Summer movie preview
Ben Yarnell
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: TruLife
If you are like me, then chances are you are not sitting around right now wondering to yourself what you are going to do with all of your free time this summer. Between summer jobs, friends, summer jobs, family vacations - and did I mention summer jobs? - you are pretty locked up.
However, for those rare moments when you do actually have nothing to do, you are in luck.
First off, let me just say that, when it comes to movies, May kicks butt. No more, no less. For whatever reason, the studios have decided to front-load the season. Maybe they figure that summer jobs will have started up and their target audience finally will have disposable income again.
And it really does start off with a bang, with John Favreau's "Iron Man" on May 2. Now, I'm sure there are those out there who think the superhero genre is a little played out. And, mostly, I would agree. But this looks like a real contender for biggest grosser of the year. The casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man is flat-out inspired, especially given the similarities both have when it comes to substance abuse. Plus, the effects look pretty sharp as well.
And if effects are what you are looking for, the following week will be right up your alley, when the Wachowskis, of "Matrix" fame, give their very flashy, very updated take on the '60s cartoon "Speed Racer" on May 9.
The week after that, Disney throws its hat into the ring when it presents the next in its line of "Narnia" flicks, "Prince Caspian," on May 16. If there was one big criticism I found from those who saw the first movie, it was that it was too light on action. And everything I've read on "Caspian" points toward remedying that problem in a big way.
Unfortunately for Disney and pretty much anyone else who plans on premiering the next week, the top spot at the box office has been reserved for almost 20 years by a certain fedora-wearing, bullwhip-toting archaeologist. Of all the movies coming out in May, and probably the rest of the summer, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," due May 22, is the most widely anticipated movie on the horizon. Box office numbers are almost guaranteed, if for no other reason than old fans will want to see if this "Indy" can stand up to the rest.
However, for those rare moments when you do actually have nothing to do, you are in luck.
First off, let me just say that, when it comes to movies, May kicks butt. No more, no less. For whatever reason, the studios have decided to front-load the season. Maybe they figure that summer jobs will have started up and their target audience finally will have disposable income again.
And it really does start off with a bang, with John Favreau's "Iron Man" on May 2. Now, I'm sure there are those out there who think the superhero genre is a little played out. And, mostly, I would agree. But this looks like a real contender for biggest grosser of the year. The casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man is flat-out inspired, especially given the similarities both have when it comes to substance abuse. Plus, the effects look pretty sharp as well.
And if effects are what you are looking for, the following week will be right up your alley, when the Wachowskis, of "Matrix" fame, give their very flashy, very updated take on the '60s cartoon "Speed Racer" on May 9.
The week after that, Disney throws its hat into the ring when it presents the next in its line of "Narnia" flicks, "Prince Caspian," on May 16. If there was one big criticism I found from those who saw the first movie, it was that it was too light on action. And everything I've read on "Caspian" points toward remedying that problem in a big way.
Unfortunately for Disney and pretty much anyone else who plans on premiering the next week, the top spot at the box office has been reserved for almost 20 years by a certain fedora-wearing, bullwhip-toting archaeologist. Of all the movies coming out in May, and probably the rest of the summer, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," due May 22, is the most widely anticipated movie on the horizon. Box office numbers are almost guaranteed, if for no other reason than old fans will want to see if this "Indy" can stand up to the rest.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Ann Salanky
posted 5/01/08 @ 12:32 PM CST
Great review. REally knows his stuff
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