Over the Fourth of July holiday, my wife and I went to three “summer blockbuster” movies which seemed somewhat entertaining at the time, but which are now filling me with dread at the prospect of actually having to review them. So I’ve decided to do a joint review, as none of them really warrant their own post.

These films are simply different varieties of summer brain rot. You have your zombie movie (World War Z,) your girls cursing and acting crude movie (The Heat,) and your big stars cursing and acting juvenile in zany circumstances movie (This is the End.) Each of these films has certain things going for it. World War Z had decent (not great) episodicness, Brad Pitt is a pretty warm and engaging actor, the family was cast well, and even though the story didn’t really hold water it was not obviously and insultingly contrived. Compared to similar film like 28 Days, it falls well short, but it is still reasonably gripping and worth seeing if you like that kind of movie.

The Heat has that thing that almost all Sandra Bullock movies have: an earnest and well-meant subplot involving women who are outcasts in some sense, due to appearance, personality, maladroitness, or what have you. It also has a reasonably well-developed friendship between her and Melissa McCarthy. Is it laugh-out-loud funny? I didn’t think so, but it certainly had amusing moments, and our fellow audience of beach vacationers clearly found it quite funny. If you have a problem with cursing, you won’t like this film. But if you have a problem with cursing you are probably not reading my blog!

This is the End can be described as Defending Your Life meets Superbad meets The Hangover. If you like the people in it (and you better, because they’re playing themselves) then you might get a kick out of this movie. I don’t particularly like anyone in it (the exception is Emma Watson, but she’s barely in the film,) so it mostly felt like a very strong narcotic, guaranteed to kill just enough brain cells to completely obliterate everything that happened to you in the prior 24 hours. I would prescribe it for moderate to serious wage-slave exasperation – consult your doctor before using; side effects include fatigue, mental sluggishness, and nightmares involving Michael Cera.