Prepare for Extinction: A Summer Movie Preview

Making over $1.2 billion last summer, Iron Man 3 is a tough act to follow.

Well, it's that time of the year again. May 2 begins the annual Summer Movie season, and every major studio is pumping out their tentpole films, in hopes that they will not only be successful, but perhaps grow legs and attain the kind of box office receipts of something like The Avengers or Iron Man 3. And trying NOT to be the next The Lone Ranger or Battleship,while they're at it. But while these kinds of blockbusters have begun to prop up in other, less dense times of the year (such as the most recent November with the Thor and Hunger Games sequels or Captain America less than a month ago), Summer is still the time you'll see most of these big releases, especially with school out and people looking for any refuge from the oppressive heat. So with all these comic book thrillers, ribald comedies and immersive animated efforts, the question becomes: where do you spend your money? What looks good? What looks bad? What will get delayed at the last minute, completely screwing up perspectives like these? Here are the scheduled movies coming out between May and August, 2014, and some thoughts on each one.

MAY

The Best Around

As is often the case, the film that opens the Summer season is one of the most anticipated. Yes, the marketing has been a bit relentless. Yes, the first installment wasn't universally loved (though to be fair, that was mainly because it was yet another origin story). But The Amazing Spider-Man 2 still lives up to its name thanks to an all-star cast - both returning and added - exceptional SFX, and the direction of Marc Webb, which many people forget was actually quite stellar in the first installment. Sony is hoping for a lot from their new take on the comic book franchise, already planning future movies centered around villains The Sinister Six and antihero Venom, but their next step towards those goals and future sequels demand a successful release here. And from what I can see, this is a movie that could live up to that high standard.

Goodfellas

Last year Pacific Rim rode the concept of giant robots fighting giant monsters but didn't draw many audiences. As visually engrossing as it was (and pretty good to boot), it just didn't appeal to much of an audience. But hopefully Godzilla is still a recognizable enough property to garner legitimate attention, and reinvigorate the "giant monster" genre... Director Brian Singer returns to superheroes and the franchise he helped build with X-Men: Days of Future Past. Now the question is whether we'll get the director who brought us The Usual Suspects, or the one who brought us Jack the Giant Slayer... I'm only on board recently with Disney's Maleficent, as I'm not entirely sold on the villain-centric storyline. I am utterly convinced however, that if ANYONE can make it work, it's Angelina Jolie... Speaking of Disney, their latest based-on-a-true-story sports drama Million Dollar Arm will test the star power - and perhaps the throwing arm - of departing Mad Man Jon Hamm... Just because Drew Barrymore is costarring in an Adam Sandler flick doesn't mean it's automatic gold. Blended looks to be their most offensive pairing yet, so don't count on their usual magic... Palo Alto is based on the writings of James Franco, but otherwise the directorial debut of Gia Coppola looks pretty good... My cousin Mark works for Open Road, so my endorsement of Chef should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt. However, the last time he recommended one of his studio's projects to me (and probably everyone else in the family, come to think of it), it was End of Watch, and so his recommendations are definitely something to which I pay close attention.

Bad Company

R-Rated comedies are a mixed bag, as for every Ted or 21 Jump Street are a handful of unworthy titles like The Dictator, The Campaign, Bad Teacher and The Watch dragging the genre down. Seth Rogen comedies tend to draw a lot of attention, but that doesn't mean that they're good, even when they have talented casts and crews like The Neighbors... Well, at least Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return is a more faithful adaptation of L Frank Baum's book series than last year's Sam Raimi massacre. But with animation reminiscent of a bad Saturday morning cartoon show, infantile humor, and Lea Michelle, I wouldn't expect too many people to care about it even if it were the only animated film all summer... Seth MacFarlane returns to cinema with western parody A Million Ways to Die in the West. Ted was a nice surprise, but I don't see a way that the director recreates the magic that made the 2012 surprise hit work. At best, it'll be okay. At worst, we're looking at career suicide...It's nice that comedy Mom's Night Out comes out on Mother's Day weekend. Now if it only looked even remotely funny... Elizabeth Banks is growing on me, but that doesn't mean her latest comedy Walk of Shame is going to be any good, especially when your director also did Drillbit Taylor and Without a Paddle... Jesse Eisenberg's new indie The Double sees him playing two different people with differing characters. So why is it that the actor appears to be exactly the same in both?... Is The Angriest Man in Brooklyn Robin Williams' attempt at regaining his relevance? If so, maybe he should instead get back into screwball comedies and step away from movies too ambiguously designed to be remotely approachable.

June

 The Best Around

As I've often mentioned, 21 Jump Street was one of the biggest surprises for me in 2012, and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller are back with stars Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube with 22 Jump Street. But with the story itself seeming derivative of the first movie - a fact which the characters gleefully admit - and the fact that the trailers haven't really been standout, what makes this sequel so appealing? Well, with this team and the chemistry they showed two years ago, you can expect uncensored gags, irreverent madness, and witty dialogue. Add Peter Stormare as a strong villain, and you've potentially got the recipe for a sequel that surpasses the original, in spirit if not material.

Goodfellas

Dreamworks Animation probably hasn't had so much demand for a sequel as must exist for How to Train Your Dragon 2. Continuing the story of viking Hiccup and his dragon partner Toothless, the company is absolutely attempting to dominate the Summer movie season after bombing out with Turbo last year... Tom Cruise action thriller Edge of Tomorrow sees the star return to science fiction, which seems to be his most profitable genre of late. What makes this movie different? How about the casting of the uber-talented Emily Blunt?... After playing siblings in last month's YA adaptation Divergent, Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort play romantic co-leads in another one, John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. The book's popularity ought to ensure a healthy audience... After all the studio edits, it almost might be better to wait for the Director's Cut on DVD, but sci-fi class struggle epic Snowpiercer finally hits theaters this month and marks the Hollywood debut of Korean director Bong Joon-ho.

Bad Company

You might be mistaken for thinking that Transformers: Age of Extinction will be different from the previous installments of the 80's TV show-adapted film franchise. Sure, the ads have been explosive and exciting to watch, and we all like to see Mark Wahlberg, but then you have to remember again that this is most definitely a Michael Bay movie. Haha, no, you won't fool me again, Mr. Bay... Think Like a Man Too takes the cast from the first Think Like a Man and just drops them in Las Vegas. Is there any point? Not that I can tell, and Kevin Hart is inching closer and closer to overexposure with every movie in which he plays Kevin Hart... Just when you didn't think Clint Eastwood could get any older and more out of touch, he directs a musical based on the nostalgic Broadway hit Jersey Boys. I think Dirty Harry might be completely incapable of telling modern stories anymore... Comedian Gillian Robespierre makes her feature directorial debut with Obvious Child, clearly an attempt to appeal to the same crowd that saw Sleepwalk With Me. I just don't know if there's an audience out there for her work. It's certainly not me.

July

The Best Around

In all honesty, we probably remember Rise of the Planet of the Apes with a little bit of rose-tinted glasses. Yes, it was a solid movie, but if it hadn't been for Andy Serkis doing his usual excellent CGI performance, would it really have stood out? Thankfully, we don't have to worry about that, as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes looks better in just about every conceivable way, from an improved cast (Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman), to the dystopian, futuristic setting and a compelling story. Although sadly Rupert Wyatt does not return as director (replaced by Cloverfield and Let Me In director Matt Reeves), I still have nothing but the highest hopes for this reinvigorated franchise.

Goodfellas

Ten years after winning over an entire generation by writing, directing and starring in indie favorite Garden State, Zach Braff gets behind the camera once again to present us with Wish I was Here. He brings with him a talented cast that includes Joey King, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad, Donald Faison and James Avery (in his last film appearance) so you know hipsters and other film buffs will be referencing this one for years... Hercules seems to mix elements both good (star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) and unsettling (director Brett Ratner), but I'm willing to bet it will be better than you might expect. At the very least it'll be leaps and bounds beyond what January's The Legend of Hercules could have hoped to achieve... The Purge, a basic locked-house horror film, was a piece of garbage. It's sequel, The Purge: Anarchy, takes the interesting concept of the original and actually seems to DO SOMETHING with it, which really ought to make all the difference... Sex Tape is the latest debaucherous effort from stars Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, but unlike Bad Teacher, the story and characters are easily approachable, and the film looks to provide some solid laughs. Maybe this is the movie that gets Diaz out of a lot of critics' doghouses... Earth to Echo mixes the found footage genre with E.T., and if you don't at least think that sounds interesting in some way, I'm not sure how else you can understand how excited this concept makes me... Sinister director Scott Derrickson returns to horror with Deliver Us from Evil, another haunted house movie that will scare the poop out of everyone... What makes indie romantic movie Begin Again watchable? For one, director John Carney is the man who brought us Once, a must-see for any music lover. Second, Mark Ruffalo leads an uber-talented and charming cast that includes Keira Knightley, Hailee Steinfeld, James Cordon, CeeLo Green and Catherine Keener. I can't imagine a situation in which I wouldn't want to watch this.

Bad Company

I'm not sure what happened to the Wachowski siblings, but it's a bad sign when their latest motion picture does nothing but reference their earlier, better work. Have their creative juices dried up so much that repeating The Matrix was the best they could do? Talented cast aside, Jupiter Ascending is one big budget spectacle I'm not looking forward to... Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon star in comedy Tammy, which looks to be right in the R-Rated wheelhouse McCarthy has carved out for herself. Now if previews would show me that same spark I've yet to witness... And So It Goes continues the careers of Hollywood actors Michael Douglas, Diane Keaton and director Rob Reiner in a film that will surely be targeting older audiences uninterested in anything else already out... Disney's Planes was fortunate to come out at a time when there wasn't much family fare available, justifying the quick-release sequel Planes: Fire and Rescue for the tiniest of audience members in July, when Dragon 2 will be winding down its own theatrical run. The question is which movie families will want to see at that point... Thought the Step Up franchise was done? Nope, Step Up All In is a generic dance movie, but previews aren't showing me anything potentially "Wow"- worthy, compared to its earlier entries. Let's face it, this is a genre that has fully run its course... Well, maybe Kevin Hart's stranglehold on comedy concert films will come to a close with The Fluffy Movie, focusing on stand-up artist Gabriel Iglesias. More likely is that audiences won't care, as Hart had built up a following not only through stand-up but also in supporting roles in film, while Iglesias just hasn't earned that same level of goodwill.

August

The Best Around

Guardians of the Galaxy, in many ways, signals a drastic change in how the public perceives and accepts comic book movies. For a long time now, the big two comic companies have been adapting their titles, but they've been focusing on proven names, like Superman, Batman and the X-Men. Even when Marvel began their contiguous universe, they started off with the safest bets; not just bestselling, but male, Caucasian, human heroes. That changes in August, when a little-known, multi-species team gets their shot at the big screen. The fact that this movie is coming out before DC and Warner Bros. have even ANNOUNCED a Wonder Woman movie shows just how far Marvel has come and how deep into their library they're willing to delve. And while it seems a little... offbeat when compared to its predecessors, that is also a sign that the studio is willing to reach out of their comfort zone and risk making something unique. And even if it FAILS, you know it would only be a minor inconvenience to the Marvel filmmaking juggernaut, and won't stop all innovation in its tracks, a la Green Lantern.

Goodfellas... and Ladies

At first glance, you might not associate French filmmaker Luc Besson with strong female characters, but when you actually think about it, it makes sense. Anne Parillaud in Nikita. Natalie Portman in Leon: The Professional. Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element. Now you can add Scarlett Johanssen in Lucy to that list. This fast-paced mind-fuck looks absolutely insane, with Johanssen at her ass-kicking best... Brendan Gleeson stars as a good priest under threat of death in Cavalry, John Michael McDonagh's follow-up to his critically-acclaimed The Guard. It looks like a good mix of humor and human spirit, though it might slip under many folks' radars, like Seven Psychopaths did two years ago... Into the Storm stars The Hobbit's Richard Armitage and is a disaster movie involving tornadoes. Your mileage may vary on how good the script is, as what's been shown of the visuals is fairly impressive... Chadwick Boseman already tackled one African American legend in 42, and now he gets that opportunity again, playing James Brown in Get on Up, the latest from The Help director Tate Taylor. I don't know if lightning will strike twice for either actor or director, but it's a compelling subject, at least... Let's Be Cops has all the makings of an under-the-radar hit. It's got up-and-coming stars, a unique and way out there story, and - oh, yeah - it actually looks funny. Don't be surprised if this turns out to be the summer's best comedy... Little has been released about The Hundred-Foot Journey, but it stars Helen Mirren, so I'll buy it based on her alone... The same goes for Natalie Portman in Jane Got a Gun, which I can only assume continues the story of her little-explored character from Cold Mountain. No? Well, I'll still check it out... The Loft is a remake of a Swedish film and is from the same director, but it's the cast - which includes Karl Urban, James Marsden, Rhona Mitra and Eric Stonestreet - that colors me interested... I almost didn't mention it, but One Chance looks like a real charmer. It stars Craig from Doctor Who, so it already has a leg up. Yes, I know he's done other things, but he's CRAIG from DOCTOR WHO. Seriously, what else does he need to do?

Bad Company

In the latest effort to ensnare audiences through sequel fatigue, The Expendables 3 hard targets that 18-49 male demographic that isn't worn down by the cinema violence from the previous three months. It combines the classic, weathered crew from the first two movies with a younger cast that includes MMA fighters, boxers, Twilight castoffs and recovering antisemites. Without Chuck Norris cracking jokes about himself. And it will probably be as good as that sounds... Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is the sequel diehard fans have been waiting for ever since 2005. Unfortunately, nobody seems to know it's coming and fewer seem very excited. Those hoping for more from the mind of Frank Miller are likely to be disappointed... The Giver has the advantage of being based on the beloved, best-selling Lois Lowry novel. It however has the disadvantage of looking like low budget, semantic crap... As Above, So Below could be scary, but has the temerity to be a found-footage horror rip-off of The Descent in the year 2014. Hollywood, the audiences are shrinking, not growing. It's time to give it up... If you want to see a movie that has a decent cast, a director who has never filmed a feature narrative, cliched dialogue and a "been there, done that" premise, then you've already seen If I Stay and even Chloe Moretz isn't reason enough to check it out... With no Pixar movie this summer, there's absolutely a dearth of quality animated films coming out in its place. Underdogs, the latest flop (just watch) from Universal Studios, takes a shot at making a movie centered around the tabletop curiosity known as Foosball. I mean, why not just make a movie about soccer if you're not going to TRY and appeal to an audience?... Speaking of which, feel-good sports movies based on a true story really are dime-a-dozen (or at least their budgets appear that way), so it's no surprise that When the Game Stands Tall follows that same suit. The genre needs something special to bring it back to the forefront of cinema, but there doesn't seem to be anything here... Jessabelle is your standard end-of-summer paranormal horror romp, complete with the standard tropes that came from everything before it. Unlike previous efforts like The Possession or even Fright Night, there just doesn't appear to be anything unique to justify an audience spending money to see this.

That's it! What are you most looking forward to over the next four months? Anything you feel I failed to mention? Any predictions for this years winners and losers? I hope you all have an excellent movie-watching summer, and I'm excited to see what the tentpoles of 2014 bring to the table! Hope to review most if not all of these for you soon!

Summer Assemble! A Summer Movie Preview

May is almost here, and with it the start of 2013's exciting Summer movie season. This is the time of the year when Hollywood launches its tentpole releases, trying to catch little kids while they're not in school and young adults with free time on their hands. This year, it couldn't come soon enough, after much of the first quarter has seen its theaters full of mediocre, tepid or just plain awful fare. While a few titles have manages to stand out - most notably The Croods, Mama, Warm Bodies, and 42 - much of what we've been subjected to so far hasn't really lived up to even modest expectations. When I put up my Worst of the Year "winners" at the end of December, there's a very good chance that January through April will represent a good part of the ten titles, with execrable films like A Good Day to Die Hard, Jack the Giant Slayer, Bullet to the Head and Movie 43 being early favorites.

But while there won't be another Avengers movie this year to mitigate any potential disasters at the box office, there's a lot to get excited for in 2013. This summer may not be as heavy with comic book adaptations (Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises were major contributors to the bottom line in 2012), but there's a much larger variety of action, drama, science fiction and comedy that even what at first look like obvious misses possess some potential for redeeming value. And so I present to you the best and worst that your summer at the movies has to offer! Enjoy.

May

When J.J. Abrams' Star Trek was released in 2009, it did what many thought was impossible: it had rejuvenated a struggling franchise through a reboot and succeeded in recasting the iconic characters from the 70's show with young actors like Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto. Four years of goodwill later, and Abrams and crew are at it again with Star Trek Into Darkness, taking one of the weakest aspects of the first film (the bland antagonist) and performing a serious upgrade by adding Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch, whose character is shrouded in so much mystery and darkness (sorry) that even when we know the character's name (John Harrison), we're certain it's a ruse of some sort. With a great cast and a proven sci-fi director at the helm, Star Trek Into Darkness might be not only the most anticipated film this summer, but for the entirety of 2013 as well.

But while the new Star Trek is so awaited, it doesn't start off the summer madness. That honor goes to Iron Man 3. Shane Black's film is less a sequel to the dismal Iron Man 2 and more of a follow-up to last year's Avengers flick, and Robert Downey Jr. and everybody else looks more than happy to open up the season's festivities with remarkable action and comic book geekery...The Great Gatsby was supposed to be released last year, but was pushed to the summer for a variety of reasons. Baz Luhrmann might not appeal to everyone as a director, but his brand of imagery seems perfectly suited to the roaring 20's of Fitzgerald's universe... Following the unexpected success of Fast Five, Fast and Furious 6 races into theaters with more or less the same cast, premise and style. That's not necessarily a bad thing, especially when the last installment was so well received. Still, I'm hoping the actors can gel perfectly just one more time, because this is probably it... After the debacle that was The Hangover Part II, you can be forgiven for never wanting to give Todd Phillips any more of your money. And yet the aptly-named The Hangover Part III looks funnier, more inventive and less formulaic than its predecessor. If this is it, we can all hope that the franchise goes out on a high note... There are a ton of good independent movies coming out in May. Potential favorites include Eli Roth's disaster/horror Aftershock; black-and-white dramedy Frances Ha starring Greta Gerwig; Richard Linklater's romantic sequel Before Midnight; coming-of-age tale Kings of Summer, which could turn into this year's Moonrise Kingdom; What Maisie Knew looks at divorce through the eyes of a child caught between two parents and is based on the novel by Henry James; finally, Julianne Moore leads an all-star cast in the comedy-drama The English Teacher.

But while there's a lot to like this month, there are definitely a few titles that miss the mark, perhaps none more so than Now You See Me. In it, Louis Leterrier directs an all-star cast (that includes Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo and Morgan Freeman) in a story in which magicians wage a war against corporate greed. No, you read that correctly. After the abject failure of the magic-themed The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, I wonder how long this one will last in theaters... After Earth leaves me feeling two ways. On one hand, I generally like Will Smith and all things science fiction. And co-starring with his son Jaden might bring out a level of performance we haven't seen since The Pursuit of Happyness. On the other hand, I REALLY don't like director M. Night Shyamalan... For each new trailer I see of action-oriented animation flick Epic, I grow a little more weary. It's as though the filmmakers didn't know what age range of child they wanted to appeal to most, so they're trying for everyone. Instead, they'll probably get no-one... It would be nice for Craig Robinson to become a star, but I'm not sure flicks like Peeples are the way to go about it. It co-stars David Alan Grier, proving that the notorious D.A.G. is in fact still among the living... Aaron Eckhart once again tries the action route as a targeted former CIA operative in Erased; it's just too bad this same story has been done better dozens of times over... The East is yet another take on the theme of corporate greed as it tells the story of a disaffected group determined to make the morally guilty pay, and the investigative spy sent to infiltrate the group. It stars Brit Marling, Ellen Page and Alexander Skarsgard... Greetings from Tim Buckley might appeal to music fans, but most people likely won't be paying attention to this biopic of musician Jeff Buckley, and I don't think they'll be wrong to do so.

June

I spent much of the last two years dreading the release of Man of Steel. Director Zack Snyder showed a flair for visuals and little else when he botched up Watchmen, and his pet project Sucker Punch proved to be a misogynistic, dead-on-arrival disappointment. After years of launching utter crap at his audiences, how could his Man of Steel POSSIBLY be good? Well, don't ask me how, but somehow Snyder seems to have done it. The casting looks perfect, the action appears amazing, and if rumors can be believed, the story is really something to behold. Perhaps this is natural maturation as a director, or perhaps it has something to do with tutelage from Christopher Nolan, but Man of Steel has quickly become one of my more anticipated movies this summer.

 

Pixar also releases their followup to last year's Brave in the prequel Monsters University. While the production company has usually had more success with original material, they have had mixed results with franchise fare (Toy Story has done well, Cars not quite). But Monsters University was one of their more popular early releases, and while we all know how it will turn out in the end, it still ought to make for very good family viewing... Roland Emmerich releases the second "terrorists attack the White House" story this year in White House Down. With a bigger budget and bankable stars (Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx), not to mention Emmerich's penchant for explosions, this is almost a must-see... The Heat would be considered a bland buddy cop comedy, were it not for stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. Tack on Bridesmaids director Paul Feig and we should be in for a raunchy, hilariously good time on June 28'th... How does Joss Whedon follow up his insanely popular and lucrative turn on last Summer's The Avengers? Oh, by directing a black-and-white modern adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing that he filmed at his house with a bunch of his favorite actor friends. He can do that now; he's Joss frickin' Whedon... Sofia Coppola's latest indie outing The Bling Ring stars Harry Potter's Emma Watson as a member of a real-life teenage group of thieves who robbed Hollywood homes from 2008-2009. Watson alone makes this look fun, though Coppola has made her fair share of great films as well... Director Neil Jordan (Interview with a Vampire) returns to the supernatural with Byzantium, a sexy vampire tale starring Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan. You had me at "sexy vampire"... Since horror worked so well for Ethan Hawke last year in Sinister, he returns to the genre with The Purge. In it, a family is under siege on the one day of the year in which crime is legal. It's a brave concept, and one I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Even if it wasn't for the much-publicized problems plaguing the set of World War Z, I'm still not sure I'd be all that excited about its release. The "zombies" look like swarming ants, the special effects don't impress, and there doesn't appear to be a viable story anywhere in the trailers that I've seen. Expect a disjointed mess when it (FINALLY) hits theaters... The Internship - starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson - could be funny, but its tale of struggling salesmen making an unlikely push as interns to work at Google feels like it should have come out a few years ago, when people still cared about The Wedding Crashers... This Is the End has a number of Hollywood comedic actors (James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson) playing themselves and trying to survive the apocalypse. Unfortunately, the low-budget spoof of disaster movies doesn't look all that funny, and frankly it should have come out last summer amid all the 2012 madness... Speaking of Robinson, he plays the devil in Rapture-Palooza, another apocalyptic comedy that doesn't look good enough to have wasted Anna Kendrick's time... It seems like the only good reason to see Brian De Palma's Passion is for the chance to see lesbian encounters between Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace. I'm not sure that qualifies as "good enough"... Stuck in Love has an interesting (if unbalanced) cast, but doesn't seem to possess anything akin to focus. A bit more control by first-time director Josh Boone might have been in order... Syrup just looks dumb. In fact, pretend that I never even mentioned it, and you'll be fine.

July

There are quite a few good movies coming out in July, so what does it say that the one I'm most looking forward to is an animated sequel? Despicable Me 2 takes great characters (and the excellent actors that accompany them), and pits them into a situation that doesn't at all feel the same as their previous adventure. The Minions as well have become iconic in the brief period since 2010, and if the trailers are any indication, their randomly hilarious antics will blend beautifully with the main story. By the way, that revolves around retired super-villain Gru (Steve Carrell) being recruited by a secret organization to battle a new bad guy. The Minions make it a must-see, but to be honest I'd probably have checked it out regardless.

Ten years ago Gore Verbinski, Jerry Bruckheimer and Johnny Depp teamed up on a project that not only was widely successful but made swashbuckling popular again. That movie was Pirates of the Caribbean, and it spawned three sequels and encouraged millions of people to visit the popular Disney theme park ride. While they're tempting fate in trying to do the same thing with westerns in The Lone Ranger, I can't help but feel that the chances are good for a new franchise, especially one that will star the eminently-talented Armie Hammer... While Guillermo del Toro might not be popular enough right now to make Pacific Rim a true blockbuster - its stars are giant robots fighting giant monsters - he's artistic enough to make it worth watching in my opinion. Just keep an eye out for an actual story somewhere in all that SFX... After Red was such a surprise hit three years ago, it's interesting to see stars Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren return as elite special agents who just happen to be members of AARP in Red 2. The people behind the scenes have changed, which is a good thing when the weakest part of the first Red was how quickly the excellent premise unraveled in the final act... Hugh Jackman returns to adamantium-clawed stardom with The Wolverine, which seeks to make up for the disappointment that was his last X-Men spinoff. Everything looks good from here, though it's important to note that the character is still owned by 20'th Century Fox - not Marvel - and so failure is still a viable option... The Way, Way Back is a clever-looking coming of age movie with a great, risk-taking cast and an incredibly sweet trailer... A cross between Men in Black and Hellboy, R.I.P.D. likely won't have many viewers but stands out with an insanely clever concept (dead lawmen policing evil souls that escaped judgment), and a scene-chewing Jeff Bridges... Paranormal horror film The Conjuring is from James Wan, who directed the incredibly scary Insidious. So yeah, that's enough reason to go see it.

The Smurfs was largely a success when it was released in 2011 thanks to a distinct lack of competition. That won't be the case this summer, so hopefully sequel Smurfs 2 will be the last time we're subjected to the demonic spawn of Hanna-Barbera on the big screen... Not that DreamWorks' animated Turbo looks that much better, combining the racing mythos of NASCAR with the absurd slowness of tiny snails. DreamWorks has always skewed on the kiddie side, though, so at least their grasp for popularity makes more sense than, say, Pixar's Cars 2... Grown Ups was one of Adam Sandler's all-time hits, and now most of his cast (minus Rob Schneider) returns for sequel Grown Ups 2. There's at least more potential for laughs here than in many of the year's comedies, but not by much... V/H/S was something of a cult hit when it came out last year. I'm still not sure that qualifies for such a quick sequel with V/H/S/2, but as found-footage flicks are cheap to make, there's really no reason for them to stop... Formerly known as Imogene, comedy Girl Most Likely does feature the talented Kristen Wiig in its lead role, but I need to see more before I can make a qualified judgment on whether it's worth my time.

August

Often August is considered the dumping ground of the summer, possibly because families are busier getting their kids ready for school than they are going to the movies. Certainly, some have lived up to the hallowed tales of what a summer movie should be, but they're often few and far between. Elysium looks to be one that bucks that trend. The second film from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp, it's a hard-hitting science fiction title with serious political messages. While District 9 showcased the inequalities and injustices of immigration and refugee status, Elysium promises to do the same with class issues and health care. The cherry on top is star Matt Damon, who is cheerfully back in his action wheelhouse. In all, Elysium ought to be one of the better science fiction tales this year, and even has an outside chance of being remembered a la District 9 when the award nominations are announced in the winter.

Three years after blue-collar superhero flick Kick-Ass was a modest box-office success, we're finally getting a sequel that brings back the titular hero (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and the foul-mouthed teen Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz). Kick-Ass 2 promises plenty of bloody violence, foul language, and an almost-unrecognizable Jim Carrey in one of his better-looking roles... Another sequel to a movie based on a popular book series, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but still looks like a whole lot of fun. It's got decent special effects, an interesting story and Nathan Fillion, so it might just do no wrong... Little has been seen for it yet, but The World's End is the final part of Edgar Wright's "Blood and Ice Cream" trilogy, which began with Shaun of the Dead in 2004 and Hot Fuzz in 2007. Starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the story of an epic pub crawl gone insane ought to be smart and hilarious, just as their fans expect... There's not a ton to love about 2 Guns, which stars Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg as undercover agents forced to work together for their continued survival. While the concept isn't exactly fresh, it does have an air of excitement about it, much as Washington had in his last team-up action movies (with Chris Pine in Unstoppable and Ryan Reynolds in Safe House). That alone might be worth a late-August trip to the theater... There are a few indies popping around at the end of the summer that either look mediocre or that we haven't seen anything of yet. Paranoia is the strongest of the lot, as it has a strong cast (Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford and Amber Heard), and is based on the novel by Joseph Finder.

3D concert movies are becoming obsolete almost as quickly as they became relevant. After the financial success of Justin Bieber's Never Say Never, Hollywood kept pumping out these biographical/musical shows to audiences, but quickly saturated the market with Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry and even the cast of Glee, and the audiences just aren't showing up anymore. I've been in theaters with teenage girls when the trailer for One Direction: This is Us has been shown. Their response has been almost universally lackluster and dismissive. If teenage girls don't care about music group One Direction's new movie, why should the rest of us?... We're the Millers stars Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudekis and is directed by the man who helmed 2004's Dodgeball. Whether that makes it something you'll want to watch, I don't know... Disney's Cars spin-off Planes was supposed to be a direct-to-DVD release, but someone liked it enough to make it a full theatrical showing. Little kids will like it, but nobody else... Sequel/prequel 300: Rise of an Empire has no Gerard Butler and replaces Zack Snyder behind the camera with the inexperienced Noam Murro. I can't see how this doesn't end badly... The only trailer I've seen for Hong Kong martial arts flick The Grandmaster has nothing more than a rain-obscured street fight. It's not even that GOOD a rain-obscured street fight. I'll wait and see... Meanwhile, Aubrey Plaza's The To-Do List looks to get rid of all the forward momentum she had gained with last year's Safety Not Guaranteed... The Colony is a science fiction story starring Lawrence Fishburne that looks as though it should be airing on the Syfy channel instead of theater screens... Little has been seen from Closed Circuit and Getaway, two thrillers coming out in August. The first stars Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall, and with a strong cast behind them it will likely be the better of the two. Getaway meanwhile has Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez, and is NOT a remake of the 1972 Sam Peckinpah movie of the same name.

That, in no uncertain terms, is how this summer's movies will shake out. There is much more I'm looking forward to this year than in years before, and I really hope that what I think will be the good movies live up to their potential while the supposed "bad" movies surprise me even a little bit. What about you? Anything you're especially hoping to see this summer? What are you most looking forward to seeing in your free time in the next few months?

Avengers Assmble! A Hello, Mr. Anderson Summer Movie Preview

It's the first week of May, and that can only mean one thing: two more weeks until Mother's Day! No, wait, there WAS something else... Oh, that's right! Hollywood officially kicks off their summer release schedule this weekend, and that means that every film we've seen up to this point - from The Hunger Games to 21 Jump Street to Haywire - was just an appetizer. From now until the end of August, we'll be witness to what executives on the west coast think you want to see on the big screen this summer. The explosions will be bigger, and so will the star power. With bona fide blockbusters every month, Hollywood is trying to make more money in these four months than they will ALL YEAR, and I'm here to guide you through what the season has to offer. As we all know, a movie can be bad whether it's a special effects extravaganza or an indie comedy, so it's important to study what's out there, so as best to justify parting with your hard-earned currency. Read on and enjoy!

May

Looking for the biggest movie of May? Look no further than the first weekend, which finally sees the release of Marvel's The Avengers, directed by target of fanboy lust Joss Whedon. Long thought to be a film that couldn't be made (alongside DC Comic's multiple failed attempts at a Justice League movie), The Avengers brings together several superheros who have already enjoyed much success in their own solo acts into an epic story of saving the world. It doesn't hurt that they have the star power to draw in even the uninitiated (Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johanssen, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner), but it would probably be all for nothing were a true comic book fan like Whedon not on the other side of the camera. Besides Joss Whedon's obvious connection to his fans, it's clear that he's not only intimately familiar with what makes these characters tick, but also how to bend things to his needs without breaking the film. By summer's end, this title has the chance be my favorite when all is said and done.

As for the rest of the month... how can it be that a film sequel can be released ten years after its predecessor and yet still look awesome? It didn't work for Scream 4 or American Reunion, but Men in Black 3 seems to have done the impossible by taking the Will Smith vs. aliens concept and making it interesting again. Add in Josh Brolin as a younger iteration of Tommy Lee Jones (who also stars) and you might just be on to something, Barry Sonnenfeld... People tend to ignore Wes Anderson these days, referring to his early works as superior. Still, the trailer for Moonrise Kingdom, with its tale of young love, at least seems interesting, and sports a talented cast that includes Edward Norton, Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton... Already successful overseas but opening the same weekend as The Avengers, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel looks entertaining as a coming-of-age story, so long as you like such tales to happen to men and women in the twilight of their lifespans. With Dame Judy Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy, it certainly doesn't lack for talent... Speaking of coming of age stories, Girl in Progress is either a sensitive tale of the traversal between what it means to be a girl or a woman, or it's a preposterous attempt to get Eva Mendes an Academy Award nomination. My money is on the former... Hysteria refers to the once-common medical diagnosis amongst women, and the British film itself tells an unknown story of the invention of the vibrator. If nothing else, it sounds, um, interesting... Finally, The Intouchables has become a worldwide box office phenomena, with critics and audience all over the world praising this effort. The French film finally makes its way to American shores, and while I'm certain it won't get much love, I'd still like to see what all the fuss is about.

When I first saw the trailer for Battleship, I was shocked at how silly the whole thing looked. The special effects were clearly stolen from the Transformers franchise (the film come from Hasbro, the same as Optimus Prime and ilk), the dialogue was trite, and when all was said and done, the audience laughed (!) when the title popped up on the screen, as surely the idea of a movie based on the board game was some kind of joke. Somehow, someone expects this $200 million juggernaut to make money, despite star Taylor Kitsch's last film John Carter bombing so badly. We'll see... Speaking of unnecessary adaptations, What to Expect When You're Expecting takes the popular pregnancy education book and turns it into a big screen film, but the trailers blatantly seem to be telling the tale of potential parenthood from primarily the mens' point of view. Huh?... I think I was a bigger enthusiast for Sasha Baron Cohen's The Dictator back when I thought it would be another mockumentary piece a la Borat. After seeing the story in action, not so much... the homage to cult classic soap opera Dark Shadows could have been a good movie, had it been directed by anyone other than Tim Burton. A good cast is laid to waste... Want more Russian-inspired horror? Who doesn't!? Chernobyl Diaries mixes last year's The Darkest Hour with The Hills Have Eyes, and I'm not sure who will have it worse; the kids in the film, or the audience who pays to see it. There are a number of indies coming out this month, but unless you REALLY want to see Kate Hudson in cancer dramedy Little Bit of Heaven, Chloe Grace Moretz and Blake Lively in Hick, or Miley Cyrus in LOL, I think they can be safely skipped.

June

There are a number of good movies coming out this month, but any notion that June will not belong to Ridley Scott's Prometheus is a false hope at best. Originally conceived as a prequel to the Alien franchise, Scott seems to have radically changed everything we might know about the xenomorphs and the universe we think we understand from the movies, books and comics. That alone makes it worth watching, and the quick and subtle connections to the previous entries in the franchise strewn throughout the trailers has not gone unnoticed. Sporting an all-star cast that includes Naomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron and Idris Elba, and looking to capitalize on the latest in 3D film technology, this is easily the film I'm most looking forward to this summer.

While everything beyond Prometheus might seem a haze of varying quality, there are at least a few good films to expect this month. Unlike March's awful Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman looks to actually be a GOOD take on the Snow White story, with action aplenty, talented acting and a universe seemingly on par with that of the Lord of the Rings trilogy... The next title is Todd's favorite. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: how much more could you possibly need? Based on the book by Seth Graeme-Smith and directed by Wanted's Timur Bekmambetov, the best thing this movie did (besides cast cutie Mary Elizabeth Winstead) might have been passing over Nicolas Cage in giving the lead role of our monster-hunting 16'th US President to unknown Benjamin Walker... Say hello to the Academy Award winner for Best Animated film in Brave, which features a young woman who breaks with her family and culture's customs to forge her own path. I've been giddy for this since I first saw the trailer, and can't wait to see how it turns out... Take Armageddon, make the project a failure and focus instead on the normal people on Earth, and you'll probably get Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, a comedy that pairs Steve Carrell with Keira Knightly as people with one last thing to do before we all die... Rock of Ages might not be a GOOD movie, but the musical looks campy enough to succeed as a parody of the legacy of 80's rock and roll... After the 2010 reboot was deemed to be disgusting fun, sequel Piranha 3DD looks to lower the threshold of crudeness by introducing both flesh-eating fish and David Hasselhoff to a small-town water park... Remember how Coyote Ugly was definitely a chick flick that used beautiful dancing women to shamelessly pander to the potential male audience? Well, Magic Mike is kind of like that, except the dancers are less Victoria's Secret and more Chippendales. Based on the early life of (and starring) Channing Tatum... People Like Us takes two up-and-coming performers (Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks), does NOT force them into a romantic relationship, and feels utterly unlike anything Hollywood usually does. I've only recently seen the trailer, but it looked more than good enough... Potentially good indies include High School (Adrian Brody, Michael Chiklis), Lola Versus (Greta Gerwig), Take this Waltz (Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen), Safety Not Guaranteed (Aubrey Plaza) and Your Sister's Sister (Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt) in films that are definitely taking different tactics in storytelling.

GI Joe: Retaliation looks to be an improvement on 2009's GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, but as anyone who actually sat through that disaster knows, that really isn't saying much. Though it does reboot the entire cast and introduces new characters in Dwayne Johnson's Roadblock and Bruce Willis's General Joseph Colton, there's no reason to believe this will really make it any better, though at least you can say that the first movie succeeded in lowering expectations for the sequel... Insane penguins are all that you can expect to be entertained by in the animated sequel Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted. In fact, if it wasn't for those penguins, I doubt there ever would have been a second one of these... In his follow up to the wonderful Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen injects himself into To Rome with Love, a film told in four vignettes that unfortunately doesn't look funny in the slightest... If Little Nicky had sex with the devil, the resulting spawn would probably resemble That's My Boy, which portrays Adam Sandler as the world's worst father... If I wanted to see Robert Pattison sleep his way through European society, I wouldn't watch Bel Ami, I'd just read "OK" magazine... And we all thought she was gone. Tyler Perry's most famous character returns in Madea's Witness Protection, which looks to take an already washed up premise and force its head underwater until it stops struggling.

July

Considering this is easily their most popular franchise, you know Warner Brothers wishes Christopher Nolan was sticking around for more after the finale of his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. Where Batman goes from here is anybody's guess, but there can be no doubt that to this point, Nolan has reinvigorated a genre that had stagnated into incredulity, beginning with his remarkable Batman Begins in 2005. Since then, comic book movies have been taken seriously not only by fans of the source material, but the industry as a whole (even if Heath Ledger hadn't tragically passed away, he still would have earned that Oscar). No longer are comic book movies immediately shunned by non-fans as unimportant wastes of money, as Marvel proved when it released those three movies last year to great success. There are so many questions about the trilogy still in play, but on July 20'th, I'll be there to discover the answers.

In a summer that features The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, it's easy to forget that those are not the only superhero movies coming out. The Amazing Spider-Man returns, rebooting the franchise after the downward turn of the Sam Raimi trilogy. The film casts the talented Andrew Garfield as everybody's favorite web-slinger, and I hope this will get the fanboy love it deserves... Like stoner comedies? Ted might be right up your alley. Mark Wahlberg plays a guy who, as a child, wished that his teddy bear could talk to him. That wish came true, and twenty years later Wahlberg still lives with Ted, voiced by Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane. It sounds like it could be disastrous, but MacFarlane brings on the laughs, and it's difficult not to be charmed by the trailer... I remember when I saw the first Ice Age; it was a decent animated film with a few laughs. Now it's a franchise, and while I'm not wholly enamored with the concept, it could be a good option for taking the kids... Ruby Sparks is the story of a struggling writer (Paul Dano) who somehow creates the girl of his dreams purely from his imagination. Feminists, get out your angry glasses... Robert DeNiro plays a world-renowned psychic in Red Lights, pitted against a couple of investigators (Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver) set out to prove him a fraud... Trishna, starring Immortals's Frieda Pinto and Centurion's Riz Ahmed, is most notable in that it's a retelling of "Tess of the d'Ubervilles" set in India.

Unlike the other months, July doesn't seem to have as many flagrant weaknesses, which is nice because the bad movies do look pretty bad. Chief among them is Savages, based on the book of the same name by Don Winslow. The film does have some things going for it, as Oliver Stone is behind the camera and Blake Lively, Aaron Johnson and Salma Hayek are all talented actors. But the concept - two peaceful marijuana growers and dealers pushed too far when their shared girlfriend is kidnapped by ruthless Colombians - is a bit over the top, and doesn't look like it will play well on the big screen... Step Up Revolution is yet another entry in the epic dance genre. If you don't mind your movies lacking minor things like plot or acting talent or feasibility, go right ahead... Despite his positive turns in Moneyball and 21 Jump Street, it's difficult to imagine Jonah Hill getting many opportunities to carry Neighborhood Watch away from perennial disappointments Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn... The only reason you should be watching the 3D concert movie Katy Perry: Part of Me is if you are Julian, and even that is just a little creepy.

August

The legacy of Jeremy Renner continues in August with The Bourne Legacy, the continuation of the Bourne series now that Matt Damon has flown the coop. Though Damon and director Paul Greengrass are no longer with the project, there's no reason to believe that the work they began with the surprisingly good Bourne Identity cannot continue, especially since new director Tony Gilroy wrote or co-wrote the entire first trilogy, and Renner is one of the most talented actors to emerge from obscurity in recent years. It's been too long since we've been treated to this kind of spy thriller, and between this and the upcoming 007: Skyfall, things should be righted in the near future.

Of all the trailers you've seen this year, is there any more simply and primordially engrossing than the one for The Expendables 2? Taking an already likable group of action stars - led by legendary names of Stallone, Statham, and Li - and then adding a couple more that you missed the first time around? Top that off with expanded roles for Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzeneggar and you've got yourself a sequel worth watching... On the other side of that is the fantastical story of The Odd Life of Timothy Green, which is similar to Ruby Sparks with the exception that it was produced by Disney, so it will have much more financial backing... I know Colin Farrell doesn't get a lot of respect, but I'm really looking forward to the Total Recall remake, which looks to skew closer to the original Philip K Dick story on which the original was based... The Awakening looks a lot like The Woman in Black from a few months ago; both are British haunted house stories that feel traditional while promising scares in spades. It worked for Women in Black. Maybe it'll work here too... Speaking of horror, ParaNorman is an animated take on the zombie apocalypse story, with a young boy's ability to speak with the dead all that protects the world from an evil witch's curse... Featuring an all-star cast, Lawless is a thriller set during Prohibition in which Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy play brothers whose still operation comes in conflict with both the law and the mob... Hope Springs won't win Meryl Streep another Oscar, but seeing this film - which features she and Tommy Lee Jones getting relationship counseling by Steve Carrell - looks amusing enough to work.

Normally I'm all for anything having to do with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. but action film Premium Rush simply demands too much. The honorable nature of a bike messenger is all that stands between order and chaos? Sorry, I'm not buying it... Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days... do I really have to say anything more? ... What will the Twilight actors do now that the films are almost complete? For Ashley Greene's sake, she'd better hope the answer doesn't include more generic horror titles like The Apparition... Not that nontraditional horror tales would be much better. 7500 might as well be called "The Grudge on a Plane" for all the originality there is. At least Snakes on a Plane had Samuel L Jackson... Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis play rivals in the upcoming political comedy The Campaign. I don't really like any of the creative minds associated with this project, and Ferrell has to earn his way back into my good graces after Casa de mi Padre... Well what do you know? Whitney Houston's last acting job, Sparkle, is a carbon copy of Dreamgirls, down to the casting of an American Idol alumni (winner Jordin Sparks). Somehow I get the feeling Houston will get a best supporting actress nomination for this mess... Red Hood Summer is Spike Lee's return to the streets of New York City. Don't worry if you don't immediately get the film's message, as Lee will casually write it into the dialogue over an over. You know, to make sure you understand... Little is known about The Possession, except that it stars the talented Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick. So if you like those two actors, go right ahead... If a guy breaking out of witness protection to drive his girlfriend to her dream job across the country appeals to you, check out Dax Shephard's directorial debut Hit and Run. If that previous statement doesn't make any sense to you at all...


So what is it YOU are looking forward to this summer? Check in and prepare, as this summer looks to try and quickly outpace 2011, and there were a LOT of good times to be had last year!