This Friday, The Avengers will finally open in U.S. theaters, officially marking the start of Summer Movie Season. I tend to think of SMS as lasting from whatever Marvel blockbuster opens in May until early September, when it bleeds into the beginning of Oscar Bait Season. With that timeframe in mind, allow me to share with you the top ten movies I'm excited about seeing this summer (that aren't The Avengers, since DUH).
These are in order of release date rather than order of excitement, since my excitement over movies is hard to quantify - it is roughly equivalent to length of time until the movie is released, multiplied by my familiarity with the property, triangulated with how awesome the trailer looked. The point is, these are my must-sees this summer:
I've been on the fence about this one for a long time - MIB2 was so bad, you guys. SO BAD. But I'm cautiously optimistic...and I have faith in the fact that Will Smith is only getting better with age, while retaining a bit of that smart-ass edge that MIB the original had so much of. Also, Tommy Lee Jones should make more movies.
These are in order of release date rather than order of excitement, since my excitement over movies is hard to quantify - it is roughly equivalent to length of time until the movie is released, multiplied by my familiarity with the property, triangulated with how awesome the trailer looked. The point is, these are my must-sees this summer:
May 25: Men in Black III
June 1: Snow White and the Hunstman
HELLO, ART DIRECTION. But seriously, this movie looks super beautiful, and my love and respect for Charlize Theron more than makes up for how ambivalent or hostile I may feel about Kristen Stewart. Plus I love the idea of a warrior-princess Snow White, and it is typically an easy sell to get me into a glossy, high profile fantasy film.
This one also got a boost from how completely dreadful Mirror Mirror looked - if you can only see one Snow White retelling this year...
June 8: Prometheus
There is nothing about this that doesn't look awesome. Space travel? Science fiction horror? Michael Fassbender playing a robot with ~feelings~? Cinematography that looks like it took notes at David Fincher's film-making seminar, and staticky kind of scary music? The return of Ridley Scott? YES PLEASE.
June 22: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
The title of this movie sells itself, really. Also I really liked the book, and while this looks like it's veered a bit more into whack-a-doo territory, I have faith in the power of axes that can explode trees. And Rufus Sewell playing a vampire.
June 22: Brave
Are you excited about Pixar's first feature film starring a lady? BECAUSE I AM.
July 3: The Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2 was awesome. The third one, much less so. Which is why I'm glad Sony is going back to basics with this reboot, scrapping even the visual tone of their first trilogy. Andrew Garfield has enough dorkiness about him to make a convincing Peter Parker, so it just remains to be seen if he can pull his action weight. Emma Stone is guaranteed to be charming, and I'm really, really hoping the villain delivers - The Lizard could be either really cool, or...really, really bad. Fingers crossed for the former.
July 20: The Dark Knight Rises
BATMAN. Although INFINITE SADNESS that Nolan and Bale aren't making any more of these. I hope directors of Batman films in the future will take a page from Nolan's notebook; especially his fearlessness to explore the darker corners of this franchise. Can I get a Long Halloween movie, now? Please?
August 3: The Bourne Legacy
Jeremy Renner was pretty much born to play an action hero, and these movies have been SO fun. While I found the original trilogy to be complete on its own, I feel as though there are still plenty of ~government secrets~ to plum, and you know what? I trust Jeremy Renner to do that, and to kick a lot of people in the face in the meantime.
August 3: Total Recall
I didn't know I needed this movie in my life until I saw the trailer. I love how they've spiffied up the super campy visuals from the original, and while it's kind of a bummer this one doesn't go to Mars (or so I've heard) I look forward to the CGI mutant yelling at Colin Farrell's eyebrows. This is a remake that needed to happen, no matter how good you think the first one is - memory and brain stuff is a common science fiction story trope, but hard to do right. I'm hoping this one does the job.
August 17: ParaNorman
I'm a sucker for good animation, and this one just looks charming (I'm more excited about Frankenweenie, but that one's not a summer release). It also reminds me of Monster House, which I LOVED and felt was tremendously under-appreciated.
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