While I don't wanna foreclose our own winter movie awards in any way, let's talk about the summer blockbusters this year and how they held up to expectations.

Rotten Tomatoes has a list of 57 films, from worst to best reviewed, which does not entirely compare to the box office of course, nor to the personal opinions of viewers. But it gives quite a good overview of what was going on at the movies this summer.

Here are my two cents:

Marvel films: Thor, X-Men FC and Cap all were a lot better than I had hoped for, definitely among the most fun evenings I had at the movies this year. They all got over 145 Mio. viewers and set the bar pretty high for The Avengers next year...and yet I expect nothing but a highlight of the genre.

Surprises: Cowboy and Aliens can't be happy with their 93 Mio. domestic and rather mixed reviews. I suppose people expected a little more, while I found it was decent entertainment and thought it would do a lot better.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes did really well (160 Mio.) and got good reviews both by viewers and critics. I haven't seen it yet, but I expected it to bomb on all fronts, to be honest. Consider my stunned.

According to viewers and critics alike Fast Five seems to be one of the most spectacular car chase films ever made. Who would have thought?

Super 8. No, actually, I expected all that. Took me back to the old late 70s Spielberg feeling of a Halloween costume walk through a suburban neighborhood. Loved every minute of it.

Expected failures: Green Lantern and Conan the Barbarian, both as lousy as feared (they say) and with not much box office.

Sequels: Pirates 4, Transformers 3, Kung Fu Panda 2, Cars 2, Hangover 2: all had great to outstanding numbers of viewers with reviews ranging from high to pretty low. Won't stop anyone to continue this trend of course.

Big winner: Harry Potter 7.2, of course. Loved both by critics and viewers.

What do you think?