Summer Movies

I've seen a good number of films this summer (so far), and here are some thoughts about them:

The Visitor: Incredible follow up from Thomas McCarthy to his debut film, The Station Agent. The Visitor is truly a beautiful film, sort of the crux of what I consider to be a good story told in a visual medium. And it's just a great work of art, really makes you think. I won't give too much away, but brilliant performances from all of the actors, great overall themes about lost and lonely souls finding connection with one another. Also, really poignant and complex insights about the immigration debacle. Loved it, hope it opens up in theaters everywhere.

Son of Rambo: Written and directed by Garth Jenkins who did Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Really hilarious film, great special effects, and surprisingly, a real tear jerker, ending. Also, I love the sweet 80's sound track, def. reminds me of growing up. Great job in exploring the complex lives of kids in a universal way.

Iron Man: I enjoyed this film, it was a great look at how Iron Man becomes who he does, and I thought that Robert Downey's performance was excellent. It was also nice to see Gwyneth Paltrow back on the big screen. I felt like some of the action sequences dragged, but overall very good. One of my favorite super hero films of all time is Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins. This one didn't quite live up to that, but still very enjoyable.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: I couldn't resist seeing this one, after all, I grew up like any other American kid of 80's, watching all of these films. I found the plot in this movie to be lacking the complexity and intrigue from the past versions, and I also felt that much of the action dragged and wasn't motivated by larger/deeper goals and questions. I thought Cate B. (always a stunner) stole the show, but overall, felt a little bored by this movie. Come on David Koepp, for all the millions you got paid to write this thing, you couldn't have given us a couple more plot twists?

Sex in the City: Yes, I was on a girl's weekend far away in the woods of Russian River, and we couldn't resist checking this movie out. I loved the show back in the day, mostly because the humor was great! But this movie was pure cheese. Implausible plots, scant character development and way too much shameless promotion for designers that most women could care less about. They were even missing the witty, biting humor of the TV show. As my friend said afterwards, we all felt pretty gross from even watching it. But hey, at least it was with friends!!