The Trifecta

Every summer I look for it. That perfect set three of movies. Usually I look for it in the blockbuster genre – because summer means a time of mindless but entertaining movies. But, I am constantly on the lookout for the perfect three movies that was worth the money – even if it was in the 2 dollar theater (remember when it was the dollar theater? Yeah so do I).

So, this year I had high hopes. I thought that with an X-Men movie that didn’t involve Halle Berry and Terminator Salvation, plus Star Trek and Drag Me to Hell (Which if you haven’t seen it DO IT RIGHT NOW), it wouldn’t be difficult for me to find that perfect three. Unfortunately, my favorite movie review site, Pajiba, started to weigh in with their reviews.

I should tell you, I have never been one to listen to critics (seriously, I was making my friends watch Drop Dead Gorgeous before this particular site even existed (even when the movie was like a 5% on Rotten Tomatoes) and now some of my friends who adore the movie can’t even remember that it was me who made them watch it in the first place – bastards. But, I digress)

I don’t normally tend to include critics in my decision to see a movie. However, this particular site has a knack for really explaining what I like and dislike about a movie – even though they still get it wrong sometimes – which is to be expected. More importantly, I am really stingy when it comes to spending money to see a movie in the theater. There are just so many caveats to seeing a movie in the theater that I can always justify not spending the money since I spend so much on cable, the internet, and Netflix.

Well, this year I tried something different. I made a list of the summer movies I wanted to see and tried to pick my top 3. I knew for a fact that I wanted to see Drag Me to Hell, and I also knew that I wanted to see Star Trek. Everything else was kind of up in the air. But, with a summer that promised a new X-Men movie (minus Halle Berry which is the hugest plus ever), a new Terminator movie, and a new Transformers movie (screw you I was entertained by the first one), I didn’t think it would be that difficult to find a third.

Having been introduced to the Terminator movies MUCH later than my contemporaries (they saw T2 in middle school, I didn’t see ANY of them until after the third one was released) I was very excited about a new one featuring Christian Bale. Yeah, McG pretty much sucks, but it has Bale so why not?  I wasn’t too put off by Bale’s craziness (seriously, there are so many batshit crazy actors out there that are truly talented that it seems ridiculous to write them off based solely on their bat shit craziness). But, then Pajiba weighed in on Terminator Salvation. After that, friends of mine started weighing in about just how badly it sucked and I started to reconsider.

So, then my list was down to Up, Inglourious Basterds (which my only real issue with this one is Eli Roth – I can’t stand him), Away we Go (gotta leave some room for the quirk), and yes GI Joe and Transformers. But, now I’m seeing some real trailers of GI Joe and Transformers and I am at a complete loss.

Here’s the thing, Vaughn (the hubs or hubbie as I affectionately like to call him) really wants to see the Wolverine movie and I am curious about an X-Men movie that has no need for Halle Berry (just so there is no confusion: I think she is the worse actor to hit the screen since Kevin Costner – who sucks in case you were wondering). The thing is, Vaughn HATES going to the theater. Unless we sit at the very back, he always ends up in front of the guy who feels the need to kick the back of his chair throughout the movie. And while I don’t hate sitting at the very back, its not my favorite seat in the house.

So, I’m kind of stuck. I’ve seen trailers for The Hangover (and Pajiba gave it a pretty good review – but they seem to like the boy-humor comedies just a tiny bit more than the 11 year old girl in me does) and it looks pretty funny. I am also kind of curious about Away we Go, just because I’ve been looking for a chance to be impressed by Maya Rudolf since Idiocracy (not to say that she was the least bit impressive in that movie but there was something really likable about her in that one).

The problem is that I don’t know. I don’t want to submit Vaughn to yet another torturous round of should-I-threaten-the-guy-behind-me-if-he-kicks-my-chair-one-more-time game for a movie that just isn’t worth it. But, I also don’t want to give up the chance to sit on the back row of a movie that fucking rocks my shit just because I’m not sure if its any good based on the trailers.

Maybe I should just hold off until Where the Wild Things Are is released. At least, I know for a fact that I want to see that movie. But, this whole thing has got me thinking. Maybe the trifecta doesn’t happen in the summer. Maybe it’s a conglomeration of three movies over a few years. After all, my HD movie channel just finished showing Donnie Darko, Army of Darkness, and Creepshow back to back in the same evening. Those are three movies I would have LOVED seeing in the theaters. And if I had been given the chance to see them all in the theater during the same summer? My life would be totally different now.
So, help me out here. What’s the perfect movie to round out my trifecta? Should I be looking for something low key and off the radar or is there a movie that really rocks the shit and has to be seen on the big screen? I’m all ears – and hair.