Summer Films

So, it's summer. Even in Vancouver. And with it comes the usual glut of summer films. Summer films are generally considered to be those that cater to the broadest possible audience, usually humans less than thirty years old. Kids on summer holidays. Which more often than not means movies that are long on spectacle and short on story. A season of remakes, adaptations and sequels.

And I've usually been pretty elitist about this kind of thing, and prepared to settle into a long dry spell until the Fall when the Oscar contenders line up and start to appear on the box office marquee. But I read something by the notoriously surly David Mamet today, a piece called The Screenplay and the State Fair, that made me rethink that attitude.

"If we reason or accept that this is not drama, which it is not, we need not decry the summer film's vapidity. It would be inappropriate to criticize the pie-eating contest for lack of reasonable nutrition."
~ David Mamet

Indeed.

You know, I've never had the pleasure of seeing a real live pie-eating contest, but I imagine it would be pretty entertaining. It's not something I'd like to watch every day.

And there's only so much beautiful weather a person can take. Especially a person without air conditioning in their house. It's really nice to duck into a dark, cool theatre for a couple of hours on a hot day. And I have to say, there are more than a few summer movies that will get my dollar (or twelve). After openly mocking the concept of creating a movie inspired by a Disneyland ride, I loved Pirates of the Caribbean, and I've really been looking forward to the sequel, Dead Man's Chest. I'll probably go see Clerks II, Miami Vice... (yes, they really did make a movie of the show, but at least it's directed by the creator of the television series, one Michael Mann, who has since directed some of my favourite movies).

Think I'll pass on Snakes on a Plane, though.