The summer season is upon us and what better way to cool ourselves off after a long, hot day than a stay at the movies? Here’s what’s coming to your local cineplex for the months of June through August. (And the last week of May!)
May 29
- Drag Me to Hell
- Up
- Departures [limited]
This is the most exciting weekend of the summer. We have Pixar’s latest entry, which by all accounts is a masterpiece, debuting alongside co-writer/director Sam Raimi’s return to horror. It may not be a “hard R” like “The Evil Dead,” but “Drag Me to Hell,” the story of a loan officer played by Alison Lohman who is cursed by an old, un-P.C. gypsy, looks to deliver the PG-13 “spook-a-blast” Raimi has promised us.
June 5
I’m still not sold on “The Hangover” being anything but your typical chuckle-a-couple-times comedy and “Land of the Lost” still looks hit-or-miss. (I’ve never been a bona fide Will Ferrell devotee and adventure-comedy has never been a strong genre.) As for the fans of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” rejoice! Nia Vardalos is finally back with “My Life in Ruins.”
June 11
June 12
- Imagine That
- The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
- Moon [limited]
“Moon” has me excited. While you’re out watching John Travolta ride the subway, I’ll be basking in this limited-release sci-fier about a lone astronaut/miner who starts losing it two weeks before his three-year contract is up to return home to Earth. Be sure to watch the trailer.
June 19
- The Proposal
- Whatever Works
- Year One
- Dead Snow [limited]
- Food, Inc. [limited]
I’m hearing good things about “Food, Inc.,” a documentary about the food industry. I’ll probably end up seeing “The Proposal” and “Year One” as well. And while a foreign film about zombie Nazis certainly is attention-grabbing, word has not been kind to “Dead Snow.” As for “Whatever Works,” Woody Allen’s latest, it’s got a great cast but a horrible poster. Allen’s been kind of hit-or-miss for a while and slowly building himself back up, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll ever reach his highest of highs again. That said, it looks to at least be enjoyable.
June 26
I’m not going to lie, I had fun with the first “Transformers” and I’m betting I’ll have fun with this sequel. “Stoning,” set in Iran in 1986, sounds interesting, but everything else is kinda “…huh.”
July 1
I’ve never been a fan of judging a book by its cover or a movie by its poster or trailer, but the signature Michael Mann cinematography in a 1930s setting just looks cheesy. That said, “Public Enemies,” the new Johnny Depp film about John Dillinger, could very well end up a crowd-pleaser…or a total letdown.
July 3
- I Hate Valentine’s Day [limited]
July 10
- Brüno
- I Love You, Beth Cooper
- Humpday [limited]
- The Hurt Locker [limited]
“The Hurt Locker,” a new Kathryn Bigelow film (!) about the war in Iraq that has a great trailer (I guess my “don’t judge a movie by its trailer” axiom just went out the window), and “Brüno,” Sacha Baron Cohen’s follow-up to “Borat,” both look wonderful.
July 15
I got through about a third of the fifth book and this will be the first film based on a “Harry Potter” novel I’ve never once cracked open. I found the last movie to be a little too much on the SparkNotes side of things. Unlike the third and fourth entries, it just didn’t feel like a real movie. Unfortunately this sixth installment (as well as the next two) is by that same director.
July 17
- (500) Days of Summer [limited]
It’s supposed to be the festival favorite, and soon we’ll be able to decide for ourselves whether or not that holds any water. But I have to say anything featuring Zooey Deschanel’s “acting abilities” will certainly be humorous, to say the least.
July 24
- G-Force
- Orphan
- The Ugly Truth
- All Good Things [limited]
July 29
July 31
August 7
August 14
- Bandslam
- District 9
- The Final Destination
- The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
- A Perfect Getaway
- Ponyo
- The Time Traveler’s Wife
- Paper Heart [limited]
- Taking Woodstock [limited]
“District 9,” about alien (as in extraterrestrial) rights in South Africa, and “Paper Heart,” a quasi-documentary about love starring Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera, look to be fun. But it’s “Ponyo” that I’m excited about. Hayao Miyazaki, the Walt Disney of Japan, unleashes his latest on unsuspecting American minds with the tale of a tiny goldfish princess and a little boy who finds her. Be sure to watch the subtitled version and not the dubbed.
August 21
Quentin Tarantino is back, following up “Kill Bill” with his very own World War II picture with a twist. All the top Nazi leaders will be attending a big propaganda movie premiere and it’s up to the Basterds to kill ‘em all.
August 28
I feel bad for Rob Zombie. He’s the guy that introduced me to metal with White Zombie’s “La Sexorcisto” and he pushed out a fine film called “The Devil’s Rejects.” But his “Halloween” remake was a disaster and there’s no telling where this sequel is headed. Here’s hoping!
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