Summer Movie Rundown part 1

Summer means entertaining movies and we've seen most of 'em, so here's my list.

Star Trek- Am I only one who can't get past J.J. Abrams slick, TV-level direction of this charming reboot? The cast and script make it shine.

Angels and Demons- Consummate summer fling with twists, turns and suspenseful set pieces. Hanks is lighter, more cozy in the role this go around. Ron Howard's pro directing makes this the cream of the crop so far. But Public Enemies and Inglorious Basterds are right around the corner.

Terminator: Salvation- Nonstop actioner has a slight script, an ok cast and plenty of cool-looking special effects. Diverting while it's going on, but I would be hard pressed to describe one scene for you. Arnold's (digital?) cameo was memorable.

Drag Me To Hell- I grew up with the "Evil Dead" movies so I was excited to see Raimi back in the horror ring. The result was old-fashioned scary fun but too much of Raimi's FX-happy Spidey technique hampered what should have been a pure return to the genre.

Land of the Lost- They really know how to tap into our inner childhood nostalgia! Luckily, this retained the Saturday morning fun of the original Sid and Marty Kroft show while adding some sassy humor (a drug trip, sexual inneundo) to the proceedings. Will Ferrel does his thing aimiably here and the sleestaks look 70s cool and kitschy just like they used to. I'll pay to see this team reboot "Battlestar Galactica" next... oh wait, someone already did that for the sci-fi channel. Still need to see that. This "Land of the Lost" was pure kooky fun.

The Hangover- I like Todd Phillips movies, especially "Old School" and "Starsky and Hutch", but this has a been there, done that feel. Granted, the movie is brilliantly set up so that the audience stays through the entire end credits, but this could have used more stylish mayhem to spice up the anarchy. And the characters are stock Vegas Bachelor party dudes, with only Zach Galifianakis' Alan lending the proceedings a real sense of dangerous fun. Phillips direction is workmanlike.

The Taking of the Pelham 123- Another remake! Hollywood veteran director Tony Scott handles this well enough, although I think his aesthetic has gotten lazier, more frenzied and "digital-age" in the last few years. The movie still works, with strong character work by Denzel and Travolta as men pitted against each other ala "Crimson Tide", a superior mano-a-mano Scott summer entertainment from the 1995. This flick kept me awake, but never really takes off in a hyper-real Tony Scott way the way I wished it had. Still looking forward to Michael Bay's Transformers sequel, which I know will be hysterical.

Year One- Unfairly maligned comedy from Harold Ramis in the Mel Brooks vein of satire and humor. Year One is low-brow fun all the way, with rad period detail and spoofy performances from Jack Black and Michael Cera. Turn your brain off and go with this. A cool ride.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen- By the time Michael Bay directed the first "Transformers" movie, it felt as if he had finally found the perfect subject matter for his aesthetic: Cars and planes that turn into battle machines that fight each other. No tears- streaming Bruce Willis goodbyes, No pearl Harbor three-way-love triangles, just gold old fashioned metal-machine hardware, explosions and car chases, all hyped-and-amped up to look glamourous and awesome. Remove the human characters from the equation and Bay may be really on to something here. This is what Michael Bay does best and should stick with. Don't go getting emotionally mature on us, Mike, just bring on the Bayhem they way you do so spectacularly. So here we have the sequel. The verdict: It's fun, it's noisy, it looks cool and it's too long. The successful attempts at humor in the first film fail here, coming off juvenile but let's be honest, this whole franchise is juvenile and that's why we like it. The movie's action is slam-bang exciting and the special effects work by ILM tops part 1. However, the movie is so excited and action-driven that by the end, I started to glaze over, almost feeling exhausted. It goes on too long, zapping your energy when you should be walking out the aisle feeling exhilarated. Will be better on DVD when I can watch this in chunks, rather than endure the whole overdriven thing.