“You know, I’m usually excited about the summer movie season,” I told Dave at lunch last week. “But this year, I have no idea what’s coming out.”
“There’s Iron Man,” he said.
Iron Man opens May 2nd
“Ugh,” I said. I may be a comic book fan, but there are limits to my enthusiasm. Iron Man seems targeted squarely at junior high boys. I have no desire to see it. “Doesn’t the new Batman movie come out soon?” I asked.
The Dark Knight opens July 18th
“Maybe,” he said. “I don’t know. And isn’t there a Star Trek movie in the works? And another X-Files movie?”
Star Trek opens Christmas 2008
The X-Files 2 opens July 25th
Love the fan reaction in this vid. Makes me want to re-watch the series.
We must be getting old. This morning I did some research. Turns out there are a few movies that look interesting this summer. First up is the Speed Racer film, which Paul J. is skeptical of, but I think looks just like a Mario Kart game. Since I love Mario Kart, I’m all over this…
Speed Racer opens May 9th
My brothers and I loved Speed Racer when we were kids. Loved it. We didn’t have a television, so we didn’t get to watch it very often, but when we did, it was a treat. We also loved Indiana Jones. Can an aging Harrison Ford really pull of a fourth film? We’ll have to wait and see.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens May 22nd
That’s the best they have to show us? Looks a little tepid to me. The following week, there’s a movie for my Kris:
Sex and the City opens May 30th
Comic book movies are a dime a dozen today. Too bad so many of them suck. Many people didn’t like Ang Lee’s take on the incredible Hulk — I did. All the same, I’m interested to see the new, revised version of the myth:
The Incredible Hulk opens June 13th
Okay. It looks dumb. Another film for junior high school boys.
Is there any hope for a good summer movie? Why, yes there is. Instead of going to see the new Batman movie on July 18th, I’ll be on my way to see this:
Mamma Mia opens July 18th
Meryl Streep? Pierce Brosnan? Colin Firth? ABBA? Damn straight, I’m there! (Long-time readers know that ABBA is one of my favorite guilty pleasures.)
Finally, I’m really looking forward to the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, which is due in theaters November 7th. I thought the last film, Casino Royale was the best of the bunch so far, and I have high hopes for continued excellence from Daniel Craig.
Don’t forget the “Hellboy” movie is coming out soon! I’m a big fan of the comic, and the movie was pretty good as well. Theres a preview for that online somewhere too.
I guess I’m a jr. high boy. I’m “all in” for Iron Man. I read the comic and Robert Downey Jr. looks like a fun casting decision here.
As for Speed Racer–I watched this trailer too and I still feel like it has potential to be the WORST MOVIE EVER MADE. I can do campy but sheesh this is way to over the top for me.
I’m really curious to see what J.J. Abrams does to Star Trek. I guess it’ll be another one of those au currant “re-boots”. If you haven’t seen it yet watch this talk by Abrams on TED. Kind of makes me never want to watch LOST again because it seems like there will never be a satisfying ending because all the mysteries will stay “in the box”
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/205
The first Hellboy movie was actually much better than I would’ve thought and it translated reasonably well to the big screen. “Iron Man” could be good or bad. Downey plays a good jerk, which is what Tony Stark really is, so it might be ok if they don’t go too far into the special effects. And speaking of which, “Speed Racer”, from the preview I’ve seen, looks like a remake of last year’s ‘Transformers’ movie but substitutes a car instead of giant robots. The special effects look “cool”, but unfortunately as I age my eyes are apparently getting slower because it all just comes out as a blurry bunch of mechanical looking stuff rather than decent cinematography.
Colin Firth you say? He is in Mamma Mia? I am dedicated to watching every movie he makes, even though I generally wait until I can rent them online. 😉