The snow has melted, spring is in the air, along with a promise of hot and humid days inside the cold, comfortable cineplex. This year’s slate? Not exactly 1939, but bits and pieces here and there may make it enjoyable. Hopefully no “robot testicles” this year.
1. Iron Man 2: Robert Downey Jr. can do no wrong, though he’s probably eager to shrug off the disappointing box office of Sherlock Holmes (to no fault of his own). The leading leading-man of the moment is making it a two-horse race for box office booty. The question – can preteens crank Twilight to the top? Marvel versus vampire porn for junior high girls? Vampire flicks have faded since Kiefer Sutherland was impaled on a fireplace mantle.
As much as Downey’s charisma is the series drawing point, Jon Favereau’s touch allows him to shine – one of the few directors left that can be trusted. The usual sequel fears are there (too many names on the marquee?), but it’s impossible not get excited at the thought of Tony Stark dressing down Senators with the cries of privatized national security. Stark for 2012?
2. Inception: How does one follow The Dark Knight? Inception has an intriguing premise, and if the previews are any indication, fused well with Nolan’s auteur touch, but can he finally end Leo’s decade-long search for leading-man capability? If not, it’s off to Growing Pains reunions for you.
3. The A-Team: Bradley Cooper as the “Face” of an action franchise? He’s getting his shot, but Liam Neeson will keep it from drowning in cheese – I hope. Lets hope his post-Taken family tragedy hasn’t diminished the soul of one of the few serious actors left – even if he is in an A-Team remake. The trailer hit the right marks, but lets hope the politics stay out.
4. Knight and Day: The intrigue surrounding Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz is one thing – both were once the top box office names of their gender – but the real draw is James Mangold. This is his first film since 3:10 to Yuma, a modern Western classic, and his second since Walk The Line. An action comedy is an odd choice for a follow up, but hopefully he can bring life to a nearly-dead genre.
5. The Expendables: The sure winner as the “least pretentious” film of 2010, combine enough former and current action stars, pour on the explosions and enjoy a nice heaping of action goodness. Returning to the 80s is all the rage, be it in hot tub time machines, bad rom-coms with Gerard Butler, buddy cop failures with Tracey Morgan or the remake du jour, but you can’t do it right if you can’t do it with Stallone.
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Don’t let John fool you guys… 1-5 all equal “Twilight: Eclipse” for him.
Don’t let Floyd fool you, he’s had “Prince of Persia” circle on his calendar for months.
And I forgot “Robin Hood.”
I know it’s early April… but is Clash of the Titans starting a new season now or is H’wood trying to move Summer back another month?
That’s a good question, because I see it included on every “summer” list I’ve read. It used to be the unofficial start was June, then it moved to early May. Hollywood has released “blockbuster” type films in March and April for years, which was the studios trying to get a bare field to rake in money before the summer started. My guess is the media is catching on and just lumping them in with the other tentpoles.
Warner Bros. hit the goldmine by releasing 300 in this formerly dead time of year and didn’t do too shabbily with Watchmen either. Early early summer works for me as long as the movies maintain that kind a quality … and here endeth the pseudo-WB employee’s suck-up section.
If I recall … wasn’t The Matrix the first to hit big in March/April?
Hmmm, could be (and WB to boot). I just remember Silence of the Lambs being a huge February flick way back when.
The Matrix and The Mummy both came early in 1999.
I actually don’t mind… it allows me to pace myself and budget better. I’d add Toy Story 3 for my kids too.
The snow has melted
Speak for yourself. Outside my window is about 6 inches of new white stuff being moved about by the wind.
shrug off the disappointing box office of Sherlock Holmes
Since when is $498 million worldwide gross disappointing? And that was up against Dancing with Smurfs as well.
>>Vampire flicks have faded since Kiefer Sutherland was impaled on a fireplace mantle.>>
So John Carpenter’s Vampires or Shadow of the Vampire didn’t do it for ya, eh? Near Dark out the same year as Lost Boys, so I’ll cut ya slack there.