Monday, March 28, 2011

10 SUMMER MOVIES I WANNA SEE

I think what you'll find in me, as far as being a movie critic goes, is that I'm not afarid to have a little fun.  Where many bemoan the arrival of the summer box office - I bask in all (or at least most...well, many) of their exciting, coloful, big-budget, high-concept, largely-scoped, action-packed, light-hearted and/or knee-slapping antics.  Give me popcorn flicks!

So if dimly-lit, moody, art-house fare is more to your liking – then stick around – because you just may find one or two movies to your liking below.

Here are 10 movies I want to see this summer:

BRIDESMAIDS (May 13):
Starring:  Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Rose Byrne
Story:  Annie's life is a mess. But when she finds out her lifetime best friend is engaged, she simply must serve as Lillian's maid of honor. Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. With one chance to get it perfect, she'll show Lillian and her bridesmaids just how far you'll go for someone you love. (Universal Pictures)

THE HANGOVER PART II (May 26)
Starring:  Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis
Story:  In the follow-up to the record-breaking hit comedy "The Hangover," Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug travel to exotic Thailand for Stu's wedding. After the unforgettable bachelor party in Las Vegas, Stu is taking no chances and has opted for a safe, subdued pre-wedding brunch. However, things don't always go as planned. What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happens in Bangkok can't even be imagined. (Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures)

KUNG FU PANDA 2 (May 26)
Starring:  Jack Black, Angelina Jolie and Jackie Chan
Story:  Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five. But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. He must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will Po be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

THE TREE OF LIFE (May 27)
Starring:  Brad Pitt and Sean Penn
Story:  From Terrence Malick, the acclaimed director of such classic films as Badlands, Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life is the impressionistic story of a Midwestern family in the 1950's. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith. Through Malick's signature imagery, we see how both brute nature and spiritual grace shape not only our lives as individuals and families, but all life.

SUPER 8 (June 10)
Starring:  Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning and Ron Eldard
Story:  In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth – something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.

LARRY CROWNE (July 1)
Starring:  Tom hanks and Julia Roberts
Story:  Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he's worked since his time in the Navy. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. There he becomes part of a colorful community of outcasts, also-rans and the overlooked all trying to find a better future for themselves...often moving around town in a herd of scooters. In his public-speaking class, Larry develops an unexpected crush on his teacher Mercedes Tainot, who has lost as much passion for teaching as she has for her husband. The simple guy who has every reason to think his life has stalled will come to learn an unexpected lesson: when you think everything worth having has passed you by, you just might discover your reason to live. (Universal Pictures)

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (July 22)
Starring:  Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving
Story:  "Captain America: The First Avenger" will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America. (Paramount Pictures)

COWBOYS & ALIENS (July 29)
Starring:  Daniel Craige, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde
Story:  1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde. It's a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he's been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella, he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents—townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors—all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival. (Universal Pictures)

DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (August 12)
Starring:  Guy Pierce and Katie Holmes
Story:  When a little girl is sent to live with her father and his girlfriend in the old mansion they are renovating, she unwittingly unleashes malevolent creatures bent on destroying all of them.

THE DEBT (August 31)
Starring:  Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington and Tom Wilkinson
Story:  The Debt is the powerful story of Rachel Singer, a former Mossad agent who endeavored to capture and bring to trial a notorious Nazi war criminal—the Surgeon of Birkenau—in a secret Israeli mission that ended with his death on the streets of East Berlin. Now, 30 years later, a man claiming to be the doctor has surfaced, and Rachel must go back to Eastern Europe to uncover the truth. Overwhelmed by haunting memories of her younger self and her two fellow agents, the still-celebrated heroine must relive the trauma of those events and confront the debt she has incurred. (Miramax Films)

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