Saturday, August 1, 2009

An Updated 2009 Rundown, and August Anticipation

I've seen some stuff in the month of July. I've added "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (****), "Coraline" (****) "My Sister's Keeper" (****), "G-Force" (***1/2), "Public Enemies" (***1/2), and "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" (**1/2). I've also downgraded "Taken" by half a star, bringing it to ***1/2; just a movie that has withered a tad over time and that I'm not as enthusiastic about now.

J.J. Abrams's "Star Trek" (****)
David Yates' "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (****)
Zack Snyder's "Watchmen" (****)
Pete Docter's "Up" (****)
Henry Selick's "Coraline" (****)
Nick Cassavetes' "My Sister's Keeper" (****)
Alex Proyas' "Knowing" (****)
Michael Bay's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (****)
Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell" (****)
Pierre Morel's "Taken" (***1/2)

Hoyt Yeatman's "G-Force" (***1/2)
Gavin Hood's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" (***1/2)
Tom Tykwer's "The International" (***1/2)
Letterman/Vernon's "Monsters vs. Aliens" (***1/2)
Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" (***1/2)
Tony Scott's "The Taking of Pelham 123" (***1/2)
Justin Lin's "Fast & Furious" (***)
Anne Fletcher's "The Proposal" (***)
Andy Fickman's "Race to Witch Mountain" (***)
Carlos Saldanha's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" (**1/2)

Paul McGuigan's "Push" (**1/2)
Peter Chelsom's "Hannah Montana: The Movie" (**)
McG's "Terminator Salvation" (*1/2)
Brad Silberling's "Land of the Lost" (zero stars)

I should be seeing A LOT more movies in the month of August. The first weekend (the 7th) brings us "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," which looks cool, and "Shorts," which could be a major comeback for Robert Rodriguez in the kid's arena (his last decent family flick was "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams"). Also interested in the Meryl Streep/Amy Adams headliner "Julie & Julia." The second weekend (the 14th) is packed with goodies and brings us Peter Jackson's intriguing "District 9," Hayao Miyazaki's newest animated film "Ponyo," Todd Graff's high school comedy "Bandslam," Robert Schwentke's romance/fantasy "The Time Traveler's Wife," and Neil Brennan's "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard." The third weekend (the 21st) brings only one film of interest to me: Quentin Tarantino's war film "Inglourious Basterds." The last weekend offers only Ang Lee's artsy semi-biopic "Taking Woodstock."

Films I'm skipping out on for various reasons: An unhealthy influx of horror movies, such as "A Perfect Getaway," "Halloween II," and "The Final Destination." Also, horrid-looking romcoms, like "Post Grad" and "My One and Only." Also missed will be littler movies that probably won't play in the Dallas/Fort Worth markets: "Cold Souls," "Paper Heart," "It Might Get Loud," "Spread," "Grace," and "St. Trinian's" (I'll try to catch some of these on DVD).

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