Ian’s moved back to the land of Jayhawks meaning he won’t be penning many new movie reviews for a few weeks, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to leave you loyal RF readers without something to raise hell ‘bout.  Today he gives us his favorite films of the summer that was 2008.  Who could possibly be number one?

Universal Pictures is releasing a special Sing-Along Edition of Mamma Mia! in select theaters across the country today (click here for theater info).  Now you can go to your local theater and sing along with the film.  Find out how the experience rates, compared to the film itself, inside the Full Diagnosis.

You may notice sometimes we don’t have a review for every movie that comes out on a given week.  Sometimes it’s because of scheduling conflicts, or movies being screened the same night and time at different theaters.  Sometimes we may have trouble staffing a screening.  Or sometimes a film is out in limited release before we get a chance to see it.  But sometimes it’s because the studio decides not to screen the film for critics before dumping it on the unsuspecting movie going audience.  (Seriously, how bad has a film got to be to deny critics to view it?  Think about this The Condemned, Because I Said So, License to Wed, A Sound of Thunder, Over Her Dead Body, and countless others were all screened for critics).

Today you won’t see a reviews for the Vin Diesel in Babylon A.D. distributed by 20th Century Fox, MGM‘s campus comedy College, or Disaster Movie from Lionsgate.  All three studios, obviously deeply afraid of the poor quality of their films and possible public ridicule, refused to screen them for critics.  Unable to review the movies, we decided to review the studios by awarding them each our Scaredy Cat Award for being too afraid to take even the smallest bit of criticism.

Wow!  An action/spy thriller distilled through the lens of an art house flick.  Don Cheadle heads this impressively strong film about terrorism, and the lengths people will go to in order to commit, and to stop, it.  Oh, and it’s got one of the best twists I’ve seen on film since that little kid saw dead people.  Traitor is simply a must-see.

Take Anna Faris, known for playing characters just smarter than cement, and throw in the writers for Legally Blonde, the basic plot of Sydney White, and Playboy bunnies, and you’ve got The House Bunny.  It’s about what you’d expect going in, though it does have a few genuine laughs as the lovely Ms. Faris once again proves why she is everyone’s favorite dumb blonde.

Hamlet 2 is a bit of a mess, but it also provides some very funny moments.  A rather strange high school teacher puts together a musical sequel to Shaekespeare’s play which involves sex, profanity, a time machine, and Jesus Christ.  Say what you want about the film, and there are many valid criticisms you can make, but this original little gem, even when it goes off-course, is rather enjoyable.

Hitting the theaters in the ass-end of summer (not good for an action flick) comes Death Race.  I’m not sure what Joan Allen is doing here, or even Jason Statham, but there’s little that justifies the remake of the Harvey Corman film or yet another tale about convicts killing each other for the camera.  But at least it’s better than The Condemned (read that review).

Keep your expectations low, young padawan.  This feature length film was originally intended for television to launch the new Clone Wars cartoon series for Cartoon Network.  As an animated film aimed mostly at kids and teens it doesn’t deliver the excitement or energy of the original trilogy, but die-hard fanboys should have themselves an okay time.

Woody Allen’s latest is a breath of fresh air.  In another director’s hands this tale of love could have turned lurid, but Allen balances the tale with his trademark dialogue and humor (not to mention a trio of beautiful leading ladies) and provides his best film in many a year.

For a good hour, Henry Poole Is Here is a refreshing indie drama strategically placed at the end of a Summer ruled by action spectacles; but refusing to treat its characters as its number one priority, it loses its way.