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Now that we’ve made it through another ho-hum winter and so-so spring, it’s time for movie lovers to rejoice. Summer Blockbuster Season is here once again! As always, we’ve got the lowdown on all of the hits and misses that are heading to theaters near you from the thrilling start of May through the anti-climactic end of August.
Forget about spending your summer enjoying the great outdoors, with its sunburn and mosquito bites! Here’s what’s happening inside this summer!
MAY 3:
It isn’t officially summer until the first big superhero blockbuster of the year explodes into theaters. As is often the case, this summer kicks off with the latest Avengers movie: Iron Man 3. Though 2010’s Iron Man 2 was, admittedly, a little too much of a good thing, here’s hoping that #3 starts the summer off right.
Also this week, Michael Shannon stars in the true-crime thriller The Iceman, the story of a notorious hit man who managed to keep his loving family in the dark about his profession.
Kristin’s Pick of the Week: I’m a sucker for the Avengers movies—so I can’t wait for Iron Man 3.
MAY 10:
Summer seems like a strange time to release a new Baz Luhrmann adaptation of a literary classic, but here you have it: The Great Gatsby hits theaters on the 10th of May. Strange timing or not, though, it’s sure to be an intriguing production.
Meanwhile, in the comedy Peeples, Craig Robinson crashes his girlfriend’s family reunion to ask her for hand in marriage—and, of course, hilarity ensues.
Kristin’s Pick of the Week: There’s just something so fascinating about Baz Luhrmann’s films—and, since I’m still a lit geek, through and through, I have to give my pick to The Great Gatsby.
MAY 17:
In 2009, something completely unexpected happened: I became a Star Trek fan, thanks to J. J. Abrams’s remarkable series reboot. Now, Abrams and his crew return to the Enterprise for the long-awaited sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness. And I have begun the search for my very own pair of Vulcan ears.
On the other end of the spectrum, there’s Frances Ha, Noah Baumbach’s follow-up to 2010’s Greenberg. Greenberg’s Greta Gerwig stars as a quirky, carefree New Yorker with her head in the clouds.
Kristin’s Pick of the Week: Need you ask? Though Gerwig is gradually growing on me, I’m totally geeked about Star Trek.
MAY 24:
The summer may start gradually—with just one big movie each week—but this week takes a plunge into multiple-blockbuster territory. For a little bit of action, there’s Fast & Furious 6, which finds Vin Diesel and The Rock teaming up to take down a rival gang. For some comedy (well…maybe), there’s The Hangover Part III, in which the various members of the Wolfpack return for yet another wild and crazy adventure. Or, for something completely different, there’s Before Midnight, Richard Linklater’s follow-up to Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.
The only non-sequel this week is for the kids: Epic, an animated adventure through nature.
Kristin’s Pick of the Week: I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I’m going to pick Fast & Furious 6—because Fast Five was such a brainlessly entertaining installment in the franchise. And who can resist the Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson match-up?
MAY 31:
The first month of Summer Blockbuster Season comes to a close with Louis Leterrier’s Now You See Me, a slick caper about a team of illusionists who rob banks. With a cast that features Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, and Michael Caine (among many, many others), it’s sure to steal audiences’ hearts.
Meanwhile, there once was a time when it just wasn’t summer with a Will Smith movie. And, once upon a time, people actually took notice when M. Night Shyamalan directed a new movie. Now, the two once-greats team up for After Earth, a sci-fi thriller about a determined teen (played by Smith’s son, Jaden) who must find help when he and his injured father are stranded on a long-deserted Earth.
Also this week, there’s the indie teen comedy The Kings of Summer or the sci-fi thriller The Purge.
Kristin’s Pick of the Week: I just can’t resist a good crime caper—or a good cast—so my pick goes to Now You See Me.
JUNE 7:
This week, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson team up this week for Shawn Levy’s The Internship, a comedy about a couple of out-of-work salesmen competing with a bunch of tech-savvy kids for a change to work for Google.
There’s also Joss Whedon’s surprise project, Much Ado About Nothing, a modern retelling of my favorite Shakespearian play.
Kristin’s Pick of the Week: I’ve got to give my pick to Shakespeare and Whedon. Sounds to me like it could be a match made in heaven.
JUNE 14:
It’s a bird… It’s a plane… It’s… Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. Only time will tell if Snyder will be able to succeed in rebooting the franchise.
Or, for something completely different, there’s Sofia Coppola’s latest true crime drama, The Bling Ring, which follows a group of teens on a mission to steal from celebrities’ homes. As interesting as it may seem, though, it’s hard to imagine a Sofia Coppola film causing much of a stir during Summer Blockbuster Season.
And, for this week’s comedy selection, there’s a pick that’s close to my own heart—kinda. The wacky apocalyptic comedy This Is the End (opening on the 12th)—starring James Franco, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, and many, many others as themselves—may or may not feature a wacky shout-out to the Central Ohio Film Critics Association.
Kristin’s Pick of the Week: This is a tough one. I stopped getting excited about movies by Sofia Coppola a while back—and I was never particularly excited about movies by Zack Snyder. This Is the End, meanwhile, looks pretty bad. So I’ll just flip my handy three-sided coin and take a chance on The Bling Ring.
JUNE 21:
It wasn’t that long ago that Pixar was known for making clever, original films. Now, however, it seems that they mostly make sequels—and prequels, like Monsters University. Still, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this college-themed story about how Mike and Sully first met.
Meanwhile, for the grown-ups, there’s Brad Pitt’s zombie movie, World War Z.
Kristin’s Pick of the Week: This is another tough one: a notoriously troubled zombie movie with Brad Pitt…or a Pixar prequel? Fortunately, I’m intrigued about both of this week’s choices—but I’ve got to stick with Pixar for my pick.
JUNE 28:
It wasn’t long ago that Olympus Has Fallen hit theaters. This week, it’s returning to theaters—only, this time, it stars Channing Tatum, it’s directed by Roland Emmerich, and it’s called White House Down. But, you know, it’s pretty much the same thing.
Also this week, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy team up as kooky crime fighters in The Heat. It seems as though studios are all about the R-rated chick flicks these days—but, having seen the film’s trailer, I’m pretty sure I’ve already seen more of this movie than I really want to.
Or, for some anti-blockbuster summer programming, you can check out Pedro Almodóvar’s latest comedy, I’m So Excited, or Neil Jordan’s Byzantium.
Kristin’s Pick of the Week: This is another week full of movies that I can’t say that I’m especially eager to see. But I’ll give my pick to Channing Tatum and Roland Emmerich and their Olympus Has Fallen remake.
Now that we’ve made it to the end of June, it’s time to take a little break. So pour yourself a nice, cold glass of lemonade. Sit out on the patio for a little while. Get a little bit of fresh air. Then come back next week to take a look at the second half of the summer.
For more on The Heroes of Summer, listen to Reel Discovery:
