I'm honestly stumped for topics to write about this week because I
don't want to write another sports article and I haven't seen any new movies.
Still, I like the idea of looking ahead to some upcoming movies as I'm watching
the baseball season unfold. Therefore, I'm going to use this space to preview summer
movie season 2012. These are some movies I plan to watch this summer, and also
films I think may deserve a look from the general public:
The Avengers:
Release date May 4. This will be the first Marvel film distributed by Disney (with
the exception of the Spider-Man
films, all the others were distributed by Fox). I personally see this as a good
thing. If there's one thing Disney does best, it’s marketing and creating high
expectations (hype). This movie is what 4 years and five films (Iron Man, Iron
Man 2, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and Captain America) have been leading up to,
and you can expect Disney to build it up like no one's business. The Avengers will be the film that officially
kicks off the summer season, and it will do so in grand fashion. I have hopes
for this movie, especially since it's being directed by Joss Whedon (creator of
nerd-friendly shows like Buffy and Firefly), but I don't know much more about it besides who the characters are.
The one thing that I am sure of, with this movie, is that it's going to be big.
Brave: Release
date June 22. Pixar’s Brave is
another film with which I’m mainly basing my opinion on hype. I don’t know a
lot about the creative team or voice actors, because none of them are Pixar
regulars that I recognize, but the trailers for the film (Pixar’s first try at
fantasy) look really good. I plan to see this movie. Pixar has earned my trust.
The Amazing Spider Man: Release date June 22.The second Marvel movie this summer, Amazing is a reboot of the Spider-Man films,
previously directed by Sam Raimi and staring Tobey McGuire. This film will star
Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and will be closer to the original
comic book, in that Peter’s first love interest will be Gwen Stacy (Emma
Stone), instead of his eventual wife Mary Jane Watson. I will watch this film
out of a sense of nerdy obligation, but I have my reservations about this
executive-driven reboot. I loved Andrew Garfield in The
Social Network, and I wish him and director Mark Webb the
best in these films, but I’d rather keep Spider-man as far away from Sony as possible
The Dark Knight Rises: Release date: July 20. Another superhero film released this year. The
Dark Knight (2008) was one of the greatest superhero
movies ever made, and this film, it’s sequel, is probably the most anticipated
blockbuster this summer. This is the
movie I am most looking forward to this year.
Other summer blockbusters that I will wait and see on, but may be
worth checking out (if the reviews are good):
Men in Black III. Release date
May 25.The first MIB movie was the perfect Will Smith action comedy - the second one, not
so much. I don't particularly have high hopes for this third installment, but
it certainly looks like their trying to bring some level of dignity to it with
the casting (Smith and co-star Tommy Lee Jones are back, with the addition of
Emma Thompson as another MIB operative).
Madagascar 3:
Europe's Most Wanted. Release date June 8, Yet another three-quel to an
unnecessary sequel to a good movie. Are you starting to sense a pattern too? If
I were you, I'd save my money and watch the Penguins of Madagascar
TV show instead of this cash-in.
Mirror, Mirror: Release date March 30. This is the only movie on my “wait and see” list that I may actually
check out. This is a spoof of the Snow White story, and from the ads, it looks
pretty funny. Like the other movies on
my wait and see list, I’m still going to
wait for positive reviews on it before I check it out.
