The 12 Movies You Should See This Summer
Memorial Day’s biggest debut returns us to the now familiar setting of the Marvel Universe and its mutants. “X-Men: First Class” from 2011 was a surprisingly light hearted and hip take on the team’s 1960s origins, particularly after the misguided bombast of the previous films in the series. “Future Past” time travels to bring together the 1960s X-Men and their older, “modern” versions under the direction of scandal-ridden director Bryan Singer (who also directed the first two films in the series). Will Singer be able keep the mutants fun while keeping fans happy?
20th Century Fox
Family Guy maestro (and disappointing Oscar host) Seth McFarlane returns to the screen following his surprisingly successful live-action debut “Ted” with this Western comedy. McFarlane, not voicing a teddy bear this time, plays a cowardly frontier farmer who must step up when his new crush’s gun-toting ex shows up in town.
Universal Pictures
One of the more intriguing pictures of the summer seems to capture several trends at once. Borrowing a page from comic book films, this serves as an origin story for one of classic Disney’s most memorable villains. The trend toward gritty reboots is reflected in the drive to return the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale to its darker origins, while the epic medieval fantasy combat of the “Lord of the Rings” films is seen in the trailer’s grander moments. Then there is the casting. Angelina Jolie has always looked a bit like a Goth Disney princess, so in ways it’s the role she was born to play…
Walt Disney Studios
Tom Cruise showed a surprising level of self-deprecation recently in changing his Twitter bio to “Tom Cruise: Running in Movies Since 1981,” but he hasn’t brought any of that self-awareness or fun to his recent film outings. Since the disintegration of his latest high-profile marriage, Cruise seems trapped, making the same sort of glum action movie over and over again, like a Sci-fi version of Liam Neeson. The dour heroes he plays seem so antithetical to the cocky grinned heroes he played in his youth. Cruise’s characters now could be the avatars at the center of a dystopian video game, and this film seems takes the trend to its logical next point, as Cruise plays a future warrior who dies every day only to be restored at his last save point. Who knows, maybe it’ll be profound?
Warner Bros. Pictures
Clint Eastwood isn’t exactly the first name to spring to mind when you think “Broadway musical.” His one experience in front of the camera for a musical is 1969’s walking punchline “Paint Your Wagon,” in which both he and Lee Marvin played (awful) singing cowboys. Behind the camera, Eastwood has proven himself a true music lover. In his first film as director, he cast himself as a DJ. “Bird,” his 1988 biography of Charlie Parker, was flawed but admirable. And he has often contributed music to his own films, including the heartbreaking piano ballad that closes “Gran Torino.” He’s worked for years (so far unsuccessfully) to produce a remake of “A Star is Born” starring Beyoncé. “Jersey Boys” itself is considered top-of-the-line tourist-bait on Broadway, and advance word on the film has been largely glowing. Perhaps the cowboy can sing after all.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Despite largely centering around James Franco talking to Andy Serkis in a monkey costume, 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was a surprisingly thoughtful and well-done attempt to reboot the series following Tim Burton’s missteps. Though Franco isn’t back (for better or worse), Gary Oldman and Keri Russell have stepped up to the plate.
20th Century Fox
In retrospect, 2005’s “Sin City” is probably the pinnacle of director Robert Rodriguez’s career (this far at least). Arriving on the scene in the middle of the ‘90s indie-wave, he at first seemed like a Texan Tarantino before changing gears with the playful “Spy Kids” series. The first “Sin City” showcased his technical ability while working in the gritty world of comic book author Frank Miller. Complete with a startling visual look and a gorgeous cast, it was good nasty fun. This follow-up will either remind viewers of what is exciting about Rodriguez or show him to be a stagnated artist trying to pull water from an empty well.
Dimension Films
After taking over the vampire, superhero, and dystopian action movie genres, the latest target for young adult fiction on the big screen is the weepy “two dying people fall in love” tearjerker. Everyone’s favorite homeless pansexual wood nymph, Shailene Woodley, stars with Ansel Elgort as two teenagers who find love at their cancer support group. The potential for campy melodrama is huge here, but advance word has been good. Bring tissues, kids.
Temple Hill Entertainment
The Wachowskis must surely rank second only to M. Knight Shyamalan in the “wasted promise” sweepstakes of the last decade. Following the high-wire, kinky noir “Bound,” the Wachowskis created one of the first sci-fi classics of the new millennium with “The Matrix.” (Yes, I know it was 1999, pedants). This was followed by the gargantuan train wrecks that were the Matrix sequels and the equally expensive and overambitious adaptations of “Speed Racer” and “Cloud Atlas.” Now they return to the well that made them famous, with another story of a pretty person (Mila Kunis instead of Keanu Reeves) discovering their dreary life is just a cover up and that they are secretly the most important person in the universe. We’ll see if it works out.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Certainly the oddest of the Marvel films to hit the screen during the current wave (and that includes “Thor”), “Guardians of the Galaxy” also holds the potential to be one of the bigger surprises of the summer. The movie uses the time-honored formula of an everyday soldier who gets dragged into an intergalactic struggle he had no idea existed, partnering with soldiers who are alien to him in every sense of the word. But unlike the deadly serious Christopher Nolan Batman and Superman films, or the “Boys Own Adventure” spirit of the Avenger films, GotG is openly embracing its wackiness. The question remains whether general audiences will jump on board or be put off by an oddball superhero adventure.
Walt Disney Studios/Marvel
For those looking for a little class with their sci-fi and popcorn, South Korean thrillmaster Joon-ho Bong makes his English language debut with this look at a dystopian future. (It says a lot that our summer movies are so obsessed with bleak futures.) Global warming has killed the entire population of the planet, other than the passengers of a single train.
Radius-TWC/CJ Entertainment
Perhaps due to the “laid back” reputation of his early films, Richard Linklater has never really gotten the credit that he deserves for formal innovation. From the conversational structure of “Slacker” and the three “Sunrise/Sunset” films to the rotoscoped animation behind the philosophical musings of “A Scanner Darkly” and “Waking Life,” the director has always been willing to experiment. This may be his most ambitious effort. He films the same “actor” from age 5 to 18 (with Linklater regulars Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as parents) to convey the experience of growing up. For those looking for a little meditative vibe to coast through the dog days of July and August, this might be the brainy crowd pleaser of the summer.
IFC Films