Editors Blog: The Biggest Week Of The Summer, Kevin Smith, iPhone And Transformers Toys
The summer movie season is in full effect. I saw Live Free or Die Hard last night and loved it despite the many logic holes and ridiculous stunts (read my review here). Tonight I see License to Wed, which I don't have much hope for (why does Mandy Moore keep picking the crappiest movies? I really want her to succeed). I would assume the studio also doesn't have much hope for the film considering it's being released against Transformers, possibly the biggest movie of the Summer. And before next week Sicko and Ratatouille hit theaters on Friday. I would venture to say that in this 7 day span you will be able to see at least 3 of the best movies of the year thus far (and I haven't seen Transformers yet, so that could be four). So if there is anytime this summer to make the trip to the multiplex, I recommend you do it this or next week.
The hype for Transformers is now reaching epic heights. I'm seeing the movie on Thursday, but I've talked to quite a few people who saw it at the Los Angeles Junket and so far I haven't heard one complaint. It looks like Michael Bay may have come through this time. I'm so excited for this film that the other day I decided to buy a new transformers movie toy. May-be it was just an attempt to relive my childhood, who knows. The huge Optimus Prime toy is more of a puzzle than a toy, and provided way more fun than it should have. Optimus Prime is now guarding my DVD collection until further notice.
It's also pretty sweet to see that one of my favorite directors Kevin Smith quoted from my Die Hard review on his website. I've had a couple e-mail exchanges with Smith in the past over a story inaccuracy, where the director admitted that he's been a long time reader of /Film. Anyways, Smith referred to me as "My man Pete at /Film" on his blog post, which is really cool.
And I'm going to try as much as I can not to buy an Apple iPhone on Friday afternoon. The verizon pocket pc I currently use really REALLY sucks. I recommend that no one ever buy a Windows Mobile phone. Windows was never meant to be an operating system for a phone. I'm a little put off by the whole Cingular/AT&T service provider change, but more importantly, the whole slower EDGE internet thing is what concerns me the most. The phone does have Wi-Fi enabled, but you can't find an open wi-fi network everywhere, and while in transit it's currently impossible. San Francisco is supposed to eventually (hopefully) get free wi-fi internet courtesy of Earthlink and Google, but that could be a year off. Now that would be cool.
Peter Sciretta
/Film Editor in Chief