Summer Movies, 2003
Sam, on host 209.187.117.100
Thursday, April 10, 2003, at 13:21:27
It's time for me to do this again.
May 2 - X-Men 2
I liked the first X-Men movie, although I'm not the fan of it that a lot of people seem to be. I've never read any of the comics. I'm interested in the sequel, especially since I think the first movie will play much better as part of a series than as a stand-alone -- provided the sequels measure up, of course.
May 9 - The Shape of Things
Neil LaBute doesn't interest me.
May 9 - Daddy Day Care
Eddie Murphy doesn't interest me.
May 15 - The Matrix Reloaded
When I do the standard "What summer movie are you most eager to see?" Reader Poll question, this is the movie that will make it boring by being the certain winner. I have to admit, I'm pretty pumped for this movie. I just hope that Reloaded/Revolutions expands as much upon the ideas of the first film as upon its special effects.
May 16 - Down With Love
The IMDb calls this an homage to the comedies that Doris Day and Rock Hudson made together in the 1960s. I *love* those movies. I also like the stars, Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. My concern is the director, Peyton Reed, whose past work is rooted almost exclusively in television and, for that matter, in bad remakes of 1960s films.
May 23 - Bruce Almighty
The previews are funny, but I'm not crazy about comedies about God like this one.
May 23 - The In-Laws
As much as I like Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, I was not crazy about the 1979 film upon which this remake is based. The remake has the same hazards: I like Michael Douglas, and I like Albert Brooks, but I'm concerned about the film. No idea yet.
May 30 - Finding Nemo
Pixar has never let me down yet. That said, the trailer doesn't suggest as strong a story as Toy Story or Monsters Inc. The animation looks fantastic, though.
May 30 - The Italian Job
I'm a sucker for heist movies. Mark Wahlberg and Edward Norton were made for them. The director, F. Gary Gray, is a hit-or-miss kind of guy. He did The Negotiator, which was terrific, and A Man Apart, which (so I understand) is not.
May 30 - Wrong Turn
Teens in the woods get hunted down by cannibal mountain men. Been there, done that, sucked the first million times.
June 6 - 2 Fast 2 Furious
This has got to be the dumbest sequel name ever. Coming close on the heels of "Cradle 2 the Grave," I'm seriously wondering how long before somebody titles a romantic comedy "LOL In L.A." and somebody else releases a techno thriller "d00ds 2B Feared."
I haven't seen The Fast and the Furious, although I'll be seeing it fairly soon. Suffice it to say, however, that I have utterly no confidence whatsoever in the franchise, and the director, John Singleton, doesn't tend to make the kind of movies I like. It's an improvement over Rob Cohen, however, who hasn't made a good movie since 1996.
June 6 - Man-Thing
A comic book adaptation about a swamp creature that feeds off fear. The comic book genre is just one step away from B horror movies sometimes.
June 13 - Hollywood Homicide
Harrison Ford. Josh Hartnett. Something about the slaying of a rap group. The IMDb lists it as an action crime comedy drama. Doesn't impress me, but you never know.
June 13 - From Justin To Kelly
This is the pop musical starring the winner and runner up of the first season of American Idol. I like musicals, but you'd have to pay me a LOT of money to get me in the theater for this one. The clips I've seen on TV are horrid.
June 13 - Rugrats Go Wild!
The Rugrats meet the Wild Thornberrys. Not my thing.
June 13 - When Harry Met Lloyd: Dumb and Dumberer
I never saw the first one, but I was told I should. *shrug*
June 20 - Alex and Emma
Remember when Rob Reiner made good movies? How does the man behind Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, Misery, and A Few Good Men devolve into North and The Story of Us? Still, there are more good movies in his filmography than bad, it helps that Reiner is working from an established story, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It's about a novelist in debt to loan sharks. Loan sharks are cool.
June 20 - Hulk
The Superbowl trailers looked pretty bad. David Poland, at The Hot Button, says he saw more recent footage with more refined effects and that it looks better. The other thing that the Superbowl teaser didn't even hint at was the relationships between the different characters, which is something Ang Lee can be very good at. Ang Lee's career fascinates me: anybody whose filmography includes both Crouching Tiger and Sense and Sensibility is certainly versatile. I don't know that I'm more excited about this film than any other summer release, but it certainly makes me the most *intrigued*.
June 27 - Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
Just when you think the outrageousness of action movies can't get any more ridiculous, just the *trailer* of Charlie's Angels II breaks new ground in the realm of the absurd.
July 2 - Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
YEAH BABY, WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
July 2 - Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
I love the Terminator series, but without James Cameron at the helm, I dunno. The director, Jonathan Mostow, has made two good, suspenseful thrillers, but he's not the innovator Cameron is. Sure enough, the trailer doesn't hint at anything but a pile of action set pieces. I've got a bad feeling about this.
July 2 - Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
The first Legally Blonde was surprisingly good. I loved it. That bodes well, but you never know with sequels. Reese Witherspoon can make almost anything watchable, however; I've liked her even in movies I did not, such as Sweet Home Alabama. Interesting that this and Terminator 3, in which she plays a terminator, open the same day.
July 9 - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Stephen predicts this will be the best movie based on a ride ever, which would mean, roughly, "Better than The Country Bears!" What I want to know is why this movie hasn't been done sooner. (Probably "Cutthroat Island" is the answer.) I love seafaring epics, especially if they have pirates in them. While normally I would not put a lot of confidence in a "we're out of ideas, but, oh, hey, here's a cash cow to milk" movie, I have to hand it to the folks in front of and behind the camera.
In front, we've got Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Jonathan Pryce. Three guys I like, and one guy who gets to prove if he can be anything but an elf. Behind the camera, we've got Gore Verbinski, whose filmography is, while perhaps not impressive, stylish. The authors of the screenplay are the team behind Aladdin, Shrek, and the Mask of Zorro. Ok, ok, also Godzilla and Treasure Planet, but no matter.
July 11 - The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Despite the heavy-hitting hype for this movie, I don't know of anybody -- either those who have read the graphic novels or those who haven't -- who is impressed with the trailer. It's hard not to rely too much on the trailer to judge how a movie is going to be, but I just don't see the potential. I'm fearing a disaster on the scale of The Avengers. The director doesn't impress me, either: the one film of his I've seen is "Blade," a movie that some people really like but I hated.
July 18 - The Exorcist: The Beginning
It reminds me of an IABBBBM reader review that was submitted shortly after the reader reviews section opened. It was a review of "Psycho IV: The Beginning," and the entirety of the text was, "If it's part four, it can't be the beginning." This film is also the fourth in its series. At least for this one, someone had the foresight not to put a roman numeral in the title.
As for the movie. Uh. It's as dangerous to make a sequel of a cherished 10+ year old film as it is to remake it. The Exorcist was released less than a day before I was born, but I would prefer to be associated with The Sting, even though it was released one day earlier. The most recent Exorcist film was released in 1990. It grossed 26 million dollars. I'm not sure that all these fun facts add up to anything with predictive capabilities.
July 18 - Johnny English
Rowan Atkinson is funny, but he's not infallible. "Bean" was funny in spots, but it was mostly a poor adaptation of the much funnier Mr. Bean series. Johnny English is a spoof of James Bond. Austin Powers aside, Bond spoofs don't tend to work, because what people don't realize is that James Bond is *already* a spoof of more serious spy films. Making fun of something that's already got its tongue in its cheek doesn't tend to work. Still, we'll see.
July 18 - Bad Boys II
Didn't see the original.
July 25 - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
I do not hold the first Tomb Raider film in high regard, but I did admire the way it looked and felt exactly like a video game, right down to the game-logic puzzles ("first you shoot the laser in the idol's mouth, and then you kill the badguys that come out of the walls, and then you stand on the hexagon and..."). I don't know why a sequel wouldn't be every bit as goofy and occasionally fun as the first one was.
July 25 - Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
I haven't seen the first two, although I will be seeing them soon. This is a rare kids' series that has found a cross-over audience. The guy behind it all is Robert Rodriguez, also known for Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn. But who cares? The main thing to say here is, YEAH BABY, IT'S ABOUT TIME WE HAD SOME 3D SEQUELS AGAIN! Though I never saw a 3D movie in the theater before, this makes me all nostalgic for the days of Jaws 3D and Friday the 13th Part 3: 3D. Between this and James Cameron's Ghosts of the Abyss (in IMAX theaters later this year) are we seeing a serious attempt to revive 3D movies? I'm not sure that's necessarily a good thing, but it's a great novelty.
July 25 - Seabiscuit
The buzz is great on this. Every year there seems to be one summer movie with Oscar clout, last year's being Road To Perdition. This year, it's looking like it'll be Seabiscuit. The director's only other film was Pleasantville, which I loved. I'll be there.
August 1 - 28 Days Later
The IMDb describes this as Mad Max crossed with Night of the Living Dead. Sounds like "I Am Legend" ("The Omega Man").
August 1 - American Wedding
American Pie 3. Yawn.
August 1 - Tough Love
J.Lo and B.Aff star in this hitman mob comedy thing. *shrug*
August 1 - Freaky Friday
We need this, because it has not been done a zillion times before. Hey, at least this movie is *honest* about ripping off the 1977 Jodie Foster film.
August 8 - S.W.A.T.
The title and the star (Samuel L. Jackson) probably say all you need to know.
August 8 - Matchstick Men
Ridley Scott is a great director, although not reliable as of late. This is a con artist story, starring Nicolas Cage. I'm optimistic.
August 15 - The Medallion
Jackie Chan. Slave rings. Partnered with a British Agent. Hey, it's Jackie Chan. I'm there.
August 15 - Freddy Vs. Jason
After eons in development hell, it looks like this is finally happening. If this isn't destined to be IABBBBM material, I don't know what is.
August 19 - Leeches!
We've had giant spiders, giant bugs, why not giant leeches?
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