It was a boom summer at the movies, if you measure it at the turnstiles for the numerous third installments of blockbuster series or if you happen to be director-producer Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up,” “Superbad”).
If, on the other hand, you are Lindsay Lohan (multiple DUI charges and a multiplex boo-boo like “I Know Who Killed Me”) or the makers of “Daddy Day Camp,” you have seen better seasons.
With Labor Day weekend upon us, here is a look back on Summer 2007, which by our calculations began on May 4 with the arrival of “Spider-Man 3.”
GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES …
Well, at the box office at least
“Spider-Man 3”
$336,530,303
“Shrek the Third”
$321,012,359
“Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End”
$307,771,457
“The Bourne Ultimatum”
$164,694,690
“Ocean’s Thirteen”
$116, 651,343
[ Domestic ticket sales through Aug. 19. Source: Variety ]– The only original movie (well, non-sequel) in the box office top five this summer: “Transformers” at $306,487,922.
MOST-FILMED WORLD CAPITAL THIS SUMMER … PARIS
– “The Bourne Identity”
– “Paris Je T’Aime”
– “Angel-A”
– “Broken English”
– “La Vie En Rose”
– “The Valet”
– “My Best Friend”
– “Rush Hour 3”
– “Ratatouille” (Technically, that one wasn’t filmed in Paris, but still … )
PERFORMANCES THE OSCARS SHOULD REMEMBER BUT PROBABLY WILL NOT
– Angelina Jolie as Marianne Pearl in “A Mighty Heart”
– Vanessa Redgrave as Ann Grant Lord in “Evening”
– Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in “La Vie En Rose”
– Julie Christie as Fiona in “Away From Her”
– Laura Linney as Claire in “Jindabyne”
BEST ADDITIONS TO A 3-PEAT SERIES
– Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”
– Keith Richards as Captain Teague in “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”
– Roman Polanski as Detective Revi in “Rush Hour 3”
– Thomas Haden Church as Sandman/Flint Marko in “Spider-Man 3”
– Al Pacino as Willie Bank in “Ocean’s Thirteen”
– – –
OTHER OPENINGS THIS WEEKEND
Balls of Fury
[ PG-13 ]Who’s in it Christopher Walken, George Lopez, Dan Fogler, Maggie Q
What it’s about Nineteen years after his Ping-Pong defeat results in the murder of his father, Randy Daytona (Fogler) strives for revenge against Feng (Walken), the man who killed Randy’s dad and is now the target of an FBI investigation.
Worth watching? (2 stars) “Balls of Fury” has neither balls nor fury, and is likely to elicit the same shrug you give as you pass over Ping-Pong on ESPN. [ MATT PAIS, METROMIX ]
Halloween [ R ]
Who’s in it Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie, Brad Dourif
What it’s about Writer-director Rob Zombie spends the first third of the remake immersing us in the dreadful childhood of Michael Myers, then copies most of the plot and some of the key moments from John Carpenter’s original chiller.
Worth watching? (2 stars) “Halloween” has everything you could want in an updated slasher movie, as long as you’re not a homicidally slavish purist. [ BOB STRAUSS, NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE ]
Delirious
[ no rating ]Who’s in it Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Alison Lohman, Gina Gershon
What it’s about Cocky paparazzo Les Galantine (Buscemi) takes in Toby Grace, an earnest homeless teenager (Pitt), who eagerly becomes his roommate and assistant. With the help of a casting director (Gershon), Toby hits it big and leaves Les behind.
Worth watching? (2 Stars) Writer-director Tom DiCillo’s latest project isn’t quite delirious, but it amounts to a bright, pleasantly entertaining fever dream. [ TASHA ROBINSON, TRIBUNE ]
QUOTABLE
“Feng was a role I really wanted myself, which is why we spent so much time making him really interesting and really strange. We made him so fun that one day Christopher Walken called up and said, ‘I want that one.’ So I got relegated to second-tier villain.”
Thomas Lennon [ who plays Karl Wolfschtagg, the German opponent to “Balls of Fury” hero Dan Fogler ]
