Summertime is right around the corner and that means the blockbusters are on their way! Get the lowdown from Hollywood.com’s movie critics on what to watch out for this summer season.
Also be sure to check the Movie Calendar for a complete list of May to August releases.
Kit’s Picks
[IMG:L]Spider-Man 3
Who: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Topher Grace, Thomas Haden Church; Directed by Sam Raimi
What: The lowdown on this third installment is that while Peter (Maguire) finally seems content, juggling crime fighting with his relationship with MJ (Dunst), sinister things are brewing. Through a twist of fate, Spider-Man’s suit turns black and gains new powers, bringing out the dark, vengeful personality that Peter is always trying to keep under control. Trouble is, Spidey likes the power. On top of that, there’s two new dastardly villains—Sandman (Church) and Venom (Grace)—to contend with. A superhero’s life is never easy.
Why: Who on this planet isn’t looking forward to the third Spider-Man? Given the fact the first two installments were strong character-driven actioners that made about a jillion dollars, it stands to reason this Spidey adventure will be just as successful. It might be a tight race, though, to see who is crowned the summer’s biggest blockbuster. Read on…
When: May 4
[IMG:L]Shrek the Third
Who: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Justin Timberlake, Rupert Everett; Directed by Chris Miller and Raman Hui
What: Oh, Shrek, why can’t they just leave you alone? When the prickly ogre (Myers) is inadvertently crowned the new king of Far, Far Away, he’s less than thrilled as he sees his dreams of swamp livin’ fading. So Shrek sets out with Donkey (Murphy) and Puss (Banderas) to try to find a replacement. Meanwhile, egocentric Prince Charming (Everett) sees this as a way to gain control of the situation—that is, if he can get past the army of princesses waiting to kick his ass.
Why: What fun! With another all-star cast—including new voices Timberlake (as a young King Arthur) and SNL alums Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler and Cheri Oteri (as Rapunzel, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, respectively)—Shrek the Third looks promising. Just so long as it doesn’t try too hard at being cute and clever, a mistake Shrek 2 made.
When: May 18
[IMG:L]Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Who: Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Chow Yun-Fat, Bill Nighy; Directed by Gore Verbinski
What: Remember what happened at the end of the smash hit Dead Man’s Chest? As Capt. Jack Sparrow (Depp) heads into the Kraken’s gaping maw, swords a-blazin’, the Black Pearl is dragged by its tentacles to the depths below. Cut to the gang mourning Capt. Jack’s seemingly untimely demise when voodoo priestess Tia (Naomie Harris) says there might be a way to get Jack back—but they’ll have to sail off the edge of the map to do it. Enter Capt. Barbossa (Rush). Rescue mission afoot? You bet.
Why: Will we be first in line to see it? No contest.
When: May 25
[IMG:L]Ocean’s Thirteen
Who: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, Ellen Barkin; Directed by Steven Soderbergh
What: The Hunk Patrol, another impossible heist, and Vegas, baby—what can get better than that? Apparently this third installment thankfully gets back to the basics the original provided. Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his crew head back to Las Vegas to do a job for none other than their arch nemesis, Terry Benedict (Garcia), who wants to get even with a rival (Pacino). Meanwhile, Linus (Damon) gets an older love interest (Barkin).
Why: Honestly, it’s the guys and their amazing chemistry that keeps bringing us back. One glance at all that gorgeous testosterone on screen, ladies are swooning, while their male counterparts just want to be cool like that.
When: June 8
[IMG:L]Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Who: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman, Imelda Staunton, Ralph Fiennes; Directed by David Yates
What: Voldemort (Fiennes) is indeed back, as we head into the fifth Harry Potter installment. But no one at the Ministry of Magic believes Dumbledore and Harry’s story about Voldemort’s rise from the ashes, especially Hogwarts’ new sadistic Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (Staunton). No matter. The secret Order of the Phoenix will band together with Harry’s newly formed Dumbledore’s Army to try to stop Voldemort’s ascension to power.
Why: Releasing the movie and the seventh and final book in the same month is just pure genius, further cementing the Harry Potter lore into our cultural mindset. Thank goodness the three main leads decided to stick with the last two films, even if they are all growing up. I mean, Grint had sex in the British indie Driving Lessons and Radcliffe stripped down to his birthday suit on the London stage, for heaven’s sakes. Let’s hope Watson keeps a clean slate for at least a few more years. It’d be too much to take.
When: July 13
Honorable Mentions:
Mr. Brooks (June 1)
Oooooh, Kevin Costner plays a bad guy in Mr. Brooks. But not just any bad guy—a sociopathic serial killer, who on the surface seems like the perfect guy but who is so good at covering his tracks, he has never even been suspected. Until now. When an amateur photographer (Dane Cook) witnesses Mr. Brooks in action, the killer finds himself entangled in the dark agenda of the opportunistic bystander, as well as hunted by a tenacious detective (Demi Moore). Costner is always better when he’s edgy (Bull Durham, Upside of Anger), so playing full-blown evil just might work for him.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (June 15)
OK, so the first Fantastic Four wasn’t necessarily up to par with the X-Mens, Batmans and Spider-Mans of the comic book-turned-movie world—but it still had a certain charm. In Rise of the Silver Surfer, the fab four are more comfortable with each other, as well as their powers, which they have to put to good use when the elusive silvery villain shows up. The effects do look pretty awesome.
Live Free or Die Hard (June 27)
Dubious would be the best word to described our feelings when we first heard about a fourth installment in the Die Hard franchise. Honestly, how many more times can John McClane save the day? Plenty, if Bruce Willis has anything to say about it. This time the stalwart cop, along with the sidekick Justin Long (Accepted), gets embroiled in an attack on the U.S.’ computer infrastructure and gums up the works. Judging from the action-packed previews, the adrenaline will be pumped once again.
Ratatouille (June 29)
This latest effort from those clever folks at Pixar sounds just too precious to pass up. A young rat living within the walls of a famous Paris bistro desperately wishes to become a chef. Of course, his family thinks he’s crazy and most all humans despise his very existence. It’s not until he meets a hapless chef-in-training that his dream of creating glorious meals may finally be at hand. From the creator of Iron Giant and The Incredibles, Ratatouille definitely has hit potential.
1408 (July 13)
Any film tagged “Based on a Stephen King story…,” means you’re in for, at the very least, a creepy ride. 1408 is a reference to a haunted hotel room at the notorious Dolphin Hotel. Renowned horror novelist and paranormal debunker Mike Enslin (John Cusack) believes only in what he can see with his own two eyes. For his latest project, Ten Nights in Haunted Hotel Rooms, Mike is going to defy the warnings and stay in the reputedly haunted room. He then proceeds to go from skeptic to true believer, as he desperately tries to survive the night. Yeah, we’re there.
The Bourne Ultimatum (August 3)
In this latest installment in the smart action franchise, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is at it again. Even though after his first two adventures in Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy, he’s got a pretty good idea he doesn’t shuffle papers for a living, the legendary yet forgetful assassin is still hungry for details of his life, especially on how he got started. But darn it, if those scores of federal agents aren’t still after him, hoping they can rub him out lest he give too much away. Never mind. Bourne is one determined—and resourceful—person.
CLICK TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR BRIAN’S PICKS
[PAGEBREAK]Brian’s Picks
[IMG:L]Knocked Up
Who: Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann; Directed by Judd Apatow
What: Immediately following their one-night stand, Alison (Heigl) and Ben (Rogen) realize they just aren’t right for one another and part ways. Eight weeks later, Alison tracks down Ben to tell him she’s pregnant from that very one-nighter, and despite more or less hating each other they try to make it work—for the unborn kid’s sake.
Why: All signs point to another 40 Year-Old Virgin, and for good reason: Knocked Up features three of that movie’s stars (Rogen, Rudd and Mann) and, most importantly, its writer-director (Apatow); thus it’s no coincidence that the movie’s poster also looks eerily, er, funnily familiar. Apatow, the leader of the neo-R-rated-comedy movement, always finds the perfect medium between dry humor and complete raunchiness, and right now nobody cracks up the masses more. Rogen will ably play this movie’s lovable schlub—aka the Steve Carell character—and it might just solidify his spot in the Frat Pack, alongside Carell.
When: June 1
[IMG:L]Hostel: Part II
Who: Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips, Lauren German and Roger Bart; Directed by Eli Roth
What: Three American students (Matarazzo, Phillips and German) embark on a trip to Rome to study art. There they are lured to Slovakia with the promise of a paradise-like retreat, and paradise is precisely what they get—assuming torturous hell was their idea of paradise. In other words, it’s pretty much the same premise as the first Hostel.
Why: With Quentin Tarantino’s apparent lifetime seal of approval (he exec-produced here, as he did on the first), Eli Roth has more horror cred than anyone, even if his films don’t quite measure up financially to the inexplicably popular Saw franchise. And while just about every other horror movie out there is trying to be the next Saw—a pretty weak “leader” to be following in the first place—Roth beats to his own drum, spewing massive quantities of originality and blood—often simultaneously. Expect much, much more of the latter in this sequel to maybe the best, most original horror flick of the first six and a half years of this millennium, although it goes without saying that this is NOT for the squeamish. And since virtually nobody has seen Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse for, well, Grindhouse, see it for Roth’s fake trailer, a Hostel: Part II appetizer.
When: June 8
[IMG:L]A Mighty Heart
Who: Angelina Jolie and Dan Futterman; Directed by Michael Winterbottom
What: On Feb. 22, 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (Futterman) was barbarically murdered by kidnappers in Pakistan. His wife, Mariane (Jolie), went on to write a memoir of the tragedy, offering insight into all angles of the horrific ordeal, which also unfolded while she was pregnant with their child. She called the book A Mighty Heart.
Why: Because summertime shouldn’t be all escapism all the time. Sure, June is an odd month for Heart to be released, but you’ll be jonesing for some heavier fare amidst the ogres, pirates and spider-men—and boy, is this some heavy fare. While Jolie adds major box office sexiness, director Winterbottom will give the film its assertive, firm vision. Winterbottom is someone who is not going to sugarcoat anything in a potentially incendiary story, but with the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll (24 Hour Party People, Nine Songs) out of his system and more topical issues (Road to Guantanamo) currently pervading his brain, he’ll be sensitive where needed. Like with the Pearl murder, whose videotape has now likely been viewed or discussed by anybody who will see this movie.
When: June 11
[IMG:L]Evan Almighty
Who: Steve Carell, Lauren Graham and Morgan Freeman; Directed by Tom Shadyac
What: Last time we saw Evan Baxter (Carell), in Bruce Almighty, he was a newsman who was being tortured by a God-masquerading Bruce (Jim Carrey). Evan has since become a U.S. Congressman, which he thinks is his true calling. But God (Freeman), it turns out, has other plans for him: He commands Evan to build an ark, a la Noah’s.
Why: This isn’t your typical spin-off, in which a no-name director would fill in for a big-name director who doesn’t want anything to do with the project and an A-list actor would be supplanted by a cheap up-and-comer. In fact, there’s more riding on Evan Almighty, reportedly the most expensive comedy ever made, than there was on Bruce. But not to worry, for Tinseltown’s most unlikely leading man is here to save the day. Bruce’s highlight for some people was a then-unknown Carell’s speed-reporting sequence, but the scene is once again set for him to shine in quite a hilarious concept befitting his brand of comedy. Director Shadyac (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor) is right in his comfort zone as well with this sure-to-be screwball farce—but one with a fresh twist courtesy of Carell’s style.
When: June 22
[IMG:L]The Simpsons Movie
Who: (Voices of) Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Albert Brooks, Minnie Driver and Erin Brokovich; Directed by David Silverman
What: All anybody outside Springfield knows is that the plot involves Homer (Castellaneta) being charged with the task of saving the world from a catastrophe that he created. And frankly, given the tight-lipped history of Matt Groening and Co., we’re lucky to have that much info.
Why: Pretty much the entire universe, including the other seven planets in the Solar System, has been waiting for a Simpsons movie for years, and unlike, say, a fourth Indiana Jones, it’s never too late. We don’t know a damn thing about the film, and yet just because the same brains and the voices behind the TV show—America’s longest-running sitcom and animated show and a veritable pop-culture institution—are all present, there shouldn’t be anything but pure excitement. If Groening and James L. Brooks were to merely comprise the Movie of three so-so episodes back-to-back-to-back, it’d be better than most movies out there. But something inspires a wee bit more confidence than that—maybe it’s the almost 20 years they’ve kept us laughing!
When: July 27
Honorable Mentions
Waitress (May 2)
Sadly, the nonfiction of Waitress might forever overshadow its otherwise sunny fiction: The film’s writer-director, veteran indie actress Adrienne Shelly, was murdered in November. But it wasn’t before she was able to complete her most acclaimed movie to date, about a Southern waitress (Keri Russell) whose pie-making mastery might just be her saving grace in more ways than one. Arguably the most well-received movie at the Sundance Film Festival, Waitress is a definite candidate for this summer’s Little Miss Sunshine Award. Again, people are bound to get sequel-weary at some point this summer…
Surf’s Up (June 22)
OK, so penguin mania is dangerously close to imploding, but surely there’s room enough for just one more entry—before next year’s Madagascar 2 caps it all off—isn’t there? Well if there is, it’s Surf’s Up, which features the voice of Shia LaBeouf (along with Zooey Deschanel, Jeff Bridges, James Woods and others), the hottest Hollywood property since his Surf’s costar Jon Heder. In this mockumentary, LaBeouf voices Cody, a new participant in the Penguin World Surfing Championship. Yes, surfing penguins. Leave it to your kids to understand.
Transformers (July 4)
It’s July 4. It’s Michael Bay, of Pearl Harbor fame and The Island infamy, directing and that ubiquitous Shia LaBeouf dude starring. It’s a clash between the Decepticons and the Autobots on which the future of the human race depending. It’s…the first film to cost a billion dollars to make! Seriously, though, Transformers is a live-action movie version of the toys every pre-computer generation used to love as kids, and director Bay is known for his productions that know no budget and thus could sink a studio with bad ticket sales. So, good or bad, this one’s a pretty safe bet to be a fun viewing.
Superbad (August 17)
If Knocked Up is The 40 Year-Old Virgin’s cousin, then Superbad is its nephew. One could also consider this teen flick–in which two high school seniors (Arrested Development’s Michael Cera and Accepted’s Jonah Hill) plan a massive pre-college bash–American Pie with a brain. But back to that incestuous (cinematic) love triangle: Superbad is co-written by Seth Rogen, who stars in Virgin and Knocked Up both of which were written and directed by Judd Apatow, who serves as a producer here. Got that? Basically, you’re in good hands.
Halloween (August 31)
Have there been so many Halloweens now that we’re just back to the original title lest we venture into double digits? And for the love of God, why not release Halloween on…Halloween?! Both valid questions, but the first one has an answer: This is a prequel—of sorts—in which we learn what happened to Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) after his first murder circa 1978 (in the original). Notable replacements include Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Loomis and newcomer Scout Taylor-Compton in Jamie Lee Curtis’ role. But here’s the kicker and really the only thing that matters: Rob Zombie is directing. Thus welcome back to an actual chilling Halloween, since the last six or so were borderline comedic.
