On the other hand, Transformers 2 does have Megan Fox running ... alot!

Loser:  the audience.  This year's movies, particularly genre movies, were disappointing and didn't live up to the hype.  Many of the films I saw this year could not excite me like they did last year.  I have already expressed my displeasure with Star Trek on a number of occasions so i won't beat a dead horse.  It would have been nice if Transformer movies were actually about the transformers and not about the human characters who are just annoying and long overstay their welcome.  Yes, I'm talking about you, Jon Turturro.  At least Nick Cage gives some kind of effort in his shameless "I Did It For The Money" movies.  Harry Potter was a very good movie but made too many changes from the book to satisfy Harry Potter fans like me.  I actually like GI Joe and Land of the Lost.  Some of us are entitled to their guilty pleasures.  As for Basterds, I am not a Taranttino fan and have no interest in his latest self indulgent revisionist history. 

Of course the best movie of the summer was left out:  Up by a wide margin.

Revenge of the fallen a crap fest? OMG I mean at least the acting in Fallen wasnt wooden and felt a little more beleiveable. But i am not giving a pass to the over the top racist robots and ball on devistator. But If you want to lable any of those movies a crap fest i would slap that lable on GIJOE. I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie...not from suspense but couldnt wait to get up and leave. But i do think District 9 was a better movie then Fallen, hands down.

Every scene and every line of IB was absolutely perfect? Hmmm. Guess that is a matter of taste. While I liked much of IB, I prefer movies in which the "heroes" aren't the equivalent of Al-Queda beheaders. If the bat-wielding idiot in IB is in any way different from them, the distinction was lost on me.

Shadow

I completely agree with jppintar326 that this Summer's line-up of movies in general and genre films in particular was a total crapfest.  One need only look back at the Summer of 2008 with Ironman, Indiana Jones, The Dark Knight, and Tropic Thunder to see the set the lack of quality entertainment from this Summer.  It is a toss up for me what was the biggest disappoint ment -- JJ Abrams' Star Trek was as bad as this first-generation Trekker feared it would be while Public Enemies failed as an adult alternative to the stale popcorn flick that polluted this Summer.  The last decent movie that I saw this year thus far was Taken.

You know, I was of the mind that this summer really sucked but looking back now that it's over it wasn't that bad thanks to August which delivered 2 awesome films.  The main problem this summer were the tent pole movies(not including Up which was great)  all pretty much sucked and if you want to be kind the most you can give them is "average". 

The smaller films released this summer were great.  The Hangover, District 9, Inglorious Basterds and The Hurt Locker from the ones that I saw.  Moon and (500) Days of Summer which I didnt see, are supposed to be really good also.

Again, we all have different tastes, but I thought TREK was a smart, fun, very entertaining movie that reinvigorated the old franchise. With all due respect... if TREK was going to have a life going forward, it needed to become relevant and engaging to younger folks who, while familiar with the iconic characters and imagery of the original (and some of the follow-ons, many terrific on their own merits). weren't going to be signing up for any more voyages with the older crews. I thought the TREK movie managed that, while offering a respectful, affectionate nod to the old-timers out there.

Beyond that... I guess a lot depends on what you were looking for. I wasn't blown away by TRANSFORMERS, but I had fun with it. I am not putting WOLVERINE or GI JOE on my Top Ten films lists but I was entertained. POTTER was good. HANGOVER was quirky fun. TERMINATOR was... passable. DISTRICT NINE was a pleasant surprise. Guess what I am saying is that while I saw nothign to rival DARK KNIGHT or IRON MAN, I still had a lot of fun at the movies this summer, overall.

If the critique is that none of the big summer movies delivered at the "A" level, I would probably agree - although I might put TREK up there. But I wouldn't go too far in the OTHER direction either.

Shadow

 Star Trek was an exciting and entertaining relaunching of the franchise. marcd30319, I too am a first-generation Trek fan and not only wasn't I disappointed I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the movie. I was set to hate seeing my favorite characters recast and retooled, but I was won over with the excellence of the movie.

Comparing GI Joe to Inglorious Basterds is like comparing boxers of different weight classes, to continue your lines of comparisons. While they're both meant to entertain and involve soldiers, the movies couldn't be more different. IB was another Tarentino wordfest while GI Joe was balls-out action. While the acting won't win awards, GI Joe was entertaining summer popcorn fun.

As for the comedies, I'm so glad to see that the movies with Will Farrell, Jack Black and Michael Cera took a dive in the first round without even taking a hit on the chin. Land of the Lost and Year One (my picks before the summer began for the biggest flops) tripped on their laces heading to the ring.

Comparing Wolverine and Harry Potter is tough too, because Harry Potter was made to be a good movie and Wolverine was made to be another Fox cash cow. It really is a shame that Fox doesn't care as much about the X-properties as much as WB cares about Potter.

For me, the biggest winner of the summer was Star Trek. Not only was the entire future of a billion dollar franchise riding on the success this movie, there was also a legion of critics and fans ready to tear this movie apart if it sucked. Even with all of that pressure, Star Trek was a critical and financial success and accepted by the majority of Trek fans. With its success in all areas, Star Trek gets my vote for summer season champ.

 Didn't see land of the lost but it must be pretty horrible to lose to the hangover. That movie blew. 

With the exception of UP (excellent film) from the months of May to June the only winner for me was Star Trek. I won radio tickets to an advanced screening and I was not expecting it to be as good as it was. I think Star Trek may have picked up the ball that Star Wars dropped, I'm anxious for a sequal.

Wolverine, Terminator Salvation, Transformers 2, GI Joe, the studios can keep em'. I'm not going to even watch these on tv. None of them were as bad as The Spirit mind you, there's a special place in hell for the people involved with that, but these movies were still dissappointing in just about every way. 

Hanso is right though, August has been the saving grace of the summer and I think the fall and winter films are going to save the year. 9, Lovely Bones, Avatar, Sherlock Holmes just to name a few. A lot to look forward to.

Hanso, if you can go out and see (500) Days of Summer and Moon, do it excellent movies.

Where's Gauley? I thought for sure he'd be in here stickin' up for his Transformers 2. Where you at Gauley?!