Summer Movie Survey. We Celebrate! (Part 1)
Thursday, September 6, 2012 at 5:08PM How was the summer for you? Did you shove tips in Magic Mike's loincloth at the Xquisite or strap on utility belts to fight for Gotham's soul? Maybe you freaked out in outer/auteur space with Ridley Scott, or demonstrated super popcorn-eating powers with Joss Whedon and The Avengers or devoured art house offerings as enthusiastically as Hushpuppy cracked those crab shells in Beasts of the Southern Wild?
We totally want to hear your great takeaways from summer movie season, so we'll go first. Sharing Time! I sent my frequent contributors a little questionnaire -- a "Summer Report Card" if you will -- to get the thingie about their summer at the movies to get this comment party started and here's what I got back. I had such fun reading these and I hope you do too. This weekend I'll be joined by my podcast mates Joe Reid and Nick Davis on a two parter answering these same questions. If you answer these questions on your blog I'll link up. Or just use the comments as your own "what about me?!" personal space.
So here we go...
AMIRBest Movie I Saw All Summer:
Beasts of the Southern Wild, closely followed by those wild beasts of the south dancing at the Xquisite
Moment I ♥ So Much I Thought My Heart Would Burst:
It wasn't just my heart bursting, it was all my insides spilling out as Noomi Rapace cut herself to deliver her baby monster in Prometheus.
At Least The Theatre Was Air Conditioned:
Killer Joe
Best Old Movie I Saw For the First Time This Summer - Go Me! :
Though I ended up missing that episode of HMWYBS, thanks to Nathaniel I finally caught up with Dog Day Afternoon. What a superb actor Al Pacino used to be.
Major Summer Crush(es)
Few things in the world are as attractive as women riding motorcycles, or women dressed in spandex. Few people are as attractive as Anne Hathaway. Anne Hathaway riding a motorcycle wearing spandex? *faints*
Line Reading That Stuck In My Head...
The law says you cannot touch, but I think I see a lotta lawbreakers up in this house tonight."
-Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) in Magic Mike
JOSE
Best Movie I Saw All Summer:
Prometheus
Princess Merida, Katniss or Hawkeye?
Katniss!
Thing I Actually Learned (at summer movie camp! ;):
Rachel Weisz is not the poor man's Kate Winslet anymore even if she was doing Revolutionary Road redux in The Deep Blue Sea.
Major Summer Crush(es):
Noomi Rapace and Charlize Theron in Prometheus; Princess Merida in Brave; Emma Stone in The Amazing Spider-Man; Thor's biceps in The Avengers
At Least The Theater Was Air Conditioned:
Total Recall
If Only "Hulk" Had Smashed...
...everything in Dark Shadows, except for Chloe, Eva and Michelle.
Moment I ♥ So Much I Thought My Heart Would Burst:
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" as performed by CZJ in Rock of Ages. Don't judge.
Best Old Movie I Saw For the First Time This Summer - Go Me! : Les Diaboliques.
Line Reading That Stuck In My Head...
Peter Parker: "I've been bitten"Gwen: "So have I"
MICHAELMoonrise Kingdom
The floating brothel from Beasts and the Wal Mart shopping trip from Queen of Versailles
Alison Brie from Five Year Engagement. Just when I thought I couldn't be more in love with her she goes and adds a flawless English accent.
Princess Merida, Katniss or Hawkeye?
Merida. Better form than Hawkeye. Better personality than Katniss. Better hair than anyone, ever.
That pale humanoid guy from Prometheus. Right when he came back to life and had the smug look on his face. How satisfying would that have been?
David from Prometheus and The Avengers. David deserves a better franchise and The Avengers could use someone who is not such a drama queen.
Snow White and the Huntsman. No more movies where the lead character is "the chosen one". I'm begging.
After you die I'll go to your grave and eat birthday cake all by myself."
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
Reader Comments (9)
Must see "Beasts of.." stat. On a totally shallow note, all of your reviewers are quite handsome. Hi Amir! :-)
Michael & Nat - I totally agree with you on The Cranes are Flying. I saw it as part of my project to watch all Cannes winners, which by the way has been stalled for months now on 1971's The Go-Between. It's hard to say it's the best I watched in that run, since there are films like Miracle in Milan and The Leopard and La Dolce Vita there, but it's certainly up there with them.
Best Movie I Saw All Summer:
Prometheus. I just fell in love with that movie. It made The Hunger Games feel so far in time, as if it had happened a couple of years ago.
Moment I ♥ So Much I Thought My Heart Would Burst:
It wasn't just my heart bursting, it was all my insides spilling out as Noomi Rapace cut herself to deliver her baby monster in Prometheus.
Sorry, I had to keep Jose's answer. Those would be my words if I was that articulate.
At Least The Theatre Was Air Conditioned:
I won't confess.Being a Catholic should be enough.
Best Old Movie I Saw For the First Time This Summer - Go Me! :
Oh, god, this is so embarrassing. It was Singing in the Rain to read the Hit me with Your Best Shot series. Curiously enough, In & Out was on tv a few days later, so I had more Debbie Reynolds in my life than... ever.
Best Movie I Saw All Summer:
The Deep Blue Sea -- brilliant, mesmerizing direction by Terrence Davies, marvelous acting by Rachel Weisz, and naked Tim Huddleston.
Princess Merida, Katniss or Hawkeye?
The Huntsman.
Major Summer Crush:
Luke Kirby in Take This Waltz. Dreamy perfection.
If Only "Hulk" Had Smashed...:
The critics who praised Beasts of the Southern Wild, thus making me waste 10 bucks and 90 minutes of my life on one of the most pretentious douchetwaddle of a film ever made.
At least the theater was air conditioned:
Magic Mike -- man, it was HOT in there!
Best Old Movie I Saw For the First Time This Summer - Go Me! :
Hangover Square (1945), a grand gothic thriller with a noir sensibility, with staggering B&W cinematography and a gripping performance by Laird Cregar.
My report card:
http://jacobdevine.blogspot.com/2012/09/summer-report-card-re-film-experience.html
I just want to say I love every one of Michael's answers. And I'm in the bag for Hangover Square, too. Joseph, have you seen Laird Cregar in The Lodger and The Black Swan, too?
Amir...gorboonet besham.
I like Alison Brie , but I didn't find her British accent flawless.
JT - I freely admit I have a terrible ear for that sort of thing and defer to those who can pick up on accents. That said, any quibbles with the accuracy of Brie's work will not reduce my affection for one bit.