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Summer Movie Preview:
The blockbusters…
License to Wed
Release Date: July 4
Director: Ken Kwapis (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)
Starring: Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, John Krasinski, Eric Christian Olsen, Christine Taylor, Josh Flitter
What It’s About: Sadie Jones (Moore) and Ben Murphy (Krasinski) are recently engaged, and hoping to get married at St. Augustine, Sadie’s family church. Everyone knows how crazy wedding season can be, and outside of one last spot, St. Augustine is booked full for the next two years. Offbeat Father Frank (Williams) has found a very unorthodox way of filling in the last spot: his intense, two-week marriage prep course will put the couple’s love and devotion to the test, which will in turn secure them a spot at his church. Will Sadie and Ben pass the test?
Outtakes: Director Kwapis and Krasinski have previously worked together on “The Office.”
Why You Shouldn’tSee It: With John Krasinski as the leading man of this romantic comedy, you can’t go wrong.
Official Website: licensetowedthemovie.warnerbros.com
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 8%
Transformers
Transformers: A lesson in what to do when giant robots attack Earth.
Release Date: July 4
Director: Michael Bay (Bad Boys II, The Island)
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Rachael Taylor, Megan Fox, John Turturro, Jon Voight
What It’s About: Giant robotic aliens, the Autobots and Decepticons, descend upon Earth and use it as a playing field for their war. It’s up to one young man, Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf), who holds an artifact that the Decepticons crave, to save the world.
Outtakes: Animators reportedly took 38 hours to render one frame of CGI.
Why You Shouldn’tSee It: There’s a very slim chance that Transformers will fulfill every fan’s wish, especially with lukewarm receptions to preliminary screenings, but this hush-hush adaptation of the popular cartoon has been one of the most anticipated films of the year. With enough special effects to power a small country, plus the promise of hearing the morphing sound effects so synonymous with the series, satisfying curiosity is worth the price of admission.
Official Website: www.transformersmovie.com
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 57%1408
Release Date: July 13
Director: Mikael Håfström (Derailed)
Starring: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack, Tony Shalhoub
What It’s About: Horror writer Mike Enslin (Cusack), famous for debunking paranormal myths, gets more than he bargained for when he decides to investigate the reportedly haunted room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel.
Outtakes: Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name. In the story, room 1408 has been responsible for 12 suicides and 30 natural deaths over a span of 68 years. If that weren’t spooky enough, the room also technically resides on the 13th floor and its digits add up to 13.
Why You Shouldn’t See It: Out of the 5,248 or so Stephen King adaptations, only a handful have ever been remotely successful in transferring to the big screen. This may reflect on the fact that King’s allegorical and overly descriptive work is hard to film, and so it’s a little baffling as to why people keep on trying. Although the cast looks top-notch, expect this one to fall short when it comes to scares, logic, and suitable endings.
Official Website: www.1408-themovie.com
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 77%Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Release Date: July 13
Director: David Yates (Sex Traffic, The Girl in the Café)
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson
What It’s About: Following the events of The Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter (Radcliffe) must contend with the aftermath of his encounter with Lord Voldemort. With Hogwarts in utter chaos, Harry, with the help of his friends, decides to assemble an impromptu student army in order to defend the school against the Dark Arts.
Outtakes: The film reportedly cost $150 million to make, and boasts a set over 200 feet in length.
Why You Shouldn’tSee It: What is this, Harry’s tenth year at Hogwarts? Despite his near-tenure at the wizards’ school, this film should fare tremendously at the box office and with fans. With only a few books left to adapt, the franchise is coming to a bittersweet end, and this film should be no exception when it comes to thrills.
Official Website: www.harrypotterorderofthephoenix.com
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 77%The Strangers
Release Date: July 13
Director: Bryan Bertino (debut)
Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman
What It’s About: A couple (Tyler, Speedman) go away to a remote cabin only to have their romantic tryst ruined by three unknown assailants. Except that they’re not so unknown, as the Internet Movie Database lists two of them as being played by Kip Weeks and Gemma Ward.
Outtakes: Director Bertino has previously appeared in the independent film, Xtracurricular (2003). He’s billed as “the smoking guy.”
Why You Shouldn’t See It: On one hand, you have a “thriller” about a photogenic couple being terrorized in a picturesque cabin by unknown assailants, one of which is a model who weighs a very unthreatening ninety pounds; on the other hand, you have a boy wizard fighting the forces of evil. No matter how you look at it, it’s a no-win situation for The Strangers.
Official Website: www.roguepictures.com
Update: The North American release date is now unknown, but there are a couple of European dates set in 2008.Hairspray
Release Date: July 20
Director: Adam Shankman (A Walk to Remember, Bringing Down the House, Cheaper By the Dozen 2)
Starring: Nicole Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow
What It’s About: Based on the hit Broadway musical, Hairspray is about 1960s teen Tracy Turnblad (Blonsky), who, with the help of her mother (Travolta – yes, John Travolta), best friend (Bynes), and local disc jockey Motormouth Maybelle (Latifah), sets out to integrate Baltimore by championing "The Buddy Deane Show," a real-life Baltimore dance television program that was nixed because it integrated white and black dancers. Tracy’s good will and colour-blind ways earns the wrath of local teen queen Amber von Tussel (Snow) and her mother (Pfeiffer).
Outtakes: Ricki Lake, who played Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film, will be making a cameo appearance.
Why You Shouldn’t See It: If you’re curious about the film and haven’t seen the original 1988 John Waters film, or the Broadway adaptation of that film, and can’t be bothered to rent the former or stage your own revival of the latter, then this film might be for you. But otherwise, the campiness factor (including John Travolta in prosthetic body wear) and guaranteed feel-good ending aren’t enough to keep this movie afloat.
Official Website: www.hairspraymovie.com
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 93%I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Release Date: July 20
Director: Dennis Dugan (National Security, The Benchwarmers)
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Jessica Biel, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Dan Aykroyd
What It’s About: Best friends Chuck Ford (Sandler) and Larry Allensworth (James) are the typical overtestosteroned men’s men (they even wield a big hose on their day job as firemen). When Larry, a recent widow, finds out that he can’t name his children as beneficiaries in his life insurance, he convinces Chuck to sign on as his domestic partner. Soon, what first begins as a simple insurance fraud turns into a citywide controversy when the news of their living arrangements leaks out.
Outtakes: This is the remake of the 2004 Australian film, Strange Bedfollows.
Why You Shouldn’t See It: I’m all about starting with a clean slate, but Dugan’s directorial efforts don’t necessarily bode well for his track record – in addition to such gut-busters as National Security and The Benchwarmers, he’s also directed Beverly Hills Ninja, Saving Silverman, and “Shasta McNasty.” On the other hand, he did direct Sandler in Happy Gilmore and Big Daddy, back when both men were in the midst of their hey days. But you know it’s been downhill from there, and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry seems like a well-meaning comedy that will probably have a much stronger, thoughtful ending than its first two acts – because seriously, how many I’m-comfortable-with-my-sexuality-but-please-don’t-touch-me jokes can we endure?
Official Website: www.chuckandlarry.com
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 13%
No Reservations
No Reservations: Like Raising Helen, but with a much better cast.
Release Date: July 27
Director: Scott Hicks (Snow Falling on Cedars, Hearts In Atlantis)
Starring: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin, Patricia Clarkson, Jenny Wade, Lily Rabe
What It’s About: In addition to being stunning, Kate Armstrong (Zeta-Jones) is also a chef at a successful and probably ridiculously expensive restaurant where her Type A personality runs amuck. When her little niece (Breslin) is suddenly plopped into her life, you’d think that Kate was in a remake of Raising Helen. Instead, she’s in a movie called No Reservations, and so also has to contend with an impulsive, brash sous-chef (Eckhart) that will undoubtedly steal her heart and, in the process, teach her important lessons about life.
Outtakes: This is a remake of the German film Bella Martha (2001), from which leading actress Martina Gedeck received top honours at The German Film Awards and at The German Film Critics Association Awards.
Why You Shouldn’t See It: It sounds like a cute film on paper, but it’s been done a million times – and probably better. See the original German film if you need a romantic pick-me-up.
Official Website: noreservationsmovie.warnerbros.com
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 39%The Simpsons Movie
Release Date: July 27
Director: David Silverman (The Road to El Dorado, Monsters, Inc.)
Starring: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Albert Brooks
What It’s About: The execs are keeping mum about the plot of this animated film, but expect to see tons of Springfield characters, plus some cameos from Albert Brooks, Sideshow Bob, Fat Tony, Minnie Driver, and Erin Brockovich (the activist, not the Julia Roberts character).
Outtakes: Twentieth Century Fox, the studio that owns the rights to “The Simpsons,” purchased the movie’s domain name back in 1997.
Why You Shouldn’tSee It: Because Homer rocks.
Official Website: www.simpsonsmovie.com
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 88%
[ From The Bourne Ultimatum to Halloween. Part III of the preview. ]