With the incredible debut of FAST FIVE last week, which is tons of fun if you haven’t seen it already ( check out Brandon’s review if you haven’t) and THOR opening this weekend (read Britt’s review), the summer has officially started! A couple of us here at VeryAware are going to help you trim down the over 100 releases this summer by giving you the ten movies we’re most excited for.
Disclaimer: As these things often go, release dates are subject to change. These dates are based off of what was listed in the Summer Movie Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly.
Without further ado, the movies I’m most excited for this summer are:
SUPER 8 – JUNE 10th
Starring: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler
Why I’m Excited: While I’m just shy of being old enough to have seen E.T. theatrically, the new film from J.J. Abrams, produced by Steven Speilberg and the fine folks at Amblin Entertainment seems to capture that unique kind of magic that the production company’s early movies the THE GOONIES, GREMLINS, and BACK TO THE FUTURE and I think it has the potentially to be the E.T. for this generation; the kind of movie that gets kids interested in making movies. What I really want out of this movie, besides a great story told well, which I expect from Abrams, I really hope that this film inspires audiences and especially the studios to invest in original stories that don’t rely on an established franchise or property in order to be considered viable.
I don’t know very much about the film, and frankly I’m even more excited about it because of that. All I know is that it takes places in the late 70s in Ohio and about a group of kids who stumble upon something while making a movie. That’s all I need to know. I can’t wait.
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS – JUNE 3rd
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult
Why I’m Excited: When this reboot was initially announced I had mixed feelings, mostly because I had felt that Brent Ratner had effectively shat all over X-Men with THE LAST STAND and I was meant to just cling to the memories of the X-Men animated series of my youth. However, Matthew Vaughn’s reboot maybe revitalize the franchise by taking it out of the modern era and setting the action during the Cold War, no doubt meant to echo the tension audiences know will eventually break Erik and Charles Xavier apart. Hiring some of the best and most intriguing young actors today to fill out the cast doesn’t hurt either. While I’m still not sold on January Jones and her giant sparkly boobs, this new featurette on Jennifer Lawrence’s take on Mystique definitely has my interest piqued.
BRIDESMAIDS – MAY 13th
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper
Director Paul Feig, who has directed such beloved television series as FREAKS AND GEEKS and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT as well as KNOCKED UP, returns in this comedy written by and starring Kristen Wiig as Annie, a woman who is chosen by her best friend Lillian (fellow SNL Alum Maya Rudolph) to be the maid of honor at her wedding, which leads Annie to bullshit her way through a series of undoubtedly hilarious events. Also starring Rose Byrne (who’s also in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS), a shirtless Jon Hamm (which should be in every movie, let’s face it), and Melissa McCarthy, who I remember as Sookie from GILMORE GIRLS and, by the looks of the trailer will steal the show here. I know a few people who were lucky enough to catch Bridesmaids at this year’s SXSW, and have heard nothing but incredibly positive things. I think BRIDESMAIDS is going to be the success that THE HANGOVER PART II wants to be.
THE TREE OF LIFE – MAY 27th
Starring: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain
Perhaps the only people that people know less about this summer than SUPER 8 is director Terrence Malick’s latest film, TREE OF LIFE. The reason I’m excited for this film is the same as why I’m excited about SUPER 8: I know nothing about it. We live in a time in which people know everything about a movie before it comes out and sometimes bootlegs are available online before the film ever hits theaters. I was mystified by the film’s beautiful trailer (the song in the trailer is called “The Moldeau”, by the way – I played it in band in high school) and the way that the film will be mixing 1950′s Americana with celestial imagery like something out of Aaronofsky’s THE FOUNTAIN, which I liked – I know I’m not in the majority there. Also: there’s dinosaurs (spoilers)! What’s not to like?
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER – JULY 22nd
Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci, Sebastian Stan, Hayley Atwell, and Dominic Cooper
Of all the superhero movies out this summer without the letter X in the title, CAPTAIN AMERICA is the one I’m most excited about. While I don’t know much about Cap, Thor, or the Green Lantern, for me, Captain America has the right combination of stars, setting, and action that I think will appeal to the widest audience, including myself. Evans plays Steve Rodgers, a puny nerd deemed too weak to fight in WWII who is so eager to kill some Nazis (pronounced Nat-zis a la Aldo Raine) that he enlists in the Super Solider program and gets all kinds of buff and sexy, two attributes which are proven to defeat the Third Reich.
Chris Evans has been approaching leading man status for a while now, and I think that after his stellar albeit brief scene in SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, CAPTAIN AMERICA will cement his status with the nerd set (because even he wants to forget the Fantastic Four movies) and I think will be the action fest that we all want leading into next summer’s nerd orgy THE AVENGERS.
30 MINUTES OR LESS – AUGUST 12th
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, Nick Swardson
Jesse Eisenberg takes off his SRSBZNS hat to reteam with ZOMBIELAND director Ruben Fleischer in this comedy about a pizza delivery guy who is forced to rob a bank, lest he wants to explode. Aziz Ansari has been on a pretty solid run on PARKS AND RECREATION on NBC, and I think that Danny McBride will fare much better in a supporting role than he did in this year’s wangfest YOUR HIGHNESS. The red band trailer is also pretty awesome. Check it out below.
ANOTHER EARTH – JULY 17th
Starring: Brit Marling, William Mapother
In ANOTHER EARTH, Brit Marling stars as Rhoda Williams, an aspiring astrophysicist who is involved in a tragic accident that ends up destroying the family of composer John Burroughs. All of this happens on the night that scientists discover…another earth that not only paralells ours, but is populated by alternate versions of ourselves. Rhoda wins a trip to Earth 2, as it’s called, and has to reconcile what she will do and if she will tell John, who she forms a bond with after the accident, the truth about her involvement with him. Check out the trailer here.
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 – JULY 15th
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Gambon, Jason Isaacs, Alan Rickman
I’m going to see this. You’re going to see this. The Harry Potter movies and books have been in my life since high school and finally, nearly a decade later, we’ll finally see how it all goes down with Harry and Voldemort. All I can hope for is that this satisfies all of the expectations that everyone has for it, and that it will have a lot of the action and awesomeness that Part 1 was lacking.
DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK – AUGUST 12th
Starring: Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes, Bailee Madison
Written by Guillermo del Toro, this film, which is actually a remake of a 1970s TV special of the same name will be the creepiest movie of the summer, and I will probably not see it, not because I’m not interested in it, but mostly because I saw the creepy ass trailer in theaters and it scared the crap out of me and the fact that people are ripping out their own teeth to offer to the monsters is incredibly unsettling, but I’m sure it’ll make for some scary moviegoing. Let me know how it is while I sit in the corner brushing my teeth and crying.
CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. – JULY 29th
Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon
While most romantic comedies make me feel bad for the women of this world (ie – SOMETHING BORROWED), this one seems like it’s not insulting to women nor is it insulting to humans in general, as many films in this genre can be (THE AWFUL TRUTH, I’m looking at you). Carell plays Cal Weaver, a man whose marriage is falling apart. Cal goes under the tutelage of Ryan Gosling’s Jacob, a ladies man who is thrown for a loop by Emma Stone’s Hannah. If there’s one word I could use to describe this movie it would be charming. If I could use three words, they would be NAKED RYAN GOSLING. Check out the trailer for proof of those words.
So there you have it folks, the ten movies I want to see this summer! Hopefully all of them will be awesome. Let me know what you’re interested in this summer! Is there anything I missed?
Don’t forget to check out the movies that Brandon and Courtney are excited for this summer!
