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TMB’s Best And Worst Of Summer 2007
With the unofficial end of the summer movie season being today, I thought I should take a moment to recap and look back at what was the single most promising summer for movies in the history of film. It didn’t quite turn out as well as hoped… ok… not even close.. but there were still some big winners as well as some major losers.
I’ve broken my recap down into 4 categories. The best 10 films of the summer. The worst 10 films of the summer. The movie that surprised the most (thought it would be bad, ended up being good). And finally the movie that disapointed the most (a film that we really were looking forward too and ended up bering terrible.
So here we go… our rundown recap of the movie season that was the summer of 2007.
THE BEST OF SUMMER 2007
1) The Transformers
Not “the best” motion picture of the summer… but the most enjoyable and fun time at the theaters in the past few months. Saw it 5 times in the theaters, and will see it at least a couple more. Best “summer” movie this year.
2) 3:10 To Yuma
This probably is the best film overall, not only of the summer (it had a sneak peak nation wide yesterday, so I’m including it on this list), but perhaps of the year.
3) Ratatouille
Best animated film of the year by miles… perhaps also the best film overall?
4) Stardust
The most poorly advertised film of the year. This movie is nothing short of amazing
5) The Bourne Ultimatum
They saved the best for last.
6) Waitress
A really charming, touching film… and I don’t even like pie
7) Mr. Brooks
A superior smart film that just wasn’t for everyone.
8) Sicko
When Fox critics give a Michael Moore film a positive review, you know it MUST be good
9) Knocked Up
Apatow and Rogen just know how to do childish humor that resonates perfectly with adults
10) Harry Potter 5
Not a Potter fan… but this film was the best of the bunch so far. For the first time since this franchise started I’m actually looking forward to the next installment.
HONORABLE MENTION GOES TO:
1408
Die Hard 4
Superbad
__________________________
THE WORST OF SUMMER 2007
1) Spider-Man 3
I’ve already said enough about this piece of garbage
2) Daddy Day Camp
Who approved this? Shot them.
3) I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry
I’m sorry… were we supposed to laugh? When did Sandler forget how to be funny?
4) Bratz
Oh sweet merciful crap… my eyes… my eyes!!!
5) Pirates 3
Again… already said enough
6) Licensed To Wed
Yeah… remember when Robin Williams was one of the best actors alive and was doing interesting and powerful films? Those were the days.
7) Shrek 3
1 laugh the whole movie that came with about 10 minutes to go.
8) Hostel 2
9) Skin Walkers
When did Werewolves become lame? And when are the police showing up to arrest these people for stealing the whole premise of X-Men 3?
10) Fantastic Four 2
What’s that? You need someone to bravely battle a frigging Ferris Wheel? This is a job for The Fantastic Four!
DISHONORABLE MENTION:
The Invasion
Evan Almighty
The Last Legion
_________________________________
SURPRISE OF SUMMER 2007 (Thought it would suck and it was good)
Winner: Hairspray
Runner up: Disturbia
_________________________________
DISAPPOINTMENT OF SUMMER 2007 (Thought it would be good and it sucked)
“Winner”: Spider-Man 3
Runner up: Shrek 3
So there you have it folks. The recap for the summer of films that was 2007. Hop on into the comments area and leave your thoughts. What should have been on one of those lists that I left off? What shouldn’t be on one of those lists? Get on in there and discuss… just please remember that it’s just movies and all film is subjective. Cheers!
John, I had read your blog about 3:10 to Yuma playing nationwide on September 2nd. Well, no theatres where I live here in New Jersey were playing it. What happened? I thought you said everywhere.
Hey Bob,
What can I tell ya? The press release said “Nation Wide”. And if it played here in the little city of Hamilton, I’ve got to believe it was around you somewhere.
Cheers!
My personal list would be:
Best
1. The Simpsons
2. Transformers
3. Bourne Ultimatum
4. Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix
5. Die Hard 4.0
Worst:
1. Shrek 3
2. Pirates 3
3. Spider-Man 3
4. Fantastic Four 2
Of course, I have to strongly disagree with you on several points. First, I don’t think Spider-Man 3 should be “the worst” because it wasn’t. Was it the most disappointing? Maybe an arguement could be made (it has) but..in Spidey 3 there were the Sandman FX and the Harry Goblin angle.
Fan Four 2: I know you hate it with a vengeance, but I also disagree (to a point). My biggest peeves is that, if Silver Surfer is going to be in the film, he should “be” in the film. Also Doctor Doom getting power cosmic was nice while it lasted.
Distubia was more of a spring pic; 3:10 to Yuma is technically a fall pic.
For all the praise you heaped on “1408″ you only give it …an honorable mention? Sheesh.
Transformers: I know why this is your no#1. I’m sure for many it would be. I had mixed reactions to the film. The FX also did not impress me all that much. In fact, Spider-Man 3 and (live free or) Die Hard 4 had better effects than Transformers. The ILM guys can say it’s the best FX work they have done if they want to. I’m sorry. They ***have*** done better. And others have too. Sorry.
In any case, since I haven’t seen a lot of films from May to the end of August, I’ll just compose a list from Routh to no go there again.:
1) Bourne Ultimatium
2) An American Opera (documentary on Hurricane Katrina owner ‘pets’)
3) Ratatouille
4) Rescue Dawn
5) Die Hard 4 (live free)
6) Spider-Man 3
7) 28 Weeks Later
8) Fantastic Four 2
9) Sunshine
10) Transformers
11) Invasion
12) Oceans 13
13) Pirates 3
14) Skinwalkers
and the worst film of the summer….
15) WAR
hmm
Best
Spiderman 3 (sorry JC die hard fan :S)
Bourne Ultimatum
Harry Potter 5
The Simpsons
Worst
Shrek 3
Pirates 3
most others i stayed away from thanks to TMB :D
Good list – though you forgot to mention – as others have – Die Hard 4.0. Pretty damn good flick and a definite positive surprise.
Best:
Transformers.
Worst:
There’s Something About Mary Jane Watson (as I like to call it).
best:
Ratatouille
Bourne Ultimatum
worst:
Transformers has enough bad in it to cover a decades worth of bad summer blockbusters. absolute shit. other than that I successfully avoided most of the crap this summer.
Best:
Transformers
Die Hard 4
Harry Potter
Worst
Spiderman 3
Pirates 3
Simpsons (felt like an episode instead of a film)
Knpcked Up is so overrated. I’d replace Knocked Up with Superbad. Superbad is also overrated, but it’s funnier than Knocked Up.
And Ratatouile is overrated, too. All these movies were being hailed as the Second Coming, and they just weren’t! I liked the Rat, but I didn’t drop to my knees and suck him off in the theater like everyone else seemed to do.
Hey Kristina,
I agree that Superbad was funnier than Knocked up… but I also think Knocked Up had a lot more going for it than just being funny. To me, it expressed a lot of the fears and anxieties I’ve felt… obviously not as a parent… but of life in general
Touche.
no particular order
bourne
superbad
harry potter
once
rescue dawn
halloween
hostel part two
28 weeks later
sunshine
transformers
spider-man 3 was the most disappointing but definetly not the worst.
Best…
1. Fantastic Four 2
2. Balls of Fury
3. Daddy Day Camp
4. Bratz
Worst…
1. 1408
2. Transformers
3. Die Hard 4
4. 3:10 to Yuma
“Yeah… remember when Robin Williams was one of the best actors alive and was doing interesting and powerful films? Those were the days.”
Um, when would that be exactly? The only really signiciantly interesting films the man has ever done was Insomnia (itself a remake) and One Hour Photo and Death To Smoochy. Sure they were good flicks but hardly important.
Either he is doing family Dreck – doubtfire, Bicentennial man, License to Wed — or he is doing sentimental pap – Good Will Hunting, Patch Adams, Dead Poets Society, Jakob the Liar, oi…this list could go for ever.
Chalk me up as one of those who has no clue what the attract to Robin Williams is…
It sure as hell aint acting or choice of scripts.
Top 10
1. Transformers
2. Stardust
3. Bourne Ultimatum
4. Ratatouille
5. Knocked Up
6. Live Free or Die Hard
7. 28 Weeks Later
8. The Simpsons Movie
9. Harry Poter and the Order of the Phoenix
10.Sunshine
Worst 10
1.Shrek The Third
2.Halloween
3.spider-man 3
4.Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
5.Evan Almighty
6.Pirates of the Caribbean 3
7.1408
8.Superbad
9.Ocean’s Thirteen
Movie the suprised my the most
28 Weeks later – I couldn’t believe it was as good as it was.
Movie that Disappointed me the most
Spider-man 3 – yes this one is obvious but it’s the truth, what a letdown.
Please note: I saw 19 films from May-Sept. So while the worst 10 are in the correct order of how much I liked them I only hated 1-4 the frest 5-9 I thought were okay but not top 10 worthy and I loved every film in the top 10. Especially Transformers and Stardust. They alone made this a great summer for me.
I swear, man, all the flak Spider-Man 3 gets is unjustified. Let’s all hop on the bandwagon!
How could i forget 28 Weeks later, a movie i though was suprisingly good
best : spider-man 3 phernominal!
-thats it
John while I just saw Disturbia and was totally suprised by it, it wasn’t a summer movie. So other then that what else would you pick as your suprise pick?
3:10 to Yuma “This probably is the best film overall, not only of the summer (it had a sneak peak nation wide yesterday, so I’m including it on this list), but perhaps of the year.”
I have to agree with you there. I went to a “sneak preview” of this movie on a day when the daytime high was 120 degrees. The air conditioning went out in the theater.
out of 300+ people in the theater, nobody walked out.
The movie was that good.
Hey… where/s Superbad?
It should be on the 10 best list.
Best so far:
1. 28 Weeks Later…one of only two sequels this year to actually live up to the 1st movie. Not only that, it blew the 1st one out of the water.
2. Sunshine. Grab you by the throat, don’t let go till the credits roll movie. Got a lil odd towards the end, but still an amazing movie.
3. Bourne. The other good sequel. That car chase…damn!
4. Disturbia. I watched this movie just to say it sucked. What can I say, I love Hitchcock and Rear Window. So I rented it, and ate my words. That’s the sign of a great movie.
5. Hot Fuzz. Kind of a spring movie I know, but I saw it during the summer.
Honorable Mention:
Stardust. Thought it was gonna suck, but it was real fun. I can’t wait for Golden Compass! (They better not take the religion out of that one)
Worst movies:
Potter 5, Pirates 3, Spiderman 3, Transformers.
Why are these bad: because they were all dissapointing. So much to look forward to, and this is what we got? So sad
spider-man 3 64% fresh, transformers 54% rotten, thats the truth deal with it
I seem to be in a minority, but I thought The Bourne Ultimatum was awful. The story barely registered, Julia Stiles was awful and the shaky camera work only served to make me dizzy and confused. This was a big disappointment for me because I loved the first two.
Best: Harry Potter 5
Worst: Shrek 3
Best:
Die Hard
The Simpsons
Bourne
28 Weeks Later (glad to see a few others appreciated this one – absolutely loved it – intense from beginning to end with no stupid comic relief crap)
Knocked Up
Worst:
Transformers – I grew up watching them and thought the movie was an abomination of the cartoon. I wanted so badly to like it. Dialogue, especially from the transformers, was awful. John Turturro’s character was horrible, and the action was difficult to follow – couldn’t tell which transformer was which when they were fighting. And All Spark!!! It’s called an f’ing Matrix!!! But I’m glad others enjoyed. To each his own.
Spiderman 3
Have to totally agree on Spiderman 3…I still can’t get the akward dance scene in the kitchen out of my head…seriously who does that?
As far as Robin Williams, I too fail to see why he he gets as many roles as he does. When I first saw the previews of License I was pumped to see Krasinski(big the Office fan) and Mandy Moore (she is so hot she can do no wrong in my eyes minus Because I Said So) However, you can’t tell me Williams wasn’t brilliant in Good Will Hunting.
best
1. grindhouse
2. the simpsons movie
3. die hard 4.0
4. spider-man 3
5. harry potter 5
6. transformers
7. hostel part 2
worst
1. pirates 3
Best-
1. The Simpsons Movie (I don’t care if it felt like an episode, it was a great episode, and great Simpsons episodes are better than most movies.)
2. Knocked Up (Just perfect, on of the best comedies in YEARS.)
3. Superbad (The same as Knocked Up. Amazing)
4. Stardust (Great movie. I’m a huge Gaiman fan, and I wasn’t disappointed.)
5. Spider-Man 3 (I liked it…)
6. Transformers (Not that great, sorry.)
7. Fantastic Four- Rise of the Silver Surfer (Ballsack)
I see a fair old few movies and live in the U.K: Here it goes:
The Best I’ve seen:
1)Transformers…went to U.K premiere – 10/10
2)Sunshine….absolutely superb – 10/10
3)Bourne…I get far more excited over these than Bond! – 9.5/10
4)28 weeks later…better than original? yes 8/10
5)Blood Diamond…Edward Zwick makes great films – 8/10
The Shame List:
1)Shooter… 22 and felt too old 2 watch this..v. childish – 4/10
2)Spider Man 3… entertaining but that’s all – 6/10
3)Die Hard… bad guy rubbish, and too O.T.T… – 5/10
4)Pirates 3….The first one was really enjoyable, hated the second and the the third was diabolical…for these sequels to have made so much money just shows how many sheep go and see a film just because they think they have to. the critics were not harsh enough on this…they were real turkeys and should go down in history as a classic example of 2 films that made millions but were rubbish!!!
Buh said:
spider-man 3 64% fresh, transformers 54% rotten, thats the truth deal with it
So, what is your point
His point is that he doesnt have enough faith in his own opinion to let it stand on it’s own, so he has to use Rotten Tomatoes as a crutch to help lend some (in his mind) validity to it.
I think it is so pathetic when people use Rotten as “proof” that their opinion is the “right” opinion.
Seriously… try to have enough confidence and pride in your own opinion to let it stand on it’s own two feet.
For me the best were,
1: Transformers
2: Bourne Ultimatum
3: Mr Brooks
4: Superbad
5: Knocked Up
Technically I know it’s not a summer movie, but I’ll put it as the best surprise of the late summer. It’s a movie that I completely expected to absolutely despise but actually really, really liked…
6: Halloween
As for the worst…
#1: Skinwalkers
There is no need for any other movies in this portion of my list because I can honestly say that I didnt see any other movies that I hated. And besides… this movie is horrible enough to fill up a Worst 10 list all by itself.
but just to say I mentioned 3…
Spiderman 3 and Shrek 3 were disappointing, but I by no means hated either one of them.
If you have not seen sunshine, then I say now is the time to do so. I also created a top movie list for 2007 and added it to my account at filmcrave.com.
Surpised by Die Hard 4 and Disturbia-didn’t expect anything from them and loved them. Can’t stand Kevin Costner but loved Mr. Brooks (in spite of Dane Cook). Forced to see Transformers 2 1/2 times and liked it less and less each time. Liked Simpsons OK. Hated all the threequels-wouldn’t see a Pirates movie after the horror that was #2. Haven’t seen but looking forward to seeing Halloween, Yuma, Stardust, Rescue Dawn, Superbad and Knocked Up even though Seth Rogan is my least favorite of the Apatow crew. Loved Bourne.
Bottom line-
Best-Bourne
Worst-Transformers (especially because I had to see it 1 1/2 times more than the 3quels)
I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who frequents this site that doesn’t think that Spider-Man 3 wasn’t the WORST movie of the summer. Disappointing for sure – but the Peter vs. Harry sequence in the beginning of the film was outstanding!
And I’m also glad to see that I wasn’t the only one on this site that thinks Transformers sucked! C’mon – you guys were ragging on the Alvin & the Chipmunks trailer for the poo eating. How is that worse than a Transformer peeing? If that was in a trailer I would think you may have had a thread dedicated to how badly that movie was going to suck!
Transformers/Spider-Man – needed a butt load more action to make up for the lameness of the: infantile gags/Mary Jane drama.
Maybe I have a bad taste but I found Pirates the most enjoyable (Btw. Zimmer is fantastic! What a great score!) of these and Bourne with Transformers – the worst.
Other great movies
Stardust (brilliant sophmore effort after Layer Cake from Mathew Vaughn, and in such a different genre)Bravo!
Die Hard 4 (Bruce is so much more charismatic than this whats-his-name…. Damon, and the action is superb)
Hairspray (Blonsky rules)
Ratatouille (I would love to eat delicious Remy’s cookies)
So Im optimistic about the autumn-winter season! Especially The Golden Compass!