Ok, lets do this.

April 2008

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay- Saw the first on DVD and I am thinking
that will be more that sufficient for the second. It will probably be difficult to capture the energy and freshness of Harold and Kumar but the built in base and early opening April 25 should be sufficient to give this cult franchise a good openening weekend.

May 2nd

Ironman- should be fun. Summer's first blockbuster will likely enjoy a brief reign as Speed Racer opens May 9 and will pull theaters away from the film.


May 9 Speed Racer- Wachowski Brothers, cool visual, big opening. Heck this may even have a plot.

May 16

Prince Caspian- The Chronicles of Narnia
Kid friendly adventure films always do well and this should be no exception as its world wide smash predecessor showed. This one should also have legs if the last was any indicator. Look for it to make anywhere from 3.5 to 4 times it's opening weekend haul.

May 23

Indianna Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal SkullsOk, have to admit to being giddy about this one. Sure it looks derivative. Sure the last Jones thriller was fairly tepid, but this may be the last chance to watch Harrison Ford execute physical feats that defy logic, his age, gravity, physics.. take your pick really. Bring on the giant paper mache stones!

May 30

Sex and the City- If there is anything to the concept of counter programing this should be good for an easy 100 mill and that could be good for a spate of less sucessful tv based features too come.

June 6

You Don't Mess with Zohan
It's Sandler of course it will make money. Judd Aptow helped Sandler out with the scripting cores, which could make this one cut above the other 20 or so Sandler epics.

June 13

Incredible HulkThe franchise gets reimagined with Ed Norton in the key role of Geneticist cum monster the Hulk. Tim Roth joins the cast as the human half of Hulk's nefarious counter part, The Abomination. This can only be a improvement on Ang Lee's heavy handed take on this comicbook icon.

The Happening
Not the box office gaurantee that he once was M Night Shyamalan tries to regain his formerly golden touch. Mark Wahlberg's participation argues that he may be moving in the right direction.

June 20th

The Love Guru- Mike Myers. He doesn't make unsucessful film but this one has the stench of a mid-summer bomb on it. Of course I said the same thing about Signs.

Get Smart- It's hard not to like Steve Carrell, but that doesn't mean that anyone is going to forget Evan Almighty.

June 27th

Wall.E Gauranteed smash. Good timing. Well marketed. Resistance is futile.

July 4th-

Hancock

Wil Smith. Are you kidding me? Will smith. Super Hero Comegy. July 4th. Peter Berg steps up to the big leagues. He will likely parlay his success here into some interesting small projects down the road.

Hellboy II

should be fun. enjoyed the first one.

July 18th

The Dark Knight
Famously Heath Ledger's last film. Should be interesting to see how that affects what had been the rebirth of a monster franchise.

More to follow in Summer Movies 3

The summer movie season is fast approaching and though is may not compare to last year heavy hitter line-up, it should be chock full of familar names, big budgets, big stars and teen friendly plots and scripts. Comic book based movies have such a strong track record that they seldom have a hard time drawing top notch hollywood talent. Witness this May's early summer thiller, Iron Man, for further proof of this if such is required.

Robert Downey Jr.(Oscar nominee) heads a cast of critical darlings with Terrance Howard(Oscar Nominee) and Gywneth Paltrow(Yes still alive and an oscar winner for Shakespeare in Love) and Jeff Bridges, who you may struggle to recognize minus his trademark mane. This gaggle of talent should allow director, Jon Favreau, to strike the proper balance of summer fun and respect for the source material that seperates the blockbuster from the average comic book movie. Since this is something that Ang Lee, amoungst others failed to do, it is no small task. Downey is a major assest in this undertaking, well deserving of praise so ofter heaped upon his undertakings.

Sean Penn's latest directorial effort, based on the Jon Krakauer book,proved a very pleasant suprise. At over 2 and 1/2 hours running time, this film showed every sign of being a preachy, tedious snorefest. Penn who previously helmed Indian Runner, The Crossing Gaurd and The Pledge with mixed results has gone back behind the cameras after a 6 year break and has produced a gem. Penn uses an eclectic cast including Emile Hirsch, William Hurt, Hal Holbrook(rec oscar nomination for this role), Vince Vaughn and Catherine Keener(40 year old Virgin) who gives a great turn as "Love Child" who finds it difficult to be loved.
Hirsch plays, Chris Childress, a recent ivy league graduate who decided to embark on an adventure as a leather tramp, abandoning his car and money to see the country on foot. Along the way he meets unhappy hippies, a felon farmer and a retired and widowed army vet forging deep friendship even as he gradually removes himself from the crush of humanity. Penn weaves(hammers home actually) a theme about family and forgiveness into the mix. This distracts a bit for what is otherwise a deft and light-handed presentation. Hirsch manages to make his potrayal both sufficiently brooding and emotional to understand Childress's gradual retreat from society but engaging and likeable enough for us to care.

As Childress treks across the US and eventually to Alaska, introducing the audience to the films other star, the boundless beauty of the American wilds.