Top 20 Summer Movies

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Yep, gonna talk about movies this week. While I was reading my Entertainment Weekly, I came across a chart noting the summer's top 20 grossing movies, and I was surprised at how many I had actually seen. Ergo, they make an appearance here today.

20. Bruno. The lone movie on the list that I had no desire to see, whatsoever, regardless of what anyone had to say. I do have a neighbor who took his little sister (like 13) to see it, and that was a bad decision.
19. The Taking of Pelham 123. I didn't get to it. I tried twice, but failed in convincing my movie companions. Will definitely see it when it comes to DVD.
18. Julie & Julia. Still lobbying for it. I came close once, but unexpected guests arrived and that put a damper on plans. Will get to it. I wonder if there's a dollar theatre around here??
17. Inglourious Basterds. Okay, I lied. I also have no intentions of ever seeing this, despite the fact that the one and only Brad Pitt is in it.
16. The Ugly Truth. The only movie on this list for which I can't recall the storyline. At all. Must not have had interest.
15. District 9. Chose not to see it, but my husband and several friends went. They enjoyed it to some extent, and agreed that I made a good decision in not going (I don't do dumb alien stuff or gore...)
14. Public Enemies. Wasn't dying to see it, and it opened at the same time as Dawn of the Dinosaurs. no brainer, peeps.
13. G-FORCE. I thought that this looked really bad. I couldn't come up with a reason to see it... the previews just got dumber and dumber with time. :-\
12. Terminator Salvation. Husband saw it, I passed in favor of Up.
11. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Saw it. It was boring. So boring indeed that I gave up following the plot (did it even have one?) completely.
10. Angels & Demons. Saw it at the drive-in as our second show in the double-feature. I passed out after the first hour or so, it just couldn't hold my attention.
9. The Proposal. Kinda wanted to see it, but my chick-flick bud had already seen it by the time I got around to asking her. DVD.
8. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. I had to lobby really hard to see this movie, and I don't know why. It was good. I really liked it. Not as much as the first one, but I was happy with it, and wouldn't be opposed if another came about in the future.
7. X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Saw it. Liked it quite a bit. Didn't care for the ending. Really want to see the back stories of other characters now!!
6. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Took me a while to get to it, and I got there a few minutes late. But the 3D part was cool, although the plot itself was reallllllllllly lacking.
5. Star Trek. My very first one, and I saw it at midnight. I enjoyed the first section a great deal, and some of the later lines were great. I was rather lost, since I didn't understand the usage of time (or space for that matter) in the film, but all's well that ends well.
4. The Hangover. Was really excited about this, since it came out the weekend I was in Las Vegas. Saw it when we got home, and laughed a ton. More than usual for me, since comedy television is a favorite, but comedy movies notsomuch.
3. Up. I didn't get to see it in 3D, but I did see it on a huge screen (not IMAX), so that was cool. I actually had several nitpicks about the movie, and certainly didn't walk away as happy as I was hoping.
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The first Harry Potter in a while that I didn't see at midnight, but I was traveling (to DC) so that's my excuse. I'm ready to see the final two movies and get this franchise over with.
1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Somehow I am among the few who absolutely LOOOOVED this movie! I found parts of it to be great, didn't think the two cars were racist, and was really mesmerized by a lot of the effects. I could have done with a little less Megan Fox, but I think that many share in that stance.

Now, I see a lot of movies. I see even more summer movies. But I didn't think my record for the "popular" ones is ever this good... I mean, I saw NINE out of the top TEN! However, upon further investigation...

In 2008 (movies listed from top-grossing down instead), my summer record was The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Hancock, Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, Sex and the City, Mamma Mia!, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, Get Smart, Tropic Thunder, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Step Brothers, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Pineapple Express, What Happens in Vegas..., Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. That makes 8 of the top 10, but a higher overall percentage.

2007 (some of the ones I've seen have been rented/purchased/seen on TV at this point, so this list is skewed as I didn't contribute to box office sales on all of them): Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, The Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Bourne Ultimatum, Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie, Knocked Up, Rush Hour 3, Live Free or Die Hard, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Superbad, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Hairspray, Ocean's Thirteen, Evan Almighty, 1408, Surf's Up, Halloween

2006 (same rules applying from 2007 on down): Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Cars, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Da Vinci Code, Superman Returns, Over the Hedge, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Click, Mission: Impossible III, The Devil Wears Prada, The Break Up, Nacho Libre, You, Me, and Dupree, Monster House, Barnyard: The Original Party Animals, World Trade Center, Step Up, Miami Vice, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Poseidon

2005: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, The War of the Worlds, The Wedding Crashers, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Batman Begins, Madagascar, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Longest Yard, Fantastic Four, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Monster-in-Law, The Dukes of Hazzard, March of the Penguins, Four Brothers, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Sky High, Bewitched, Cinderella Man, Red-Eye, Crash

I'm not going back further than five years, LoL. 2007 was a remarkable summer, apparently. Anyway, I thought this was fun. Feel free to comment and mark the ones you've seen if you like.