Last summer there wasn’t much to look forward to. These are the only movies I really liked at all: the fourth “Die Hard”, “Transformers”, the Harry Potter movie, “The Simpsons Movie”, the Bourne movie and “Stardust”. Everything else was lackluster. The “Fantastic Four, Rise of the Bored Viewer” movie could’ve been better. “Spiderman 3” was the big disappointment. (C’mon, how many men with superpowers are going to cry like little girls?) And “Pirates of the Caribbean 3”? Please. Too much! “Rush Hour 3” just went under my radar. I didn’t need another sequel. “Evan Almighty” bombed because nobody cared any more than I did. “Ocean’s 13”? I’ll rent it. Maybe. “Shrek 3”? who cares?.
There were only six good summer movies last year. But THIS summer? Wow. I can count six films I want to see in May alone.
May 2:
OMG! “Iron Man” opens tomorrow night! Dude, I already have my ticket for 12:30 AM Thursday night/Friday morning! Oh, yeah, this is what nerds do, man. And needless to say, I have some pretty high expectations for this movie. I only know the basics about this character as I never really bought the comic. But I like Jon Favreau. He seems like a decent director- rent “Zathura” if you haven’t seen it, it’s good. And he is a comic book fan, so I think he’ll do a good job with it. And I like Robert Downey, Jr., too. I think he’s a great actor. And tell me those trailers don’t look bad ass! Yeah, I’m psyched.
“Made Of Honor”. I’m a single guy. I don’t care.
May 9:
“Speed Racer”! I watched this cartoon as a kid every day after school. The Wachowski Bros. are directing this which should make for some amazing action sequences. The trailers make this movie look super fun – like a live action cartoon. But it may not be for everyone because it’s so highly stylized. I’ll let you know what I think of it.
“The Fall”. I mention this because it’s directed by the guy that directed that movie “The Cell” with J Lo and Vincent D’nofrio. It wasn’t that great a movie script-wise, but it was beautiful to look at. This movie appears to also look really beautiful. Apparently from what I hear, it’s a little bizarre. Color me curious.
May 16:
“Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”. I never read the books but my sister did. Maybe I should. They’ve already got me on the hook with the first one, and this one looks full of even more action and excitement, so of course I’m in.
May 22:
“Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. Well, duh. Of course I’m going to see this. Everybody will no matter what. It is, however, the one movie this summer that I’m a little wary of because George Lucas and Spielberg have gotten a little weird lately and I’m afraid they’ll water it down or something. They have so much to live up to that I’m afraid there’s no way they can make it nearly as good as the others. There’s only one way to find out. They’ll get my $12 either way.
May 30:
“Sex and the City”. I don’t care. I’m sure it’ll do just fine without me.
“The Strangers”. I mention it because it’s a horror/thriller and I’m trying to see more of these to see if the genre will be rejuvenated again. This looks really scary to me and I heard it was based on some part of the Charlie Manson events. Three strangers terrorize a couple in a wooded cabin. Hopefully there’s more to it than that.
Ok, May is going to be a big month, so that’s all for now. The rest of the preview will come later. I’m as excited as a, well, a fanboy. Prepare to battle comic book, anime, and Indy nerds at your nearest movie theater for the best seats! And I have to wonder how many people in costumes are going to show up. It could be insane.
–Neil Weakley, your average yet excited summer movie goer
