Summer Movies - June 09

It's gradually transitioning into consistent warm weather here in the Northeast...which means it'll soon be the best time to sit in dark, enclosed theaters for hours! It's already May if you can believe it so I'm going to break down the next few months, starting with June, with my humble opinion of the summer blockbusters...

What to see:

- The Hangover (Release: June 5) - You know how sometimes you see a trailer for a comedy and then you see the entire movie and realize that the best part is in the trailer? Well I'm fairly certain that the best part of this movie is in the trailer - see for yourselves below (hint: it's at the end). However, I have faith in this comedy because there are a few hilarious guys in the cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis. And it's directed by Todd Phillips (Road Trip, Old School)





- Dead Snow (Release: June 12) - Kids go on a ski vacation and end up in a battle with Nazi zombies. Give me one reason why you wouldn't want to see this. It's actually a Norwegian comedy-horror movie that obviously has no serious intentions, was shown at Sundance, and it'll be released here in the US next month.

- Food, Inc. (Limited Release: June 12) - A trend has slowly moved across our country that shouldn't be a trend and thus this movie. And that trend is people are starting to pay more attention to what food they buy and eat. Many people go food shopping without putting much thought into it when in reality, what you buy can have serious implications. A good quote in this trailer is, "When we move an item across a scanner, we're voting...for local, or not...organic, or not..." You might get a bit more out of this documentary than Dead Snow, but I'm open to debate on that.

- Year One (Release: June 19) - Everyone seems pretty excited about this one and though I tend to be a bit pessimistic approaching movie releases, I'm really pulling for my man Jack Black here. The one thing that concerns me is that this is rated PG-13. However, Nacho Libre was rated PG and that was a masterpiece.

- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Release: June 24) - Now I'm not going to claim this as the movie to see this summer or anything...but I'm still going to see it. I found the first one entertaining and not just because Megan Fox was in it. Also, I was able to circle the set of this movie last year in Bethlehem, PA (I got Optimus Prime's autograph). Michael Bay's only really good for explosions and action, which I'm 100% OK with.

Will probably be disappointing:

- Land of the Lost (Release: June 5) - I'm on edge about this one. We all know that Will Ferrell is a bit too liberal in his choice of comedies. I'd probably completely dismiss it if Danny McBride (Hot Rod, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder) wasn't in the cast. I also am not sure of its rating; if it's PG, forget about it, though I'm thinking it'll be PG-13. When I first saw the trailer for it, I thought what pothead came up with this plot? And then I realized I wasn't alive in the 70's for its inception as a TV series. The other thing that throws me off is the director, Brad Silberling, who's directorial filmography, for the most part, can ironically be described by one of the movies he did: "A Series of Unfortunate Events." [Ay-o!] I also give him extra negative points for directing Nic Cage (City of Angels).

- The Taking of Pelham 123 (Release: June 12) - I hope that I'm wrong on this one, especially in light of the year that John Travolta has had, but I don't have a good feeling about this one. First of all, have you heard of it? Probably not...bad sign considering it's released in about a month. Second of all, I'm definitely not going to completely dismiss the work of director Tony Scott, but that's mostly just because he directed Top Gun and True Romance. Other than that, most of his work has been average action with big-name actors - Days of Thunder, The Fan, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Domino. Because of that, and because the trailer didn't move me in the least bit, I'm not relying on the superstar cast of this movie: John Travolta, Denzel, John Turturro, Gandolfini. But that's just me.

Movies NOT to see:

- Imagine That (Release: June 12) - Eddie Murphy: why did you have to start doing lame movies? I didn't even read the plot on this one...all I saw was that it stars Eddie Murphy and it's rated PG, and we all know where that's going.

- Tennessee (Release: Who Cares?) - If I really need to tell you that a Mariah Carey movie is going to be bad, I exile you from reading this blog.

Obviously I haven't covered EVERY movie that will be released in June, so feel free to comment on anything you're looking forward to (or not looking forward to)! Stay tuned for upcoming posts on July and August releases.