Sunday, June 6, 2010

Summer Movie Preview: June (Part 1)

Boy, when discussing the summer movies of May (here and here), I really got...well, bitchy, didn't I? I'm gonna try to keep an open mind and a sunny heart as I consider what's on the docket this month.

Get Him to the Greek (opened this weekend): In what universe did everyone watching "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" think, "Boy, I'd love to see that a-hole rocker guy in a whole movie of his own?" Maybe this is an entertaining rental or something down the road, but to me it looks like the latest effort in this push by parties like MTV to get Russell Brand over as some kind of comedy megastar in America. No thank you. We'll stick with our old Yahoo Serious tapes. Red light.

Hey, there goes my open mind.

Killers (opened this weekend): I sure hope Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher look cute together on screen, because I can't imagine them being all that funny together. Maybe all Kutcher's Twitter followers can fill a theater this weekend and have a good time or something. The most appealing thing about this project isn't the movie itself, but the anticipation of the day Heigl loses it and starts telling the media how crappy it is. Red light.

And...so long to the sunny heart.

Marmaduke (opened this weekend): If a movie based on a comic a comic strip is an uncertain proposition, either, what about a movie based on a single-panel comic strip? Much as we all love that big mutt, the filmmakers may be hard pressed to come up with the depth and nuance needed for a feature-length effort in the Marmaduke archives. I mean, with all due respect, we're not adapting "Fred Bassett" here. Red light.

The A-Team (opens June 11): At the risk of giving away the whole movie, I heard a hot rumor that the filmmakers adapted the episode where they all blew up a bunch of stuff.

Seriously, the best thing about the original series is the intro/theme song, and I won't pay 10 bucks to see it in DTS. Red light.

The Karate Kid (opens June 11): I remember the first time I saw a commercial for this reboot. I was excited to see Will Smith's kid getting his butt kicked. Then the trailer took a turn, and, yawn, it's evident the clear finds redemption and emerges victorious. Boo! If the whole movie was Will Smith's cocky kid getting his ass handed to him, I might actually go see it. Red light.

Well, I'm about 15% less bitchy in this post, but I'm still not impressed by this summer's movies. Let's hope things pick up in Part 2.

2 comments:

Ivan G Shreve Jr said...

Much as we all love that big mutt

Um, I don't. Never have, and don't plan on changing my position anytime soon.

So the fact that they're milking it with a movie version not only doesn't surprise me...it's almost like they deserve each other.

Rick Brooks said...

At the risk of "exposing the business," let me say I was never that big a fan, either. I'm not gonna fight with you on Marmaduke. I'll save that for the debate on the supremacy of "Road to Morocco." =)