Spring Movie Preview: May
I'm bored at work, so I suppose I can keep going here...
MAY 5
Mission: Impossible III
Say what you want to say about Tom Cruise being crazy - I agree. That doesn't mean his movies are any less entertaining. He was a fine observer in War of the Worlds, and Minority Report is one of my favorite movies of the last couple years. And no one can convince me he wasn't great in Collateral. M:i:III is not a big corner for him to turn, but I'll be damned if it doesn't look kind of fun. The first in the series was well-written, and John Woo blew shit up but good in the second. I'm not sure what to expect from "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams, but the previews look more promising than anything else coming out that week. Also, they caught a good viral marketing campaign with the Global Hunt, which I've been doing for the last several weeks. This movie certainly isn't necessary, but Philip Seymour Hoffman looks like he's having fun. He might just make up for Cruise's lost credibility.
Website: MissionImpossible.com
An American Haunting
I'm kind of excited about actual scary-looking movies coming out. This one looks to be the closest match to last year's The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which scared the begeezus out of my girlfriend... and yeah, of me too. It's a colonial-era ghost story, apparently based on true events, about "The Bell Witch," an evil spirit that took up residence with a settler's family in their home, and is allegedly "the only documented case in U.S. history when a spirit actually caused a man's death." Not too sure about that, but the previews have some nice freaky moments. I can't imagine why more period horror movies haven't happened... it's much harder to get light into those dark, secretive corners when you have to fumble with matches and a lantern to do it in. A solid if smaller-name lead cast of Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek headline. I'm hoping for something as fun and as well put-together as Emily Rose, but that benefited greatly from the courtroom drama stuff, so we'll have to see.
Website: AnAmericanHauntingOnline.com
MAY 12
Poseidon
Yeah, it's a remake. But it's a remake with Kurt Russell, so that ought to score it a few points. One of the things I really liked about Red Eye was this very claustrophobic feeling you got from Rachel McAdams for 2/3rds of the movie. Once the plane landed, it lost a lot of the lovely tension. I feel like this has the potential for that sort of build. Yeah, a cruise ship is enormous, but once it capsizes, a lot of that space becomes cut off and unusable. The cast is a bunch of midcarders who have something to prove, which is that they can match Kurt Russell's Cool Old(er) Guy schtick. I'm hoping that will lead to some good performances. The previews make it looks like Josh Lucas is making a bid to steal this movie. Will Snake Plisskin allow it? The effects look pretty fun too, so hopefully they'll get the right feel and tension build to make this one a lot of fun. Wolfgang Petersen is somewhat hit or miss... Air Force One was ridiculous, unrealistic fun, while Troy took things a little too far. Also, A Perfect Storm proved he can handle himself with water, so that's promising.
Website: PoseidonMovie.com
Alpha Dog
I have yet to actually hear anything about this one, but it popped up on ComingSoon's release database. It's got a couple of people I like, and it sounds kind of interesting. Emile Hirsch plays a young drug dealer who begins to move up through the ranks of his ring, eventually becoming the youngest person to ever appear on the FBI's Most Wanted list at 19. After a bad deal, he plots a kidnapping, which naturally goes horribly wrong. Hirsch made The Girl Next Door a little more than it probably would have been with someone less competent. Bruce Willis also shows up, which is cool.And we finally get to see if Justin Timberlake has any acting talent, which I've been holding my breath about for some time now. Good talent at the top, with Nick Cassavetes picking and interesting choice to follow up The Notebook. He also wrote Blow, which isn't the best movie, but I liked it, and it proves that Cassavetes knows what he's doing when it comes to the drug stuff.
Website: AlphaDogMovie.com
MAY 19
The Da Vinci Code
Part of this movie still scares me a little bit. It used to scare me a LOT, until I saw the first full trailer. At least it looks engaging. Dan Brown's book is probably the most well-regarded and popular pop mystery ever written. And deservedly so. It's really, really good. But the minute I started to hear names associated the movie, I got scared. Ron Howard? OK, I'll buy that - I'm not sure there's a genre the man CAN'T do. But Tom Hanks? Ehhhhhhh... I like Tom Hanks as much as anyone, but he doesn't quite match the description of Robert Langdon. He's supposed to be a slightly less kickass Professor Jones. But with the incredible backup cast (and the fact that they took about 10 years off Hanks's look) I am willing to go in with no prejudice. From the moment I read this - actually, from the moment I read Angels and Demons, the first Langdon book - I knew they were bound for licensing and eventual film productions. I just hope they'll be able to maintain the same breakneck pace that Brown captured in his writing. The supporting cast - Jean Reno, Audrey Tatou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina and Paul Bettany - is almost guaranteed to keep this one interesting.
Website: SoDarktheConofMan.com
MAY 26
X-Men: The Last Stand
So many unknowns here. I am with a lot of people in my belief that X2 was a great movie, easily better than the original X-Men. And yet everything I've heard about X3 terrifies me. Brett Ratner as the director doesn't send me into shock, as it has some people online (I'm looking at you, Harry Knowles) , but it doesn't get me terribly excited, either. In fact, very little that I've seen has gotten me excited about this movie, except for the inclusion of Beast, and nowI'm not even sold on that. The plot doesn't do a whole lot for me. It's another serum that could "cure" mutants, and Professor X and Magneto have two wildly different views on how to handle it. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy Ian McKellen as a villainous character anymore. Plus, we're kind of lacking progress in this, aren't we? It's basically been the same issue over and over again in all three movies. Plus, I never liked the Dark Phoenix story arc to begin with, so that leaves me feeling pretty meh. But I will probably give it a shot, if only to see how the series ends. Who knows? Maybe they'll prove me wrong.
Website: X-MenTheLastStand.com
So there's May. Look at this, me all on time! Doesn't happen often, but I'll try to keep it up as much as I can. Enjoy.
MAY 5
Mission: Impossible III
Say what you want to say about Tom Cruise being crazy - I agree. That doesn't mean his movies are any less entertaining. He was a fine observer in War of the Worlds, and Minority Report is one of my favorite movies of the last couple years. And no one can convince me he wasn't great in Collateral. M:i:III is not a big corner for him to turn, but I'll be damned if it doesn't look kind of fun. The first in the series was well-written, and John Woo blew shit up but good in the second. I'm not sure what to expect from "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams, but the previews look more promising than anything else coming out that week. Also, they caught a good viral marketing campaign with the Global Hunt, which I've been doing for the last several weeks. This movie certainly isn't necessary, but Philip Seymour Hoffman looks like he's having fun. He might just make up for Cruise's lost credibility.
Website: MissionImpossible.com
An American Haunting
I'm kind of excited about actual scary-looking movies coming out. This one looks to be the closest match to last year's The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which scared the begeezus out of my girlfriend... and yeah, of me too. It's a colonial-era ghost story, apparently based on true events, about "The Bell Witch," an evil spirit that took up residence with a settler's family in their home, and is allegedly "the only documented case in U.S. history when a spirit actually caused a man's death." Not too sure about that, but the previews have some nice freaky moments. I can't imagine why more period horror movies haven't happened... it's much harder to get light into those dark, secretive corners when you have to fumble with matches and a lantern to do it in. A solid if smaller-name lead cast of Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek headline. I'm hoping for something as fun and as well put-together as Emily Rose, but that benefited greatly from the courtroom drama stuff, so we'll have to see.
Website: AnAmericanHauntingOnline.com
MAY 12
Poseidon
Yeah, it's a remake. But it's a remake with Kurt Russell, so that ought to score it a few points. One of the things I really liked about Red Eye was this very claustrophobic feeling you got from Rachel McAdams for 2/3rds of the movie. Once the plane landed, it lost a lot of the lovely tension. I feel like this has the potential for that sort of build. Yeah, a cruise ship is enormous, but once it capsizes, a lot of that space becomes cut off and unusable. The cast is a bunch of midcarders who have something to prove, which is that they can match Kurt Russell's Cool Old(er) Guy schtick. I'm hoping that will lead to some good performances. The previews make it looks like Josh Lucas is making a bid to steal this movie. Will Snake Plisskin allow it? The effects look pretty fun too, so hopefully they'll get the right feel and tension build to make this one a lot of fun. Wolfgang Petersen is somewhat hit or miss... Air Force One was ridiculous, unrealistic fun, while Troy took things a little too far. Also, A Perfect Storm proved he can handle himself with water, so that's promising.
Website: PoseidonMovie.com
Alpha Dog
I have yet to actually hear anything about this one, but it popped up on ComingSoon's release database. It's got a couple of people I like, and it sounds kind of interesting. Emile Hirsch plays a young drug dealer who begins to move up through the ranks of his ring, eventually becoming the youngest person to ever appear on the FBI's Most Wanted list at 19. After a bad deal, he plots a kidnapping, which naturally goes horribly wrong. Hirsch made The Girl Next Door a little more than it probably would have been with someone less competent. Bruce Willis also shows up, which is cool.
Website: AlphaDogMovie.com
MAY 19
The Da Vinci Code
Part of this movie still scares me a little bit. It used to scare me a LOT, until I saw the first full trailer. At least it looks engaging. Dan Brown's book is probably the most well-regarded and popular pop mystery ever written. And deservedly so. It's really, really good. But the minute I started to hear names associated the movie, I got scared. Ron Howard? OK, I'll buy that - I'm not sure there's a genre the man CAN'T do. But Tom Hanks? Ehhhhhhh... I like Tom Hanks as much as anyone, but he doesn't quite match the description of Robert Langdon. He's supposed to be a slightly less kickass Professor Jones. But with the incredible backup cast (and the fact that they took about 10 years off Hanks's look) I am willing to go in with no prejudice. From the moment I read this - actually, from the moment I read Angels and Demons, the first Langdon book - I knew they were bound for licensing and eventual film productions. I just hope they'll be able to maintain the same breakneck pace that Brown captured in his writing. The supporting cast - Jean Reno, Audrey Tatou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina and Paul Bettany - is almost guaranteed to keep this one interesting.
Website: SoDarktheConofMan.com
MAY 26
X-Men: The Last Stand
So many unknowns here. I am with a lot of people in my belief that X2 was a great movie, easily better than the original X-Men. And yet everything I've heard about X3 terrifies me. Brett Ratner as the director doesn't send me into shock, as it has some people online (I'm looking at you, Harry Knowles) , but it doesn't get me terribly excited, either. In fact, very little that I've seen has gotten me excited about this movie, except for the inclusion of Beast, and nowI'm not even sold on that. The plot doesn't do a whole lot for me. It's another serum that could "cure" mutants, and Professor X and Magneto have two wildly different views on how to handle it. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy Ian McKellen as a villainous character anymore. Plus, we're kind of lacking progress in this, aren't we? It's basically been the same issue over and over again in all three movies. Plus, I never liked the Dark Phoenix story arc to begin with, so that leaves me feeling pretty meh. But I will probably give it a shot, if only to see how the series ends. Who knows? Maybe they'll prove me wrong.
Website: X-MenTheLastStand.com
So there's May. Look at this, me all on time! Doesn't happen often, but I'll try to keep it up as much as I can. Enjoy.
posted by Matt S. at
2:16 PM
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