The Summer of 2012 officially kicks off at midnight on Thursday, May 3rd with the release of
The Avengers in American theaters. As I'm sure you know by now, Summer Movie Previews/Discussion/Preds have become something of a tradition with the Elite; here are the links if you'd like to take a look back:
The Summer of 2007 -
http://elite.speedrunwiki.com/forum/index.php?topic=1418* an incredible May lineup of Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3, and Pirates 3 kicked off what became the #1 Summer of all-time at the box office (though it wouldn't have gotten there without strong returns from Ratatouille, Harry Potter 5, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Simpson Movie, plus the surprising successes of Transformers, Knocked Up, and Superbad)
The Summer of 2008 -
http://elite.speedrunwiki.com/forum/index.php?topic=13628* while not a record breaking season, '08 DID feature one of the most incredible runs in box office history by The Dark Knight, along with some very respectable showings by Iron Man, Indy 4, Hancock, Get Smart, and Wall*E
The Summer of 2009 -
http://elite.speedrunwiki.com/forum/index.php?topic=14599.0* Transformers 2, Harry Potter 6, and Up delivered the goods, and we were blindsided by the success of Star Trek and The Hangover, but weaker than expected returns from pretty much the whole rest of the slate resulted in a somewhat disappointing season at the box office
The Summer of 2010 -
http://elite.speedrunwiki.com/forum/index.php?topic=15297* Toy Story 3, Inception, Twilight 2, and Iron Man 2 got the job done, and Karate Kid/Despicable Me turned into surprise hits, but nearly everything else embarrassed itself (Shrek 4, Prince of Persia, The A-Team). the result was consecutive disappointing Summer seasons
The Summer of 2011 -
http://elite.speedrunwiki.com/forum/index.php?topic=15779* Harry Potter 8 was huge, Bridesmaids and Rise of the Planet of the Apes were unexpectedly major hits, and most of the other big releases performed reasonably well (Thor, Captain America, Transformers 3, Hangover 2), making 2011 one of the biggest Summers ever. the only especially notable bombs were The Green Lantern and Conan the Barbarian
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This will be our Summer-long topic to talk about the new movies we see, and also we're going to use the time leading up to midnight on Thursday, May 10th to
predict the Top Five movies of the season just as we have the last five years! (Plus I'm going to post the results of last year's competition later in the decade.) But first off, let's get rolling on that
2012 Summer Movie PreviewNOTE: for these writeups, anything after a $ is in millions of dollars and is the domestic (aka USA-only) total gross for that film unless I say otherwise.May 4th (Week #1)
The AvengersRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/Watch The Trailer:
Marvel's The Avengers- Trailer (OFFICIAL)What The Heck Is It?With the fate of the Earth in the balance, all those Marvel superheros we've been hearing about since 2008 (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow) are forced to team up and fight back.
Why Will It Be Big?Every studio in America wants to hold the rights to the next Harry Potter- a movie series you can rely on to pull in big bucks every Summer/Holiday season for the next decade. That's why Marvel went ALL IN on this series last year, committing well over a
half billion dollars toward bringing Thor and Captain America to the big screen to set up this film. But those two movies barely broke even (pulled down a respectable $181/$177 million)... so is the gamble going to pay off?
Why Should I See It?HECK YES it will! Just got back from the midnight showing, and I have to say, Avengers may very well be the greatest Summer movie ever. Not in terms of the best film that's even been released during this season; I just mean that it's everything you'd ever want out of a fun Summer blockbuster. Every action sequence hits, the stakes are suitably high, and my
goodness is it ever funny. I knew bringing in writer/director Joss Whedon (Firefly, Doctor Horrible, last month's Cabin in the Woods which is also great) would make this not your everyday comic book fare, but I never expected to hear dialog this sharp in a superhero movie. Suffice it to say that Marvel's got that Next Harry Potter they wanted.
And, uh, what else is there to say? Scarlett Johansson doing cartwheels, Robert Downey Jr being himself, HULK SMASHing... if you only see two movies this Summer, make sure this is one of them!
May 11th (Week #2)
Dark ShadowsRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1077368/Watch The Trailer:
Dark Shadows Trailer 2012 HD Johnny DeppWhat The Heck Is It?Johnny Depp is some rich guy centuries ago, but then he gets cursed by a witch or whatever, and now he's an immortal vampire in the present day, I guess?
Why Will It Be Big?How in the WORLD people aren't sick of Tim Burton/Johnny Depp/Helena Bonham Carter spending the last twenty years putting out the same- ehhhh junk it, I'll just link the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzLRP8e4vE#t=6But annnnnnywho, apparently everyone still eats it up, considering Alice in Wonderland did a mind-boggling
$334 million only two years ago!
(PS - To be fair, Sweeney Todd
rocks. And be sure to watch Big Fish if you still haven't.)
Why Should I See It?Eva Green is being marketed as "one sexy witch." I... can't disagree!
May 18th (Week #3)
BattleshipRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1440129/Watch The Trailer:
Battleship - Official Trailer [HD]What The Heck Is It?Aliens attack! US Navy fights back! SPOILER WARNING
Spoiler
Something something "sunk my battleship" lol
Apparently exploding CGI robots don't program themselves, as Michael Bay was unable to punish us with yet another Transformers movie this Summer, so
these killer robots from outerspace will just have to hold us over for a little while. And heck, if they can make a line of plastic toys into a successful movie series, and a theme park ride into a successful movie series, why not a board game?
(Okay so there's 100 perfectly good reasons why, but let's not get off track.)
Why Should I See It?You almost certainly shouldn't. But hey, think we've reached the bottom of the barrel with this source material? Not even close. Pulling this next sentence directly from wikipedia, and no this is NOT an April Fool's Day joke gone horribly wrong:
On January 31, 2012, it was announced that Happy Madison and Adam Sandler were in final negotiations to develop Candy Land: The Movie, with Sandler both starring and co-writing the screenplay.PLEASE let the Mayans have been right about this December...
ALSO THIS WEEKWhat to Expect When You're ExpectingEven Al Gore agrees that these pack-in-20-different-actresses-so-they-all-get-5-minutes-screen-time romcoms (Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve) are the worst thing to happen to the planet in the last three years. And the pregnancy angle has kind of been beaten to death post-Juno as well... still, spending 90 minutes with Anna Kendrick/Brooklyn Decker/Elizabeth Banks couldn't be ALL bad.
The DictatorOkay, so Bruno crushed DK's hopes and dreams when it wasn't the next Borat, and this movie doesn't seem likely to recapture that Borat magic either. But heck, any Hollywood project that results in a dead man's ashes being dumped all over Ryan Seacrest earns a free pass in my book.
May 25th (Week #4)
Men in Black IIIRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1409024/Watch The Trailer:
MEN IN BLACK 3 - Official Trailer - In Theaters 5/25/12What The Heck Is It?Some aliens kill Tommy Lee Jones, or erase him from existence or something! Our only hope is to send Will Smith back in time 50ish years to when the MIB agency was first being founded, and Tommy Lee Jones was Josh Brolin!
Why Will It Be Big?The good news: everybody loved Men In Black ($251 mil, and that was in 1997 dollars, so like, whoa). The bad news: no one liked Men in Black II. The other bad news: MIB2 came out TEN YEARS AGO. Smith is still the most bankable star in the world, but even so, picking this as one of your Top Five films for the Summer would be quite the risky proposition...
Why Should I See It?I'll admit I was hesitant to commit to this one, especially given how aliens have invaded Earth (and only one small team of misfits can stop them!) something like once a month in the past decade, but the time travel angle might make for a fun twist. At the very least they'll be able to count on Cyber seeing it twice. Upgrade me to cautiously optimistic!
ALSO THIS WEEKMoonrise KingdomOMG OMG, I think someone bet Wes Anderson 10 million dollars that he couldn't create a parody of Wes Anderson movies. I mean, just LOOK at this thing:
Moonrise Kingdom Official Trailer #1 - Wes Anderson Movie (2012) HDFrankly I'm astounded that someone keeps paying this man money to make movies that no one ever sees (Royal Tenenbaums did an okay $50 mil, but nothing else has even managed
$25, for heaven's sake). But I'm sure glad it keeps happening, because this looks hilarious!
PS - WATCH FANTASTIC MR FOX, like, seriously bro.
June 1st (Week #5)
Snow White and the HuntsmanRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1735898/Watch The Trailer:
Snow White and the Huntsman Trailer 2012 - Official [HD]What The Heck Is It?Charlize Theron is the most beautiful woman in the world (I'm with you so far...), but also an evil witch who hires Chris Hemsworth aka Thor aka the only huntsman manly enough to brave the forbidden forest (dang, perfect casting again...) so he can kill the young princess who will one day surpass Charlize in beauty... Kristen Stewart? Okay, that's where you lose me.
Why Will It Be Big?Well, that OTHER Snow White movie sure didn't strike it rich (Julia Robert's Mirror Mirror bombed out last month with about $60 mil), but all Twilight kidding aside I really do like the more serious high fantasy Lord-of-the-Ringsy approach they're taking with this version, at least based on the trailer. With a decent set of reviews I could very easily see this coming out on top as a strong Top Five of the Summer contender!
Why Should I See It?There might not be another Snow White movie hitting theaters for
months- you can't afford to miss this!
ALSO THIS WEEKPiranha 3DDAlright, alright, so two years ago in this space I suggested people check out Piranha 3D because it was sure to be ridiculously fun in a so-bad-it's-good way. Well, I've since watched it myself, and
whoops; it's actually so-bad-it-stays-bad. Which means I unfortunately cannot in good conscious recommend this sequel... still, that title did get a chuckle out of me! (Isn't quite the #1 title of the Summer though, that's still coming up.)
June 8th (Week #6)
PrometheusRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/Watch The Trailer:
Prometheus - Official FULL Trailer [HD]What The Heck Is It?Ridley Scott return to the not so distant future, where humanity comes into contact with its first ever alien species... but UH OH, what if they're the aliens from "Aliens"?!
Why Will It Be Big?I liked Alien and loved Aliens, but the series went downhill so quickly from there that I frankly had no interest in a prequel. And neither did anyone else, apparently, based on what a terrible flop the last movie was a few years back (AvP2 managed only $40 mil). But Scott's been doing a great job being all mysterious about this project and building suspense and now some legit hype is starting to mount. It's got some definite breakout hit potential at this point, especially considering how that's...
Why Should I See It?SUCH a sweet trailer. I'm 100% onboard after watching it, and you should be too! Looks like Michael Fassbender and Guy Pearce will be great, plus heck, when's the last time you got to watch Charlize Theron in a major motion picture? Six day wait, more like
six days too long.
ALSO THIS WEEKMadagascar 3Why, why, whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. (Okay, so it's because the last one made a decent $180 stateside but a whopping $425 overseas back in 2008, and international grosses for animated talked animals have skyrocketed since then, and more on that subject in a little bit. Still, ewww.)
June 15th (Week #7)
Rock of AgesRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1336608/Watch The Trailer:
Rock Of Ages Official TrailerWhat The Heck Is It?It's Los Angeles, it's the late 1980s, and the world's greatest hair-band rocker is coming to town to put on the show of a lifetime! Oh, and he also happens to be... Tom Cruise? What in the world?!
Why Will It Be Big?+
It really shouldn't be... this movie was an enormous flop in 2001 ($17 mil for Rock Star) and an even bigger disaster when it came out back in 2008 ($6 for The Rocker). But ehhhh, those versions didn't star Cruise or Alec Baldwin or Catherine Zeta-Jones, they weren't based on popular Broadway musicals, and I'm sure the music wasn't as good. This just might be the next Chicago after all!
Why Should I See It?I attempted to resist, but lost my resolve exactly 10 seconds into the trailer when I realized that was
Sister Christian. Plus, Paul Giamatti, Will Forte,
Bryan Cranston, and, uh.... Kevin Nash?! That's it, I'm seeing it 10 times!
ALSO THIS WEEKThat's My BoyLet's see here, imdb is telling me that Andy Samberg's life comes crashing down on the eve of his wedding when his alcoholic, loud-mouthed, talks-in-a-stupid-voice-all-the-time deadbeat father Adam Sandl-
I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND STOP YOU RIGHT THERE IMDB, THANKS BUDDY
June 22nd (Week #8)
BraveRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1217209/Watch The Trailer:
Brave TrailerWhat The Heck Is It?In northern Scotland, a village is turned upside down when a young princess defies age-old customs by trying to make a name for herself despite being a total girl. It's almost as if she's, like, cursed for life! Early reports state that this plotline may have been based on the true-life story of BloodE, but those rumors remain unconfirmed as of press time.
Why Will It Be Big?Okay, okay, so even as their #1 supporter I've got to admit that Pixar's incredible streak (11 for 11 since Toy Story!) came to a halt with last Summer's underwhelming Cars 2. In terms of pure box office it actually wasn't a total bust (managed just over $190 mil, which anyone else would kill for), but the movie never should have been greenlit and it certainly didn't live up to their own high standards. On the plus side, that disappointment means we finally get to use this phrase: Pixar's
back, baby! Everything about Brave sounds amazing, and frankly you're NUTS if you think this won't be Pixar Smash Hit Number Eleven.
Why Should I See It?Scotland! Monsters! Heroic Pixar kind of stuff! Possible surprise guest appearance by mysterious Hollywood newcomer "R. Ball"!
ALSO THIS WEEKAbraham Lincoln: Vampire HunterDING DING DING, move over Piranha 3DD, we officially have a winner for best movie title of the season! And just speaking personally, any remaining skepticism regarding this project was instantly assuaged by this trailer. I mean,
honestly nowAbraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter - Official Trailer (HD)June 29th (Week #9)
GI Joe: RetaliationRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1583421/Watch The Trailer:
G.I. Joe: Retaliation Exclusive Premiere Trailer [HD]What The Heck Is It?Oh no, the G.I. Joes have been SET UP! Now it's up to Channing Tatum to issue Ghost Protocol and win back their good name while flying under the radar and fighting off Cobra Commanders and- holy crap, is that
The Rock?
Why Will It Be Big?Great minds think alike, so I'm sure that after hearing this title your initial reaction was, like mine, "since when do they make sequels to TOTAL BOMBS"?! Upon closer inspection, however, 2009's GI Joe didn't
completely embarrass itself (decent $150 mil), but still, it was enough of a flop for them to fire 2009's entire cast and replace them with The Rock. Which may have been a brilliant maneuver, actually! Last year Rocky reinvigorated the Fast and Furious series ($210 for Fast Five), then somehow pulled Journey 2 past the $100 mil mark despite the notable disadvantages of A) no one liking Journey 1 or even remember it existed and B) Journey 2 looking like hot garbage. Can he save his third action franchise in a row? My money's on... yes!
Why Should I See It?Heading in my interest level in all things GI Joe couldn't have been any lower, but I like Rock, think what they do with the last 10 seconds of the trailer is pretty funny (watch for yourself, I won't spoil it for you), and LOVE the song that kicks in at 1:40. Can't get it out of my head, in fact. Count me in for the opening weekend audience!
July 6th (Week #10) [note: actually comes out on the 3rd to take advantage of the ID4 holiday]
The Amazing SpidermanRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948470/Watch The Trailer:
The Amazing Spiderman - Trailer 1 (HD) [first trailer]
The Amazing Spider-Man New Trailer 2 Official 2012 [1080 HD] - Andrew Garfield [second trailer]
What The Heck Is It?Spidey's back! Except now he's Andrew Garfield (aka Mark Zuckerberg's friend) and Mary Jane has been subbed out for Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy, and they're all back in high school, and Spider-Man 1/2/3 never happened.
Why Will It Be Big?As so often happens, the internet was in UPROAR when this trailer first leaked (see Trailer 1 above). How can you reboot a series only 5 years after the last movie, especially when the movie in question made $336 million? Well trouble was no one really liked Spidey 3, and apparently no one liked
making it either, as everyone involved showed zero interest in getting together for Spidey 4, so Sony kind of panicked and yelled "fine, you're all fired!" and started from scratch rather than wait around another two years.
Which sounds like a total disaster, which this movie still very well could be, but ehhhh, I'm actually cautiously optimistic about its chances. I think everyone loves Spiderman to the point where if this looks like fun and gets decent reviews, we'll put the last three movies aside and give it a shot after all. Actually this could very well be the #1 wildcard of the whole season, in terms of "solid Top Five choice" upside versus true "bust of the year" downside!
Why Should I See It?The first trailer left me scratching my head (seriously, how ridiculous is that first person Mirror's Edge streetrunning sequence), but the movie seems to be rounding into shape nicely in trailer 2. Plus Martin Sheen is a great choice for Uncle Ben, and has current Hollywood It Girl Emma Stone ever NOT been a complete delight? The answer is a firm "Noooooo". Looks like I'll be giving this a shot after all.
July 13th (Week #11)
Ice Age: The 29th One Or SoRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1667889/Watch The Trailer:
ICE AGE 4 Trailer 2012 Movie - Continental Drift - Official [HD]What The Heck Is It?First it got cold, then global warming hit, then there were dinosaurs around for some hugely anachronistic reason, and now the continents are drifting apart, which I guess is somehow worth making a movie about?
Why Will It Be Big?Remember how I mentioned that animated talking animals are all the rage outside of North America? Well, these Ice Age movies have never made waves here in the US (0 for 3 at cracking the $200 million barrier), yet the international crowd went INSANE over the last one, pushing it to over $690 million... meaning it made
almost a billion dollars worldwide. Which, for reference, no film not named Star Wars/Pirates/Batman/Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter/Titanic had ever done at that point. What the FLIP, foreigners?
Why Should I See It?You shouldn't.
Take a stand for scientific accuracy in our historically-situated animated talking animals children's movies.
ALSO THIS WEEKTedAlright, alright, so everyone not named Jimbo is pretty much sick and tired of the Seth MacFarlane style of humor after 30 seasons of Family Guy/American Dad/The Cleveland Show/the three new animated shows he probably created for FOX last weekend. That being said, the trailer actually won me over a little more than I expected. But, worth paying money for? I'll let you be the judge of that.
Ted - TrailerJuly 20th (Week #12)
The Dark Knight RisesRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/Watch The Trailer:
The Dark Knight Rises - Official Trailer #3 [HD]What The Heck Is It?After taking down the mob (and of course Joker) following the death of Harvey Dent, Gotham City enjoys 8 years of peace and quiet. But when a steroid raging psychotic named Bane starts tearing Gotham apart, Batman is forced to rise from the shadows and take back his city.
Why Will It Be Big?After your last movie sets the opening weekend record, pulls in an astonishing $530 million+, receives rave reviews from both critics and fans (it's still in the Top Ten on imdb's Top 250), and earns a posthumous Oscar for the greatest comic book villain of all time... how do you top yourself for movie #3? By making it
the last Batman ever, hiring Tom Hardy to play another great villain, and releasing an incredible trailer (I mean, that detonation of the Steeler's stadium? wow, just, wow). And heck, we're talking about essentially the same team that turned
Inception into a $300 million Summer blockbuster- are you really going to bet against them when Batman's got their back?
Why Should I See It?Oh please, Infil and wheat have only seen 10 movies combined in their lifetimes, and even they are going to watch this one. Also, what's this, Anne Hathaway AND Marion Cotillard? Oh my!
July 27th (Week #13)
Neighborhood WatchRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1298649/Watch The Trailer:
Neighborhood Watch Movie TrailerWhat The Heck Is It?Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, and Richard Ayoade are the coolest suburban Dads on the block, but their just-for-fun Neighborhood Watch programs turns deadly serious when... there's an alien invasion? Oh come on, seriously?
Why Will It Be Big?Stiller and Vaughn have been on the downswing lately (the new Night at the Museum and Fockers disappointed, Tower Height couldn't crack $80 mil, The Dilemma was a total bust), but they appear to be playing to their family comedy strengths in this one. There's always one late-July/August comedy that turns into a modest breakout hit; this seems like as good a choice as any.
Why Should I See It?Hard to say, given how that teaser trailer doesn't tell us anything other than that it's impossible for Richard Ayoade to look into a camera without making me laugh.
UPDATE - Whoops, just received word that this isn't even the name of the movie anymore, due to a marketing change that FOX hastily threw together this morning! From wikipedia:
On March 27, 2012, it was reported that FOX had the poster and trailer removed from Florida theaters in response to the increasing controversy concerning the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman. The trailer featured Hill imitating a gun with his hand to pretend to shoot at teenagers, while the poster featured a bullet-ridden neighborhood watch sign. A new alien-focused campaign began on May 4, 2012, with the release of a new trailer, coinciding with Fox changing the film's name to The Watch, to further distance the film from the Martin case."Welp."
August 3rd (Week #14)
The Bourne LegacyRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194173/Watch The Trailer:
The Bourne Legacy Official Trailer #1 - Jeremy Renner Movie (2012) HDWhat The Heck Is It?Jeremy Renner isn't Jason Bourne; he's
better. Damon's out, but the rest of the cast and crew are back for #4 in the series.
Why Will It Be Big?Again, INTERNET UPROAR. "Matt Damon IS Jason Bourne, how can you make a Bourne movie without him?!" An understandable concern, but apparently Damon read the original script for this and thought it was awful (in fact he called it "a career killer"), but you don't go and NOT continue a series when the last movie made $228 million and everyone liked it, so they had to go ahead without him. I'm thinking Matt might come to regret his decision; everyone likes the Bourne STYLE, and the series has so much momentum that it just might turn into the modern answer to James Bond, churning out hit after hit despite switching out its leading man.
*looks it up* Wait a minute, #3 Supremacy came out FIVE years ago? Wow, feels like only three! Okay, so maybe "momentum" isn't going to be as big a factor as I expected.
Why Should I See It?Renner, Edward Norton,
and Rachel Weisz? Come on, there's no way I can resist that.
And since I've got nothing else to say.... how awesome must it be to be Jeremy Renner right now? In three years you've gone from nobody to the Best Actor nominee in the year's Best Picture winner and scored a role in every upcoming Bourne, Avengers, AND Mission Impossible movie for the next decade. Oh, he was fantastic in The Town, too. Must be preeeeety nice indeed!
ALSO THIS WEEKTotal RecallInternet wasn't too pleased about this one either. "The 90s original is still perfectly good- why does it need to be remade already?!" While I certainly understand the sentiment... eh, this looks pretty fun, so I'll let it slide! See for yourself:
Total Recall 2012 Official Trailer [HD]: Colin Farrell Recalls His Dangerous Past: ENTVCast list, let's see here, we've got Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, and... Bryan Cranston again, whaaaaaa. How is he finding time to pop up in all these movies- could we please just focus on filming the final season of the greatest TV show of all time?!
August 10th (Week #15)
The CampaignRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790886/Watch The Trailer: none available yet
What The Heck Is It?Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, running for President against one another? BOY HOWDY!
Why Will It Be Big?Zach G's a hot prospect after taking both Hangovers to $250 mil+, and he even got Due Date to crack the $100 mil barrier. Ferrell is of course no slouch at pulling in audiences either. Beyond that, however, it's hard to say until we get more info on this project.
Why Should I See It?If you don't support Will NOW, he'll go bankrupt and then we'll never get to see that Anchorman 2 movie you've been begging for!
August 17th (Week #16)
The Expendables 2Read About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764651/Watch The Trailer:
THE EXPENDABLES 2 Trailer HDWhat The Heck Is It?Every action star ever, reunited (once again) for
one last job (well, until the next one).
Why Will It Be Big?Expendables 1 actually did surprisingly well for itself (finishing around $103 million), but you have to wonder what percentage of that audience was there because of the (admittedly very cool) gimmick. Of that group, how many of them are going to pay money to see that gimmick for a second time? A cool idea for a movie is nice, but without enough changes to the formula, "cool idea" alone doesn't translate into a sequel... I call it
Ocean's Twelve Syndrome.
Why Should I See It?Hopefully future trailers/marketing will give us a compelling reason to tune in; until then I'd recommend just renting the original.
ALSO THIS WEEKParaNormanNobody's harsher on non-Pixar computer animated flicks than me, but even I have to admit that this movie looks pretty alright. Judge for yourself:
ParaNorman Official Trailer #2 (HD)My only concern is that it'll be lost in the shuffle of a busy Summer season... personally I'd have held on to it a little longer and released in October. Doesn't it feel like a perfect family film for the Halloween season?
August 24th (Week #17)
Premium RushRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1547234/Watch The Trailer:
PREMIUM RUSH - Official Trailer - In Theaters August 2012What The Heck Is It?Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the world's greatest NYC bike messenger, until the day he's given a mysterious package that is secretly A BOMB (or something? I can't tell) and then he's got to ride especially fast and action sequences and men in black or whatever.
Why Will It Be Big?Being a bike messenger is a really cool (insanely dangerous) job, so you'd think it would translate pretty well into a fun action film, but I don't know... this trailer doesn't quite sell me on the concept. Can't say I expect this to surprise us at the box office.
Why Should I See It?I don't know, but I DO know that seeing someone almost dying 100 times a day while weaving through traffic to deliver packages reminds me fondly of YT, the skateboarding delivery girl from the book
Snow Crash, which is absolutely amazing and everyone should read right this very instant.
August 31st (Week #18)
LawlessRead About It:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1212450/Watch The Trailer:
Lawless Official Trailer #1 (2012) Shia LaBeouf Movie HDWhat The Heck Is It?It's maybe the 1930s or so, and Shia LaBeouf wants to join the local mobsters, but then some other gang and/or the police tried to take them down and everyone shoots at each other.
Why Will It Be Big?It almost certainly won't be- not even Johnny Depp could turn 1930s gunrunning into a hit (Public Enemies sputtered out around $97 million), so what hope does anyone else have? Still, that trailer turned out better than expected, so I'll keep an eye on it.
Why Should I See It?After Transformers and more Transformers and MORE Transformers and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, just the sight of Shia LaBeouf kind of makes me nauseous. However that's balanced out by showcasing three of my favorites (Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce YET again, plus Jessica Chastain, who apparently taught them how to star in 6 movies a year like she did last year). And what a killer appearance from Gary Oldman. Might be worth a DVD rental after all!
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I'll talk about making those Top Five Movies of the Summer predictions in the next post, but first I'm going to go ahead and make the boldest prediction of all...
That entire lineup from the first week of May to the first week of August is sooooo stacked; not only will 2012 be the
highest-grossing Summer of all time at the box office, with holiday season help from Twilight 4 and Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth in The Hobbit, 2012 overall is going to be
the biggest year ever for movies!
