Recent summers have been lackluster in their variety and quality of movies. It appeared as though terrible sequels and laughable remakes had tainted the box offices.
This summer, however, was the comeback of all comebacks for the all-hailed summer movie. Universal Pictures grossed $1 billion on Aug. 13, making this year one of their most successful summers, according to an article from Reuters.
Box office records were broken -- The Dark Knight beat out Star Wars for second place in top grossing movies of all-time, raking in $471.5 million by Aug.18, according to an article from the Houston Chronicle. What is particularly interesting is most of these movies appealed to an audience of all ages.
However, college students may have viewed the box office sensations differently. How do these flicks stack up in State College?
Mike's Movies, 210 E. Calder Way
Rentals for the summer are equally as important as films playing in the theaters because it provides time to catch up on movies people may not have had the time to see during the school year.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Genre: Action
Synopsis: Our favorite treasure hunter looks for the truth behind who really killed Abraham Lincoln.
21
Director: Robert Luketic
Genre: Drama
Synopsis: Based on a true story, 21 is about six MIT students who are trained to be card counters to win big bucks from Vegas casinos.
Rambo
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Genre: Action
Synopsis: Rambo's at it again, but this time in Burma to rescue Christian aid workers.
10,000 B.C.
Director; Roland Emmerich
Genre: Adventure
Synopsis: This film, based in the prehistoric era, is about a mammoth hunter's dangerous journey to help his tribe.
Jumper
Director: Doug Liman
Genre: Action
Synopsis: A young man can teleport anywhere he wishes and becomes entangled in the war between the "jumpers" and those who want to kill them.
As for Brett Patzer, a favorite was not on the list.
"My favorite was Harold and Kumar [Escape from Guantanamo Bay]. I like the type of humor," Brett Patzer, who handles movie sales for Mike's Rentals said.
The State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave.
The movies at The State Theatre are not generally mainstream films. They range from foreign and indie flicks to documentaries. All of these films can be rented through Netflix.com.
Mike Negra, Executive Director of the State Theatre, said that Mike's Videos may have some of these indie flicks.
"They have a good selection of independent films," he added.
Young at Heart
Director: Stephen Walker
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis: This film follows the Young at Heart Chorus, which is made up of senior citizens who sing rock and pop music.
Priceless
Director: Pierre Salvadori
Genre: Foreign Comedy
Synopsis: A young woman only dates wealthy men until she mistakenly dates a man who has little and falls in love with him.
Encounters at the End of the World
Director: Werner Herzog
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis: Herzog is let into the lives of the scientists who risk everything to perform their research in Antarctica.
Roman De Gare
Director: Claude Lelouch
Genre: Foreign Mystery/Thriller
Synopsis: A misleading story about three lives that intertwine with dangerous consequences.
The Counterfeiters
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Genre: Foreign Drama
Synopsis: This film is based on the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history run by the Nazis during World War II.
The top pick for Negra was The Counterfeiters.
"It's a great film with great subject matter and I like World War II films," he said.
College 9, 3031 Carnegie Dr., and Premiere Theaters, 125 Premiere Dr.
Two of the only remaining box office movie theaters left in State College, these are the theaters meant for viewing more mainstream films on the big screen.
The Dark Knight
Director: Christopher Nolan
Genre: Action
Synopsis: Batman battles his greatest nemesis yet, the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger.
Iron Man
Director: Jon Favreau
Genre: Action
Synopsis: After Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is forced to make an armored suit, he decided to use it against evil.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Director: Steven Spielberg
Genre: Action
Synopsis: Indiana Jones is dragged into a Soviet plot to discover the meaning behind a mysterious artifact.
WALL-E
Director: Andrew Stanton
Genre: Animation
Synopsis: A tiny waste disposal robot ends up getting entangled in an adventure to save mankind.
Kung Fu Panda
Director: Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
Genre: Animation
Synopsis: Po the panda, a lazy creature, becomes the "chosen one" when another kung fu master threatens his village.
