Summer movie review

In May, I published my list of what I anticipated to be the Top 10 summer movies of 2008. Now that August is drawing to a close, it’s time to review my score.

In analyzing my choices, I picked seven of the 10 top movies. What I didn’t do as well was place them in the correct order from 1 to 10.

I had “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” as my No. 1 pick of the summer. Looking back, it was a tossup for me. Would Indiana Jones outdraw Batman? I thought it would, but I was wrong. I hadn’t factored in Heath Ledger’s over-the-top, high-octane performance as the Joker. It fueled the movie to become the second highest grossing film of all time after James Cameron’s “Titanic.”

According to Box Office Mojo, “Indiana Jones” actually came in third in the summer box office crapshoot, following No. 1 “Dark Knight” and No. 2 “Iron Man.”

Where did I go wrong? I included “Get Smart” and “Mama Mia!” in my Top 10. They didn’t make the cut. The films ended up as 11 and 12, respectively on Box Office Mojo’s list.

I had two clear misses: “Han******” and “Kung Fu Panda.” I can’t imagine I did this, but the proof is in the printing.
It goes to show never to bet against Will Smith when it comes to opening a film over the Fourth of July weekend. He’s the million dollar box office man.

I don’t have any excuse for missing “Kung Fu Panda.” It had all the markings of a hit including voices by such Hollywood stars as Angelina Jolie and a well-written story.

I also missed on “The Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.” I included it in my Top 10, but it didn’t make the cut.
I can see why. It wasn’t that good. Oh well.

To read the complete story, see the print edition of the Hutchinson Leader for Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008.

(Kay Johnson is a staff writer at the Hutchinson Leader. She can be reached at johnson@hutchinsonleader.com).