Disappointing Summer Movie Season?

Yes, but not in the way expressed by the NYT story on the summer box office.  For the Spew family, it was a summer where we saw some of the movies we want to see but missed out on others, critically reviled or loved or not.  We tragically missed Toy Story 3, so we will be waiting for DVD.  We didn't skip it due to 3D, but we are now avoiding 3D movies unless there is a real added value.

Sharply higher prices for tickets across the board, but especially for 3-D presentations, drove the increase. The worry, as seen in poor results for recent 3-D releases like “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore,” is that theater chains and studios have overreached on pricing. “We suspect some consumers are choosing 2-D movies solely to reduce the cost of their moviegoing experience,” wrote Richard Greenfield, an analyst at the financial services company BTIG, in an Aug. 23 research note.

Indeed.  For Harry Potter, which will be in 3D, we will try to find the 2D version.  HP does not need 3D.

We also missed Sorcerer's Apprentice, Expendables, Salt, Dinner for/with Schmucks, and Prince of Persia--they might have been fun for us, even if the reviews were not great or worse. 

I did enjoy a great deal the movies we did see.

• Scott Pilgrim was clearly the most enjoyable film of the summer.  It had the nice combo of heart and silliness.  The Vegan Academy!!!  The comic book come to life aspect was great.  I really enjoyed the role played by Culkin, which also helped to demonstrate how far we have come in terms of gay characters.  The Seven evil exes were distinctly funny.  Mary Beth Winstead was great as the love interest with some significant fight in her, and Cera was not that annoying.  Just a wildly entertaining movie and the one this summer that I instantly said: gotta get the DVD.  And the soundtrack.
• Inception was the most involving.  I went into it thinking it was going to be ok, but really got sucked in.  It was tense, funny in parts, and I marveled at how the layers fit together.  I love a good Bond-like combat on skis scene.  And the battle in zero G made me think that these guys could/should do the next Spidey movie (since Sam Rammi is not).  And now, when someone body says "am I dreaming?", I know have a solution--kicking the chair they are in. 
• Other Guys was very, very funny.  The best part was the Sam Jackson/Rock bit of a superteam of cops doing outrageous stuff.  They could do a prequel with just those two guys and I would be in line for it.  The rest of the movie was fun, as well.  Not all Will Ferrell stuff works, but this one did, big-time.
• Iron Man 2 was fun as well, but not as much as the first one.  Key indicator--when flying to and from Europe, I did not choose to re-watch.  It had good bits and lines, but it just was not as involving or as memorable as the first one. 
• We did enjoy the A-team as it was outrageously unrealistic and tapped into some fun memories.  Not a great movie by any stretch but was fun nonetheless.

The American and Machete just came out, so I hope to catch up before the fall season hits us with Harry Potter and the two part finale and Easy A (which looks to be the funniest movie of the fall).