I’m pulling into the finish line—this is my last Friday Flashback of the Summer Movie Season, (new features to soon replace it, I promise)—here and I feel quite a bit like I’m sputtering on fumes. The last summer movie is….GETAWAY? From the director of DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS? Guys…I’m tired. I love movie but this looks like the dregs. If I didn’t know it started filming in April of 2012, I’d swear to you this was filmed a few years back and shelved until now. Especially given that Selina Gomez looks younger than her real age by a fair margin.

Seriously, she's like 11 there, right? (picture from eonline.com)

Perhaps I’m being overly cynical. I don’t know. I just hoped for a nice surprise for the summer to go out on but it seems the dog days of summer surprises came a week early w/ The World’s End & You’re Next.

Apologies to GETAWAY and its cast and crew in advance if you turn out to be great.

NICK OF TIME

A movie that unfolds in real time starring Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken? You bet!

Is it any good? No, not really.

Are you still recommending it? Absolutely!

"Excuse me, you seem to have forgotten to mention my sweet 'stache." (picture from cineplex.com)

I don’t really feel guilty for the movies I like. I feel guilty for so many things—my role in keeping the reality extraterrestrials from the American people, the friends I’ve lost touch with, my “adult” fantasies, my inability to befriend a bear—but not the movies I like. That said, NICK is one I should probably feel a little shame about. But whatever. It is propulsive, it plays fast and loose with everything, up to and including the real time gimmick, and Walken is creepy but not a caricature. John Badham, the director, also directed the likes of WARGAMES, SHORT CIRCUIT, and several PSYCH episodes, so he’s an obvious talent.

It is also the rare Johnny Depp movie that see the star underact as a normal guy. You might’ve forgot that he could do that. Seeing him here made me want to see him be that kind of actor again. Captain Jack is fun and all, but I like normal Depp too (if not more).

Oh come on. Don't cry. I didn't say I didn't like your Captain Jack. Just that....it'd be nice to see you go understated again, you know? (picture from deppimpact.com)

Look, it deserves its reputation as a weak, gimmicky movie. And you still should watch it.