PART 1 of 2: What We Learned These MONTHS at the Movies: August & September 2013

Has this summer been good or bad? Yes. 

The Good has been very GOOD the bad VERY BAD. The middle is weak, and almost non-existent. It’s been a summer of giant bombs and huge hits, a summer of haves and have-nots. But late in the game, summer 2013 made a comeback due to a glut of small films trying to fill the void of August. Some of these indie films may just have saved the summer and paved the way to what should be a pretty fantastic fall and Oscar season.

So, it’s been a busy August and September. Though we’ve had the chance to see LOTS of films, finding the time write about them was a different story. Thus, two months worth of films in one go… but better late than never, right? In this edition of What We Learned we’re going to give you a brief round of lessons learned from these films and whether or not they’re worth seeing (though at this point you might have to wait for the DVD) since we’ve got 24 movies to cover for the months of August and September.

We’ve split them up by grade, and surprisingly enough the end of this summer has ranked high, delivering quite a few quality last-minute films. 

Since we're coviering soooooooooooo much material, we've split this post in half, not by date but by quality. Today you get the drek, tomorrow you get the good stuff! Without further ado, what we learned…

Movies Seen in Theaters August-September: Grown Ups 2, The Wolverine, The Conjuring, The Way Way Back, Turbo, Fruitvale Station, Let Me Explain: Kevin Hart, The To Do List, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Elysium, Lovelace, We’re The Millers, Kick-Ass 2, The World’s End, The Butler, Planes, The Spectacular Now, Jobs, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Blue Jasmine, The Family, Prisoners, Instructions Not Included

Grade: F -

Lesson 24 –  You Get What You Give - Grown Ups 2

Adam Sandler’s sequel to the slightly-less-terrible Grown Ups is simply atrocious. The cast is still likable at points, but they didn’t care at all about making a good film, they just wanted to hang with their buddies and get paid for it (well who doesn’t really?). At one point Sandler was making really great main-stream comedies, but we are well past it and a little effort would go a long way for Sandler and his friends.

Grade: D

Lesson 23 – Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover - Planes

The Disney marketing machine succeeded in pulling a fast one on us with this film. They fooled people into thinking this was made by Pixar and made a cheap and easy 100 million with a film that was supposed to be released direct to DVD. Be ready for two more films to complete the Planes trilogy. We’re not kidding, Planes: Fire and Rescue is already on the fast track to hit theaters next summer. Planes is set in the same world as Pixar’s Cars films and does a fantastic job of retelling the exact same story as Cars in the least original way possible. Dusty Crophopper = Lightning McQueen, Chug = Mater the Tow Truck, and Skipper = Doc Holiday. IT’S THE SAME STORY. Not that Cars is a masterpiece (it and its sequel are far and away the worst work Pixar has done) but Planes is dull, unoriginal, and slightly offensive to all humans everywhere.

Lesson 22 – Ryan Reynolds Needs a Better Agent - Turbo

Turbo is better than Planes. That’s about the nicest thing I can say about this slow moving (snail-paced?) and dull story of snail that gains powers and can race in the Indianapolis 500 against the fastest cars in the world. This movie really is exactly what you think it will be, if you’ve seen the trailer and enjoyed it, then you’ll enjoy the film. It’s got aspects that kids will attach to and enjoy, unlike some other previously discussed kids films *cough* Planes *cough.* In reality Turbo only serves as another nail in the coffin of its star Ryan Reynolds, who can actually be a very good leading man and all-around nice guy but sadly his last five films (R.I.P.D., Turbo, Safe House, The Change-Up, and The Green Lantern) have been critically panned box office flops. RIP Mr. Reynolds. You had a good run.  

Lesson 21 – Read a Book Children! - The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

We’re sure people read these books, that’s why a film was made… GOODNESS The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is a tough watch. Mainly because it’s very clear that there is a good idea and strong characters somewhere in there that just got lost in translation. Instead of trying to make an original film this was nothing but an attempt to cash in on the success of Twilight. Skip this film and read the book, we’re sure it’s much better (we hope).

Grade: C

Lesson 19 – Always Care, Just a Little Bit. Care - Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

The problem with Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters is three-fold. First: there is a total lack of monsters in the Sea of MONSTERS! Second: no one making this film appeared to give a crap. It’s bland - and bland is death to a film. The third problems is that a month after seeing the film the only thing I can remember are the stand-out performances of Stanly Tucci, Nathan Fillon and Anthony Stewart Head, three great actors who steal every scene they’re in and provide relief from the doldrums of the rest of the film.

Lesson 18 – Lower Your Expectations - Kick-Ass 2

Earlier this summer we covered Kick-Ass 2 in a special double-edition of Talkin’ in the Movies. For a more in-depth look at this film, check it out. But for now, Kick-Ass 2 is a lesson in knowing what you’re getting into. I had very low expectations going into this sequel, which had lost most of the behind-the-camera creative team of the original, and therefore was pleasantly surprised when it only kind of sucked. Hard.

Lesson 17 – Two Halves Always Make a Whole – The Family

There are people out there in this world who are going to love The Family, I (Josh) am not one of them. But I’m also not willing to toss it under the bus. The Family is looking at Robert De Niro as a very familiar character (a mob boss) in a not-so familiar way. Without getting into spoilers The Family looks at what life is like for an older mafia boss who has a family and may not be completely still involved with the mob. Director Luc Besson is hit (Leon: The Professional, Taken) or miss (The Fifth Element, The Lady) at his best. What works here are the action sequences and the emotional center the characters. Besson manages to make us care, even if just slightly, for the “Blake” family. Bottom line: it’s enough for the second half of the film to work almost flawlessly. The first half of the film is plodding and deliberately slow, which sadly doesn’t work for this specific film. When it finally picks up in the final act, The Family becomes a great watch. It just takes a while to get there. Good performances all around from De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones and Michelle Pfeiffer – but the two standouts of The Family are Dianna Agron (TV’s Glee) and John D’Leo who play the family’s kids and are by far the most interesting part of the film.    

Grade: B-

Lesson 16 – Surprise Yourself – Instructions Not Included

I had heard lots of thing going into Instructions Not Included lauding it as one of the greatest comedies of all time, and the best Spanish language comedy ever – if not the best Spanish language film of all time. Well, I can’t speak much to Spanish language films; the only other one I can think of that I’ve seen is Pan’s Labyrinth. But I can speak to comedy films as it’s probably my favorite genre (a good comedy to me will hit home more than any other) and Instructions Not Included is a good comedy but not a great one. Possibly that’s a cultural and language barrier. I did enjoy this film and it has a very solid heart, I my expectations were a little too high going in, but overall Instructions is a heartwarming film that is worth seeing. The less you know, the better.

Lesson 15 – Always Applaud Effort – Jobs

In reference to a film that preaches that trying hard isn’t good enough, I’ll say that in this case it was. Jobs is not a perfect film, but with Ashton Kutcher actually trying to play a character with layers, his need to prove himself as a deserving member of Hollywood, and the fact that it was made for 8 million dollars and more than tripled its budget, Jobs is worth a watch. Kutcher never gets the character right and at times it looks like a high school student really trying to show feelings that they’ve just never felt, but it can’t kill the stand-out performances given by the rest of the cast and the solid direction of the film. My favorite is Josh Gad in the part of Steve Wozniak (the co-founder of Apple Inc.), Gad gives an Oscar-worthy performance that is layered, compassionate, and captivating and is certain to be overlooked at awards season.

Lesson 14 – Never Get Overshadowed When You are Trying to Breakout – Lovelace

Lovelace was supposed to be the break-out film for Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls, Les Miserables), proving that she can carry a movie all on her own. While that is proven true, it’s Peter Sarsgaard who delivers the truly memorable performance. Seyfriend and Sarsagaard play Linda Lovelace and Chuck Traynor, respectively, and have a relationship that rivals that of Ike and Tina Turner (for the more contemporarily inclined, Rihanna and Chris Brown) and both do fantastic jobs with their parts. Lovelace never quite becomes amazing and survives on the performances of it’s great ensemble cast including Hank Azaria, Bobby Cannavale, Debi Mazar, Adam Brody, James Franco, Wes Bentley, Sharon Stone and Robert Patrick, but it’s worth a watch despie never reaching the lofty heights it strives for.

Lesson 13 – Sometimes it’s Okay to be Almost-Awesome – Blue Jasmine

Do I have an issue with Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine? Nope. Can I say it’s a poorly made film? Nope. Can I really say many negative things about it? Nope. Will Cate Blanchett be up for a Best Actress Academy Award this year? Yup. Blanchett and the supporting cast (Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Sally Hawkins, Peter Sarsgaard, and Andrew Dice Clay) all give great performances. Cannavale is a standout in his supporting part, but this is Blanchett’s film and she owns it. Her performance is layered and compelling, but sadly not good enough for me to love this film. An amazing performance cannot make me care about an entire movie. It’s just not for me. It might be for you if you’re a die-hard Allen lover, but the lead character is not likeable and her journey is not satisfying to me and that is why Blue Jasmine falls in the Almost-Awesome category. 

Whew! That's it for now. As you can see we have 12 lessons and 12 films left to go. Tune in tomorrow for the films we can't stop gushing about that made this summer fun. -Nerd 5