It's The End Of The Summer As We Know It

With about 500+ pages of reading to do for this week's grad school classes, I'd say it's about time to sound the horn for the official end of the summer movie season.

In between Yankee games, beach trips, and crappy summer television, I managed to see just nine of the season's movies (with two viewings of 'The Simpsons', one of my summer favorites), far below what I wish I could have achieved. If I didn't value my relationship with my fiance as I do, I would have gone to the theater to see 'Shrek The Third', 'Ocean's 13', 'A Mighty Heart', 'Ratatouille', 'Rescue Dawn', 'Live Free or Die Hard', 'No End In Sight', 'Hairspray', and 'The Bourne Ultimatum' (I'll thank DVD technology, Netflix, and HBO in advance for providing me the wonderful opportunity to see these movies at a later time of my choosing).

I know how much everyone's been talking about my summer movie reviews, so here's a recap just in case you didn't catch them the first time around (with the late addition of 'Superbad, which I finally got around to seeing last night):

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Knocked Up ......................... A+
"It is undeniable that Knocked Up is the must-see comedy of the summer."

Sicko ......................... A
"A gut-wrenching, dramatic documentary...so compelling you'll want to both lend a helping hand to your neighbor and march on Washington D.C. as the credits begin to roll."

The Simpsons Movie ......................... A-
"The Simpsons Movie had some of the highest expectation to meet this summer, and it successfully met those expectations."

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix .................... B+
"Even if I can't stop thinking about how it's all going to end, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is one of the better, darker entries of the Potter movie series."

Transformers ......................... B
"Transformers is all about the fun, simple visceral movie experience meant to be released during the sweltering July heat."

Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End .................... B-

"At World's End stumbles far too often to be considered a great movie, or maybe even a good one, but you can't help but feel like the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow and Company made for an overall fun ride while they lasted."

28 Weeks Later ......................... C+
"28 Weeks Later is artistic and somewhat thought provoking, yet it doesn't quite evolve as effectively as movie franchises are expected to do in their second outings."

Spider-Man 3 ......................... C
"Easily inferior to it's predecessors, Spider-man 3 is a box office record-setting behemoth that disappoints on so many levels."

Superbad ......................... C
"Unfortunately, 'Superbad is an immature comedy with 75% immaturity and 25% comedy. I wouldn't say it's 'superbad', but it's easily one of the more over-hyped movies of recent memory."

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