The 10 Most Anticipated Movies of the Summer

The summer is on its way. May 1st will officially signal the start of the “Summer Blockbuster Season”, where big-budget monsters full of exuberant special effects dazzle audiences across America (and the world). There are always disappointments in the bunch, but there are also those gems that exceed your expectations and blow you away. That was the case with both Iron Man and The Dark Knight for me last year. But, of course, there are also tons of comedies, all vying for that spot as the most memorable of the summer not for the excitement it produces, but the smiles and laughs. Rotten Tomatoes has just published its Summer Movie Preview. I’m gonna get on board and put down the 10 films I am most looking forward to this summer.

Note: Clicking on the name of the movie will take you to the trailer for it.

1. Star Trek
From the moment this film was announced, I was instantly excited, and the excitement hasn’t abated, but rather, it has increased, exponentially with each piece of information, each new screen shot, each new trailer or clip, or even the smallest snippet of a review. I am not a trekkie, but I do love Star Trek. The characters seem perfectly cast in this movie, and so far, there’s nothing but good reviews (remember, the film has already premiered in Australia, so the Aussies have had a chance to review it). There hasn’t been a good Star Trek movie in years… 13 years, to be precise. First Contact was the last good one made. If J.J. Abrams can successfully reboot the series, he’ll have my eternal gratitude. What makes this movie’s release so exciting is that it seems like that’s a very good possibility.

2. Up
It’s Pixar’s new movie. That should be enough, in and of itself. The fact that Pixar seems to be getting better, and not worse, is quite scary. And every time they announce a new movie, it seems like this time might mark the first time they fail. …But once again, they seems unlikely. And I couldn’t be happier. I suggest you check out the trailer for the film, which increases and solidifies my excitement.

3. Bruno
Sacha Baron Cohen’s followup to Borat… Wow. What else do I say? Borat is hands down one the funniest films I have ever seen. I wondered how the hell Baron Cohen would follow that up, given the fact that Borat had become so well-known that he’d never be able to pull it off again with that character. …So along comes Bruno, a homosexual reporter from Austria. And if “follow-up to Borat” isn’t enough, controversy abounds around the film’s rating, and apparently Ron Paul is duped by Bruno. I cannot frakking wait to see that.

4. Terminator Salvation
When a new Terminator film was announced, I sort of hung my head and shook it. “Leave the series alone. It’s a trilogy. The third movie was just average. It can only go downhill from here.” When McG was announced as the director, I hung my head and shook it once more. Of all the people to direct this movie, did it have to be the guy who directed Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle? Please god, no! But it was. And yet, since the first teaser trailer was released, I started to get intrigued. Then the full theatrical trailer was released, and I finally decided to give McG a chance. He could pull it off. And frankly, I hope he does, because the Terminator universe is a fascinating one. Although I’m not fully convinced, I have shed my prior prejudices and am willing to give it a chance. Don’t fail me, McG, or the rest of the fans.

5. Inglorious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino tells the story of a bunch of Jewish-American Soldiers during WWII who parachute into France in order to… Kill as many Nazis as possible, in the most brutal ways possible. That’s pretty much the gist of the film from what I can gather. You could either be offended by it, or roll with it. I’m choosing to roll with it. Besides, after some of the ridiculous stuff he’s pulled in some of his previous movies, is this really that far-fetched…? …Perhaps. But I’m willing to give it a shot. It’s Tarantino, after all.

6. Public Enemies
If you’ve seen the trailer, you know why this is on my list. If you’re a fan of Michael Mann, you know why this is on my list. If you’re a fan of Johnny Depp, you why this is on my list. And if you’re a fan of all of the above, then you definitely know why this is on my list. If you’re none of the above, then I suggest you just watch the trailer and find out.

7. Drag Me to Hell
After a long withdrawal from the world of horror in order to work on Spider-Man 1, 2 and 3, Sam Raimi is finally back to his roots. This film wouldn’t be on the list, however, if it didn’t actually look good. And it does. But even if it didn’t, I would be intrigued. As it stands, I really want to see what Raimi does. He’s a capable director, and as I mentioned, horror is where he started, with the Evil Dead movies. This, however, looks to be a more serious, scary film than the Evil Dead films were. One thing that’s missing? Bruce Campbell. We’ll see how things turn out. I can’t wait.

8. Year One
Jack Black is not always good. Some of his movies just plain stink. When I checked out the trailer for this movie, I didn’t have high hopes. But I found it to be quite entertaining and at times I even laughed. It must be noted that trailers rarely actually make me laugh. The jokes are out of context, and they’re usually straining to get a laugh out of the audience — I don’t play nice. It’s also a biblical comedy, in the same vein (or so I’ve heard) as Monty Python’s The Life of Brian (though obviously it has to be quite, quite different… no one does it like Monty Python). Oh, and Michael Cera’s in it. That might be incentive for some…

9. Funny People
It’s a Judd Apatow movie, written and directed. So it’s going to be good, right? Apatow seems to strike gold and make magic on a regular basis, so I can’t help but wonder what the hell is going to happen with this, whether it will be good, as funny as Apatow’s other two directorial outings. My hope is that Apatow can bring out layers of Sandler that we haven’t seen, just as P.T. Anderson was able to do with Punch Drunk Love. From the trailer it certainly seems like it might be the case. Apatow appears to be taking a more serious tone than he normally has, and from the looks of it, it might be a good thing. But one never knows. I, however, am looking very forward to it.

10. The Brothers Bloom
Have you seen Brick? If you have, then you’re probably as excited as I am for Rian Johnson’s new movie. The cast this time is full of stars, such as Adiren Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz. Will Rian Johnson’s sophomore outing be as good as his freshman one? I don’t know. But I’m certainly excited to find out.

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Now, there are (I believe) two obvious omissions… Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I have my reasoning for not including these two movies.

Firstly, although Michael Bay did an adequate job with Transformers, he just barely ever makes good movies. On top of that, the best parts of Transformers, the parts with the interaction of the Transformers and humans, seem to be gone from this sequel. As is typical of Michael Bay, there seems to be a ton more explosions, action, CGI, etc., than in the first. Which, in my personal opinion, can only spell disaster. I hope I’m wrong. But really, unless the reviews are stellar, I just don’t care.

Secondly, I am a fan of Harry Potter. Well, of the books. A couple of the movies were good. But the last one was horrible, and I really just don’t care about this next one, either. The actors are getting too old for their parts, for one, and David Yates is back on to direct. I just don’t care enough of the Potter movies to really care about this one. But again, if the reviews are good enough, I am definitely willing to check it out.