2010 Summer Movie Preview – June

Director: Robert Luketic

Film: Killers

Cast: Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Rob Riggle, Catherine O’Hara, Tom Selleck

MPAA rating: PG-13

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4 June
Killers

In what looks like a rip-off of Mr. and Mrs. Smith (with a decidedly lower rent set of stars), the producers of this Ashton Kutcher/Katherine Heigl action/RomCom promise that there will be more laughs than gasps. That seems hard to believe. While few will believe that Mr. Twitter is one of the world’s greatest assassins, it is easy to buy Ms. Whiner as the clueless spouse who had no idea. With her track record rather lame as of late (after Knocked Up, she failed to fly with 27 Dresses and The Ugly Truth), Heigl could use a hit. Sadly, this doesn’t look like the blockbuster her flagging fortunes need. What about Kutcher, you say? Well, he’s always got Demi to comfort him.

 

Director: Nicholas Stoller

Film: Get Him to the Greek

Cast: Aaron Green, Russell Brand, Elisabeth Moss, Rose Byrne, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Colm Meaney

MPAA rating: R

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4 June
Get Him to the Greek

Is this the first time when a couple of throwaways scenes in a Apatow-inspired frat comedy (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) became the premise for an entire film itself? That seems to be the case here, with Jonah Hill and Brit wit Russell Brand sort-of reprising their roles as sycophantic fan/lackey and irritating international music celebrity, respectively. The premise is inherent in the title — Hill’s lowly intern must get Brand’s cocky rocker to the famed LA theater. Apparently, hi-jinx ensue. It appears that the low brow lampoon has dropped a few notches in cultural popularity, but don’t expect Get Him to the Greek to save it. Bury it for good, perhaps.

 

Director: Tom Dey

Film: Marmaduke

Cast: Owen Wilson, Emma Stone, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Sam Elliot, Judy Greer, Steve Coogan, William H. Macy, George Lopez

MPAA rating: PG

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4 June
Marmaduke

Now this is weird. Here we have a comic strip character that hasn’t been hot since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, who probably has as much name recognition as Funky Winkerbean and Andy Capp combined. Doesn’t spell success right off the bat. But since Hollywood can now anthropomorphize anything, why not drag the lovable Great Dane and is dispirited family into the 21st century. True, the trailer looks no worse than any number of recent talking animal adventures (Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Underdog), but if the horrific Furry Vengeance is any indication where this material might go, not even the under-five set will be satisfied.

 

Director: Vincenzo Natali

Film: Splice

Cast: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, David Hewlett

MPAA rating: R

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4 June
Splice

Very promising indeed. Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley are scientists who decided to do a little advanced gene jerry-rigging. The result is a deformed human creature with some incredibly upsetting side attributes. Ads for this horror thriller already give away most of the monster meat here, but it will be interesting to see how co-writer/director Vincenzo Natali handles the more complicated social, legal, and ethical issues. Done properly, this could be a sensational, serious scaryfest. Mishandled, however, and we could be looking at a subpar Species without a laundry list of high profile actors camping it up for the cameras.

11 and 18 June

Director: Joe Carnahan

Film: The A-Team

Cast: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bloom

MPAA rating: Not Yet Rated

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11 June
The A-Team

The casting couldn’t be better — Liam Neeson as Hannibal, District 9‘s Sharlto Copley as Murdock, Bradley Cooper as Faceman, and MMA icon “Rampage” Jackson as B.A. Baracus — and the man behind the lens (Joe Carnahan) ain’t no slouch either. With the addition of Patrick Wilson and Jessica Biel, this has “promising” written all over it. So what could undermine this otherwise worthy bit of ’80s boob tube nostalgia? Why, the studios of course. This kind of movie needs to be a big, blustery action extravaganza with as much balls as ballistics. Pulling things in for a PG-13 rating may make financial sense, but it will definitely mess with the movie’s take no prisoner’s approach.

 

Director: Harald Zwart

Film: The Karate Kid

Cast: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson

MPAA rating: PG-13

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11 June
The Karate Kid

When you think about it, there is really no reason for this remake. The original Ralph Macchio vehicle had novelty (and a nuanced performance by Pat Morita) to draw in the crowds. Now, martial arts movies are a dime a dozen, as are stories of fringe kids finding comfort (and mentors) in unusual places. This time around, the story is reset in China, with Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s son Jaden relocating there for convenient reasons. Jackie Chan is the Mr. Miyagi-like Mr. Han. He teaches the urban tough about the ways of kung-fu, all in preparation for a showdown with the school bully at a large scale tournament. Again, nothing really new here.

 

Director: Lee Unkrich

Film: Toy Story 3

Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Blake Clark, Don Rickles

MPAA rating: PG

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18 June
Toy Story 3

The tale behind Toy Story 2 remains one of the great triumphs of creativity over House of Mouse marketing ever. The Disney suits wanted to make the sequel a dull direct-to-DVD release. Pixar prevailed, and the rest is celebrated CG history (and Oscar domination). Now comes another installment in the talking plaything saga, with Andy off to college and his beloved tchotchkes donated to a day care. Everyone involved before is back, with longtime team titan Lee Unkrich sitting in for newly named executive John Lasseter. Oh yeah, and did we mention it’s been retrofitted for 3D? Should make for a sunny Summer delight.

 

Director: Jimmy Hayward

Film: Jonah Hex

Cast: Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, John Malkovich, Michael Shannon, Michael Fassbender

MPAA rating: R

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18 June
Jonah Hex

The trailer promises something akin to a cock-up marriage between Ghost Rider and the Will Smith version of the Wild Wild West. Messageboards are in panic/pleasure mode, some suggesting the material resembles the comic book’s best, while others fret over early reviews that suggest another frontier fiasco in the making. Whatever the case, the combination of Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, and Michael Shannon should be good for some amount of commercial credit, and the writing combo of Neveldine/Taylor (the warped geniuses behind the Crank films) is also good for some gratuitous thrills. Maybe this isn’t the trainwreck the previews make it out to be. Don’t be surprised if this locomotive derails before hitting paydirt.

 

Director: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass

Film: Cyrus

Cast: John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener

MPAA rating: R

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18 June
Cyrus

The Duplass Brothers — Jay and Mark — have been festival circuit darlings for a while. Titles like The Puffy Chair and Baghead have found favor within the late twenty-something mumblecore crowd. Now, they appear to be trying to tap into the rest of the artform’s friends by bringing John C. Reilly, a revitalized Marisa Tomei, and jokester Jonah Hill into a story of a divorced man, his newfound flame, and the overprotected (and protective) son who won’t let anything come between him and his mom. The casting is excellent, and if done right, this could be smart and very funny. It could also implode almost immediately. Quite the toss up, really.

25 and 30 June

Director: Dennis Dugan

Film: Grown Ups

Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph

MPAA rating: PG-13

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25 June
Grown Ups

Adam Sandler tried to expand his always limited range with 2009’s serio-comic Funny People. Writer/director Judd Apatow let him and the rest of the fanbase down with his wildly uneven excuse for self-indulgence. Now the artist formerly known as The Stud Boy is back in familiar farce waters, with longtime directing buddy Dennis Dugan behind the camera, and a wealth of comic buddies (David Spade, Chris Rock, Kevin James, Rob Schneider) in front. The basic premise has five guys getting together upon the death of their former basketball coach to spend the Fourth of July reminiscing and acting idiotic. Sandler always excels at stunted juvenilia, and from all indications, this movie is loaded with same.

 

Director: James Mangold

Film: Knight and Day

Cast: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Maggie Grace, Paul Dano, Marc Blucas, Viola Davis, Olivier Martinez

MPAA rating: PG-13

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25 June
Knight and Day

Tom Cruise has spent so much time demanding to be taken “seriously” that when he wants to break out and lift things up a bit, he can come off as forced and unfunny. Unless he’s covered in pounds of latex smarm, it’s hard to see him as lighthearted. In this case, our hero is a covert agent who accidentally gets his blind date (Cameron Diaz? You mean she can’t find a man on her own?) mixed up in his comic caper shenanigans. There is potential here, especially with James Mangold guiding the action. But there’s still the patina of implausibility with Cruise. Give him a somber future shock scenario and he’s golden. Move into more mainstream storylines and he just doesn’t fit.

 

Director: David Slade

Film: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Bryce Dallas Howard, Billy Burke, Dakota Fanning

MPAA rating: PG-13

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30 June
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Do you really need to know that this latest incarnation of the Stephanie Meyer mega-money movie merchandizing behemoth is about to hit theaters, a mere eight months after New Moon mopped up the competition? Don’t you already have every element of this unnecessary neckbiter B.S. memorized and ripe for regurgitation? Don’t you realize that a decade from now people will be laughing at your love for this Anne Rice-lite lameness the same way they snicker at fans of O-Town? As the angst between human, diamond skinned vampire, and hunky werewolf builds, the final film in the series is already in production. Guess it’s only a matter of time before all this Team twaddle dries up and dissipates. Hurray!