Updated on December 10, 2021
Thought I’d look (as I did last year) at the upcoming batch of summer movies, as applied to the “Jay Sherman Test” (as I’ve dubbed it), the set of criteria (modeled off the famous “Bechdel Test“) of what movies to avoid, based on a hilarious but well phrased scene from 90s animated sitcom “The Critic”:
- If it used to be a TV show, just don’t go.
- After Roman numeral II, give it a rest.
- If it’s a remake of a classic, rent the classic.
The full scene is available on YouTube (for now).
On this note, let’s see which movies this summer would pass the criteria above, and which ones would probably fail, using a list of upcoming films from Box Office Mojo. Granted, Jay Sherman never did like any of the (admittedly horrible) mainstream films he was forced to review (hence his catchphrase, “it stinks!”), but figured it’d be a fun idea.
Pass
Movies that pass:
- The Avengers
- The Dictator
- Battleship
- What to Expect When You’re Expecting
- Chernobyl Diaries
- Battlefield America
- Snow White and the Huntsman
- Prometheus (apparent prequel to “Alien”)
- Rock of Ages
- That’s My Boy
- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (yep, actual film)
- Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
- Brave
- GI Joe: Retaliation
- Magic Mike
- People Like Us
- Savages
- Ted
- Tyler Perry’s The Marriage Counselor
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- Neighborhood Watch
- Hope Springs
- The Campaign
- The Odd Life of Timothy Green
- Paranorman
- The Expendables 2
- Premium Rush
- 7500
Fail
Movies that fail:
- Dark Shadows (based—extremely loosely, apparently—on the classic 60s Gothic TV soap opera)
- Men In Black III (it’s past Roman numeral II)
- Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (again, another part three)
- Total Recall (remake of the Schwarzenegger classic)
- Sparkle (remake of a 1970s film)
- The Dark Knight Rises (it’s a part three, even if there’s no sequel number in the title)
- Step Up Revolution (no sequel number again, but it’s a part four)
- Ice Age: Continental Drift (see Step Up Revolution)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (a part three)
- The Bourne Legacy (fourth film in the series)
Comments
Yes, this summer’s likely box office king, “The Dark Knight Rises,” is in the “fail” column, while an Adam Sandler movie (“That’s My Boy”) is in the “pass” column. Didn’t say this was a perfect rule (though I’m not interested in either film), but since the rule favors originality over sequels/film series…
I might look back over this post at the end of the summer to see which films were successful and which weren’t. For the record, I plan on seeing the “Avengers” and “Spider-Man” movies, plus “Brave.”
For the actual Bechdel Test and this summer’s movies, I’d suggest visiting this site: http://bechdeltest.com/
