Movies of Summer

Ok, seeing as I back to uni in a week (and will be going hard at it until mid-december) I thought it was time for a mammoth post.

I thought it would be worth discussing some of the movies Ive seen for the first time this summer - some new, some old, some awesome, some not so.

Ok, starting with brand new ones:

Happy Feet
Probably my favourite movie all summer. The heartwarming tale of a young penguin who can't sing (in a colony where that is worse than a crime) and this uncontrollable urge to tap his little feet away. I loved it so much, that i think everyone sitting near us may have got angry at me because of two things:
1. It has got a number of laugh-out-loud moments, that i might as well just taped myself and played a tape all movie.
2. The music.
This is one thing I loved about the movie - it was full of great music - and it was all such an integral part of the story. Like how the penguins serenade each other - that is so cool. And anyone who knows me well, knows that Im not one to shy away from singing along (even if it is under my breath).

Blood Diamond
I really enjoyed this movie and I think its definately worth watching if youre not too squeamish.
As pure entertainment it is great - great storyline, nice ending, good acting (notwithstanding Leo constantly dropping the South African accent - which didnt actually make entire sense because his character was from Zimbabwe - and I'm pretty sure they sound a bit different).
And as social commentary - it will make you think twice next time you want to buy a diamond. And I just think its great that movies are now starting to portray some of the problems of that great continent.

Pursuit of Happyness
An interesting "true" (though not entirely) story. There are so many ads about this movie, that I dont know if theres much left for me to say. And although it was a great movie, i did leave me feeling like it left a few bits out - like it glossed over what might have been his worst times

Rocky Balboa
Not 4th best, just up here because it is so new (not out in cinemas yet). Its worth watching if youre a fan, but in all honesty it is 45-minutes TV-movie, 30-minutes Nostalgia... but the nostalgia is definately worth it, even if you do have to try to ignore the fact that Stallone is about a hundred years old.
All in all - its a better finish to the Rocky series than Rocky V.

Blade Runner
This is supposed to be one of the best movies of all time - and I can understand why. For those who havent seen it, Harrison Ford plays a kind of detective (Blade Runner), whose role is to find and eliminate Replicants (advanced robots that look human, but are superhuman in most ways), only the story takes a slight turn when he meets a replicant who doesnt know that shes not human. Great thought-provoking story, technology that would have been state-of-the-art at the time, and an ending that leaves you with a number of big questions.
My problem was being able to look past the technology, and Dolph Lungdren. The combination just reminded too much of a multitude of B-grade sci-fi movies from the late 80's.
Still a good movie though.


Princess Bride
Another movie that is supposed to be up there with the best - and I loved it.
Basically its a movie that, on the surface, could be just any old fairy-tale about true love, an evil prince who wants to marry the girl, and the adventures that her true love has to go through, involving pirates, magicians, giant rats, a number of sword fights, a "giant", and a, um, Sicillian.
But on top of all this, the movie was full of some great (and usually) classy humour. It was no Robin Hood: Men In Tights (they both star Cary Elwes) in terms of just pure stupidity, but it was a very funny movie.
And if anyone every comes up to you and repeatedly says:Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die."- then trust me, they arent crazy (well, not entirely).

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
I have wierd relationship with Python. I loved Meaning of Life, and bits of the tv show - but when I saw Life of Brian, I completely hated it. I found none of it funny.
So getting this movie out was like a 2nd chance - but I really didnt have high hopes.
This movie has resurrected them in my eyes.
It was the most ridiculous thing I have ever watched - and yet I laughed all the way through it.
I loved how they completely ignored every single rule of movie-making: like inconcievable storylines and characters (like the Knight who keeps fighting, even though both arms and both legs have been chopped off... or the frenchmen who shoot Cows and chooks instead of cannons and arrows... or the killer bunny rabbit), stopping to talk to the audience... and even the ending that wasnt really an ending (which in most peoples eyes would have been a complete cop-out, but after 10 minutes thinking about it, I thought was a great way to finish the movie).

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Well, that is 7 memorable movies I have seen this summer.
I might add more to this post later.