I think we're done with summer now. I'm so very happy. Let's see how things turned out:

> April 16 - Kill Bill, Vol. II

This one caught me by surprise. It wasn't at all what I expected, and I think that somewhat diminished my enjoyment of it. I'll have to see it again, now that I know it represents a significant break from the first half. Still one of the better films of the summer.

> June 4 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The only movie I saw all summer that I liked without reservation. Great stuff, even if it got off to a rocky start. I'm interested to see what happens to the series with the next film, as we're getting a new director once more.

> June 18 - The Terminal

A very slight movie that was good for what it was, but didn't really seem to be trying to be very much. It made a nice change of pace from the usual summer movies, though.

> June 30 - Spiderman 2

I walked out of the theater after an hour. A lot of people liked it, I thought it was as bad as or worse than the original. Here's a question for everybody: if you were a super-intelligent nuclear scientist, why would you possibly build intelligent, evil robotic arms for yourself?

> July 16 - I, Robot

THIS DID NOT SUCK. I do not know how it was possible, but it was actually entertaining. It wasn't great, but it was a lot of fun. I had to continually remind myself that it wasn't Asimov, but I had a good time.

> July 23 - The Bourne Supremacy

I never saw the first movie, but I did see "The Long Kiss Goodnight" so I think I caught the gist of it. "Supremacy" was roughly the least suspensful thriller in some time. Could anyone figure out what was happening during the endless car chase at the end? Did anyone care?

> July 30 - The Village

I'm really starting to hate M. Night Shyamalan. He's such a good director, but has turned into a horrible writer. Memo to M: you don't have to have a twist ending in every movie you make. But if you are going to do it, please do not have it seem like a twist from a bad "Twilight Zone" episode. Thanks.

> July 30 - The Manchurian Candidate

Also surprisingly, this didn't suck. It sure wasn't the original, but it was funnier. I thinked it was less as a thriller and the satire wasn't as sharp, but it was still good fun. There were a few great gags and the movie kept me guessing. It was actually kind of fun watching it after being so familiar with the original, as there were quite a few surprises and deviations from the story.

> August 6 - Collateral
>
> Michael Mann directs Tom Cruise. Contract killers and hostages. Both have done stuff like this before, but their styles couldn't be a stranger match. It'll be interesting to see how it works out.

See, that description is about all I need from a movie. A contract killer forces a cab driver to drive him around Los Angeles while he murders people one night. Sign me up! Unfortunately, the movie is totally ruined by the fact that all of the characters seem to suffer from plunging IQs the instant the plot requires them to. By the end of the movie, it's degenerated into every thriller cliche ever. What a shame.

> August 13 - Alien vs. Predator

I expected it to be bad. My expectations were still way too high. I'm not going to comment on the story or anything, but was there really a need for hand-to-hand kung fu action between an Alien and a Predator? Also, what genius decided to make AvP a PG-13 movie? Gah.

Ste "It is almost fall which means good movies" phen