Last week was Father’s Day and because of my daughter, I ended up spending a good bit of the past week watching Bing Crosby movies. In other words, she sent me the most recent Bing Crosby Collection. It’s actually a very apt choice, since I mostly owe my lifelong love of Der Bingle to my father, who not only introduced me to Crosby, but slightly resembled him and sang very much in the same style. (At the same time, he wrong-headedly preferred—oh, my, no—Frank Sinatra.)

Well, last week’s onslaught of penguins, beavers, and green-tights wasn’t a very pretty sight. (Maybe penguins and beavers in green tights would have been better. Green Lantern with an all-penguin cast kind of appeals to me.) If it hadn’t been for Cave of Forgotten Dreams and the fact that Midnight in Paris was still around, I might go so far as to call it grim. Do Bad Teacher and Cars 2 indicate much of an improvement? Perhaps not, but there’s also The Tree of Life and L’amour Fou to take into account. That should help.

Well, here we are at the tail end (you should excuse the term) of the sixth month of 2011. That means that the year is half over. That also means that the movie year is half over. And I have to say that it ain’t a very inspiring sight. Usually by this point, I can come up with eight or nine candidates for a Ten Best list. This year, I can come up with three—and maybe a couple more if I fudge things. What’s going on out there?

Warner Bros. is working overtime to convince us that Green Lantern fills some long-felt want this week. Meanwhile, while the folks at Fox insist that nothing spells entertainment like Jim Carrey on ice with penguins. In more specialized realms on the locally level, Werner Herzog explores Cave of Forgotten Dreams and Jodie Foster brings Mel Gibson and The Beaver to town. Make of all this what you will, but make of it here—now with added trailer action!