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Showing posts from August, 2011

Best and Worst of Summer 2011 Awards

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It's been quite the blockbuster season, and I have reached the end of my summer review schedule. That means no new reviews will be coming until the Fall season. But before it's over, we'll look back on the past three months of cinema. Three films in the space of just three months have broken in to the Top 10 Worldwide Grossers of All Time list. Four big-budget, highly anticipated superhero adaptations arrived. The finale to one of the most successful multi-media franchises of all time flew into cinemas. We were treated to the usual barrage of sequels, prequels, and threequels, and series-starters. Some flopped. Some exceeded all expectations. But what came out on top? And what films skidded to a halt at the bottom of a huge heap of disappointed fans? In this overview I'll isolate the best and worst offerings of 2011's summer film season. Keep in mind that winners do not necessarily represent the nominee that I gave the highest (or lowest) score to . BEST FILM OF

Rise of the Planet of the Apes Review

Next to Star Wars , Planet of the Apes can be firmly pointed out as one of the most influential sci-fi franchises of the century. Whereas Star Wars was given three (albeit disappointing) prequel episodes earlier in the decade, the PotA franchise has remained largely dormant, aside from an ill-received 2001 remake, since the last installment to the main story in the form of 1973’s Battle for the Planet of the Apes . Now almost forty years later we’re finally being treated to a proper series installment with a prequel. Don’t let that turn you off of Rise of the Planet of the Apes . If you’re looking for a continuation of the main story, look no further. If you know nothing about the franchise and are yearning for a worthy introduction to the admittedly convoluted mythology, it’s here. If what you’re looking for is intelligent summer entertainment and couldn’t care less about the Apes saga, Rise still delivers. At first, RotPotA centers around Will Rodman (James Franco), a scientist