June Summer Movies: Global Cooling
I guess North American audiences really were tired by time Memorial Day rolled around. Pirates 3 brought in an underwhelming $120 Million at the box office over it’s 3-day opening. People just got tired of going to the movies after Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third left audiences feeling a little let down. Pirates was the best of the lot, but not by much.Thankfully June is a break from May’s super sequels, starting with Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up on June 1. Apatow, the current king of comedy, follows up his sleeper hit The 40-Year-Old Virgin with a film about a one night stand that ends in a baby. Even though some are already throwing it in the “gross out” comedy category, this may be the only summer film to appeal to a more mature audience outside of art house theaters. The wild card? Can Seth Rogen pull off a leading role?
The biggest, blandest weekend may be June 8, where the studios have dumped three competing projects. Hostel II, Ocean’s Thirteen and ANOTHER penguin movie, the animated Surf’s Up, all open, making it the weekend I’m most likely to skip the theater. I’m even a fan of Eli Roth’s first Hostel, but if any movie needed a sequel less this summer, I can’t find it.
The likely candidate for June’s biggest movie is Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Advertisements have been playing up the bad-assity of the Surfer, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the sequel, again directed by the lackluster Tim Story, will find it’s way of sucking just as bad as the first one did.
On June 22, most people will be looking to Evan Almighty. Even with John Goodman by Steve Carrell’s side, the only moving I am desperate to see is a period drama about the guy known as the Mormon Moses. September Dawn tells the story about a massacre in 1857, ordered in the wake of Brigham Young’s rise as a “man of God.” I don’t think I would want to see it if it wasn’t for the trailer featuring a voice over from a guy who specializes in action-comedy trailers. I’m half waiting for Chris Tucker to pop out screaming “Man, why you always gotta be shooting those kids.”
Here’s the trailer. Good stuff.
[youtube 5UAfjHYg_II]
The last week leading into July brings us Live Free or Die Hard, a film adapted from the script for WW3.com. WW3.com was converted into another Die Hard film because someone tossed a coin and the Lethal Weapon franchise got lucky. Don’t worry. June 29 is the best weekend of the month for audiences with Michael Moore’s Sicko, summer’s Oscar contender Evening and Pixar’s newest release Ratatouille opening for the none action-oriented folks.
Here are the rest:
June 1
Mr. Brooks
Gracie
June 15
DOA: Dead or Alive
Nancy Drew
June 22
1408
Captivity
You Kill Me
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