After a tough spring semester rendered me fried and spent, I limped back home to Tacoma, Wash. with no plans for my 14 weeks of summer except vegging at the movie theater and camping at the Gorge for the Sasquatch Music Festival. After a couple of days of sleep, I was ready to head back to Eastern Washington to kick off the summer with Macklemore and Mumford & Sons, but not before seeing a movie or two first.
Week 1 Movie/Entertainment: Before heading over the pass, a group of Whitman friends and I hit the premier of the third (and thankfully final) “Hangover” movie. Sadly, “Hangover 3” bombed, making it a disappointing end to what started out as a hilarious series.
Week 2 Movies: After the five-day Sasquatch party, I limped back to Tacoma again and recuperated with testosterone-infused flicks “Fast and Furious 6” and “Man of Steel.” I’m not at all embarrassed to admit that I loved “Fast and Furious 5,” and “Fast 6” was no disappointment. The car and tank chases, mounds of muscle, Vin Diesel and The Rock pummeling anyone who gets in their way is ridiculous, stupid and a nonstop rush. “Man of Steel” featured a new face, Henry Cavill, a Brit who donned the suit with no personality in the newest and most destructive Superman movie yet.
Weeks 3-4 Movies: Sandwiched in between a last-minute road trip with a Whitman friend to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks and Canada, and watching my sister play in a volleyball tournament in Dallas, I saw two enjoyable comedies, “The Heat” and “This is the End.” Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy were hilarious in this female “Lethal Weapon”-style vulgar cop movie. “This is the End” was a great directorial debut for Seth Rogen, just as long as you’re OK with seeing some of your favorite actors doing unspeakable things…
Week 5 Movies: Playtime was over and I was lucky to get a job as a server at a restaurant on Lopez Island, one of the San Juan Islands. I stayed with three other Whitties at one friend’s beautiful summer home. Before joining the working world, I saw the premier of “Despicable Me 2.” I laughed right along with the other kids at the yellow-goggled minions and their antics. In fact, I’m such a fan of those corny minions that I made my theme for C-Sec a Minion Sanctuary (placing myself as Gru, of course.)
Weeks 6-11 Movies: Whenever I got a day off from sassing my customers, I hopped a ferry to the Friday Harbor movie theater. Most of the time I was the only person in the cute little theater, and saw an odd assortment of movies. “White House Down” was surprisingly funny. My man-crush Channing Tatum has matured from stripping and has moved on to saving the president. While the movie was nonstop action, the interplay between Tatum and his co-star Jamie Foxx was hilarious. “Pacific Rim” was also a fun and entertaining movie with aliens fighting machines, and some of the best graphics of the summer. I really wanted to like the hotly hyped “Elysium,” but it ended up not nearly as entertaining as I had hoped mainly because of the predictable plot and unlikeable characters like Jodie Foster’s stiff, ice-queen performance.
Weeks 12-13 Movies: On my final adventure of the summer, I caught a ferry to Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands and saw “Monsters University” and “The Way Way Back.” “Monsters” disappointingly couldn’t capture the magic of its predecessor. On the other hand, I loved “The Way, Way Back.” Even though Steve Carell plays an uncharacteristic role as a jerk, this story of an antisocial boy finding summer friends is truly hard not to enjoy, laugh and tear-up at.
Week 14 Movies: Finally, my summer wasn’t complete without seeing Hugh Jackman in “The Wolverine.” I was surprised to get a text from my 17-year-old sister saying to drop everything and go see it. I enjoyed the movie itself and couldn’t contain my excitement at the foreshadowing of the next movie in the ending credit scene!
Surprisingly, my unplanned summer turned out to be filled with great adventures and some decent movies. Cross your fingers that we get to see some great movies this semester too!
