Where Did The Summer Go?

As I come to the sobering assessment that this is the last holiday for the summer, where did it all go?!? Heck, my oldest will be on to his third week of school come Tuesday - and his sister starts her new semester on Wednesday. It's all going too fast. Before we know it, we 're into the Fall--and we all know what that means when we get into that part of the year ~ October 1st... January 2nd! So as this season comes to an end, I'm just going to kick back and enjoy what's left with the appropriate music--plus, you're invited to add your own to the (Margarita) mix:















And since I'm from the left coast, this last one is for those of you who enjoy some surf and sand - especially during the waning days of the summer season. Enjoy:

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Fires of August

This is what is dominating the news, the sky, and Angelenos thoughts the last couple of days.

The top two images were taken by my son as we drove down off of the hills we live upon.

Near home at the top of the hill looking north toward the two big fires in Big Tujunga and Glendale/Altadena. To our south, the fire in Rancho Palos Verdes is more than 90% contained. This August has been one of the coolest on record, till it decided to go out in a blaze of sorts. Blogger/writer Gay Degani has posted some very dramatic photos from a friend who lives too close by to all of this. The L.A. Times is reporting evacuations for the communities near the fires. Welcome back, summer.

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Wolverine is Fun

I managed to take X-Men Origins: Wolverine Friday evening after work (as a manner of parent pre-screening, mind you), and again yesterday with my 13 year-old son. It is a very enjoyable comic actioner, with studio writers doing a commendable job adhering to the Marvel character's mythology. Yes, they do change things around, but even the comic books manage to do that themselves with some of their iterations. The spirit of the character remains in this film, though with PG-13 qualities the studios pretty much mandate these days to promote their box-office potential. Hugh Jackman remains very likable in this Wolverine role and Liev Schreiber brings a needed depth and acting wherewithal to the role of Sabertooth (something wrestler Tyler Mane sorely lacked in the first of the X-Men movies).

Although, when I first saw it on Friday, I had an inkling about Hugh's presentation of the character in this movie. Something was very familiar to it, but I couldn't place it. And after watching it a second time, I finally recognized it. If you see Origins, tell me if you don't think Jackman's channeling a young Clint Eastwood in his line delivery. The voice pattern and inflection, not the rasp, seem to register with me somehow (likely because I'm a long-time fan of Clint). I can also report, from a youth's perspective, that my 13 year-old simply loved this movie. For me though, as fun and entertaining as it is, it's not in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight territory for depth, structure, or relevance. It's rumored that Origins director Gavin Hood (and the movie) received some last minute (pick mentoring, tinkering, or saving here) by way of uncredited veteran (and Superman movie) director Richard Donner. Either way, I give the film a thumbs up* and am pleased for a very good start of the Summer Movie season (as early as it now arrives, that is).

* and after re-reading Dan Brown's Angels & Demons, I was reminded this ancient hand symbol has a whole set of other meanings that may apply here ;-).

End of Summer Movie Review

Labor Day 2008, the last holiday of Summer. My oldest started back to school last week, and my youngest won't be back in class until next week. What to do this week? Well, time to reflect back on this summer's batch of films we (as in my family and I) all took in (let's get this over so we can move on to the Fall/Winter serious movie releases):

Best Summer Movie: The Dark Knight - this movie was head and shoulders above all of the rest, save for one. Perhaps, this one alone reached a pinnacle for comic hero movies in story, actor performances (individual and ensemble), direction, and comment for our times. I'll be very surprised if this film doesn't generate a buzz for Oscar nominations (Best Picture, Director, Actor [and Supporting Actor], and Original Screenplay).

Worst Summer Movie: The Happening - I'm old enough to remember when M. Night Shyamalan only made simply great, underrated movies. Okay, maybe it wasn't the worst. Perhaps, it's really Fly Me to the Moon and its animated concept of flies and maggots, in any form.

Best Animation Movie: Wall•E - the close second best summer movie of the year from Pixar. The most genuine love story of this year (or any near year). As blogger Jonathan K wrote back in June: "The film isn't just a love story. It's a story about learning to love." And since it starts off so dystopian, it is simply amazing by story's end. This is also our last film we took in (2nd viewing), on Labor Day. If this one doesn't win this year's Oscar for animation, well...let them meet with EVE's blaster. The not so close honorable mention would be Kung Fu Panda.

Best Actor of the Summer: Robert Downey, Jr. - Heath Ledger may have gotten the most attention (rightly so) for his intensely great performance as The Joker in TDM, but Downey was it for his varied, wonderful performances in Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, and (fun cameo) in The Incredible Hulk.

Most (Pleasantly) Surprising Movie: Iron Man - turned out the best movie to start the summer movie season was this one. Simply a fun, action comic book hero movie with a perfectly cast actor for the lead. Honorable Mention: The Incredible Hulk.

Most Disappointing Movie: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - I wanted to love this movie--mostly due to the fun and concept of the first film (the sequels are an uneven bunch). Where to start? Lead too old, not enough of Karen Allen (for this film and the series), disappointing villain, etc. Honorable Mentions, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Narnia: Prince Caspian

Met Expectations Movie: too many times, movies (especially those of the summer variety) come into the season with all of this buzz (part of the marketer's job), only to fail to live up to it. This year, the movie that met its buzz was Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. An entertaining story, brought to great visual acclaim by an under-rated, great director, and a perfect cast (without one A-grade actor) made this an easy pick. Where's The Dark Knight or Wall•E? They don't count simply because they exceeded all of their hype.

Best Laughs Movie: Get Smart - seems so long ago, now. But, I cracked up the most during this one. Honorable Mentions: Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express.

Best Future Cult Film: Pineapple Express - took this in with my golf partner while we were in Santa Barbara for our annual summer golf trip. Some of the scenes and sequences were un-real, man...

At Least I Didn't Fall Asleep Movies: my 'meh' catchall category - Hancock; Wanted, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 3D; Don't Mess With the Zohan; Kitt Kitrredge: All American Girl; X-Files: I Want to Believe.

My Top Five:

1. The Dark Knight
   
2. Wall•E
   
3. Iron Man
   
4. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
   
5. Traitor