Social Distancing couldn’t stop me from watching flicks this summer.

COVID-19 has closed theaters since March, and now, they’re slowly starting to reopen up again. I was still able to do my job as a film critic by dishing on the movies I’ve seen this summer. As usual, there were hits and misses, and there were losses of some of our favorite people.

Lets’ start off with the best films of the summer.

5.) “The Personal History of David Copperfield”

Armando Ianucci’s satire on the Charles Dickens character provides some colorblind casting (Dev Patel, Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, and Benedict Wong, among others), a broad sense of humor, and an elegant taste.

4.) “Hamilton”

This was just a recorded Broadway show, but who cares? This was still a movie, and it’s also one of the best musicals I’ve ever seen, hands down. Great job, Lin Manuel Miranda.

3.) “The King of Staten Island”

Pete Davidson gives a career best performance in his semi-autobiography, directed by Judd Apatow, and he provides the laughs and empathy that makes his character worth caring about.

2.) “Tenet”

Christopher Nolan’s latest masterpiece finally made it to theaters before Labor Day, so this counts as a summer movie. It’s a time-traveling James Bond film like no other.

1.) “Da 5 Bloods”

Spike Lee’s next opus is a sure-fire candidate for Oscar consideration. This has to be. It’s a magnificent motion picture.

We also had some joy with the likes of “Animal Crackers,” “The Rental,” “First Cow,” “Irresistible,” “Shirley,” “Showbiz Kids,” “Howard,” “Project Power,” “Spree,” “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” “The One and Only Ivan,” “She Dies Tomorrow,” and “Phineas & Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe,” among others. Sorry if I left anyone out.

And now, let’s talk about the worst bombs, which I didn’t see much of, but still have to slam.

5.) “Artemis Fowl”

I admired the Irish theme and some of the actors, but it was just a short, underdeveloped, and convoluted Disney feature.

4.) “My Spy”

I saw a worse “Cop and a Half” rip-off earlier this year called “Coffee & Kareem,” but Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman still had no chemistry and nothing fresh to offer.

3.) “Fatal Affair”

Did we need another “Fatal Attraction” rip-off, this one starring Nia Long and Omar Epps? I don’t think so.

2.) “The New Mutants”

This finally saw the light of day, but given it’s a boring “X-Men” spin-off, it should have remained in hiding.

1.) “Unhinged”

I can’t believe Russell Crowe would sink so low as an angry man, who demands an apology, even though he was the one who wouldn’t move at the green light. What a waste of his talents.

I also had some exhilarating video chat interviews with the likes of Richard Roeper (via Cameo), Christy Carlson Romano, Will Friedle, Karen Gillan, William Shatner, Christopher Lloyd, Jack Dylan Grazer, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Matt Frewer, and Will Wheaton. Not to brag, but talking to them helped brighten my COVID-19 summer bummer side.

And we’ve also had some major losses like Carl Reiner, Wilford Brimley, Regis Philbin, Kelly Preston, and more recently Chadwick Boseman. And I lost my grandfather Phillip Eager, who lived until the age of 85. He helped carried my Irish side of the family, and he’ll never be forgotten for his love and humor. None of these actors will be forgotten. All of them will live on.

And closing off this summer has left me with some exciting news. I’m now officially a paid film critic, because each week, I’m contributing three movie reviews to the New HD radio station, which will hire people on the spectrum. The address is http://www.newhdradio.com and you can also find some other fascinating stuff from other and future members of the origination.

Now, I have 4 months to go until my best and worst films of the year, until then, I’ll see you at the movies.

Categories: List