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Reagen Sulewski: Right now there's got to be a ton of really nervous studio executives questioning their investments in technology. This is two weeks in a row now that we've had a questionable franchise that based its reason for existing on 3D, and two weeks in a row that it's be an almost unmitigated failure. Have audiences become jaded so fast? I suspect that there's still a market out there for truly exceptional 3D releases, but when it comes to the marginal ones, people aren't going to see a terrible movie just because it's in 3D. It's almost becoming an anti-brand at this point, since there's no particular reason that this film should have done worse than the first two. My guess for that reasoning is the added cost of the ticket - after two or three sticker shocks on the ticket price, people have decided it's just not worth paying concert ticket prices for a movie.

This summer has been hot. But did you know that it's winter in Argentina, and it's been colder there than in Antarctica?

Kim Hollis: Now that we're in the dog days of August, most of the biggest blockbuster potential films have been released with a couple of exceptions. What are your thoughts on this summer so far?

Josh Spiegel: Before the summer began, I had high hopes for three movies, both quality-wise and money-wise: Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, and Inception. Two of those movies have made over $300 million, one is about to cross the $400 million plateau, and the latter could (emphasis on could) also join them in the $300 million club. The latter two movies are my favorites of the year, and the other was an OK summer movie. Aside from that, it's been a bit slow this summer, in terms of good movies. Jerry Bruckheimer, for one, probably wants to forget this summer happened, but he's probably the biggest loser of the season.





Matthew Huntley: The summer started out a little slow and there were many who thought it wouldn't rebound, but then those movies with only moderate expectations (The Karate Kid, Grown Ups, Despicable Me) did exceptional business and they helped turn things around, along with the big studio pictures (Toy Story 3, Eclipse, Inception). Overall, from a financial standpoint, the summer was successful and it still has a couple weeks left to show off its strength. As far as quality, there was more to be desired, but that's typical of most summer blockbusters. At least for every Grown Ups there was an Inception and for every Shrek Forever After there was Toy Story 3, so it all balanced out quite well. I enjoyed the summer movie season and I hope its luck continues into the fall.

Shalimar Sahota: Kinda share Josh's view. There have been a few surprises for me (a Bollywood film made it in to the top ten?), though Toy Story 3 and Inception are the obvious highlights. Unfortunately this might be remembered more as a summer of disapointments. Bruckheimer bombed twice; Cruise couldn't keep it up; Crowe couldn't steal enough from the rich; Sex didn't sell, and The A-Team was upstaged by a Karate Kid (this was both surprise and disappointment). I'm looking forward to see how The Expendables and Scott Pilgrim perform. As much as I'd like to see both films break out, box office wise I think it's going to be a repeat of The A-Team and Kick-Ass. Lastly, it isn't over yet, but so far it looks like I'll end up watching less this summer than in previous years.

Max Braden: It's interesting to think that what the 16-year-old me would have thought about this summer 20 years ago. One thing that then me and now me would agree on is the outrage of greenlighting a crappy remake of the classic Clash of the Titans. And a Tom Cruise action movie barely registering at the box office? Bizarre. (In only two weeks, Salt surpassed Knight and Day's entire theatrical run). Iron Man has at least successfully filled in for the Indiana Jones/Star Trek adventures I favored.

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