2011 Summer Movie Review

What a great summer we had for movies!  So good, in fact, that on the first day we met together, I had my students (I'm a TA) say what their favorite summer movie was as part of our introductions!  It's kind of late, but in a previous post I said something about making a summer movie review.  Here it is (in no particular order):

X-Men: First Class:  Fun movie!  Great special effects, cool action.  It definitely had a different feel than the other movies in the franchise, which was refreshing.  I loved learning more about Professor X and Magneto's past.  Hugh Jackman's cameo was completely hilarious.  There was something that bugged me though:  Magneto for some reason developed an Irish accent for the last half-hour of the movie.  I saw this at a drive-in; I think America needs more of those.

Green Lantern:  The only reason I saw this movie was because I couldn't convince the friend I was with to see anything else (believe me, I tried).  I went into the theater expecting a cheesy, not-well-made superhero action move, and that's what I got.  Because my expectations were filled, I actually enjoyed the movie a little. Had I been expecting a good movie, I wouldn't have enjoyed it at all.

Super 8:  Probably my favorite movie of the summer!  This movie made me want to be a kid again.  Sooooo good.  I saw it in theaters three times - each time was worth it (two of them were full-price tickets, one was at a dollar-theater).  The kids were very real, their banter genuine.  The train wreck scene was probably the most intense experience I've had with a movie.  Another hit from J.J. Abrams - everything he touches is gold.

Captain America:  This (unlike Green Lantern) is an example of an excellent superhero movie.  Of the many superhero movies that have been released in the last decade, I think this one takes place earliest (WWII era) - that was something new and fun to watch.  Overall I enjoyed it.  *SPOILER ALERT*  The way that he "has to crash the plane" is kind of lame, though.  They could have thought of a better way to end it.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes:  This actually might tie for favorite movie of the summer.  WOW.  I was really impressed.  I love the 1968 Planet of the Apes, and I hated the ending of the 2001 version; I hoped that this one would be good.  And it delivered - it's one of the best prequel movies out there.  A lot of people I spoke to who aren't into sci-fi/action movies ended up liking the movie.  The first 2/3 of the movie is pretty slow-paced (not boring, just slow-paced), but the pay-off you get at the end of the movie is SO worth it.  This movie is cool because, as one of my friends put it, the humans lose and the "bad guys" win.  It may not seem like it though because they do a good job of making us sympathetic to the apes.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2:  An epic end to an epic series.  (I think the word 'epic' is quite overused in today's culture.  It's being used so often that it will eventually lose its meaning. (The same thing has already happened to 'awesome'.) I use 'epic' here with its truest, most original potency.)  Enough said, I guess.  I love the movies and I love the books.  My generation was lucky - we were the perfect age for the Harry Potter era.  We were roughly the same age as Harry when each new book came out; I grew up with Harry.  I have to admit I didn't like the epilogue in the book, but I think it goes over a lot better in the movie.  Here's a great quote from Stephen King:  "Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend."  (I'll let you guess whether or not I saw Breaking Dawn.)






I'm pretty sure there were some more movies I saw... I just don't want to remember them right now. There are also some movies I wanted to see but haven't yet.  So... not comprehensive by any means. Do you agree?  Disagree?  Any great movies I left off the list?  I'm always interested in others' opinions of movies.

Assumptions & Projections

Two quick thoughts for the day:


1.  Because I speak Spanish and spent two years living in a Latin American country, people assume that I'm a connoisseur of Mexican food.  Not true.


2.  The following two maps are equally distorted.

Frustration

On a university campus, it's not uncommon to hear phrases like "I have more time now that midterms are over" or "How were midterms?  Are you glad they're over?".  Frankly, I don't understand.  Most of these comments come from adults who have long since graduated from college, but some come from students.  Let me tell you why I'm puzzled:


During the first 3 weeks of school this semester, I did not have any exams scheduled.  (This makes sense - I have to gain knowledge before it can be tested.)  Exams started the 4th week.


Not counting the first 3 weeks, there are only 2 other weeks during the semester that I don't have exams (one of them is the week of Thanksgiving break).  That's 5 total out of 15 weeks in the semester - I HAVE EXAMS ON TWO THIRDS OF THE WEEKS IN THE SEMESTER!  How can "midterms" ever be over until the class ends?


There are 6 weeks in the semester when I only have 1 exam to take.
There are 2 weeks when I have 2 exams to take.
There is 1 week when I have 3 exams to take.
There is 1 week when I have 4 exams to take.  (This is the week after Thanksgiving break.)


My guess is that an average student has 4-6 classes with real exams (I'm not counting classes like sports or performing groups).  These classes probably have different numbers of exams (probably between 2-5) spaced evenly throughout the semester.  It's not like they're all going to magically coincide on 2 or 3 weeks during the semester!


So, advice:  Please don't talk about when "midterms" are.  Midterms are all semester long.