Summer Movie Preview: July 2011

We apparently worship false gods. We adore sitting, enraptured, as mutants and other mysteries of nature battle it out for symbolic superiority (and no, we aren’t talking about an overly buff Vin Diesel taking on an equally muscled Dwayne Johnson for Brazilian back alley bragging rights). Robots rule our lazy, hazy summer days, their transformative powers perking up an otherwise aggressive assault on our senses, and every once in a while, a comedy/drama/kids film will walk by, gaining our interest before another caped crusader comes in to claim its territory. That’s right, it’s blockbuster time again, the annual cinematic assumption regarding what a majority of the mainstream movie-going public will enjoy come the next four months. Sure, it’s a gamble, and sometimes, the lows are more famous than the highs. One thing’s for sure, however, we won’t be seeing another Inception any time soon.

[read full introduction]

 

Director: Michael Bay

Film: Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, John Turturro, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Lester Speight

MPAA rating: PG-13

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/t/transformers3poster.jpg

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1 July
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

According to chief machine head Michael Bay, fans of the immensely popular film franchise will be seeing several differences this time around. Primary among them, no more Megan Fox. A few choice words from the plasticine performer and she got the boot. Similarly, there will be no more references to metal testes or comic relief via racially insensitive street cars. Instead, the most recent trailer shows the city of Big Shoulder, Chicago, being more or less decimated by the Decepticons in a bit of visual inspiration that is indeed a wonder to behold. Of course, Bay has always been good with the eye candy (human or otherwise), and it can’t be as bad as the second installment… can it?

 

Director: Tom Hanks

Film: Larry Crowne

Cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Bryan Cranston, Cedric the Entertainer, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Cole Phillips, Taraji P. Henson

MPAA rating: PG-13

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/l/larrycrowneposter.jpg

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1 July
Larry Crowne

Wow, have times changed. A decade ago, the arrival of a new Tom Hanks film would be big news. After all, he was (and still is, for all intents and purposes) one of the major box office draws in film. Now, he gets sandwiched in with a bunch of transforming automatons on one of the busiest weekends of the Summer. The story, which centers on a middle aged man going back to college after losing his job, was co-written by Hanks and for only the second time in his career, he has chosen to sit behind in the director’s chair as well. At least his Charlie Wilson’s War co-star Julie Roberts is along for the ride. Still, where’s the buzz?

 

Director: Tom Bezucha

Film: Monte Carlo

Cast: Selena Gomez, Katie Cassidy, Leighton Meester, Catherine Tate, Cory Monteith, Andie MacDowell, Pierre Boulanger

MPAA rating: R

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/m/montecarloposter.jpg

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1 July
Monte Carlo

Dimming Disney starlet Selena Gomez is given another chance to prove her post tween worth with what sounds like a desperate combination of the Prince and the Pauper and the Bratz dolls. A trio of pals (including our star) head to Paris on vacation. When they realize the tour is going to be terrible, Gomez pretends to be an heiress in order to score some five-star digs. Naturally, she falls for another wealthy visitor. Then the real rich witch arrives. One assumes there will be the standard 2011 RomCom contrivances capped with lots of mindless musical montages and stunted slapstick. The House of Mouse would be so proud.

Love, Etc. and more…

Director: Azazel Jacobs

Film: Terri

Cast: John C. Reilly, Jacob Wysocki, Creed Bratton, Melanie Abramoff, Olivia Crocicchia

MPAA rating:

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1 July
Terri

The fat kid in high school has always been the center of cinematic humor. He’s the bullied boy, the guaranteed geek pratfall, the jolly chubster that the cool kids go to in order to imply or elicit a laugh. But thanks to indie icon Azazel Jacobs and a more than formidable cast, this SXSW sensation plays against type. The title character is an excessively overweight teen, forced to take the jabs of his classmates during the day while caring for his almost-Alzheimer’s uncle the rest of the time. Sure, the same familiar coming of age issues are addressed, but Jacobs and his cast find fresh and inventive ways around the cliches.

 

Director: Jill Andresevic

Film: Love, Etc.

Cast:

MPAA rating:

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1 July
Love, Etc.

Can a documentary be romantic? Does the very nature of the form — the illustration of fact and the highlighting of truth — lend itself to explorations of that most fragile of human emotions… love? That’s what the makers of this new motion picture hope for. By following around different relationships — first timers, old marrieds, newly divorced and suddenly with child — the realities of what love means can be deciphered. And since it’s set in New York City, we’ll get a bit of that Big Apple metropolitan drama as well. As with any film about people and their problems, it’s not pretty, but then again, love isn’t always

 

Director: Frank Coraci

Film: Zookeeper

Cast: Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb, Ken Jeong, Donnie Wahlberg, Jim Breuer, Brandon Keener, Joe Rogan

MPAA rating: PG

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/z/zookeeperposter.jpg

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8 July
Zookeeper

Groan. It’s time to dumb down the Summer season once again as Kevin James plays a lonely overweight zookeeper who’s so desperate to get a life, he threatens to leave the animals he loves (and, in turn, who love him). Suddenly, all the creatures great and small reveal that they can talk, and oddly enough, can help him with his lack of romance. Rosario Dawson is the target of his critter fueled Don Juaning. It’s bad enough that every new CG animated film has to be loaded with stunt voice casting and lame pop culture references. Now, this inert Dr. Doolitte redux plans on more of the same. Sigh.

Project Nim and more…

Director: Seth Gordon

Film: Horrible Bosses

Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey, Charlie Day, Jamie Foxx, Julie Bowen

MPAA rating: R

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/news_art/h/horrible-bosses.jpg

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8 July
Horrible Bosses

Director Seth Gordon has only made two films in his short career in features. One was the fantastic documentary The King of Kong. The other was the godawful seasonal comedy Four Christmases. After a brief stint as part of the omnibus effort Freakanomics, he’s back tackling onscreen humor, and he’s bringing still trying no-talent Jennifer Aniston along to muck things up. The premise has three friends plotting to murder their awful bosses as a means toward a better life. Sounds like 9 to 5 crossed with any recent serial killer effort.

 

Director: Lone Scherfig

Film: One Day

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Romola Garai, Rafe Spall, Ken Stott

MPAA rating:

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8 July
One Day

It certainly ‘feels’ like a contemporary update of Same Time, Next Year. You remember that play (and eventual film adaptation), right? A couple, committed to each other but unable to be together, agree to get together every year over the same weekend to catch up and rekindle. Well, instead of Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda, we get Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. Recently, the studio announced the release date would be moved to mid-August, which for many spells a lack of faith in the final product. Still, the source material it’s based on (a book by David Nicholls) is considered a must-read, so there’s still hope.

 

Director: James Marsh

Film: Project Nim

Cast: Bob Angelini, Bern Cohen, Reagan Leonard

MPAA rating: PG-13

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8 July
Project: NIM

How does one follow up the incredible true story of Philippe Petit, the amazing high wire artist who crossed between the two towers of the World Trade Center in 1974? How about another amazing bit of history, in this case, the tale of a group of scientists who adopt a monkey to see if they can teach it sign language, and as a result, reinterpret the relationship between man and his closest evolutionary ally. What happens next becomes the stuff of pseudo science and sociological legend. James Marsh, like Ondi Timoner, is a genius at this kind of material. One imagines he will maintain such a streak.

Harry Potter and more…

Director: David Yates

Film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter

MPAA rating: PG-13

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/news_art/h/harry_potter_and_the_deathly_hallows_part_2.jpg

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15 July
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Here it is, all you lovers of Hogwarts and the adolescent wizards it begat. It’s the end of an era, the finale that fans have been waiting for since the action packed first part last year. Harry Potter is such a part of the pop culture landscape that one has to imagine this movie being huge. Huge! Still, director David Yates has not inspired the kind of epic spectacle confidence other members of his profession have promised. Granted, he’s been better than Chris Columbus, but for the most part, what the Potter films miss is a sense of scope that someone like Terry Gilliam, Danny Boyle, or previous helmer Alfonso Cuaron would have brought to the series — right, Peter Jackson?

 

Director: Stephen Anderson, Don Hall

Film: Winnie the Pooh

Cast: Jim Cummings, Tom Kenny, Craig Ferguson, Travis Oates, Bud Luckey, Jack Boulter

MPAA rating: G

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/w/winniethepoohposter.jpg

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15 July
Winnie the Pooh

Disney is one of the smartest companies in all of entertainment. They find ways to revive forgotten and favored franchises without looking like they are only in it for the cash… well, almost. In this case, everyone’s favorite tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff is getting a post-millennial make-over, 2D style. No, studio suits aren’t rewriting A. A. Milne. Instead, the House of Mouse wants to recapture past glories, giving the famous bear and his buddies a completely faithful update. Fans of the ’60s version should be ecstatic. Modern young one, however, might be lost by the narrative’s childhood lost motifs.

 

Director: Wayne Wang

Film: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Cast: Li Bingbing, Jun Ji-hyun, Hugh Jackman

MPAA rating:

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/s/snowflowerposter.jpg

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15 July
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Based on a successful novel and following the close relationship of two women through 80 years of Feudal Chinese history, this promises to be a visually arresting and emotionally insightful ride. Wayne Wang, famous for such films as Eat a Bowl of Tea and The Joy Luck Club takes charge of this historic epic and, hopefully, brings the kind of personal touch and filmmaking flair that a similarly themed Memoirs of a Geisha lacked. The book features a lot of graphic material — mostly revolving around the various torments and suffering the main characters go through — so it will be interesting to see how this translates. Honestly, that’s the question with all book to film adaptations.

Captain America and more…

Director: George Ratliff

Film: Salvation Boulevard

Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Marisa Tomei, Ed Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Isabelle Fuhrman

MPAA rating: R

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/news_art/s/salvation_boulevard_poster01.jpg

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15 July
Salvation Boulevard

The premise for Larry Beinhart’s political satire goes a little something like this — a mega-church leader, threatened by a recent hippy convert, gets his hopped up fundamentalist parishioners to do whatever they can to protect him and his/their ministry. Granted, it already sounds like a subject ripe for over the top jabs at evangelism and religion as a rotten concept corrupted by money, greed, personal perversion, and an unstoppable drive for power. Luckily, George Ratliff is in charge, though his last effort (the awful thriller Joshua) can’t countermand the wonders of his similarly themed documentary Hell House. God only knows if this will succeed, or get swallowed up by the rest of the Summer.

 

Director: Joe Johnston

Film: Captain America: The First Avenger

Cast: Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Dominic Cooper, Neal McDonough, Derek Luke, Stanley Tucci

MPAA rating: PG-13

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/c/captainamericaposter.jpg

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22 July
Captain America: The First Avenger

No matter how good it looks, no matter how promising the casting or the resulting content, there is one name that constantly creeps up in the discussion of this film that gives many a seasoned film fan pause… Joe Johnston. He’s the king of the mediocre mainstream blockbuster. He helmed The Rocketeer (still his best film), Jurassic Park III, The Wolfman, and now this Avengers lynchpin. Granted, the trailer looks terrific and any movie that places perennial onscreen baddie Hugo Weaving as Red Skull gets our vote. Still, Johnston just doesn’t seem to have the chops to pull this kind of material off 100% successfully. Fans may take 75%, but who knows if the future franchise can.

 

Director: Will Gluck

Film: Friends with Benefits

Cast: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Woody Harrelson, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Andy Samberg, Alex Rodriguez

MPAA rating: R

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/f/friendswithbenefitsposter.jpg

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22 July
Friends with Benefits

Apparently, contemporary sexual morality has finally hit Hollywood. Earlier this year, we had Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman playing unhitched bedmates in No Strings Attached. Now, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are doing the sex without commitment thing (who knew that Black Swan was such a bad influence???). Luckily, Easy A‘s William Gluck is sitting in the director’s chair. If anyone can salvage this concept from formulaic falderal, he can. After all, he found a way to make the ancient ’80s teen comedy fresh and inventive. Maybe he can do the same for an idea that already sounds dated before its even been done.

Cowboys & Aliens and more…

Director: Mike Cahill

Film: Another Earth

Cast: William Mapother, Brit Marling as Rhoda Williams, Jordan Baker, Robin Lord Taylor, Flint Beverage

MPAA rating: R

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/a/anotherearthposter.jpg

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22 July
Another Earth

After making the rounds on the Spring festival circuit, this has become a veritable love/hate property among film critics. Many love its idea (a promising college student, guilty of vehicular homicide, uncovers a mirror planet just like ours and enters a contest to visit it) but not the narrative. Others find fault in everything but the acting. In reality, this low budget indie effort probably won’t satisfy those who see such a story sprawled across as much bigger cinematic canvas. On the other hand, sci-fi done from a far more human perspective has succeeded, so who knows? This could be one of 2011 biggest surprises, or letdowns.

 

Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner

Film: Sarah’s Key

Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Mélusine Mayance, Niels Arestrup, Frédéric Pierrot

MPAA rating: R

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/s/sarahskeyposter.jpg

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22 July
Sarah’s Key

Guess what, this is yet another foreign drama with its basis in the Holocaust. This time, an investigative journalist (played by Kristen Scott Thomas) looks into the infamous Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup and its effect on a specific young little girl, Sarah Starzynski (Mélusine Mayance). We then follow her travails as she tries to escape the Nazis, avoid dying in a concentration camp, and finally finds a life outside of the endless tragedy and horror. Well meaning and probably well done, it seems like every year there is a new untold story about Hitler’s horrific Final Solution to be discussed and dissected. As counterprogramming, however, it seems specious.

 

Director: Jon Favreau

Film: Cowboys & Aliens

Cast: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Paul Dano, Clancy Brown

MPAA rating: PG-13

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/news_art/c/cowboys_vs_aliens_movie_poster1.jpg

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29 July
Cowboys and Aliens

While many in Geekdom are head over heels for this production’s potential, color us continually unimpressed. While director John Favreau has proved his chops with this kind of material (Iron Man, Zathura), the combination of premise and promise seemed destined to underwhelm. After all, rumor has it that this property was originally developed as an “ashcan” — something conceived in order to protect copyright and creative intent. Only after the graphic novel was released did anyone see its cinematic potential. To make matters worse, this comes at the tail end of the Summer season, when many viewers will be slam banged out. This film definitely has its work cut out for it.

Crazy Stupid Love and more…

Director: Glenn Ficarra

John Requa

Film: Crazy Stupid Love

Cast: Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Analeigh Tipton

MPAA rating: R

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/c/crazystupidloveposter.jpg

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29 July
Crazy Stupid Love

With the announcement that he is leaving The Office at the end of this season, all eyes are now on Steve Carrell and his fledgling film career. What makes this particular production so interesting is that, unlike his last few films (Dinner for Schmucks, Despicable Me, Date Night), the comic icon looks to be stretching himself, materially. Pairing up with Ryan Gosling, not known for his humor chops, is a bold move, and with a supporting cast that included Julianne Moore, Emma Stone and Kevin Bacon, all the pieces are definitely in place. Even better, the team of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (responsible for Bad Santa and I Love You Phillip Morris) are behind this one, so fingers crossed.

 

Director: Raja Gosnell

Film: The Smurfs

Cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Hank Azaria, Sofia Vergara, Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry

MPAA rating: PG

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/s/smurfsposter.jpg

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29 July
The Smurfs

Yikes! Get ready to have your childhood memories rap…retrofitted as Hollywood takes those beloved little blue cartoon characters, tosses them in to New York City, and bathes the entire production in a Alvin and the Chipmunks patina. In the place of Jason Lee is Neil Patrick Harris and Hank Azaria takes on the role of Gargamel. Of course, none of this really matters, since all the kiddies will see is 3D minions bopping around the Big Apple, causing comic chaos and demanding that their action figure likeness be immediately purchased. Still holding out hope? Well, Scooby-Doo‘s Raja Gosnell is behind the camera. How’s that grab you?

 

Director: Lee Tamahori

Film: The Devil’s Double

Cast: Dominic Cooper, Philip Quast, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Mem Ferda, Dar Salim

MPAA rating:

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29 July
The Devil’s Double

While the situation in Iraq has been played out from every military angle there is, this new film from director Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors, Die Another Day) offers one of the more unique approaches out there. Telling the story of Saddam Hussein’s reign, his son Uday, and Uday’s “fiday” (body double), we see the corrupt regime from the inside, including the opulent spending and political selfishness that led to their downfall. How much of the movie deals with the invasion and its aftermath is unknown, but reports hint that Uday’s sadistic and psychotic nature – and accompanying tortures and abuses – will not be spared.