Re-evaluating my Summer of 2009 list 10 years later

This is my reaction to a Summer preview I wrote 10 years ago for Examiner.com. I will comment on italics on whether I actually saw the film and how they compared to my expectations

In the first month of Summer alone, most of the heavy hitters have already I arrived. I recommend seeing The Soloist, Star Trek, Angels and Demons, Night at the Museum 2 (it is better than you might expect), and Up before moving onto the newer films:

The Taking of Pelham 123 (June 12th)

The thriller centered on a hostage situation in a New York subway car is a remake of a 1974 film starring Walter Matthau. The vast majority of Denzel Washington roles the past few years involve him as a law official of some sort in some tense situation (see: Déjà vu, Inside Man, Out of Time, Training Day). Pelham 123 takes Denzel Washington, action hero, and places him in a Hithckock-like situation of the ordinary man thrust into extraordinary circumstances.

Did I see this? Yep, on Netflix during its mailing delivery days.

Reactions: More or less what I was expected. Travolta channels a lot of his a—hole character from “Swordfish” and Washington is practically begging Saturday Night Live to hire someone whose main specialty is Denzel Washington impressions because his acting in this particular era was extremely predictable in a series of rote action thrillers (SNL hired Jay Pharoah the following year). The characters are familiar, in other words, and the (recycled) plot doesn’t aim high but is sufficient entertainment.

Bruno (July 10th)

Sacha Baron Cohen brought something truly original when he took to the screen with Borat in 2006. Although a little crude, the cultural collision between the primitive Kazak Borat with the Western world produced results that were sharply satirical, shocking, and flat-out hilarious. The initial problem I had with Bruno is that it’s 2009 and the silliness of homophobia is old news by now. Or is it? Sacha Baron Cohen dresses up as a flamboyantly gay Austrian reporter and, much like Borat, will seek to expose the underbelly of American prejudice. He might be successful or he might spark considerable controversy along the way but for the laughs alone, it will be worth it to find out.

Did I see this? In the theater.

Reactions: I was viscerably disturbed and needed to clench my palate so bad that I walked into the theater next door and watched The Hangover afterwards. I don’t know where the line is between watching people have uncomfortable sex and flat-out porn but this was just all too much for me. Whether it was worth some over-arching point, I admit I was nauseating through some of the film, but it’s hard to make the case that America is too homophobic when you’re sexually assaulting them and/or violating their personal space. Sacha Baron Cohen’s humor was still present but pretty far removed.

Moon (June 12th)

I don’t know if I have ever been so intrigued by the movie critic blurbs that are intercut with action scenes during the trailer as I was with this movie. Among the blurbs for “Moon”, “Fantastic! Superb! Do Not Hesitate To Line Up For This One,” “One of those Rare Sci-Fi Gems,” and “Brainy and Thoughtful.” Let’s start with the third one. Summer movies have historically relied on high amounts of escapism and low amounts of thoughtfulness. In the case that a summer film is thought-provoking, it certainly wouldn’t be advertised. Some ambitious science-fiction films like Minority Report, I Robot and The Island have made their way onto the summer slate in previous years with mixed success but they mostly have been marketed as action films. Moon seeks to be more “A.I.” than “Minority Report” and seems to be shooting as high as “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Did I see this? No but in my defense, I don’t know if it was ever playing. It enjoys a status as a cult film and certainly has grown in stature as lead actor Sam Rockwell won an Oscar and this is one of his best performances. 

Away We Go (June 5th)

The film stars John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph as a couple looking to find the perfect home to raise their child. It has a definite indie feel. Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gilberman describes as, ‘the comedy of quirkiness, in which ''eccentric'' characters are placed on screen to inspire an amused whatever! shrug.” The film intrigues me mostly because of director Sam Mendes. Away We Go is just Mendes’ fifth film (and first film to be made at such a low scale) but he has had many accolades including a best director Oscar for American Beauty. Mendes has an uncanny ability to capture mood and atmosphere whether it’s the underworld of Depression-era Chicago in Road to Peridition, married life in 1950’s New England or the angst of modern-day Suburbia in American Beauty. Away We Go stars two characters straight out of the popular blog stuffwhitepeoplelike.com, but I have a feeling he can transcend them.

Did I see this? I tried once on TV and might have even tried renting it. I like Sam Mendes’s style and how he commits well to world-building. However, John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph overthinking the fact that they’re about to have kids in a way that isn’t particularly comedic or dramatic didn’t feel particularly interesting and after the first couple scenes I gave up.

Land of the Lost (June 5th)

Will Ferrell stars in this big-screen adaptation of the notoriously low-budget television show. A good rule of thumb with remakes is that remaking a film or TV series that was originally good invites comparisons to the original while remaking something that had failed potential to be good is ideal. With one of the best comedic actors of filmdom in Will Ferrell and a most interesting supporting cast of fresh faces including Tropic Thunder’s Danny McBride  (good article on McBride found here) and Lonely Planet’s Jorma Taccone), there’s plenty to be excited about here.

Did I see this? In the theater 

Reactions: Second worst film of the year behind “Bruno.” The film’s jokes per minute ratio is really low unless you count people wandering around in poop or an unruly monkey (voiced by Jorma Taccone) being annoying. At the same time, I hardly know how I could have seen this coming because the trailer was actually quite appealing.

Food Inc (June 19th)

Michael Moore seems to be the only successful muckraker in the world of film in terms of garnering large audiences and critical acclaim (although I have to give Morgan Spurlock some credit for Supersize Me). Hopefully, there's room for one more in this expose about the evils of the food industry. It's been a popular topic since Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation" became a best seller and there was even a fictionalized version of Eric's film. In documentary form, however, Food Inc. could have even greater entertainment value and be far more educational. For further reading, see the official site.

Did I see this? By mail order Netflix 

Reactions: I’m not a humongous documentary person (If it’s simply an educational expose about a topic, I prefer reading or watching videos shorter than 90 to 120 minutes), nor am I an expert at dissecting the documentary as an art form. As far as a good example of an art form I’m not generally crazy about, this is quite good. It should be noted that in this year, Michael Moore followed up some of his game-changing world with “Capitalism: A Love Story” which is a mess of a film with no thesis.

I Love You, Beth Cooper (July 10th)

Imagine if the high school valedictorian declares his love for the high school cheerleader in the 8graduation speech? A fairly simple concept for a teen angst film but one with plenty of potential. That's at the heart of this film. The lead Paul Rust has made a name for himself in the world of internet sketch comedy and the female lead, Hayden Panettiere, has a chance to earn her movie star cred with this role.

Did I see this? I listened to the audio book two or three years later on a road trip. Then I saw the movie in parts on YouTube when you couldn’t upload more than 10 minutes at a time.  

Reactions: First things first, the book’s prose is a little on the weak sauce side and the dialogue is a little stilted. The film sticks pretty closely to the book so that doesn’t help. However, this is a really fetching premise and I like Andrea Savage in it (she plays a fairly minor role in it, though).