Summer entertainment wrap-up
During a summer generally lacking in truly memorable entertainment, a select few musicians, filmmakers and authors managed to produce some noteworthy work.
In the musical department, a diverse and perhaps unexpected array of albums was released from Beyoncé, Death Cab for Cutie and Jennifer Lopez to Lady Gaga and Kanye West and Jay-Z.
Beyoncé’s fourth studio album, entitled “4,” featured the singles “Run the World (Girls)” and “Best Thing I Never Had.” The former reached 29 on Billboard’s Top 100, while the latter reached 16.
“Codes and Keys” is Death Cab for Cutie’s seventh album and features the popular single “You are a Tourist.” Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga and Kanye West and Jay-Z also released successful singles from their summer albums, such as “On the Floor,” “The Edge of Glory” and “HAM.” The Kanye West and Jay-Z album “Watch the Throne” was possibly the most eagerly awaited. Prior to the album’s release, extravagant tales of “world-spanning” recording process emerged. Complete villas in Australia and entire floors of expensive New York hotels were leased and turned into ad-hoc recording studios.
In addition to modern rap, pop and hip-hop, a range of older bands that were formed decades ago, including The Cars, Journey and Def Leppard, made a comeback this summer with their respective albums “Move Like This,” “Eclipse” and “Mirrorball.”
Despite the devastated economy, movie theaters, as always, were in high demand this summer.
Comic book and superhero action films dominated, such as “X-Men: First Class,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” “Thor,” “Captain America,” “Super 8” and “Green Lantern.” Perhaps the most anticipated film of the summer was the final installment of the Harry Potter series: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” As of the end of July, it had grossed more than $906,800,000 worldwide. Films with more mellow plots released this summer include Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, and Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris,” starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams.
“The Tree of Life” is the eccentric story of a family living in the 1950s. The movie employs unique methods to convey universal themes. “Midnight in Paris” charmingly tells the story of a young engaged couple visiting Paris, who may not be as perfect for each other as they thought.
In addition to music and movies, this summer also brought it a number of literary works. Relseased at the end of June was James Patterson’s new novel entitled “Now You See Her.” It tells the story of lawyer Nina Bloom as she comes to terms with her mysterious past. Released in July was Jennifer Weiner’s “Then Came You,” which depicts three women in different stages of life whose lives become entangled through a series of serendipitous events.
In early August, novice author Neil Abramson released his first novel “Unsaid.” This unique book is written from the perspective of the recently deceased Helena Colden and tells the story of the family she left behind.
The summer of 2011 certainly was filled with a lot of entertainment that appeared only to be money-seeking, underdeveloped projects–“Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “The Change-Up” and “Larry Crowne,” just to name a few.But because many of the entertainment releases this summer were deficient in true artistic integrity, the quality and inspired releases were appreciated even more.
