients but it couldn’t put them together into a satisfying mix. My personal rating: 2.5 stars out of 4. If you must watch it, do it on DVD. Of course, with it’s box office take, you won’t have to wait long for that.