Win some, lose some: The summer box office

As far as the film industry was concerned, summer 2010 was seriously bipolar.

The first half looked like the biz was on its last legs, at least creatively. Sure, there were some hits, but almost everyone agreed that "Iron Man 2" wasn't as good as "Iron Man," "Robin Hood" wasn't even close to being a great "Robin Hood," and "Shrek Forever After" was possibly the lamest entry in the series. Plus, all these films, and several others, were not exactly original concepts, which seemed to confirm the notion that Hollywood was devoid of new ideas.

Then came "Inception," and all of a sudden, things changed. Love it or hate it, Christopher Nolan's jigsaw puzzle of a film was certainly something new, which audiences, and most critics, responded to - it has grossed more than $260 million. And it was complemented by other solid entries like "Despicable Me" and "Salt," which put a new spin on old genres, and "The Expendables," an '80s muscles and mayhem concept so old, it seemed new again.

So, heading into the fall season, the business isn't as bad as it looked back in early June. And as always, there were plenty of winners and losers emerging from the summer season.

(Click the movie title to read Newsday's review and watch the movie trailer.)

Winners

ADAM SANDLER

SEE PHOTOS25 biggest movie opening weekends

"Grown Ups" received a putrid 10 percent positive rating on Rottentomatoes - one critic called it "puerile and aggressively stupid" - but that didn't seem to matter to Sandler's fans, who turned out in droves. The film has grossed more than $150 million, confirming its star's status as easily the most critic-proof actor in the business.

STIEG LARSSON

He's the Swedish author of the unstoppable Millennium Trilogy juggernaut. Not only have the three books become Godzilla-like international bestsellers, but the films based on them have hit a home run. The first, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," grossed $12 million in this country, a monster figure for a foreign-language feature. The second, "The Girl Who Played With Fire," has taken in more than $6 million to date. The third film, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest," is due out in October. And with an English-language version of the first book, starring Daniel Craig and directed by David Fincher ("Zodiac"), in the works, this unstoppable force will keep on keepin' on. Too bad Larsson died in 2004, before he could enjoy this financial bounty.

PIXAR

"Toy Story 3." Rave reviews, humongous box office. What else is new? This animation house can do no wrong.

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

First "The Dark Knight," then "Inception." Writer-director Nolan makes brainy popcorn pictures that are hailed by critics and make tons of money. Right now, he's the hottest talent in Hollywood.

INDIES

Buoyed by good reviews and the general absence of quality flicks released by the major studios, a number of independent films scored with audiences. "The Kids Are All Right," "Cyrus," "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work," "Winter's Bone," "I Am Love" and several other films helped reverse a long downturn in the sophisticated film market.

VAMPIRES

The latest entry in the "Twilight" series, "Eclipse," grossed nearly $300 million. A low-budget spoof, "Vampires Suck," recouped its entire production budget in its first week of release. Coupled with the monster success of HBO's vampire series "True Blood," this means our national obsession with sexy bloodsuckers is either a really cool trend or The End of Civilization as We Know It.

SYLVESTER STALLONE

Sly has been recycling his greatest hits for several years now, with varying degrees of success: "Rocky Balboa" (2006) was a hit, "Rambo" (2008) wasn't. But who would have predicted that the '80s throwback action flick "The Expendables," with its AARP-eligible cast (average age: 51.5), would open at No. 1, with a healthy $35 million gross? And that nearly 40 percent of the opening weekend audience would be made up of women? Why? Probably because filmgoers are nostalgic for the macho casts of the past, and are tired of CGI explosions, films filled with high-tech babble and male stars who look like nerdy teens (Michael Cera, anyone?). No matter what, Sly sure figured out what audiences wanted with his latest production. At 64, he's a superstar all over again.

Losers

TOM CRUISE

"Knight and Day" opened to generally "eh" reviews - 55 percent positive on the Rottentomatoes.com scale of critical rankings - and blah business. Cruise's previous film, "Valkyrie," also underperformed, which means that until "Mission: Impossible IV" comes out - supposedly at the end of next year - Cruise's once-blazing-hot career has cooled down to a slow-burning ember. And the star's stated intention to make a movie based around Les Grossman, the film executive character he played in "Tropic Thunder," sounds like an act of desperation. Honestly, how many movies based on what are essentially comedy sketches have been any good?

CHICK FLICKS

Both "Eat Pray Love" and "Sex and the City 2" were trashed by the critics (38 percent and 16 percent positive, respectively, on the Rottentomatoes scale) and neither managed to recoup their inflated production and advertising budgets. The narcissism and rampant consumerism of both films turned plenty of people off, and in this era of economic downturn and joblessness, the single-minded entitlement of both films' protagonists was like a poke in the eye with a stick. Not what folks want to see at the multiplex.

M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN

"The Last Airbender" received an 8 percent positive on the Rotten Tomatoes scale, one of the worst ratings ever, and even though the film has grossed more than $130 million (on a $150-million budget), the days when Shyamalan was considered a real talent are over. After a string of bombs, including "The Village," "Lady in the Water" and "The Happening," he has permanently joined the ranks of big-budget hacks. And Hollywood already has plenty of those.

JERRY BRUCKHEIMER

The megaproducer didn't exactly have a mega-box-office summer - "Prince of Persia" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" underwhelmed critically and commercially. But shed no tears for Bruckheimer: a fourth "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie is in the works.

3-D

"Avatar" in 3-D was great. "Cats and Dogs" in 3-D? Who cares? Fact is, filmgoers have become more and more disenchanted with the format, and are ever more reluctant to pay the extra ticket cost, especially when, as in the case of a film like "Clash of the Titans," a late switch from 2-D to 3-D produces lousy effects. Nearly 80 percent of filmgoers saw "Avatar" in 3-D, but only 45 percent of the gross for the hit animated film "Despicable Me" came from that format. Hollywood loves to beat a trend to death: There are nearly 60 3-D films due out in the next two years. How many will audiences actually shell out the extra bucks for?

JENNIFER ANISTON

Poor girl can't seem to catch a break. She's been starring in a string of lousy movies, like "The Bounty Hunter" and "Love Happens," both of which received Rottentomatoes ratings of less than 20 percent. Her latest, "The Switch," which earned an improved, but still lousy, ranking of 52 percent positive, took in a pathetic $8 million on its opening weekend. And after a slew of bad love affairs, she's even relinquished the crown of America's Most Sympathetic Dumped-On Movie Star to Sandra Bullock. Jen needs to get into career rehab - pronto.