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Summer Movie Report Card

September 4, 2009 3:50 PM

Yesterday, Peter Travers named some of the season's best and worst films — now check out his final word on Summer '09 in his Summer Movie Report Card:

Peter Travers' Summer Report Card: "Transformers," "Inglorious Basterds," "The Hangover" and more


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At the Movies With Peter Travers: Best and Worst of Summer '09

September 3, 2009 5:19 PM

Labor Day marks the official end of Summer Blockbuster Season, and '09's wasn't a nightmare: this summer was the most profitable in Hollywood history, and critically speaking, the least offensive in recent history. In fact, four of the Top Five highest-grossing films were actually really good! In a special edition of At the Movies With Peter Travers, Rolling Stone's film critic hands out his awards for the summer's best, while banishing the summer's worst to the Scum Bucket.

You'll have to watch Travers' video to find out who earns which honor, but loyal viewers will find some honorees are more obvious than others (cough, Christoph Waltz, cough). The winner of the summer's Best Movie and Best Director might take you by surprise, however, as it sadly flew under the radar in a summer filled with teen wizards, Austrian fashion reporters, hangovers in Vegas, reboots and giant shape-shifting robots that made really annoying noises.

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"Star Trek" Prospers at the Box Office, But What Is the Best— and the Worst— "Star Trek" Movie Ever?

May 11, 2009 11:09 AM

Photo: Paramount Pictures

Star Trek, refashioned by director J.J. Abrams into an origin story even a non-Trekker could love, beamed up a big $76.5 million at the weekend box office. Expect a sequel to be announced pronto and salary hikes for Chris Pine’s Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s Spock. Many fans were rooting for the gross to break $100 million and put the newbie in reach of last summer’s Iron Man. But the miracle didn’t happen — yet! Star Trek is, let’s face it, a tired franchise. A paltry $30 million debut for 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact was the best opening in the 10-film series, until now. Thanks to Abrams and his young cast, the Starship Enterprise is looking good to live long and prosper. Which begs the question. What is the best Star Trek movie and what is the one you wouldn't watch again even with a gun at your head?

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Summer Movie Preview 2009: Peter Travers Ranks the Best and Worst

May 7, 2009 7:15 PM

The current issue of Rolling Stone features Peter Travers' Summer Movie Preview, a look at the "money season" where studios dredge up stale sequels and prequels for desperate moviegoers trying to beat the heat. His prediction: despite the recession, this will be the biggest summer ever in box office receipts. Pick up the magazine for his full reports, and click above to watch his special edition of At the Movies, where he breaks down the five must-sees, and five flicks with a bad vibe.

Plus, get a look at his quick take on 24 of the season's biggest flicks — from Harry Potter to Taking Woodstock — plus shots from the films in our Summer Movie Preview 2009 gallery.

The Good:

Public Enemies: Michael Mann's July 1st film in which Johnny Depp portrays 1930s gangster John Dillinger. One of Travers' favorite directors teams with the red-hot Depp and Christian Bale.

Brüno: How could Sacha Baron Cohen top Borat? Who's crazy enough to not watch him play a gay Austrian designer?

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Readers vs. Critic: Your Choices for the Best and Worst Comic Book Movies Ever Made

March 24, 2009 4:29 PM

I've had my say, now you have yours. The votes are in from readers of this blog, who don't like Dark Knight enough, and here's what you have chosen as comic-book movie heaven and hell:

BEST OF THE BEST

THE ROCKETEER

Really? I liked it, but can't share your deep love. It helps that director Joe Johnston (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids), a former art director, stayed true to the look of Dave Stevens' acclaimed Rocketeer comic books, which debuted in 1982. And I like that the movie tried to charm us instead of bullying us into suspending disbelief. One caveat: I still can't figure out how the hero's rocket pack can send flames shooting down his back without incinerating his ass.

ROAD TO PERDITION

Also, not on my list, but an excellent shoutout for an unfairly maligned movie. Director Sam Mendes and screenwriter David Self took the film's source material — a graphic novel by Max Allen Collins with illustrations by Richard Piers Rayner — and added their own vivid brush strokes to reveal something elemental about fathers and sons and the bloodlust that seems hard-wired into the American character.

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At the Movies With Peter Travers: Best and Worst Comic-Book Movies

March 12, 2009 6:12 PM

With two new terrible films entering theaters this week — the Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in kids' action film Race to Witch Mountain and the superfluous Last House on the Left remake — Peter Travers recommends that if you haven't seen Watchmen yet, you should. If you've already seen it, you could watch another of Travers' favorite comic-book films, which is the topic of this week's At The Movies.

They're two different Batman films made by two directors in two decades, but both The Dark Knight and Tim Burton's first Batman film top Travers' list of favorite comic-book adaptations. Travers praises the Dark Knight's dark portrayal of the comic and Heath Ledger's Academy Award-winning role as the Joker, while the original Batman featured a stand-out performance by Michael Keaton, still the best ever to don the cape. Other films on Travers' must-see list: Spider-Man 2, Iron Man and the monochromatic Sin City, which featured the true comeback of actor Mickey Rourke.

For every great comic book movie, there's 10 bad ones, and Travers has selected five of the worst to place into his Scum Bucket.

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Peter Travers Video Review: The Best Movies - And Biggest Letdowns - Of 2008

December 30, 2008 4:42 PM

What were the best movies of the year? What were the worst letdowns? Peter Travers explains what was so great about Gus Van Sant's Milk, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire and Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight — and why 007 flick Quantum of Solace, hideous epic Australia and vampire love story Twilight were massive cinematic bummers.

Watch every episode of our weekly Peter Travers video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Friday, a new episode will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don’t have iTunes, download it here.]


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Razzing the Year's Worst Movies

February 15, 2008 10:13 AM

Is Eddie Murphy, decked out in drag and a fatsuit (see photo), the year's worst actor in Norbit?

Is Lindsay Lohan, playing the dual roles of amnesiac and skeevy stripper (see photo), a lock for Worst Actress in I Know Who Killed Me?

Welcome to the Razzies, an organization founded in 1980 by John Wilson to mete out punishment to the movies that punished us. On Feb. 23rd, the day before the Oscars, the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation will once again stick it big time to Hollywood’s most egregious suckfests. The Razzie trophy aptly features a cluster of balls. As you know, the wussy Oscar statuette has no balls. Razzie winners rarely show up to accept their trophy, except for Tom Green who admirably appeared in 2002—with five feet of his own red carpet—to accept his due for Freddy Got Fingered.

What I admire most about the Razzies—I’m a long time voting member—is that the award only goes to the gloriously godawful. A movie is only Razzie worthy when its intrinsic worthlessness sinks to levels so low that the pain of watching it turns to pleasure.

You know what I’m saying. Webster’s defines the slang for raspberry as “a sound of derision or contempt, made by expelling air forcibly so as to vibrate the tongue between the lips.” So put your lips together and blow as we eyeball a few of this year’s nominees. By all means, feel free to add some of your own if you think a genuine baddie got away.

WORST PICTURE

Bratz

Daddy Day Camp

I Know Who Killed Me

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry

Norbit

Norbit easily takes the racist, sexist cake for comedy. But I'd like to see a few of Hollywood's pompous Iraq war movies take a hit, especially Rendition.

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Football Movies: The Best & Worst

February 3, 2008 9:45 AM

Super Bowl Sunday is the right time to call Hollywood on its football record. Before moving on to the movies themselves, here are my picks for the actors who actually look like they could play football onscreen and those that definitely don't. Feel free to call a timeout.

BEST FORM ON THE FIELD

Burt Reynolds in The Longest Yard (1974) Reynolds actually played football in his native Florida and his skills show in this prison flick which has some of the best football action ever.

Nick Nolte in North Dallas Forty 1979 Nolte looks like he could take the abuse and the glory in this lively film version of Peter Gent's best-selling exposé of the NFL.

Jamie Foxx in Any Given Sunday 1999 Foxx captures the grit and the arrogance of a quarterback about to find NFL megastardom in Oliver Stone's over the top (when is Stone ever subtle?) but entertaining football epic.

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Best Movie Lines

January 31, 2008 3:57 PM

There are all kind of awards for movies, but none for the most memorable lines. Screw that. This may be one award that actually means something. I can't think of The Godfather without hearing, "I made him an offer he can't refuse." Movies that suck can also have lines that stick. The 2003 Bruce Willis clunker Tears of the Sun stays with me only for the moment when Navy SEAL Willis turns to his men like John Wayne reborn and says, "cowboy the fuck up."

So let's put the movies of 2007 to the test. What are the lines you'll never forget? Vote for the ones below or pick your own. I want names, and I want to rank them. Game on.

"I drink you milkshake—I drink it up!" —[Daniel Day-Lewis to Paul Dano in There Will Be Blood

"Call it, friendo." —Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men

"I am Shiva, the god death." —Tom Wilkinson going wacko on George Clooney in Michael Clayton

"Nobody has gotten a handjob in cargo pants since Nam." —Jonah Hill in Superbad

"If any of us gets laid tonight it's because of Eric Bana in Munich" —Seth Rogen on the Jewish self image in Knocked Up

"I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into." —Ellen Page in Juno

(to a crucifix) "How does it feel?" —Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in* I'm Not There*


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