There have been very, very good summer movie seasons littered with great and interesting films and there have been other summers that didn’t connect quite that well.

Entering September, Autumn is just around the proverbial corner (it officially begins on September 23rd) and school has begun for most if not all students in the U.S.

What better time to look back and the Summer Movie Season of 2019 and assess it?

Matthew Jacobs over at Huffington Post does just that, and his views parallel my own:

Let’s face it: The 2019 Summer Movie Season was dreadful

Man, do I agree with almost everything he writes in this article. From his notes regarding Disney, the big winner at the box office not only for summer, but for the entire year, to the fact that too many sequels didn’t connect and there were almost no comedies that found interest among audiences.

Thinking about the summer movie season, we started with Avengers: Endgame, the concluding chapter of the “phase 1” Marvel films. I have yet to see the film, though I fully intend to, but it made a great deal of money during its release yet, curiously, it feels to me like it was a big splash in a rather shallow pool.

I don’t see people analyzing this or that about the film, it seems like they watched it, enjoyed it, and moved on to the next big thing. Disney, of course, doesn’t care if the film is five years down the road looked upon as some kind of modern movie masterpiece. Especially when they pulled in as much money as they did from its initial and second run.

From there, though, things get sketchy.

Disney did well, also with Aladdin, The Lion King, and Toy Story 4 but, once again, I’m getting this feeling that the films were seen, enjoyed, made their money, but they won’t linger too long in the public consciousness afterwards. Toy Story in particular feels like its been played out and I wonder how much longer Disney will be able to make “live action” versions of their animated films before people lose interest in that.

I could go on and on, but I fear I’m going to start cribbing more and more ideas presented so well in Mr. Jacobs’ article and there seems little point in doing so.

So if you have a moment or two and are one of those film geeks like me and want a rundown of the stuff that worked, and didn’t, in the Summer of 2019, click on the link above.

It’s interesting stuff.

What in the world happened this year?

By this time, there’s usually a number of films out there doing decently and/or getting people’s attention but this year…

…I dunno.

Many consider May 1st as the official start of the Summer Movie Season but one should consider Avengers: Endgame, released in the last week of April, as the start of the Summer Movie Season.

That movie did very well, of course, but I’m rather surprised by the fact that only a month or so later it seems like… it’s kinda/sorta in the past. Not forgotten, mind you. There are still people I find online posting positives about the film (I haven’t seen it yet) but I’ve also found a surprising number of people who feel the movie wasn’t all that.

Not that they hated it, mind you, but there are some who feel the film was something of a wiff… that it could, indeed should have been much better than it was. There are even some who offer a far more scathing view, that the film was a lot of “fan service”, ie. a bunch of sequences designed to make fans happy but which ultimately didn’t make the overall film all that great.

Again, I don’t know. Haven’t seen it yet.

But at least Avengers: Endgame did great at the box office!

At least for the time it was out. Again, it seems like the film did really well and all those that wanted to see it saw it and then… that was it.

What followed, however, were films that didn’t seem to catch on quite as well.

Over at this site found on firstshowing.net…

2019 Release Schedule

…you can check out the films that have been released to date along with those upcoming.

I did a quick check of some of the films that were hoping to get movie-goer’s interest/money over the Summer Season and was surprised by how many of them to date did only so-so.

Among others you had Pokemon Detective Pikachu (looked cute in commercials and the idea of Ryan Reynolds voicing the character was a plus, but the film sure did seem to come and go). There was John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, which, granted, benefited enormously with the good feelings people have regarding Keanu Reeves and, given what I’m sure is a smaller budget, did very good business. But again, it sure seemed to come and go.

What about Aladdin? Terrible early trailers had everyone doubting the film, but once it was released the critics were kind yet the film was another one week (if that) wonder. Brightburn? Low budget horror “take” on Superman produced by James Gunn had certain audiences intrigued, and given the movie’s low budget I’m sure it recouped its investment and then some. But, again, a one week wonder and out.

Godzilla: King of Monsters had decent reviews but under-performed. Dark Phoenix had pretty poor reviews and also didn’t do all that well. Last week we had two new morsels: Men In Black International and Shaft. Sadly, it appears neither of these films is drawing much interest and appear to be slipping away from theaters after only a week.

All, however, is not lost. There are still some interesting films to come. Child’s Play and Toy Story 4 are being released this coming week and while I suspect the later will do well, the former… we’ll see. Either way, I personally am not to interested in either.

Looking further ahead, July 2 sees the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home. I’m not all that interested but because its a Marvel film, I’m sure it’ll do good business. July 26 brings us Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. I’m intrigued with the film though I know very little about it other than the setting (Hollywood in the late 1960’s and immediately before -and I’m guessing during/after the Charles Manson horrors). Given how much I hated (no pun intended) his last film, though, I don’t know if I’m going to catch it during its initial release.

Looking over the list of films coming in the next months, there is only one film that currently has me intrigued: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. That film looks beyond silly but in a good way.

Otherwise, I dunno. This could be one of the weakest summer movie seasons I’ve seen in a very long time… and, it would appear, for a few others as well.

If I do go see Hobbs & Shaw in theaters, it might well wind up being the only Summer film I see this season in theaters.

A stunning thing to admit!