Two weeks and three movies. It’s summer blockbuster season and that’s what we’ll be looking at for a few months. This year so far has been a considerable letdown. There’s still hope, though. Captain America (July 22) looks like it’s going to fit the character well in that it’s treated like a war movie instead of a comic book movie. There’s also the second part of the last Harry Potter flick and I’m cautiously hoping that the prequel to Planet of the Apes will not be horrible. You can never count on those damn, dirty apes.
X-Men: First Class
Before Professor Xavier was confined to his patented wheelchair, he was a rough-and-tumble telekinetic superhero. James McAvoy plays the role that was made for Patrick Stewart, but McAvoy seemingly does a good impression of Picard. Marvel has gone out of its way to show that this movie isn’t the horrible Brett Ratner-helmed X-Men 3 by releasing several individual character trailers. Matthew Vaughn of Kick Ass, Snatch, and Layer Cake fame is behind the camera on this outing. With the exception of Stardust, Vaughn’s work seems to indicate that he’s a good pick for the director’s seat. The movie follows the mutants as they engage in secret missions to avert nuclear disaster during the Cold War. Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is around, of course, being all broody and throwing sticks into the spokes of Xavier’s heroic plans. Marvel’s on a roll with a couple of their flicks this summer. All eyes are on January Jones (and her cleavage, as promotional materials have included it prominently) as Emma Frost. Will Don Draper’s Bets make a good mutant?
June 10
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
If you don’t already know what this movie is about, you’re likely not going to be interested. Heather Graham is the big name in the movie, and even she looks like she’s surprised to be in this movie based on a popular kids’ book series. (Well, as surprised as her Botox allows her to be.) She plays Aunt Opal, who is a fun-loving, poor driver, who comes to watch over the titular character and her brother who’s called Stink. Yup, it’s that kind of movie, people. Wacky hijinks ensue as Judy Moody plans a thrillific summer.
Super 8
Some are saying that Super 8 could be this generation’s Goonies. A group of kids working on a monster movie witness a car accident that causes a train to derail. The kids are then tasked to find a real monster that was released in the carnage. That’s despite the big government cover-up that is afoot. It’s unclear what is lurking inside the military container that gets smashed open. Could it be friendly and trapped by an evil government? J.J. Abrams is a master of suspense and pre-release promotion so it’ll be interesting to see if the film holds up to the hype. Steven Spielberg has his extraterrestrial fingers in the mix, too, as a producer on the flick. It’s destined to be a big summer hit. Kyle Chandler stars with a handful of unknown kids.
