The Best (and Worst) Summer Movies of 2005

With only three more weeks left of the 2005 Summer Movie Season, following is a listing of what came out during the past three months. Which films do you think were the highlights, lowlights, blockbusters, or bombs?....Ya' get the idea.

I have dates along with what was released at the moment:


May 4th
Writer of O

May 6th
Brothers
Citizen Verdict
Crash
Double Dare
Fighting Tommy Riley
House of Wax
Jiminy Glick in LaLaWood
Kingdom of Heaven
La Grande Role

May 13th
League of Extroadinary Gentleman
Crazy Like a Fox
Kicking and Screaming
Kings and Queens
Layer Cake
Ma Ma`ere
Mad Hot Ballroom
Mindhunters
Modigiliani
Monster-in-Law
Saint Ralph
Tell Them Who You Are
Unleashed

May 18th
Shake Hands with the Devil
Tropical Malady

May 19th
Star Wars Episode III: Th Revenge of the Sith

May 20th
Mysterious Skin
Sex, Polititics & Cocktails

May 27th
Bomb the System
Madagascar
Saving Face
Sequins
The Longest Yard
Wasabi Tuna

June 3rd
Apre`s Vous
Cinderella Man
The Deal
High Tension
Lords of Dogtown
Milwaukee, Minnesota
Rock School
The Sisterhood of th Travelling Pants

June 10th
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl in 3-D
Heights
The Honeymooners
Howl's Moving Castle
Mr and Mrs Smith
The Ordeal

June 17th
Batman Begins
The Great Water
My Summer of Love
The Perfect Man

June 24th
Bewitched
God's Sandbox
Herbie: Fully Loaded
The Last Mogul
March of the Penguins

June 29th
War of the Worlds

July 1st
The Beat of My Heart Skipped
Lila Says
Rebound
Undead

July 8th
The Beautiful Country
Dark Water
Fantastic Four
Murderball
Saraband

July 15th
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Happy Endings
Hustle & Flow
Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus
The Warrior
Wedding Crashers

July 22nd
An Unfinished Life
Bad News Bears
Deep Blue
The Devil's Rejects
The Edukators
The Island
Last Days
November
Shoujyu
Three Dancing Slaves

July 29th
The Aristocrats
Must Love Dogs
Sky High
Stealth

August 5th
2046
The Dukes of Hazzard
Grizzly Man
Junebug
The Chumbscrubber

August 12th
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
Everything is Illuminated
Four Brothers
Moonlight
Pretty Persuasion
The Skeleton Key

*Note - Within the next few weeks there are the following pictures. You may add those to your best or worst list as you see 'em:


August 19th
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Asylum
The Cave
Domino
Red Eye
Romance and Ciggarettes
Valiant
Zu Warriors

August 26th
Backwater
Cry Wolf
Undiscovered

September 9th
Hellbent

Highlights
Crash
Batman Begins
The Wedding Crashers
Hustle and Flow

Lowlights
Fantastic Four
Monster-in-Law
Bewitched
Herbie Fully Loaded

I wanted to see Layer Cake and Saint Ralph, but they didn't open near enough to where I live so I didn't get to see them
BTW are you sure League of Extraordinary Gentlemen came out this year? or is the one on your list a different one I didn't know about?

__________________

I didn't get to the theaters much this summer, but these were my favorites out of what I saw.

1. War of the Worlds
2. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
3. Batman Begins
4. Cinderella Man
5. House of Wax

Luckily I can't make a worst list, because I didn't see any that I thought were bad. Actually I think the only other summer movie I saw was Wedding Crashers and even that was quite entertaining, to my surprise.

__________________
"Like all dreamers, Steven mistook disenchantment for truth."

I forgot to include bombs and blockbusters so here they are

Bombs
The Island- $30,944,371
Cinderella Man- $60,695,500 may sound like a lot, but this movie was made to make more
Bewitched- $61,322,811
Dark Water- $24,795,312

Blockbusters
Batman Begins- $199,088,386
Wedding Crashers- $143,634,354 which is an insane amount of money for an R-Rated comedy
War of the Worlds- $224,615,038
Star Wars Episode III:Revenge of the Sith- $377,864,535

crash
cinderella man
war of the worlds
charlie and the chocolate factory
batman begins
star wars

all best...

Best

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Batman Begins
The Devils Rejects
The Longest Yard
The Dukes of Hazzard

OK

War of the Worlds
Wedding Crashers

Worst

Fantastic Four

GREAT
(GRADES B+ and higher)
Crash
Broken Flowers
Grizzly Man
Hustle & Flow
Layer Cake
Batman Begins
The Edukators
The Aristocrats
Junebug
In the Realms of the Unreal

GOOD
(GRADES B- and B)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
The Constant Gardener
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Wedding Crashers
The Brothers Grimm
2046

AVERAGE
(GRADES C and C+)
War of the Worlds
5x2

JUST BAD
(GRADES C- and lower)
The Bad News Bears
Haute Tension


And before Labor Day I will likely catch most if not all of these: Grizzly Man, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Brothers Grimm, The Aristocrats, The Constant Gardner and maybe Asylum.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

What kept War of the Worlds down at a C+ or C Holden?

I've seen very few movies this summer-- it's the direct result of me being lazy and broke. In equal amounts.

Though, I saw Batman Begins. I was surprised-- it was very mature and entertaining. Nolan managed to inject human emotion into a plot that, in any other director's hands, would have been too ludicrous to take seriously.

A lot of people have had a few bad words to say about WotW, too. I loved it. It was disturbing and suspenseful. I was not expecting that, to be honest-- the scene in which the first tripod is revealed is masterfully directed. It's obvious this film was the creation of the same genius that gave us AI and Jaws.

__________________
I'm still waiting for the proper time to tell you that it's impossible to get along with you.

The best film I have seen so far this year has been Crash.

__________________
"I know, honey. Look at the map. We go your way, that's about four inches. We go my way, it's an inch and a half. You wanna pay for the extra gas?"

What did you think to Layer Cake, HP? Didn't realise it was a Summer(ish) release over there. I liked it: very slick Brit crime movie, refreshing when compared to the Mockney nonsense that seems to pass for the norm since Lock, Stock...

__________________
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

I had actually imported the R2 DVD a while ago, but yes, it only got a theatrical release here at the beginning of this summer.

I like Layer Cake quite a bit, and agree it was a relief to go back to the old school ways rather than the Guy Ritchie route again. I don't think Layer Cake is in quite the same class as a classic like The Long Good Friday, but it's damn good.

I thought this movie was hollywood, processed, publicity garbage. You really liked it then Holden?

__________________
Pumpkins scream in the DEAD of night!

Yeah. I really did. That's why I put it where I did on my list.

I thought Mr. & Mrs. Smith was a Hell of a lot of fun, very well written and directed, a tremendous vehicle for Pitt, and full of the kind of pleasure and wit totally lacking in most Hollywood action dreck these days. Went in with low expectationas and found myself laughing and smiling the whole way through.

The only problem I have with it is the very last shoot out, which was clearly reedited and/or reshot, and I'll be curious to see when it comes to DVD if they detail how much of that was changed (looks like it was simplified). But that is a minor quibble and the movie had me all the way until that point, and then the last little bit back in the marriage counseler's office was perfect.

So yeah, I liked it a lot.

Yup, I agree. It's not as good as Sexy Beast or Mona Lisa (off on a slight tangent) either but I had low expectations of the film - didn't bother seeing it in the cinema after decidedly mixed reviews and the director's Ritchie connections. Bought it blind ex-rental and was very pleasantly surprised.

I updated my list to include Junebug and Grizzly Man and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, all of which I saw this weekend.

Excellent:
Batman Begins
Wedding Crashers
Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith

Good
Mr and Mrs Smith
Fantastic Four
War of the Worlds
Charlie and the chocolate Factory
Madagscar

Bad
Herbie: Fully Loaded

__________________
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist

The best film so far this summer is between Batman Begins and Sin City..... hey its Sin City by a nose!
Worst film so far is Fantastic Four, craptacular return to pre Burton superhero movies!

IMO this has been the most enjoyable summer season for movies in a long time, even Revenge of the Sith was good!
Here's hoping for an equally eventful winter season, like the look of Kong and Narnia films.

__________________
Hey Pepe, would you say I have a plethora of presents?


Toga, toga, toga......


Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?

The only film i remember not liking so far this year is The Pacifier, otherwise the rest have ranged from ok to excellent. And i like F4...

__________________

I didn't see many this summer cause I've been quite poor. stupid car payments.



Crash is definately the best movie of the year, if not decade. It's an amazing movie, and one of the most emotionally powerful movies I've seen. I was sceptical when going cause I saw Ludacris was in it and I didn't know much about it. Don't worry, it'll make even the most racist man think.

Wasn't League of Extroadinary Gentleman a 2004 movie? I remember making out to Wendy last year during that crappy movie.

Star Wars Episode III: Th Revenge of the Sith made me want to cry. Lucas completely ruined Star Wars. Enough said.

Madagascar is near the top of my favorite movies. I've always loved thes type of movies. CG movies are almost always hilarious, and this one fits up near Finding Nemo and Ice Age.

Batman Begins was a decent movie, but not as good as it should've been. Hell, they burned Wayne manor, which is complete bulls**t.

War of the Worlds was a decent movie as well. If you look past the action and suspense, you can see a deep father daughter relationship which is inspring. Glad they had more than just action in the movie.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was quite good. The oompa Loompas were atrocious(exceptionally bad) and the dlash backs of Wonka's childhood were uneeded.

Wedding Crashers was much better than I thought it would be. I was ready for cheesy all the way, but was plesently surprised. I promoted it, so I new alot about it before hand, and yet there were still surprises.