The last few months definitely brought us plenty of options when it came to moseying over to the multiplex.
But which movies managed to live up to expectations? And which ones surprised audiences by actually being better than people thought they would be?
Iron Man 2, The Other Guys, Despicable Me or The Karate Kid perhaps? What about Salt, Inception, The Expendables or Knight and Day? Of course, there's Shrek Forever After, Piranha 3D and Eclipse as well, right?
Well, after much discussion aroud here, we collectively narrowed it down to these, The Five Most Memorable Movies of Summer 2010:
1. Inception: This is one of those rare instances where you see a trailer for a movie, have no freakin' idea what its about, and yet, are dying for it to hit theaters. And it wasn't even because it starred Leonardo DiCaprio, either. Rather, it had more to do with the man behind all the madness, Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan, whose earlier mind bender Memento, forced us to think so much it hurt, but nevertheless made it feel so good at the same time. Such was the case here, where, yeah, our brains got a helluva workout, but the end result was well worth it.
2. Toy Story 3: If things do truly get better with age, then there was no purer example of that this season then when Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang returned for a third go-around. And no, we're not simply referring to the amazing advancements in animation that have been made in the 15 years since we first met them. While impressive, even without all that razzle-dazzle, there still wouldn't have been a dry eye left at the multiplexes.
3. Cyrus: This indie flick was definitely not your typical summer fare, but it was a welcome reprieve from a lot of the less-than-stellar stuff we had to sit through. (What's up, Dinner for Schmucks?) It also provided Jonah Hill a chance to redefine the term "mama's boy" in a very big way.
4. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: Many of you will no doubt accuse us of including this one here simply to justify all our coverage of it. (OK, make that relentless coverage.) Then again, had we left it off the list, we'd still get slack. Our obsession aside, though, we do think Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner's abs accomplished what it set out to do—make Twi-hards that much more excited for Breaking Dawn.
5. The Karate Kid: From the moment it was announced they were making a remake of the beloved '80s classic, fans of the original were up in arms. Adding insult to injury? The role made famous by Ralph Macchio was being handed to some 11-year-old pip-squeak thanks to a little thing called nepotism. Yet, upon its release, the skeptics were soon forced to concede defeat and acknowledge that this unlikely crowd-pleaser, and its star, were pretty, well, pleasing after all.
Of course, to have the best of anything means there must also be a flipside. So, without further adieu, we give you...
The Least Memorable Movie of Summer 2010:
Sex and the City 2: We really feel bad for the ladies here. No, not the normally-fabulous four females who returned to the big screen for this sorry excuse for a sequel. They had been given the script ahead of time and, therefore, should have known better. We're referring to all the women who excitedly ventured out to spend some time with Carrie & Co., only to be given nothing more than an over-the-top, overly long display of excess with very little sex and not a lot of city. It was no doubt enough to make them want to drink plenty of Cosmos to forget the whole experience ever happened.
Vote now: Who's the Queen of Summer 2010!