SUMMER 2011. The Movies.

I know I’m a bit late to the party- two jobs, a film gig, & life can get in the way- but I figured it’s now time to throw out my opinions on the summer movies of 2011.  I won’t go too depth into the films themselves (knock on wood) but these are the summer movies of 2011 I’m looking forward to see &/or are curious about.

And so it begins!

MAY 06:  Marvel’s THOR (Kenneth Branagh) 

The summer kicks off (once again) with another superhero flick.   I’m one of the few filmgeeks I know who ISN’T pumped about Marvel’s whole Avengers spiel.  Marvel officially became a movie studio back in 2008 when they released Iron Man which is by far their best film.   Since then, Marvel has been pushing on knocking out these Superhero flicks rather quickly with them all leading to their 2012 mega-blockbuster superhero team-up The Avengers.  The films have been set up to all take place in one expanded universe & 2011 is the last summer before everything they’ve been working for comes to fruition.   Now, I’m guessing this means The Avengers is going to be an incredibly fun feature (& hopefully embraces the magic stupidity of a superhero team) but I’ve felt it’s all been detrimental to the individual films themselves.   Regardless, I’m curious about Thor because this film, if it embraces it’s inherent goofiness, could be their best standalone hero flick! The trailers sell it as some kind’ve odd hybrid of superhero shenanigans & hyperbolic Shakespearean drama.  Now, I’ve openly admitted my weakness for Oliver Stone’s Alexander– a terrible movie that is so overblown & goofy it becomes good again- so if Thor could aim for a tone like that I’d be sold!  I’m more curious about Marvel’s 4th feature than I am anticipating it.      (Update: I saw THOR.  It was decent BUT completely forgettable.  It was not the overblown wonky tale I was hoping for.  Kinda bland.)

MAY 13: BRIDESMAIDS (Paul Feig)  

Two words:  Kristen Wiig.  I haven’t actively watched SNL in years but when I catch an episode here & there I don’t laugh (the new cast is just soooo smug) but when I do it’s all thanks to Kristen Wiig.  Doesn’t hurt she’s cute as hell too!  Besides, I love chicks & I love flicks.  Why shouldn’t I love chick flicks?  Especially if it’s as vulgar as this one is promised to be?  Sold!  (Update: Yeah. It’s great! Favorite film of 2011 as of Mid-May)

MAY 20: MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (Woody Allen)  

I have a intense affection for the works of Woody Allen.  It’s such a welcome treat when a film of his sneaks into theaters once a year.  Woody has over 40 films to his name (written & directed) & he shows no signs of aging.  Now he doesn’t always hit it out the park; going to the theaters to see a Woody Allen film is like going on a blind date- you’re either going to uncover a gem or a total drag.  His 2010 film, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger– even with Josh Brolin was a total bore.  Thankfully though, based on reviews this year’s Woodster flick is one of the good ones & with that cast I’m not surprised, I mean I am literally in love with the entire female cast (Rachel McAdams & Marion Cottilard in one film?  Be still my beating heart).  Not to mention I’ve always loved the look of Woody’s films & it’s such a treat to know at least once a year I’ll have the chance to see a movie that is shot on film & has zero digital elements.  With Darius Khodnji (Seven, Alien Resurrection, Funny Games 2008) acting as cinematographer this one should look INCREDIBLE.

Note:  Pirates of the Caribbean 4: In Need of More Money is NOT on this list cause it looks terrible.  You take Gore Verbinski out of Pirates & all you have is Johnny Depp collecting a paycheck.

MAY 26: THE HANGOVER PART II (Todd Phillips)  

I can’t analyze why I’m looking forward to this film… I just am.   I though the first film was utter genius & I’ve experienced a lot of Hangovers.  Could the film be bad?  Sure, the biggest worry I have is they’ll just repeat the first film beat by beat except in Thailand now but hell, this should be a damn good night at the movies regardless.

MAY 27: THE TREE OF LIFE (Terrence Malick)  

If there is another legendary American filmmaker whose work is so out of tune with the summer movie season I’d like to meet him. Terrence Malick is a legend.  The man makes films that are wholeheartedly his vision & lately I have found The Thin Red Line has gotten excessive plays on my BD player.  The Tree of Life is anything but a summer blockbuster & yet it is… it’s a summer blockbuster for the art crowd.   When I look back at 2011 I would not be surprised if THIS is the movie I most look back on.  The summer season is an odd one for cinema because the movies that come out between May & August are usually the most hyped flicks of the year but also the most forgettable.  I mean can anyone honestly tell me what movies came out last summer BESIDES Inception, Toy Story 3, & Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World?   Either way, Malick’s 5th film is destined to be a pure cinematic experience that I can’t wait to partake in!  There’s a whole 20 minute segment that portrays the “Birth of the Universe” & is apparently Douglas Trumbull equaling or one-upping his work in 2001:A Space Odyssey.  May 27th can’t get here soon enough!

JUNE 03: X-MEN FIRST CLASS (Matthew Vaughn)   

Should I know better?  Yes.  I should know better than to get excited about a 20th Century Fox summer blockbuster made under the cinema crushing gaze of Tom Rothman.  Rothman for those not in the know is a murderer of cinema, a studio executive who never met a movie he couldn’t screw over in the story or production department in order to make another buck.  But, I can’t help it.  X-Men: First Class looks aces!… & I’m not even a fan of the damn franchise.  In fact, I’ve been actively bored by ALL OF THEM except for X2 (I understand Bryan Singer’s original started the current superhero craze but it’s just not that interesting of a movie.   The less said about Last Stand & Wolverine the better).   Really I should be mocking this film for even existed.  This is X-Men 5. A prequel put into production not because there was a story here dying to be told BUT because the original cast is too damn expensive now!  When first announced I did mock the film but then Fox hired a real director (Matthew “Kickass” Vaughn) & hired my New Favorite Actor Michael Fassbender to play Magneto.  Over the past few months my outlook on the film has changed from repulsion to fascination.  I’m now fully sold on X-Men: First Class from the cast to look to swinging 60s time period &  if Vaughn has been allowed to make a genuine character based actioner then this might be an excellent flick!   Hell, it’s not even in 3D!

JUNE 10: SUPER 8 (J.J. Abrams)  

I have big hopes for this one.   I’m not the biggest fan of J.J. Abrams but I do appreciate his talent for crafting successful mainstream entertainment & even I fell head over heels in love with his Stark Trek 2009, perhaps the perfect example of how to make a brainless summer movie.  Anywho, Super 8 is Abrams ode to his own history of backyard filmmaking & the cinema of Steven Spielberg.  Could there be a summer movie more geared to tickle the hearts of all independent filmmakers?  It’s the story of some young whippersnappers making a Zombie movie (awww) who suddenly find themselves caught in the middle of a huge event.  Apparently Aliens are involved, mucho lens flares, that awesome guy from Peter Jackson’s King Kong 2005 as a Sheriff (could there be any more perfect casting& much Kodak Ektachrome 8mm stock is to be shot.  I’ll be there opening night for sure.

JUNE 17: GREEN LANTERN (Martin Campbell)   

ANOTHER Superhero movie?  Sweet Baby Jesus, whatever happened to summer movies like Speed & The Matrix– you know, original movies that didn’t require extensive back knowledge on who is who in the films respective universe.  But, I’m sold on this film because of one unsung factor- director Martin Campbell.  Campbell has three genuine action movies to his name- Goldeneye, The Legend of Zorro, & Casino Royale, all perfect pieces of massive audience entertainment.  Still, I wasn’t sold on Green Lantern until the most recent trailer showcased the massive scale of this flick that I found my interest piqued.  Since I have zero foreknowledge of the comic book- what are the Lanterns powers again- I have no qualms with Ryan Reynolds in the role of Hal Jordan & aside from his suit being all CG (it just looks odd) I have no complaints about the look of the film.   It’s another stupid case of post-conversion 3D so like all the other movies on this list I’ll be seeing this CLASSIC (film is anything but 2D so don’t call it that).

JUNE 22: CARS 2 (John Lasseter & Brad Lewis)  

I’m not looking forward to this at all… but after so many good films Pixar earns a viewing off me out of goodwill.  The original Cars was a “one-er” for me- I.E. watched it once, thought it was cute & never cared to view it again- & I expect the sequel will be the same deal.  Will there be some strong elements in the film?  Sure.  But is there anything about the Cars universe that demands a second story (or second viewing?).  No.  But I guess after $5 billion in merchandise even Pixar couldn’t say “No to a sequel”.  Anywho, I really don’t trust the Cars universe for many reasons (here’s Two:  1. anything that gives Larry the Cable Guy work is bad in my book  2. It can’t just be coincidence the original film was George Carlin & Paul Newman’s last film, it must’ve killed them) but I’ll give it a shot… even though I am bummed this is Pixar’s 2nd sequel in a row.

JULY 08: HORRIBLE BOSSES (Seth Gordon)   

Black comedy.  Murder.  Great cast.  Directed by the guy who did King of Kong?  I’m sold.   This looks like a solid piece of dark humor.  I really hope this film delivers because it’s coming after a long dry spell in the summer (Cars 2 as previously said looks bland & I refuse to sit through another Michael Bay Transformers film after paying to see the dogshit 2nd movie).  I’ll keep my fingers crossed on this bad boy.

JULY 15: HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HALLOWS- PART 2 (David Yates)  

I haven’t missed a Potter flick yet.  I don’t intend to start now.  You know, when all is said & done the Harry Potter franchise is really going to be the stuff of legends!  Warner Brothers put this series into production way back in 1999 & have actually kept the same cast & crew ever since!  It’s really amazing.  Keeping Daniel Radcliffe & the rest in their respective roles helped define the series & I look forward to the day when I can look at the first & last film back to back.  Now do I find any of the Potter films to be particularly fantastic?  No, not really, the biggest problem with the franchise has always been that each entry is just another small piece of the whole & not it’s own standalone film.   This means I don’t really expect Harry Potter 8 to be a fantabulous piece of work but it might be the strongest flick in the franchise because it’s all climax.  Either way, regardless of what I think of each film individually the Harry Potter franchise should be one of the best epic stories ever told when viewed in it’s entirety.   It’s gonna be weird when July 16 comes around & there will no longer be another Potter flick on the horizon.  It’s the end of an era.

JULY 22: CAPTAIN AMERICA- THE FIRST AVENGER (Joe Johnston)       Or how Steroids saved America.   The final Marvel movie before their 2012 mega-blockbuster The Avengers hits next year, this is their last chance to educate filmgoers about who’s on the team.  Hence the terrible moniker The First Avenger (they never called Iron Man the 2nd Avenger).   Anywho, despite being shot digitally in 3D (all the visuals in the trailer look rather soft & flat) this is Marvel’s best chance to deliver a solid A-class piece of work.  After Inglorious Basterds I really hoped Hollywood would take the hint & start making more off-kilter films about WWII.  I’m a huge WWII buff & it’s one of the best represented periods of history on film (& for damn good reason) but seriously, how many times can we watch men behind enemy lines or Oscar bait Holocaust flicks?   The idea of a superhero World War II just floats my boat.  If Marvel & Joe Johnston just set out to make a kickass 2 hour WWII with a superhero then this might very well be my film of the summer!  If they’ve set out to just make another goddamn commercial for The Fucking Avengers than fuck them… I mean, it might make for a fun but forgettable two hour trip to the movies but there’s no reason to settle for low goals.

JULY 29: COWBOYS & ALIENS (Jon Favreau)  
Is 2011 the year of the Alien?  Battle: Los Angeles.  Paul.  Thor.  Super 8. Green Lantern. Transformers 3: Fuck You TicketBuyers.  The Thing 2011.  Etc.  We are two years after District 9 now so the Alien craze is in full invasion (haha).   Anywho, with my undying love for the Western & Alien invasion flicks it’s only right that I should be interested in this Jon Favreau mashup.  The trailers look nice & it seems like Harrison Ford is ready to be BA again.   So sign me up, short of horrid reviews, I’m there.

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE (Glenn Ficarra & John Requa)    
Color me intrigued.  After watching Blue Valentine I can’t help but wonder how Ryan Gosling will work in a manipulative Hollywood romance flick.  I liked look of the recently released trailer & am always curious to see what will be done with Steve Carell on film.   Call this my wild card of the summer.  My opinion could change the closer we get to release but until then, I’ll gladly check it out at the cheap theater.

AUGUST 05: RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (Rupert Wyatt)  

Way to early to tell with this flick.  I am a fan of the franchise but if the early reviews are negative this could very well be a “Wait for BD” title.   Interesting to learn that Andy Serkis is the monkey (again) but selling your movie as “From the CGI team of AVATAR” isn’t too comforting.   Nor is James Franco as a scientist… I think I’m over my Franco appreciation & have gone straight to disinterest.

AUGUST 12: 30 MINUTES OR LESS (Ruben Fleischer)                                    All I can say is: “This movie is fucked up!”  It’s a buddy comedy flick based off a real-life 2003 robbery case only in real-life the Goofy Pizza Guy’s head blew the hell off his body!   Either way, despite the kinda sleaziness behind it all the cast rocks (Danny McBride) & as long as the film delivers should be a nice sendoff to Summer 2011.

& that’s a wrap.  Now do I expect all these films to deliver on the promise I’m hoping for?  No.  Most won’t.  They’ll either be terrible films made promising by fantastic marketing OR they’ll just underperform & be mediocre fluff.  BUT one or two of these films should deliver on my expectations & be those great summer movies that are replayed again & again at home!

….  In a final closing note; As promising as Summer 2011 looks, leave it to Christopher Nolan to show them all up a whole year in advance.   Meet one of my favorite villains ever to be introduced in next year’s The Dark Knight Rises-BANE!!   

SCREAM 4

(SPOILERS FOLLOW)

It took me a while but I finally got around to catching Wes Craven & Kevin Williamson’s Scream 4 in theaters this week.  Question is: Was it everything I hoped for?   Well, Yes & No.  YES because for the first time since 1997 a Scream film is concerned with telling a story that takes place in the real world & is about normal people.  NO because the movie isn’t all that good.

While the trailers & ads sell Scream 4 as a sequel the film really functions more as a reboot than anything else.  If the first film was about horror movies, the second was about sequels, & the third about trilogies, then this is the Remake entry in the Scream franchise.  The series reflective eye is turned towards the common malaise in horror cinema when a series is taken back to the very start in hopes of starting anew.  Problem is this Hollywood trend has always been a flawed concept in my eyes since it’s truly impossible to ever REALLY go back to the beginning.  Thankfully, Williamson is aware of this & doesn’t attempt to restart the franchise fresh but instead creates a hybrid of sequel & remake.  Thus the old cast- namely Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell),  Dewey Riley (David Arquette), & Gale-now-with-the-surname-Riley (Courtney Cox) – find themselves involved in a murder spree centering around a bunch of teenagers that closely mimics the original killings.  It turns out Someone wants to remake the original Woodsboro murders now that Sidney has finally/foolishly returned to her hometown.

It’s a beautifully simple setup & it’s not surprising to learn Dimension Pictures had plans for a Scream 5 & 6 in mind when they put this movie into production since the project very much feels like it’s supposed to be the start of a new series.  (Shame about those box office returns though)  The new characters are given ample screentime & while they aren’t particularly fleshed out or well developed, they do receive the brunt amount of the narrative & do all the heavy lifting.  The returning characters, meanwhile, are regulated to the sidelines & mostly act as window dressing to appease the already established fanbase.

Pictured Above- Window Dressing

It’s 2011 & it’s been an eon since the last Scream & truthfully this IS the best way to restart a once dead franchise.  The returning characters in their 40s are “far past their ingenue days” & the younger characters offers the audience some fresh faces who believably be caught in the various slasher scenarios necessary for this genre.  (Can’t imagine many 40 year olds being chased around a drunken house party.)  There’s a real sense throughout the movie that this might be a “passing of the torch” moment & that any future flicks would exclusively follow the younger cast.   Sure, none are as interesting as the old batch but hey, they’re attractive & ripe for the slashing.   Maybe the creators even have the balls to kill off the old cast!   Alas…. they don’t.   They don’t even have the cojones to scare you.    Scream 4 is without a doubt the least “scary” entry in the franchise to date. It’s less “what is familiar isn’t scary” & more that they don’t even try.  The film comes off like a goofy IMDB forum posting with some gore laden murders thrown in for good measure.  The movie makes the same mistake the 3rd entry did- the creators so heavily focus on being cute & witty that they forget to try their hand at scaring the audience.

Nowhere is this self-aware “cuteness” more apparent than in the opening scene.  Scream 4 opens rather classically with two cute girls being threatened by Ghostface- so far so hum- & after some snappy dialogue & a good “boo” moment, the two hotties are killed off.  Nice.  Now just wait just a minute there, happy slasher fan!  You see, what you just watched was actually the opening of STAB 5!  (the one with time travel).  Well, with that out of the way NOW the movie starts proper with two blonde, fan-appeasing cameos talking about horror movies.  The more talented of the two is quickly  killed off in a very cute way & …. oh wait…. that was actually the opening of STAB 6!….  & we now find ourselves with two NEW cute girls.  We MUST be in the real movie now, right?   Well, I really don’t know.  The performances & dialogue with this third set of girls is reeaaaalllly awful.  Not to mention the filmmaking itself is pretty weak to boot (I’m certain I spotted some equipment in the background).  This has to be the opening of STAB 7!.  We’ll know when the movie really begins because everything will be so much more technically polished & the dialogue will sound far more natural & unforced.  It won’t come across like the tired nth entry in a tired franchise but will feel like a real film!   … Oh… wait… that WAS the real opening of Scream 4?  Ergh…   The idea of making an opening scene about opening scenes is a very ingenious concept (it’s Inception with a dozen Ellen Pages) but the execution is quite flawed.   It hurts there is zero differentiation between the “fictional world” of STAB! & the “real world” of Scream especially since the real world bit is the worst executed portion of the opening.  Honestly though, the real problem with the opening of this movie is there’s nothing there BUT cute meta-commentary.  This isn’t the pure terror of Drew Barrymore’s murder OR the tragic irony of Jada Pinkett-Smith dying in front of a paying audience or even the narrative heavy execution of Liev Schreiber from Part 3… this is pure indulgent self awareness.  There’s no real filmmaking to be found here; no placing people in character’s emotions or any of that jazz, it’s just a series of “witty” reveals.  It’s like watching Wes Craven give up on horror & creating real emotions in lieu of being cute.   It’s just uninvolving once you understand what’s going on.

Yo, this ain't real!

Ok, I’m being far too hard on the opening really.  It is very cute, I was just upset there was zero human involvement present.   For a genre that’s built on being actively afraid of what’s around the corner starting the film on an emotionally cold opener is never a good start.  With a sigh of relief though, from then on the film does remember from time to time to BE a movie!  The narrative kicks in, the characters are developed (badly…but still), the murders come along & you actually WANT to know what happens next.  Unlike the previous Screams though it is weird to see how out of date the new movie is.  While dated, the previous three entries are all movies that perfectly define their time.  The new one studiously attempts to be as modern as possible but the whole affair comes across like your parents trying to get in on that “LiveJournal”.  I was shocked to see Ghostface never texted his victims (lots of potential there), Twitter was only mentioned once, as was Facebook, etc.  For a film that ultimately reveals itself to be ABOUT social networking & the Internet the flick sure feels unaware about how it all works.  The less said about the cluelessly inserted idiot with the webcam on his head the better.  Also- a Cinema Club?   I understand the movie needs THAT SCENE where the film geeks spells out the rules but do Cinema Clubs exist anymore?  Wouldn’t an Online Film Forum or Blog be a more sensible & “of the now” way to give across the same info.  I mean there’s a chance to introduce tons of red herrings thanks to the anonymity of the Internet- I.E. a forum member who knows way too much information about what’s going on & could show up in the 2nd half of the film or reveal himself to the be killer.  It’s a far more timely way of getting across the necessary information & adds some much needed mystery to the proceedings.

Speaking of the killers- it’s nice that the people behind the Ghostface masks are finally characters INVOLVED with the overall narrative but they’re both kinda frail.  Which one of the 5’2 tall 110 pound killers was the 6’5 200 pound man in the mask again ?   All joking aside I did the like the killer reveals.  Charlie (Rory Culkin) was the less interesting of the two since the character already had a dozen red flags against him- I.E. he looks like a Trench coat Mafia member AND he’s the movie’s resident film geek a.la. Stu & Mickey.   The nicer surprise was Emma Roberts being the second killer.  Here was a character who in the marketing & for the first half of the film had been set up as Sidney’s replacement.  Jill had just the right amount of attractiveness & blandness that would make her an ideal horror lead.  Making Jill the mastermind behind the murders was a nice surprise & I greatly enjoyed every aspect of her character.   ….At least regarding the writing & plot machinations.  I gotta say as far as talent is concerned, Emma Roberts is a VERY limited actress.  She comes across more whiny & adorable than terrifying & insane.  It’s a good thing Roberts is very cute & Julia Robert’s niece otherwise I don’t where she’d be.

"Don't Fuck With the Original" was a great line though!

Ultimately though, for all it’s flaws (and it has a TON OF FLAWS), Scream 4 is a fun & passable fluffy piece of entertainment.  If you’re a casual viewer of the series there is much fun to be had & there are worse ways to spend an afternoon at the movies.   Really, I’m just so hard on the film because I’m such a diehard fan of the Scream world & can’t look past many of the crippling problems (dozens of which I didn’t name here).    It’s better than Scream 3 though, that’s for DAMN sure.

MVP ONSCREEN: I’ve never watched “Heroes” before but a little research told me Hayden Panettiere is kind’ve a known actress.  Well, I can’t say anything about her previous work but she was quite enjoyable on screen.   Of all the teen characters hers came across the best because she really added some charm to the affair.  While the other teens (well…actors in their early to mid 20s) too heavily focused on fitting their archetype, Panettiere added a real sense of life & vibrancy to her thin character of Kirby.  The character was a bit of a hard sell (she’s a walking 12 year old nerds wet dream) but she pulled it off.

MVP OFFSCREEN:  I was so certain I’d be giving this credit to Kevin Williamson.  I mean he IS the real brains behind the first two films & all.   Alas, the script just isn’t there to make me honestly feel it’s worth the praise.  I know Williamson wrote the opening sequence & that sure wasn’t good.  I’d argue the offscreen most valued player was the cinematographer Peter Deming.  The new film has a glossier aesthetic & sheen than the previous three flicks but it looks so good I can’t complain.  It will be interesting to watch the series back to back one day & see the whole Scream world changes so drastically.

If Scream 5 ever happens I hope Dewey gets to DO something.