The summer cinema season is finally over, which means multiplexes will get back to playing movies that don't cost a small country and won't slam you with explosions, CGI effects and something resembling a plot.

It was a summer that gave us decent, well-deserved hits ("The Dark Knight," "Iron Man"), movies that were fun to watch if you had nothing else to do ("Hellboy II," "Wanted") and movies whose materializations still boggle our minds. (Anyone have an explanation for that "X-Files" movie? Anyone?)

Pop Life needed a no-nonsense voice to help us figure out these past four months. So, we spoke with Vern, the Seattle-based, online "outlaw film critic" whose outspoken reviews have appeared on Ain't It Cool News, as well as his own Web site. (We can't mention it by name, so just go to www.geocities.com/outlawvern.) He's also the author of "Seagalogy," a just-released collection of essays on the movies and overall awesomeness of Steven Seagal.

So, that right there should tell you there isn't anyone better to break down the highs and the lows of the 2008 summer movie season.

PL: So, what were some of the things that stood out for you at the movies?

V: Last summer, I kind of know what you thought about that "Transformers" movie, but I really disliked that movie. And I wrote, I think, the only harshly negative review of it on Ain't It Cool. And I got probably the biggest response I've ever gotten on anything. Some of it was positive, but there was a lot of angry people upset that I didn't like that movie, and kind of accusing me of expecting it to be "Hamlet" or "Gone with the Wind." So, I was always trying to argue, well, I don't want to be "Hamlet." I want it to be "Aliens" or "Terminator." And I kind of felt like we had maybe moved beyond to this time when people don't expect a summer movie to actually be legitimately good. They just wanna say that things blew up and whatever.

But this summer kind of changed my mind about that, because the "Dark Knight" movie actually is really good. And people are talking about it as a best-picture movie even. And, you know, it seems pretty unanimous. So, it kind of brought my faith back that people were still trying to make the kind of movie I like, which is an action movie. Not trying to be a highbrow movie, but at the same time, being intelligent about it.

PL: The most interesting thing about the "Dark Knight" phenom, something that not a lot of people have touched on, is that it's the first film in a long while people actually believed in. It practically bought people together and restored in them faith in movies. That's why so many people online are ready to curse out anybody who talks bad about it.

V: Yeah, I do kind of agree with that. Like "Indiana Jones" -- I actually liked that movie quite a bit. But it seems, at least on the Internet, almost everyone hates it. Actually, I've gotten angry e-mails for writing a positive review of that one also. But, with "Dark Knight," I don't get that at all. Obviously, not everyone is going to like it. But I don't think I've met anyone that didn't like it. It's much more closer to unanimous than you usually get on any movie.

PL: What were other favorites from you, besides "Dark Knight" and "Indy 4"?

V: Well, I thought "WALL-E" was very good. But the one kind of overlooked movie to me is not really a popcorn movie at all, but "Redbelt," the David Mamet movie that just came out on DVD. That was actually one of my favorites.

PL: What were the disappointments?

V: I can't think of a real profound disappointment. I was hoping "Hancock" would be good. I thought it looked pretty interesting and seemed like an interesting take on that kind of thing, but it didn't offer much. "Wanted" was really stupid, I thought, but enjoyable and pretty much what I expected. "The Incredible Hulk" was OK, I wasn't really disappointed. "Hellboy II," I think -- well, I wouldn't really call that a disappointment either. But I think, coming from Guillermo del Toro, it's not really up to his standard that he set in earlier movies. What else came out?

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