It’s that time of year again.  All the summer movies are out, and there are usually a few that interest me.  So here’s a list of the movies I’ve seen this summer, as well as the ones I wanted to see, but didn’t for whatever reason.  Oh and there might be some slight spoilers here and there, so you’ve been warned.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2

I guess technically this was a late spring movie, but I’m putting it on here anyway.  I went to see this movie with my dad’s side of the family for one of my brother’s birthdays.  We ate at one of those places where they serve food in the theater, and I got my drink in a Groot-shaped cup.  So it was a lot of fun.  The movie was definitely more cartoony than most Marvel films, including the first one, but I’m OK with that.  If it weren’t for all the penis jokes, I would say this movie would be great for kids, too.  My favorite part was near the end.  Let’s just say that Pac-Man pretty much saved the day.  No lie.

Wonder Woman

I don’t know anything about this comic book character at all.  I know she has a lasso and there was a Wonder Woman TV show in the 70’s, and the main character in that would spin around and around to turn into Wonder Woman (I bet there were a lot of dizzy little girls in the 70s).  But that’s all I know.  That doesn’t stop me from going to see these movies anyway.  I didn’t know if I’d even see this one at all, but I’m glad I did because I thought it was pretty good.  The majority of the movie is set during World War 1, which was pleasantly surprising as you don’t see too many movies based during this time anymore.  I only wish they had more airplanes in the movie.  I really like WW1 biplanes for some reason, and Snoopy as the WW1 Flying Ace was always my favorite part of Peanuts.  Not sure if that’s really true to Wonder Woman’s origin story in the comics, but it doesn’t matter to me since I don’t know about that stuff.   I also thought it was neat that there were a lot of strong women in the movie, especially at the beginning.  And I also liked the part where Wonder Woman picked up a tank and lifted it over her head.  I guess I’m just easily amused.

Rifftrax Summer Shorts Beach Party

Some of the folks who used to do Mystery Science Theater 3000 do something similar now called Rifftrax.  Sometimes they have live simulcast showings of their work that are shown in select theaters.  I try to go to them when I can.  Sometimes I don’t if the movie doesn’t interest me, or I can’t if I have to work.  But I’m glad I got to see this one because it was a bunch of old educational short films and those are always the funniest.  Best of all, Frank Conniff made a guest appearance.  He was TV’s Frank on MST3K and my favorite character on the show.

Cars 3

I saw this on Father’s Day with my dad and the rest of his side of the family.  Well it was actually the day before Father’s Day since I had to work, but oh well.  I’m a big Pixar fan so I try to go see all of their movies in theaters.  Anyway, like all Pixar films, it starts off with a short.  This one was called Lou, which is about a group of items in a school lost and found bin that come to life and teach a bully a lesson.  The character actually reminded me of an old Saturday morning cartoon called Clutter, about a messy stack of junk in a kid’s room that comes to life.  It came on during the last season of Eek the Cat, which might’ve helped Eek’s downfall.  Shame, too, as Clutter was made by Film Roman, usually a very good animation studio.  Can’t help but wonder how much better Clutter would’ve been if Pixar made it.

So how was Cars 3?  It was all right.  It wasn’t Pixar’s worst, but not their best either.  I have to say I think it was better than Cars 2, which I guess isn’t saying much since Cars 2 is one of my least favorite Pixar films.  While Cars 2 was basically a spy movie starring Mater, the third movie focuses more on the main character and racing again.  The particle effects like mud are amazing, but I found the sweeping backgrounds in Cars 2 more breathtaking.  Also, as soon as they introduced all the main characters, I knew what the plot would be about and how it would end.  Very predictable.  But it does have a good lesson in the end and I’m sure kids will love it regardless.

Despicable Me 3

The Despicable Me movies aren’t the most well-written animated films, but they do have cute gags and not every cartoon movie needs to be Pixar quality anyway.  I also liked the ‘stuck in the 80’s’ villain in this one.  Plus, even though they’re WAY overmarketed, I do like those little Minions.  They’re like annoying American versions of the Japanese Servebots from the Mega Man Legends games.  I don’t know why Capcom doesn’t sue them, but then LEGO could sue Capcom since Servebots look so much like LEGO men. I do wish Servebots were as popular as Minions, though.

Missed Movies

And those are all the movies I saw this summer.  There were a few more that I kind of wanted to see, but not enough to make the trouble to see them in theaters.  So I’ll just put them on the Netflix list, or go see them in the dollar theater or something.  Now that I work nights with less pay, it’s harder for me to go see movies anymore.  It sucks, but you have to do what you have to do to survive.  But I’ll still list the movies I skipped out on for whatever reason.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell no Tales

The Pirates of the Caribbean movies are a lot of fun, but I’ve gotten to the point now where I can’t tell which one is which.  They’re kind of all the same.  Like the Lord of the Rings movies to me.  That’s why I didn’t bother to see the Hobbit movies, and why I didn’t go see this one as well.

Transformers: The Last Knight

I loved Transformers as a kid, but I don’t know any Transformers fans who think the new movies are good.  They do have a lot of action and the sequels had something in them that made me want to see them, like Devastator or Grimlock.  But those one doesn’t have anything like that which I’m aware of.  So I skipped out on it.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

I heard this movie was good, but I’m SO sick of Spiderman.  How many reboots has he had now?  Like, four?  I’m not really a big fan of Spiderman anyway, and the other movies made me dizzy with all the web swinging going on.  I wish they’d make a Marvel vs. Capcom movie.

War for the Planet of the Apes

All the other new Planet of the Apes movies I’ve watched on Netflix, so I can do that with this one, too.

And that’s all for now!  In the comments section, let me know what movies you’ve seen this summer!  Later!  –Cary

Tags: Movies with Children