Ryan McNeil
Given Hollywood’s complete disinterest, I’m gonna call the time of death on the summer right now. 8am on Thursday August 18th, Summer 2011 at The Multiplexes officially ended.
Oh sure you can still soak up some Frightful Nights and some barbaric dude named Conan before Labour Day weekend arrives and really throws cold water on it all, but let’s call a spade a spade – we’re all finished with this summer…we’re all starting to look forward…we’re all beginning to smell autumn in the air.
Right about now is when you’ll start to see summer recaps – weighing out how the blockbusters did, and decrying the state of affairs with a longing for better times. I could follow suit, but if you’ll recall – I already did that. In the time between then and now, my movie-watching slowed a little bit, more because of outside influences than lack of options, since a quick skim of the listings tells me that I would have half a dozen films that interest me to pick from were I to go to a screening tonight.
Being in this position pushed me to reflection on what exactly summer really brings us at the movies – and specifically, what it has brought me. The handy thing about this blog is that it allows me to take pen-to-paper and examine my passion from a statistical perspective. Examining what I have written about for the summers of 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, certain things jump out…
- I have seen an increasing amount of films every summer. From 15 in 2008 to 21 last year. This year’s tally sits at 19 and there are still a few titles I intend to see.
- Every summer has brought me at least two four-star films. The last two summers have actually given me four each.
- And give or take a quarter point, my average score for each summer’s crop of films? Three stars out of four.
Interesting information, but what does it mean?
For starters, the fact that I am able to continually expose myself to more and more material is helping to keep the balance. Sure the blockbusters feel like they’re disappointing more and more…but the indie offerings are delivering a great bounty, which is the spoonful of medicine to help the sugar go down. I don’t say this to boast, I say it because I never want to forget it – I am truly lucky to live in the film-going market I do. (Sidebar: Analyzing these summers didn’t even include instances where I catch screenings of old films)
The fact that every summer without fail has given me a film that I later regard as one of the best of the year is also telling. Whether it’s just a studio not knowing where to put a smaller title, or a blockbuster delivering on its promise, I can’t sob too hard at the state of summer at the movies when the warm months have given me THE HURT LOCKER, WALL-E, TREE OF LIFE, and INCEPTION. Thus it would seem that studios hording everything until the fall to angle for the best Oscar chances isn’t entirely a true concept.
Finally, for better or for worse, the median score of my summer experiences is staying steady from year to year. Sure I catch some turkeys – summer of 2009 gave me two 1.5 star films on the same day!! – but they continue to be propped up. It doesn’t take a stats wizard to understand that the steady rise in movies seen is helping to filter the crappy scores, but I can’t easily point to a declining scorecard and say “You see! I’m not just being old fashioned! They don’t make ’em like they used to!” It tells me that the goods are out there to be had…you just have to stray off the trodden path a little bit.
Taking a moment and summing up my own experience – and more importantly taking that summation and comparing it to what has gotten me this far was a bit surprising for me. I was all ready to sit here and say “Told Ya!”…but as in the past, the fact is that sort of negativity just isn’t true. Understandably, my sort of luck isn’t the norm all over; but three of my four top scores received wide releases. Ditto five of my six “excellent” films (3.5/4).
The fact is my friends, that we can get through a summer with nothing but happy memories. The trick, it would seem, is to always be selective, and wait to drown in SUPER 8…as opposed to wading in COWBOYS & ALIENS.
I think we tend to bemoan whatever Summer (for me, Winter) that we’re in, but I think the past few years have generally been the same – mostly mediocre, with a few real stinkers and at least one or two brightspots.
For me this year, HARRY POTTER, KUNG FU PANDA 2 and SUPER 8 were the big takeaways…at the other end of the spectrum PIRATES 4 and TRANSFORMERS 3 are experiences I’d rather forget.
PS – Digging the new threads Hatter (I know you’ve outed yourself as Ryan, but I think a lot of us will always think of you as The Mad Hatter)!
Reading such things was made me want to take a long look at what’s happened in years past. You’re right, i think we get too hung up on dissatisfaction that we tend to see what’s come before with rose-coloured glasses.
As I said, if I can see four 4-Star films between may and September, it can’t be all that bad, now can it?
Glad you like the new digs young man. To keep things simple, I am also answering to “The Artist Formerly Known as Hatter”
Summer is usually bemoaned by critics but I’ve been pretty happy with the films that have came out: X-Men, Thor, Cpt. America, Bridesmaids, Friends with Benefits, etc.
Good to see you have found a new home. I’ve been considering making the switch to a .com as well, but I can;t justify the money right now.
Yup – summer can bring the goods…you just have to hope you live near a place where the goods get delivered.
Definitely make the move down the road, I’m super excited about the possibilities with what this could offer. One bit of advice is to make sure you have a bit of time on your hands to tackle it proper. Getting everything “just so” has taken quite a bit of time and effort.
It has been a very strange summer for films, I think in the UK we are still waiting for some of the releases to come out. Overall, I have found the bigger films rather disappointing. Like Rise of the Planet of the Apes I thought that was going to be better than I found the film.
Welcome to The New Matinee!
The thing I’ve grown to love about North American/British release differences is how it allows us to be the test audience for you folk, and vice versa.