Summer Season 2016

Hello Dear Blog Readers!

Sorry for the delay in posts, but I’ve been watching the fireworks known as summer blockbusters.  Since this is a movie blog that seems like a great excuse, right?

Now that it’s August the summer season is winding down.  There are still a few films I still want to see, before the welcome long nights of fall & winter over take the long days of summer. However there’s plenty to discuss in a summer rewind.

The big surprise for me was Green Room, starring Patrick Stewart and the late Anton Yelchin.  The trailer made the film looking intriguing but not a must see.  Boy was I wrong about the latter half of that statement.  The simple plot gave way to some great filmmaking and intense moments in film.  Plus getting to see Patrick Stewart play a villain was a stroke of genius on behave of the casting director.

May fell quickly into a routine summer with the duel super hero releases of Captain America: Civil War and Xmen Apocalypse.  Both were enjoyable films but not genre changers.  May also saw the release of The Nice Guys, which I thought was a blast to watch.

June saw the release of a quartet of sequels: Finding Dory, The Conjuring 2, Now You See Me 2, & Independence Day: Resurgence.  The Pixar release of Finding Dory, I thought was fantastic and love reading how this movie is becoming a champion film for those with developmental disabilities. The Conjuring 2 scared me and truly lived up to the original.  Now You See Me 2 was a lot of fun and works well as an Oceans 11 style heist film.  I’m two sided about Independence Day: Resurgence.  Part of me had a blast watching the movie, it plays well to a crowd.  The other half of me thinks I waited twenty years for a sequel to Independence Day and this is the best that can be made?  That was a bit of a disappointment.

Ghostbusters, Star Trek: Beyond, & Jason Bourne were other blockbusters I really enjoyed watching and recommend seeing at some point.

Some smaller films also lit up my summer season. The foreign language movie The Innocents was a powerful story with beautiful cinematography.  The civil war pic Free State of Jones told two great untold true stories. The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble was an incredible documentary.  Not only did it show case the variety of talent with in the ensemble but delved deeply into the cultures of everyone involved.  

 However the summer champion goes to Hunt for the Wilderpeople.  It’s an odd fugitive type movie from the director of What We Do in the Shadows (which is a must see).  Hunt for the Wilderpeople mixes a great since of humor with a slightly bizarre yet sweet story.  

With that said there were some duds this summer.  Love & Friendship I found to be dull.  The Secret Life of Pets tried to hard to be charming and really wasn’t while I found Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping to be unfunny.

So with all that said I look forward to the cooler nights of fall and winter and the release of movies that tend to compete for the ever exciting Oscar season.  Plus there’s the release of Blair Witch, a decent look Blair Witch Project sequel.