The Top 5 Most Anticipated Summer Movies!
Bryan Singer, the man behind The Usual Suspects and the X-Men movies, attempts to revitalize the movie franchise that the late Christopher Reeves made famous in the 1980’s. Virtual unknown Brandon Routh will assume the role of the Superman (you may remember him from MTV’s awesomely underrated dorm room series “Undressed”, but odds are that you do not). Oscar winner Kevin Spacey will do his part as arch nemesis Lex Luger and sex kitten Kate Bosworth is sure to turn heads as Lois Lane. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this movie, but like the rest of America I will probably go see it. Films like this, King Kong, Independence Day and Spiderman make me feel like I need to go see them lest I be missing something; although, more often than not, these flicks usually end up being totally stupid or way too long (and usually both). But it does have a credible director and Kevin Spacey, and I am generally a fan of the Superman mythology. I loathed both Spiderman movies but I liked Batman Begins, so I guess these things are just hit and miss. Let’s hope this one hits.
4. The Da Vinci Code
I’ve promised myself that I am going to read the book before going to see this Tom Hanks/Ron Howard vehicle, but I probably won’t. It seems like I am the only one who hasn’t read this book yet (or at least has a vague idea of what it’s about). As far as I know this movie is about painting and/or Leonardo’s ATM password. And what’s with Tom Hanks’ hair? Have you seen the trailer for this film? He looks like a retired hockey player. The whole thing seems confusing. I think it involves cloaked monks and the coming apocalypse, but who knows. Again, I’m fairly positive that I’ll make it out to this movie, and I’m almost certain that I will regret it soon after.
3. Little Miss Sunshine
Now this is a film that I really want to see. Steve Carrell (The 40 Year Old Virgin) plays a gay suicide survivor who’s living with his brother (the underrated Greg Kinnear) who’s daughter is picked to be in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in California. The whole family, rolling six deep, pack into a VW fan and drive to Redondo Beach from Albuquerque. Alan Arkin plays grandpa and Toni Collette plays the wife. Part of me might just want to see this movie because it was created by two of my favorite music video directors, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (responsible for the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight” among many others). But the plotline sounds great and all the actors are pretty good, so I am definitely looking forward to this one.
2. Nacho Libre
Nacho Libre, Jared Hess’ follow-up to the now cult classic Napoleon Dynamite, has an unbelievably excellent premise. Here’s an anonymous plot summary that I found on the internet:
“Nacho (Jack Black) is a young man who was raised in a Mexican monastery in Oaxaca and now works there as the cook, and takes it upon himself to rescue the holy place from financial ruin by joining a local Lucha Libre tournament and becoming one of the ‘Luchadores’. Naturally, Nacho isn’t acting out of purely altruistic measures, as he wishes to help Sister Encarnacion (Ana de la Reguera), a beautiful Mexican nun who has recently arrived at the monastery, as well as the gaggle of young orphans who live there.”
I’m there.
1. Snakes on a Plane
By far the most anticipated summer movie (in my universe anyway) is the Samuel L. Jackson vehicle, Snakes on a Plane. I read an interview with Jackson who stated (and I’m paraphrasing), “when I first got the script I thought there had to be more to this movie, but there wasn’t. The title says it all, it’s about motherfuckin’ snakes on a motherfuckin’ plane. It sounded great.” You can check out the trailer for this movie at tagworld.com/snakesonaplane to see that Samuel L. Jackson does not tell a lie. This is going to be (I hope) one of those movies that is intentionally cheesy while at the same time entirely entertaining. This is a tricky little tight rope; a slippery slope, if you will. Movies like these can either fall on their face (the Scary Movie franchise) or totally rock (Cabin Fever*). Let’s hope it’s the ladder.
*Cabin Fever was a mock horror flick that existed solely as a vehicle for director Eli Roth to make one ingenious joke at the end. Check it out.
