Bottom Of The Barrel

2008 Summer Movies

Here are the movies I am excited about for the 2008 summer season:

Iron Man | May 2nd

Iron Man could be the next real comic book to big screen franchise [where Ghost Rider and Hulk failed]. Robert Downey Jr. is the perfect actor to be Tony Stark - wealthy industrialist, genius inventor, and playboy - and if the good vs. evil superhero story comes off right, we might as well pen in May 2010 and 2012 for Iron Man 2 and 3 respectively. Big screen must!

Speed Racer | May 9th

Not so much for the story but more for the visualization of this film the Wachowski Borthers might bring to a big screen near you. They broke all the rules with The Matrix in 1999 and with Speed Racer they might just re-write them again. On the other hand it might also be a multi-million dollar bomb. Looks like a wait till video.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | May 22nd

19 years after Crusade, Indy and crew are now battling the Russians. As long as Spielberg/Lucas learned what their fans want to see [Raiders/Crusade] and what they don't [Temple], they should be ok with the forth installment. Plus how we have all missed Karen Allen's Karen "Damn Partner" Ravenwood.

You Don't Mess with the Zohan | June 6th

Adam Sander + Goofy Borat like voice + deadly middle eastern super agent + fake death = New York City hair stylist. There is an opportunity for this to be a very funny movie and I hope [and pray] it does not go the way of recent romantic comedies which are long on romance and low on the laughs. Maybe a renter.

The Happening | June 13th

M. Night Shyamalan has gone from brilliant to good to just so-so when you look at his directorial resume. Going with the end-of-the-world story, we should be given some intense scenes but I am wondering if he can finally deliver another mind f*ck ending, like The Sixth Sense, or will it just be an ending? We have all been waiting patiently for 9 years for another film which leaves drooling to watch it again and see if we can find the clues.

Get Smart | June 20th

Steve Carell is Don Adams' incarnate so he is the natural choice for the film. The big [box office] question is will the 2008 movie crowd pay to see a revamp of a mid 60's TV show? Not sure it will have a huge draw and feels like a great mid-fall netflix queue choice to me.

Wall-E | June 27th

Those mad men at Pixar bring you the last robot on earth who holds the key to mankind returning home. You have love, adventure, space travel, a cockroach and the first story idea Pixar ever had finally coming to the big screen. By and Large, the kids are going to love it.

Wanted | June 27th

This is probably going to be the low on plot/high on action film of the summer. But who cares. Angelina Jolie looks hot [and she has found another role where he tats have a use], Morgan Freeman will be the unshakable leader and James McAvoy will be the kid on the team. Add that to high flying cars, lots of things blowing up and ridiculous looking gun play and you have a winner.

Hancock | July 2nd

Will Smith tries to corner the big 4th of July holiday weekend and this time he the anti-super hero [who should go all legit by films end]. The movie looks like it be large on effects and a feel good story line. Not sure it will be as big as ID4 or MIB but I'm sure it will do just fine when it's all said and done.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army | July 11th

I am a fan of the original Hellboy movie and really think Guillermo del Toro [who directed the first film as well as Pan's Labyrinth] will have some real eye candy in store for us. Plus with smoking hot Selma Blair back as pyrokinetic Liz Sherman, we might even get a little love story this time around.

The Dark Knight | July 18th

Beyond the tragic story of Heath Ledger, this movie looks as good as Batman Begins plus a rebootish move bringing back The Joker character, who was killed off in the 1989 Batman film. With some potential foreshadowing, we also get another rebooted character in Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent and a replacement for the Rachel Dawes character with Maggie Gyllenhaal, who I prefer over Katie Holmes.

Pineapple Express | August 8th

The latest film in the Judd Apatow movie factory reunites Freeks and Geeks co-stars Seth Rogen and James Franco in what looks like less of a comedy [per se] and more like a buddy adventure. It will be good to see a different side of the Apatow team in action, pun intended.

Films I could do without:

The Incredible Hulk | June 13th [Not another reboot]
The Love Guru | June 20th [Austin Powers with a beard]
The X-Files 2 | July 25th [It has been too long to believe]
The Mummy 3 | August 1st [Been there, done that]
Tropic Thunder | August 15th [Don't get it at all]

Is it May 2nd yet?

Labels: Movies

posted by TheWino @ 8:59 AM