Sharknado and Other Summer Entertainment

For some reason, summer seems to go hand-in-hand with horrible entertainment.  My usual tv shows are on summer hiatus, so I find myself watching reality shows I wouldn't normally waste my time with in the spring.  Deep, introspective novels sit dusty on my bookshelves while I stick my nose in fluffy, light reading at the beach or poolside.  We fill up our Netflix queue filled with movies that didn't appeal enough to us to shell out $25 to see them in the theaters.  While we're waiting for the next one to show up at our door, we also watch movies on tv or on Netflix's instant streaming.

Here are a few things we've seen recently.  PS, no spoilers included.

Oz, the Great and Powerful (2013):

The Premise: A small-time magician is swept away to an enchanted land and is forced into a power struggle between three witches (from IMDB).  Basically, the story of how a man from Kansas became the Wizard of Oz.

The Expectation: I had really high hopes for this movie.  First of all, Wizard of Oz is one of my all-time favorite movies.  When in Wilmington earlier this summer, I decided to read Wicked, which is sort of the prequel to Wizard of Oz told from the Wicked Witch's POV (did NOT like that book, by the way!).  Anyway, because I was reading it, I was really in the mood to see this prequel.  Plus, I love Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz.

The Result: Boy, was I disappointed.  I'm just not sure who the target audience was.  The movie was too campy to be meant for adults (really, Zach Braff as a flying monkey that I *think* was supposed to be a comedic character?) and too boring to be meant for kids.  The characters felt one-sided, the plot written in fifteen minutes, and the cinematography lacking (Jason asked as one point if it was a film student's final project).

The Verdict: would not recommend and would not watch again

In Time (2011):

The Premise: In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth.  Here, Will Salas finds himself accused of murder and on the run with a hostage -- a connection that becomes an important part of the way against the system (from IMDB).

The Expectation: Lukewarm.  It had sounded cool when it came out, and what 20-something doesn't have a soft spot for Justin Timberlake?  Sure, it may suck big time, but at least I'll get to look at JT for two hours...

The Result: I was actually pretty impressed.  It's a pretty original premise with a bit of a 1984/Brave New World vibe to it.

The Verdict: It's a fun "let's throw something on to watch" Friday night kind of movie.  Not the world's best movie, but not a waste of time.  I'm not running around recommending it to everyone I see, but I'd watch it again if it came on tv some time.

Sharknado (tv movie, 2013):

The Premise: A hurricane off the coast of California creates shark-filled water spouts (tornados) that terrorize the coast. 

The Expectation:  I have to admit, Jason and I occasionally watch SyFy movies that sound ludicrous and just sit back and mercilessly attack them.  From bad acting to choppy editing to bogus special effects, we expect the movies to be horrible.

The Result:  We got what we expected.  It's hard to decide what we loved the most.  There were the shots of the "hurricane" (PS, movie-makers, they're not called hurricanes on the west coast) pouring down rain and two seconds later the background was sunny and all the actors were dry.  There was the driveway of a house with about three inches of rain and then all of a sudden the first-floor window burst in with a tidal wave of water and blood-thirsty sharks.  There was the "science" of how to stop a tornado (I promised no spoilers, but I assure you, it was rich).  Man, it was a bad movie.

The Verdict: If you watch "films" rather than "movies," don't waste your time.  If your love language is sarcasm and you take great joy in picking apart bad movies with horrible editing and totally bogus plots, by all means, set the DVR and pop a bag of popcorn.  It doesn't get much better (i.e. worse) than "Sharknado."