Style & Culture |

Summer’s hottest films

A look at the seasons best in action, comedy and romance

By Kyle Kernan

Posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009, 1:48 am

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The summer’s big films such as “Terminator Salvation,” “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” traded ordinary people for gimmicky caricatures. The magic of the great summer film is fading as year after year the multiplexes are watered down with shallow sequels, prequels, superheroes and bombastic spectacles — until five films this summer gave hope to the beloved film season as they served up fascinating concepts with a dose of humanity.

“District 9”’s premise of stranded extraterrestrials living in the slums of Johannesburg, South Africa peers into the racial/religious divide of feuding nations, the greed of big corporations and the basic inhumanity that plagues society. It also captures the essence of a great summer film: It brings together an amazing original concept with a riveting story about ordinary individuals faced with extraordinary circumstances.

The best summer films have characters that adopt this formula, such as Chief Brody in “Jaws,” Han Solo in “Star Wars,” Ripley in “Alien” or Haley Joel Osment as the boy who sees dead people in “The Sixth Sense.” This time it’s Wikus Van De Merwe, who works for the fictional company Multinational United (MNU), a private military contractor interested in contact with extraterrestrials. Van De Merwe goes from being its leader to its most sought-after enemy when he begins to transform into one of the aliens after being exposed to an alien liquid. The company wanted to kill Van De Merwe to harvest his body parts. Van De Merwe’s unbearable situation is tormenting for the viewer as director Neil Blomkamp builds unrelenting tension. The virtually unknown South African Sharlto Copley who plays Van De Merwe is brilliant. Notable scene: Van De Merwe finding there is something wrong with his arm.

“Star Trek” is one of the most sophisticated, cleverly done prequel/sequels ever. The fresh young cast, led by Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, creates more energy and tension on the Enterprise than previous entries. The film’s action sequences are tremendously exciting. It rivals “The Empire Strikes Back” as one of the best science-fiction fantasies ever. J.J. Abram’s revitalization of the classic franchise takes it where it’s never gone before — over $250 million at the box office. Notable scene: A young, hot-tempered Kirk is exiled from the Enterprise and meets a familiar face.

Another deliciously satisfying film was “(500) Days of Summer.” With all the spectacle and multi-million dollar budgets, this smaller independent film staring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel sparks some originality and life into the romantic comedy. The film takes us through the lead characters’ Tom and Summer’s relationship, beginning with Tom’s immediate attraction to Summer through their break-up. The film is akin to “Annie Hall” in how it realistically captures the mysterious, awkward dynamics between man and woman when romance is involved. It also beckons us to acknowledge and accept what our relationships mean to us even if they don’t work. Notable scene: After waking up from a special night with Summer, Tom engages in a hilarious dance number to the Hall & Oates classic, “You Make My Dreams Come True.”

Quentin Tarantino does what he does best with “Inglorious Basterds.” He lets it run amok with absurdity and homage, dramatic conflict, spicy dialogue, humor and tight camera work scene after scene. To correctly define “Basterds,” one could make the claim that each scene is a short movie in itself. The film’s European-American ensemble is centered on Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), aka “The Jew Hunter,” who emerges as one of the most audacious and entertaining characters in recent memory and bites into Tarantino’s rich dialogue. Landa is particularly captivating as he psychologically probes his prey with keen intelligence and dry humor. The film’s culmination may dissuade some — it is completely historically inaccurate. Once again Tarantino can still keep viewers guessing until the credits roll. Notable scene: A rendezvous for two of the Basterds and a British spy turns awry in a basement tavern, but not before they play an amusing drinking game.

Judd Apatow is perhaps one of the best filmmakers of today. His films are both uproariously funny and touching. “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up” offer vulgar laughs and a tender heart. His new movie, “Funny People,” is perhaps his best yet. Adam Sandler is George Simmons, a comedian-actor who portrays similarities to Sandler’s own persona. Simmons is facing death when he is diagnosed with a unique disease and thus goes down regret lane. His eyes are opened to a younger, up-and-coming comedian named Ira Wright played by Seth Rogen. Simmons gives Wright the chance to write jokes and learn from him, which establishes a dysfunctional but amusing relationship between the pair. The film is a fascinating glimpse into the showbiz world, as Wright slowly begins to discover its cynical but rewarding nature and how it affects Simmons. Apatow’s maturity as a filmmaker shines as he hits the right notes in balancing drama and humor. Notable scene: George Simmons is asked to do the merman.