A Look Back - 2011 Summer Movies

The summer of 2011 brought the usual fare of highly advertised action adventure blockbusters, and some of them had disappointing attendance. Looking back, here are the highlights of the summer:

July - Project Nim. Project Nim is a documentary about teaching a young chimpanzee who is taught sign language at a primate center in the early 1970s. Nim is treated like a human and is even raised with a family with young children. As time goes on, Nim becomes stronger and stronger. He eventually becomes unpredictable and violent. He is sent to the Oklahoma Primate Center and is not treated well. This is a  behind  the scenes look at a sad story of a primate that is  the object of human treatment, which really is mistreatment. Project Nim is one of the best documentaries of the year.

August - The Help, Sara's Key, and The Rise of the Planet of the Apes. August had a trifecta of great movies. There were even several more movies that almost made the list but this trio is hard to beat.
The Help is the story life in a small Southern town in the early 1960s as shown by two perspectives, the well-to-do white Junior League housewives and that of their African American maids and nannies. This is a movie that has the audience laughing and crying, sometimes almost simultaneously.
The Help will receive multiple Oscar nominations.
Sara's Key is a story of a Jewish family torn apart by the Holocaust. The film moves between the present and the past. A journalist uncovers secrets about her husband's family during the roundup of Jews in France. As she digs deeper and deeper, the story of two young Jewish children unfolds. Although the past cannot be changed, the present and future will be. Another must see.
The Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the prequel to the 1970s movie, The Planet of the Apes. Extremely well done, this is a hit that will please science fiction fans. The special effects are well worth seeing for themselves alone. I expect several Oscar nominations in some of the lesser known categories.

September - Moneyball.  I love movies about baseball and this is one of the better ones. Based on a true story, Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's. Given a small budget, he builds a winning team by hiring overlooked talent. He is the laughing stock of baseball as the team loses game after game. Given time, the team begins to gel and win, win, win. Moneyball is a crowd pleasing grand slam.