A Disappointing Summer

My my, how time flies. Three months between posts – sorry folks. It’s not the first time I’ve neglected my blog and it almost certainly won’t be the last. In the past it’s usually been because I get distracted by something shiny or, from time to time, real life.

However, this time is different. I haven’t really had much to say. Granted I should have kept things going by posting trailers and the odd bit of news, but I felt I needed to talk about some of the films that I was so looking forward to just a few months ago. It’s just that, almost everything has been so dull that I couldn’t really be bothered.

OK, Star Trek was excellent but I’ve already talked about that. So far none of the others on my list has lived up to my expectations.

Transformers will always have a soft spot in my heart because I am a child of the 80s. I’ve loved Optimus Prime since I was four years old. However, once you remove that feeling of nostalgia, all you are left with is two hours of Bayhem at its explosive worst.

Wolverine was fun but nothing special. Again nostalgia came into play and it was interesting enough to qualify as two hours of summer popcorn fodder, but there was nothing else to it. If I want to see a great film with Wolverine in it I’ll go back and watch X2.

Of course my reaction to these two films was entirely predictable. I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by innovative direction or pithy dialogue. Unfortunately I had higher hopes for Public Enemies, which is why it is probably the most disappointing film of the summer so far in my opinion.

Public Enemies is a film ruined by the director. I’ve discussed my issues with Michael Mann here before but I never would have predicted that he could take some excellent writing (some of it his own) and even better acting and make them into a poor film.

Perhaps poor is too strong, but his direction is so distracting that it’s difficult to enjoy Depp’s excellent turn as Dillinger as well as some impressive supporting performances, particularly by Stephen Graham who I think is an exceptionally talented actor. Mann’s attempt to shoot the film in an almost documentary, shaky hand-cam, style fails miserably as does his insistence on making every scene 20 seconds longer than it needs to be (a growing problem amongst directors at the moment).

This leaves me with two films from my list. I am yet to see Inglorious Basterds and, despite having already seen it twice, I have plenty to say about Harry Potter (both good and bad), so I will give it a full review in my next post.

Outside of my list I have heard good things about Moon, written and directed by Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son) and plan on seeing it at some point – are there any other hidden gems I’ve missed out on this summer?