Other than x-men, and to some extent super 8, nothing has really stood out as spectacular or particularly memorable, even though some were enjoyable (hangover 2, cars 2, thor, green lantern).

I guess it's up to captain america and cowboys and aliens to salvage the summer movie season, but they'll probably be too little to late. On the bright side, maybe this will mean the beginning of the end for 3D.

I mean you know it's bad when it's july and nothing has come close to breaking $300 mill

the depression sucks

Harry potter isn't out yet. That one will be huge.

No doubt it will be big financially, but I don't think anyone expects it to be a critical hit.

Can't link because I'm on my phone but check out Bill Simmons's article on grantland.com covering this topic...especially as it pertains to the role of movie stars in this issue.

So your criteria for a movie to not be poor is 'critical hit' then mention Captain America and X-Men?

We get it, you don't like Harry Potter.

I will watch Cowboys and Aliens. Best movie title in years!

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6716942/the-movie-stary/

Have you looked at the RT ratings this summer? X-men was one of the best reviewed movies this summer. I don't know if any hp movie has broken 80%

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_goblet_of_fire/ 87%
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_half_blood_prince/ 83%
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_prisoner_of_azkaban/ 91%
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_chamber_of_secrets/ 83%
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_sorcerers_stone/ 80%

only 2 haven't broken 80, and they were 79 and 78.

hth.ywia.

That should answer your question. Go ahead and admit you just can't let any mention of Harry Potter go without throwing in your two cents about how terribly overrated it is.

Attack of the Clones: 67%
Revenge of the Sith: 80%
Phantom Menace: 62%
Return of the Jedi: 78%
New Hope: 94%
Empire: 97%

79.67 average compared to an average of 83% for the Harry Potter series.

Based upon your criteria your beloved Star Wars series overall doesn't hold a candle to Harry Potter.

I don't remember mentioning star wars in this thread. If that's what you wanna do I'll go pull up the lotr scores.

Admittedly, I'm surprised the scores are that high for a few of those, but don't kid yourselves. Those movies haven't been huge with the critics or with the people who haven't read the books. Let me know when they're in the conversation for any major awards.

I like LOTR immensely so I don't know what good that is going to do you. What I don't do is crap on every thread that mentions SW unlike you who chooses to prematurely ejaculate into any thread at the first mention of Harry Potter.

I doubt that every movie critic has read the series so again quit trying to move the goalposts (a futbol term for you). Overall, the HP series has a higher 'critically acclaimed reviews' than the series you furiously flog it to.

You won't see me claiming a star wars movie is going to save a summer movie season.

you also won't see me bring up hp just to **** on it if it hasn't already been brought up. Just as you're doing.

I started a fight.

The problem with HP is that it doesnt appeal to people who havent read the books. Just like the Dan Browns or the Twilights. No one besides the niche fans are willing to pay to see em because they arent anything groundbreaking.

Shark

The highs aren't quite as high, but the lows aren't quite as low either. While there haven't been any really exceptional movies, there's been something I've considered watchable almost every single weekend since Fast Five opened (minus the Pirates and Green Lantern weekends- and those still have broad appeal for most). The only 2 total bombs seem to be Green Lantern and Larry Crowne, with the rest of July looking decent enough. No real Robin Hood/Ateam/Last Airbender/Dinner With Schmucks style epic bombs so far. When the worst is just pretty mediocre instead of flat bad, it's not the worst summer ever.

Comedy-wise, it's leaps and bounds better than last year. Get Him to the Greek, which was incredibly mediocre, was the single watchable comedy the entire summer last year. This year Bridesmaids was very solid, The Hangover 2 pleased enough people, and even Bad Teacher was about as good as Greek was. Already much better, with Horrible Bosses (which looks to have solid potential), Crazy Stupid Love still to come. Hell, the trailer for Friends with Benefits looks to be better than Greek was, based on the fact that I should have no problems spending 2 hours with Kunis/Timberlake.

precisely bill

At least with LoTRs they made it in an epic setting with ton of extras and ton of visuals effects.

Versus what? London and blue magic coming off the tip of a wand. London? London. London? Ya know Mary Poppins, Cup O'tea, London.

just saw x-men and thought it was better than the other four

To be fair I brought it up to crap on you. I have seen all the star wars movies and can appreciate 4-6 for what they in terms of entertainment to their followers and for their cinematic achievements. I don't personally find great enjoyment in the movies but am not going to take a dump on the movies or the people that take enjoyment in them any chance I get.

I have never seen an HP movie prior to two weeks post-release, have only read the books once, and probably won't see the last movie until a week or so after its release but won't be one to damn those that line up at midnight to see it on the 14th. Different strokes for different folks. This board is based around the personal preferences and entertainment palates of others. Discounting those preferences like I have done to one of your favorites earlier is pretentious and obnoxious.

The biggest hp fans I know haven't read any of the books

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but I don't think anyone expects it to be a critical hit.

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How many summer popcorn movies are critical hits?

KT_Ag...wtf?

20 you make a good point. I agree...I think that there are enough watchable movies this summer

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I mean you know it's bad when it's july and nothing has come close to breaking $300 mill

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No doubt it will be big financially, but I don't think anyone expects it to be a critical hit.

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first you define success in financial terms, then you say financial terms don't matter.

My wife and I were just saying the other day what a great summer for movies this is. We have something coming out almost every week that we want to see.

I guess different strokes for different folks.

Yah I agree with Rex. This is the first time in several years I have wanted to see a several movies over the summer. And with HP/Bosses/Captain this month?!

I am in movie heaven! Haven't been excited to see this many films in at least 4 years... probably since Return of the King.

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"first you define success in financial terms, then you say financial terms don't matter."

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My thoughts exactly on the fail on the part of the OP.

This has actually been one of the better overall summers in a LONG time. Sure, some summers have an absolute classic, but I have not seen what I would call a "bad" film yet. Green Lantern was far from great, but I enjoyed seeing it with my 8 year old son, who didn't have the same eye for criticisms as I do.


Going back to the unofficial 'start' of the season, I've seen:

Fast Five - 78% on Rottentomatoes and $207 million so far...the highest of the series (Not a fan of the franchise, but this was a damn entertaining flick)

Thor - also 78% on Rottentomatoes and $178 million so far (Sooooo much better than anyone could have expected from this character. Namely due to a fantastic cast and an Oscar-nominated Shakespearean director)

Haven't seen Pirates 4, but it just broke 1 billion worldwide and sits at #8 on the all-time list. So, there goes the OP's lack of financial success claim.

X-Men: First Class - 87% on Rottentomatoes. A great film. One of the better comic books films of all time. It's box-office performance can be attributed to the fact that the last two X films sucked, which made audiences sit this one out. Also, no Wolverine = lower box office.

Super 8 - 82% on Rottentomatoes. Every summer, there is a film that divides audiences. They either love it or hate it. This is that film. I loved it. Apparently, so did critics. And with a budget of only $50 million, it's $110 million take makes it a financial success as well.

Green Lantern - Every summer also has one big-budget bomb. This is that one. Financially and critically, this movie was weak.

Transformers 3 - Critics' reviews of these films don't mean much, it's how the audiences respond...and audience response has been "it's a big improvement over the craptacular second one." I saw it and thought that the first part was okay, and the final hour was an orgy of destruction that I must see again.

I haven't seen Cars 2 or Larry Crowne yet, but Cars 2 seems to be one of Pixar's lower earners (though merchandising will still be a massive hit).

And Harry Potter is going to blow everything else away. The final movie in the most lucrative film franchise of all time (although adjusted for inflation, I would bet Star Wars would claim that record) is going to be the biggest movie of the summer. I can easily see this movie clearing $300 million domestically and $1 billion worldwide. Easily.

After that, Captain American looks solid and Cowboys & Aliens could be a wild-card that suprises audiences.

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"maybe this will mean the beginning of the end for 3D."

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We can only hope......

I think the backlash against 3D is getting stronger.

As an example: I went to see Transformers 3 for the midnight showing. Our theater had started showing the film starting at 9pm, with a total of 5 showings before midnight, all on 3D screens. The first non-3D showing was at midnight, so that was the only showing that I would see (I hate 3D). I figured I'd actually have some room to spread my legs in the theater because of all the other showings. I was wrong. Not only did my screening sell out, but 2 other non 3D screens had to be added to keep up with demand.

I think the people are making their voices heard: we will go out of our way to avoid 3D screens if possible. Now, if only Hollywood will listen.....

This has been one of the best summers ever. People are getting too hung up on the crap that was Green Lantern. Transformers just had the third biggest weekend draw in movie history and Harry Potter is going to rewrite the record books. And what does the OP define as a critical hit? Anything above 75% on rotten tomatoes, if that is what you're going by, is pretty damn good. Crash, which had a rating in the high 70s won movie of the year at the Academy Awards a few years ago. There may not be a Dark Knight or Iron Man quality movie this summer, but most summers don't have movies on that level either. And we still have three huge movies left to go. As good as Dark Knight and Iron Man was, this summer has been way more consistent. If we weren't in the middle of a recession, this would probably be the biggest summer in movie history, and it still may be when August ends.

[This message has been edited by syag (edited 7/5/2011 10:35a).]

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I think the backlash against 3D is getting stronger.

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Reminds me of a few weeks ago when we went to see Kung Fu Panda in 3D. We were in the ticket checker line where the checker also hands you your 3D glasses and most everyone was getting glasses for the 3D movie. The guy in front of us was with his family and apparently was going to the non 3D Kung Fu Panda so when the checker took their tickets the man loudly proclaimed "WE ARE NOT GOING TO SEE IT IN 3D!!!", making sure everyone in the line heard him. So we loudly exclaimed as we got our 3D glasses "WE ARE GOING TO SEE IT IN 3D!!!" and the people did the same as they got theirs.

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How many summer popcorn movies are critical hits?

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True, but in a good summer, you have at least a few of those. 08 - Dark Knight, 09 - The Hangover, 10 - Inception

I don't think there's been a popcorn movie this summer that has reached those levels of critical success.

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Haven't seen Pirates 4, but it just broke 1 billion worldwide and sits at #8 on the all-time list. So, there goes the OP's lack of financial success claim.

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Pirates 4 has been huge worldwide, but I was talking about domestic box office.