It’s Movie Time!
Jul 19th 2008
Suzanne EnochMy Life As A Plebe
Well, we’re a little more than halfway through July, I’ve tried three different kinds of self-tanning lotion, and I’ve eaten more watermelon than should be legal. I therefore say that it’s time for a mid-summer movie update.
Movie I busted a gut over: Get Smart. I actually thought this movie would just be silly, but it was funny. Really funny. I snorted twice, which I don’t do very often. And it’s good-spirited, which is a bonus.
Movie I enjoyed so much I saw it twice: 
Iron Man. Yes, I’m a fan of Marvel super heroes, but this one just exceeded expectations. The greatest thing was that it’s just a good movie. You don’t even have to be a fan of the comics to enjoy it.
Movie that wasn’t what I thought it would be but I enjoyed it anyway: Hancock. From the commercials I thought it would be a really funny movie about a grumpy, put-upon super hero, but it turned out to be more serious and thoughtful than that. I liked it, but I almost wish it had been about a grumpy, put-upon super hero all the way through.
Movie that surprised me because I liked it so much: Kung Fu Panda. My sister and I took my 6-year-old nephew, and I figured it would be my good deed for the week. He enjoyed it, but I think I liked it even more than he did. I’d tie it with Iron Man for my favorite movie so far this summer.
Best performance: Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight. I wouldn’t be surprised if he earned a posthumous Oscar nomination. Talk about a hair-raising, tour-de-force performance – that was it. Oh, and the movie was great, too. Not for the faint of heart.
Which movies have you enjoyed the most or least so far this summer? Did you miss one you wanted to see? What are you still looking forward to?
37 Comments »
37 Responses to “It’s Movie Time!”
Jane Squires on 19 Jul 2008 at 12:46 am #
I actually was surprised by moving NO RESERVATIONS. Instead of movies I least like to see I am tired of all the reruns on tv and shows no one really wants to look at. So unless I have a DVD going or news, the tv is pretty much off. I have see some of the reruns so many times I just cannot stand to see them again. I am ordering me My Mother’s Boyfriend to see. I hope it is good.
SheridanLA on 19 Jul 2008 at 3:33 am #
I was also pleasantly surprised by Hancock.. went in with low expectations.. came out feeling I did not lose that 2 hours of my life.
I am looking forward to Mamma Mia.. we are planning a girl’s night to make Mediterranean food then hit the cinema.. I will be the one dancing in my seat and singing along.
Missed Get Smart, Indiana Jones, Iron Man… where does the time go? sheesh. I’ll probably see Batman after the insanity dies down a bit. oy.
AnnaSwede on 19 Jul 2008 at 4:32 am #
I have only seen two movies so far this summer - Indiana Jones and Mamma Mia. Both were great! I really want to see Batman.
Kathy/Cookie on 19 Jul 2008 at 5:01 am #
I’ve seen Indiana Jones so far…I’m SO far behind my movie going, I’ll have to wait for dvds. I’m looking forwrad to Mamma Mia. I must go with Nicola, the girlies’ mom. she was singing along to the grade six graduation presentation the school did of two select songs from their musical production Annie. She’s the right person to go with a sing in the theatre with!
lol
Michelle B. on 19 Jul 2008 at 7:12 am #
Saw Indiana Jones, loved it. Saw Kung Fu Panda, very cute and funny. Saw Iron Man, great flick! I am so looking forward to Mamma Mia, that song has been stuck in my head for over a month. I’m sure I will embarrass my two daughters by singing along, oh well, I’m buying the tickets!
Meg on 19 Jul 2008 at 7:45 am #
I have to agree with you about Kung Fu Panda. I took my niece and nephew to see it and was pleasently surprised! I was better than I thought it was going to be.
I was a little disappointed in Prince Caspian. It didn’t seen to end as happily as the first one.
I really liked Wall-E. And it also had a not-so-subtle message for anyone who watches it.
And lastly, I went to see The Strangers. Now THAT was a good scary movie!! It scared the crap out of me!!
I am going to go see The Dark Knight on Monday. Can’t wait!!
Dina on 19 Jul 2008 at 8:29 am #
I enjoyed Wanted, saw Get Smart, the new Indy movie and look forward to Dark Knight. Mama Mia is starting to sing to me, so will proably see tha soon too.
Lisa H on 19 Jul 2008 at 8:48 am #
I really want to see Indiana Jones and Dark Knight.
The movie we saw most recently was WALL-E and it was fabulous! As a lover of romance, this movie so delivered. My three year old, twelve year old and fifteen year old all loved the movie as did my husband. Its a great love story, without much dialogue and yes, there is a message about taking care of our planet and not relying on machines for everything. I hope you will take your kids to this little gem.
Beth C. on 19 Jul 2008 at 9:27 am #
I loved Iron Man. Saw The Dark Knight last night. Loved it. Sad but a lot of action. I liked Prince Caspian as well. I really need to go read the books in that series.
This summer I’ve been seeing more movies by myself. Life has been busy. Usually summer is a chance to go enjoy with my close girl friends but that isn’t happening this year. While I still love the movies, I miss our discussions of them afterwards.
FreshEChelle on 19 Jul 2008 at 10:07 am #
My movie going friend who initiates all of our movie nights has a new boyfriend. Before becoming her friend, I went 3-4 years without a trip to the theater. So here’s to my friend’s exciting new relationship. I’m doing fine without my movies. Maybe I’ll use the time to catch my own fish.
Nicole Jordan on 19 Jul 2008 at 10:36 am #
Waaaaah… I haven’t had the time to see anything but Sex In the City. I want to see Iron Man and Hulk and absolutely Dark Knight. But I may have to wait a few months.
Suzanne Enoch on 19 Jul 2008 at 10:43 am #
I admit, I’ve been kind of on the fence about “Mama Mia”, but the more commercials for it I see, the more those songs stick in my head. I may have to go now. *g*
Dina, I saw “Wanted”, too. It was visually cool, but I felt a little mislead by the commercials.
dbrown3400 on 19 Jul 2008 at 10:44 am #
Although I don’t go to many movies, I plan on seeing Mamma Mia. I usually wait until the DVD comes out but this is one I want to see now. I might go to Dark Knight after the big rush is over because that one won’t translate well to the small screen.
Karen Hawkins on 19 Jul 2008 at 10:46 am #
Iron Man. Loved it. Loved the plot, the characters — everything. A very, very good script made that movie and the hero-eye-candy didn’t hurt.
Kung Fu Panda - surprised me how much I liked it! Great, fun story with lots of adult humor. I like that they didn’t just use sight gags, but there were some subtle humor, too — like when the Panda’s father tells him “I have sonething to tell you” and you just KNOW he’s going to admit that the panda isn’t really his kid but instead, he admits to something different. It was so well done!
Indiana Jones - bored me. It was ok but it really, really could have used five more minutes of character developing convo somewhere in the movie. It just didn’t work for me that Indy got the girl and they never had a meaningful conversation. Too much gravy, not enough meat.
Wall-E — fun and cute and had a message. I can’t believe they did so much with a robot!
Karen Hawkins on 19 Jul 2008 at 10:49 am #
Hulk — eh. Was ok but one too many street fights. Just lost it’s glam. Plus, I saw Iron Man first and it was hard to live up to the mark after having seen that.
I wanted to see Zohan, but missed it. I know it was probably stupid, but my expectations were low, so I don’t think I would have been disappointed.
I AM going to see Get Smart and Batman. I can’t wait!!!!
Suzanne Enoch on 19 Jul 2008 at 10:57 am #
I liked “The Incredible Hulk”, but then I had seen the previous one — the new one is SOOOOO much better.
“Wall-E” is one I haven’t seen. Don’t know why, but I just look at the commercials and go “meh”.
Lisa H on 19 Jul 2008 at 11:31 am #
I just read a review about Dark Knight and Suzanne, your description sounds accurate. I am intrigued.
I heard that Heath’s perfomance scared himself as he was making that movie.
Kay on 19 Jul 2008 at 11:32 am #
I loved Get Smart. I was such a fan of the tv show and the movie pushed all the right buttons, but would stand well on its own, if you didn’t like/never watched the tv show. The wrestler guy (I never remember names) is a hunk. Great FROS material.
I took the kids to see Wall-E and we all loved it, for different reasons. Sweet romance, too. If you haven’t seen it yet–stay for the beginning of the credits–very cute.
Prince Caspian was OK. I’m a huge fan of the books, and this movie didn’t work so well for me.
Indiana Jones was only OK. HATED the end of the “adventure” part. Loved the villain.
For those of you who have seen Batman—Is it OK for a 13 year old? He is dying to see it, but I’m not sure. Thaks
Karen Rose on 19 Jul 2008 at 11:47 am #
Kay, oldest says she doesn’t think it’s okay for your 13-year-old. But she says you should see it yourself first to make the choice.
Oldest loved Dark Knight so much she’s planning an IMAX outing for next week and we are all going up to the IMAX at St. Pete to see it.
Of course I have to see Batman Begins first - I only caught the last ten minutes on the plane coming back from London.
Last movie I saw was PRINCE CASPIAN, which disappointed me. The special effects and location were amazing, but the characters were all flat.
I have been to see three shows, though - Avenue Q in London, and Little Mermaid and Hairspray in NYC. I think Hairspray is my favorite, which surprised me. Didn’t think I’d like it nearly as much as I did and I’m still humming the music. Karen H - I even danced a little.
We rented the film from NetFlix and saw it yesterday and I danced a little more. Maybe by SF I’ll be ready to dance with you guys!
Karen Rose on 19 Jul 2008 at 11:48 am #
Oh, BTW, the mom character in Hairspray on Broadway was played by George Wendt, Norm from Cheers. He was priceless!!
Sabrina Jeffries on 19 Jul 2008 at 12:31 pm #
All I’ve seen was Sex and the City, but I LOVED it!!
I’m looking forward to Mamma Mia, if I ever get the chance to watch it. Can’t wait!
Janae on 19 Jul 2008 at 12:53 pm #
We have seen Speed Racer, Kung Fu Panda, Wall-E, and Indiana Jones. Kung Fu Panda was probably my favorite. Wall-E has a great message, but IMO, they could have made it tighter. We went to a screening at Disney, so it was interesting to see what people had to say about - what surprised them that stayed in or what had been cut.
If things workout we’ll be seeing Ironman today. Dh is a HUGE comic book collector, but nothing after 1990, maybe even earlier.
I want to see Mamma Mia, even if it means going to it by myself. I loved it when we saw it at the Shubert 7 years ago.
evlqn on 19 Jul 2008 at 1:07 pm #
The only movies I have seen so far are Ironman and Get Smart and I really enjoyed them both.
We still have to see Mama Mia, Hulk, Hancock, Indiana Jones (can’t miss Harrison Ford), and Prince Caspian.
Everyone but me has seen Kung Fu Panda so that will probably wait for DVD.
ladydawgfan on 19 Jul 2008 at 1:20 pm #
I loved Ironman when I saw it. Great movie!! I also have seen Journey to The Center Of The Earth (Brendan Fraser- eye candy!), and last night, took my great niece to see Space Chimps, which was silly and cute and mindless fun (stay through the credits for an extra giggle!).
I will be seeing Mama Mia probably next weekend when my local Red Cross has a movie night at our local theatre (give a pint, stay for all of the movies FREE!). I have been wanting to see it for a while now, and here is the chance to do it without taking a hit in my wallet if it sucks (heh!), not that I think it will, especially with Colin, my Colin SINGING, of all things!
I was going to see the third Mummy movie until I heard that Rachel Weisz wasn’t in the part of Evie. I think I’ll wait ’til DVD release to see it. Same with Indie Jones, Hancock, Hulk, and some of the other “blockbusters.”
Suzanne Enoch on 19 Jul 2008 at 1:58 pm #
Kay, I think it depends on the 13-year-old. It’s darker than “Batman Begins” thematically, but if he was okay with that one, I would say it’s okay to see “Dark Knight”.
Lisa H — I heard the same thing about Heath Ledger’s performance, until I saw Christian Bale on the “Today Show”. He said Heath LOVED playing the Joker. I can see that, too. It’s a great part, and he looked like he was enjoying what he was doing. Scary, yes. But mesmerizing.
Kathy/Cookie on 19 Jul 2008 at 2:20 pm #
duh, I had a brainless moment this morning. I’ve seen Sex and the City, Prince Caspian, Nim’s Island, and What Happens in Vegas.
They really didn’t make an impact on me.
I was dissappointed with SITC and Caspian left me cold.
Nim’s Island I blatantly watched for Gerard Butler.
Aston Kucher was actually good in Vegas.
my friend and I discussed going to see Mamma Mia this morning over Starbucks. we just have to make the plan!
There are still many more movies to pop into my radar.
Suzanne Enoch on 19 Jul 2008 at 2:53 pm #
Oh, Kathy, I forgot about “Nim’s Island”. It was cute, and I did find the adventurer version of Gerard Butler rather pleasant on the eyes. *g*
I saw “Journey to the Center of the Earth” in 3-D. I felt like I was watching the movie through an aquarium or something. Brendan Fraser was good, but the movie was just…nothing much. If not for the 3-D, I’m not sure it would have been made at all.
Kathy/Cookie on 19 Jul 2008 at 3:03 pm #
yummmy! huh?!
Paula on 19 Jul 2008 at 3:29 pm #
I’ve not been to the cinema much lately but a friend and I are taking our 7 year olds to see Prince Caspian and then she and I are going to see Mama Mia. My 2 boys want to see Wall E, so my Dh and I will take them to see it.
Claudia Dain on 19 Jul 2008 at 3:49 pm #
Suzanne, you’d love Wall-E. It was the best love story I’ve seen this year! Just charming and heart-warming in every way. I cried.
Kung Fu Panda was pure entertainment. I had such a good time!
I’m dying to see Get Smart, Dark Knight, Mamma Mia. I want to see Center/Earth but only because of Brendan F.
My son saw the midnight showing of Batman and loved it. Said if Batman Begins was a 10, Dark Knight was an 11.
Margaret Garland on 19 Jul 2008 at 4:41 pm #
I haven’t been inside a theater in forever. I hear they have speech and are in color now. G
Off topic but vastly entertaining to me in light of our previous talk about corn starch, talc and other silky powders. I came across this today and thought you all would get a chuckle. It was in the top 25 Most Outrageous Riders of performers’ contracts:
http://www.spinner.com/2007/10/12/outrageous-concert-riders-no-12/
Who knew?
Lori on 19 Jul 2008 at 5:02 pm #
I’ve seen Indiana Jones, and that was it. We are going to see Dark Knight tomorrow, though, and I’m excited. Had to find a show time that younger son could see a different movie so we could all go at the same time. At 11, he wants to see it, but we put our collective foot (feet?) down - no way!
dlynnpen on 19 Jul 2008 at 6:02 pm #
I have to admit Wall-E beat out even the long awaited return of Indiana Jones.Movies magic went computerized and digital effects explained so that even I understand it took away from the two hour escape that was Movies for me.
Have a Great Day All!!!
evlqn on 19 Jul 2008 at 8:40 pm #
We went to Dark Knight today,oh my giddy aunt!!! That was one good movie!
Ladydawgfan Rachel wasn’t in the new Mummy movie because it started filming while she was pregnant. I still want to see it at least once on the big screen. And Journey to the Center of the Earth is on my list also.
Malady on 19 Jul 2008 at 9:04 pm #
the only movie ive seen recently is Mamma Mia……. I loved it, the songs…. the lycra. lol
but my boyfriend has 2 free tickets to the cinemas, and they expire at the end of the month!
I did movie roccomendations STAT. or theyll go to waste. he likes… sci-fi fantasy…. Action…. Comedy… like most guys.
I like Action, Romance, some comedy. love fantasy sci-fi.
lol.
A friend has told me to go see dark knight…. apparently its my kind of movie. im not sure. i like dark stuff. but…. i probably go with mum… who doesnt. lol.
Karen Hawkins on 19 Jul 2008 at 9:16 pm #
I’d give good money to see Karen Rose dance, even a little.
Just sayin’.
Karen Hawkins on 19 Jul 2008 at 10:47 pm #
I saw Momma Mia on Broadway and was completely unimpressed. It was a great high school level drama. The songs seemed sort of sandwiched in and didn’t seem to always ‘fit’ with the play and the story seemed predictable. I had a debate with my DH over whether or not to stay through the second act. It was better than the first, so I’m glad I did, but frankly, it wasn’t worth the ticket price to me.
I do love some of the actors for the movie, though, so I may go and see it anyway.