Monday, May 3, 2010

Okay, Movie Fans

Not that you care in the least, but here are the flicks I'm most looking forward to this summer:

5. The A-Team. The trailer is a mish-mash of tones, being both gritty and fantastical. This film version of what was honestly a campy series has a lot of questions to answer. Can the new team live up to the old team? Is Quinton Rampage Jackson "BA" enough? Can Liam Neeson smoke a cigar as good as George Peppard? Can Sharlto Copley pull off a convincing Southern American accent? And most importantly, will we be lucky enough to see some villains actually die on-screen?

4. Iron Man 2. I enjoyed the first outing, which was light and fun, but never silly. I'm hoping the second is in the same vein. Not every movie has to be dark and not every "superhero" has to be riddled with angst.

3. Robin Hood. This story's been told a million times, but Ridley's directing. That's right, Ridley. Also, the rumors about all the shenanigans on-set, from the constant rewrites to Crowe and Scott butting heads at every turn, could produce a Casablanca like effect, creating a whole greater than the sum of its parts...or it could render the movie complete and utter crap. I have faith in Ridley though, not just because of Alien and Bladerunner but because of the underrated Kingdom of Heaven, a solid period piece that suffered from mismarketing.

2. Inception. Christopher Nolan, two years removed from The Dark Knight, brings us his contemporary sci-fi story set "within the architecture of the mind." And that's about all we know of the story. This flick's plot has been more closely guarded than my Darth Vader toy carrying case. Not even Fiona will be allowed near that. Upon my death, it will be buried with me for my journey into the Underworld. Just kidding...sort of. But back to Inception - the trailer looks impressive as hell. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the man.

1. The Expendables. Watch the trailer now. No really, watch it now. This could be the action film to end all action films. A throwback to the testosteronic 80s, when heroes didn't even know what a feminine side was, and when cheesy one-liners were just as awful but somehow not so cheesy. This flick boasts the best kick-some-ass, take-no-prisoners cast ever: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren (who pulled the stake out of his heart?), Randy effing Couture, Steve Austin, Mickey Fashion Sense Rourke, Terry Crews, and Eric "who-the-hell's-Julia?" Roberts.

14 comments:

seana graham said...

I saw a trailer for Robin Hood and got interested. Iron Man seems to have become a favorite among my friends and family, but though I liked it, I don't have any huge anticipation about the sequel. A Team? I never even watched the campy TV show. And I don't think The Expendables is aimed toward my demographic...

I hate to break it to you, but once Fiona learns how to work the remote control, she'll probably watch whatever she wants. Don't worry, though. You'll never even know.

seana graham said...

Oh, and you'd better get back to Adrian's blog and help him celebrate Rory McIlroy win. Because I doubt there's many among us who can do it right...

Nick Hughes said...

THE A-TEAM.

JON FAV-REAU.

RAW BIN-HOOD.

CHRIS NO-LAN.

DOLPH LUND...GREN.


It's gonna be a fun summer! Have you done any double features lately? You may have to see The Expendables twice in a row just to process all the washed-up action stars.

Nathanael Green said...

I'd love to say something about the movies (all of which look great), but really, I'm much more excited by the Darth Vader carrying case.

Instead of being buried with it, maybe you could have your ashes buried in it.

Brian O'Rourke said...

Seana -

You're right. The time of my TV domination is running out quickly.

I'll have to get over to A-Mak's blog tonight. I had the pleasure of watching the McIlroy victory, and sportcasters everywhere are running out of superlatives to describe it. This reporter likened the win to an Arthur-Excalibur moment of all things.

Brian O'Rourke said...

Nick -

Did you hear that originally, Crowe was supposed to play both Nottingham and Robin Hood? I'm not kidding.

They could have said, "Hee yewsis a bloody dubbel!"

Brian O'Rourke said...

Nate -

Or, I could have a Jedi master burn my body on a Viking-like funeral pyre, my face covered by the Darth Vader carrying case...

seana graham said...

Northern Irish and an Arthurian reference? This McIlroy apparently has something for everybody.

adrian.mckinty said...

Brian

For me its The Expendables and Robin Hood. Both look awesome.

Christopher Nolan is very hit and miss in my book. I loved The Prestige and quite liked Insomnia but the Batman films bored the pants off me.

Phil Stiefel said...

There can never be a mention of the A Team without the biggest A Team fan commenting... after months and years of rumors of scripts and casts... this definately is the best looking movie of the summer!!! The casting is wonderful (maybe not on Rampage) and the two trailers look like it is a more modern twist with the same campy attitude and also some more edge at the same time!!!

seana graham said...

I just went to see The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo today, because people have been telling me it's good and very true to the book. I have to say that I am not the biggest fan of the book for several spoilerish reasons, but I did kind of like the characters. I thought the movie was very true to the book, and even a little too true, given the graphic violence of some of the scenes. What I ended up feeling, though, was not disappointment so much as just thinking that the movie hadn't really added anything new to my understanding.

Although I did understand better why Lisbeth would be attracted to Blomqvist, which I found self-indulgent of Larsson in the book.

Anyway, I hope I'm back in the movie going mode, because I haven't been lately.

Brian O'Rourke said...

Seana -

McIlroy just seems like a good guy, too, and has a lot of friends on the Tour. A bunch of his fellow Europeans who were out of contention hung around just to watch and congratulate him.

Brian O'Rourke said...

Adrian -

I was a little worried when I first saw the RH trailer depicting the knights using those landing crafts on the beach...then I found out that actually happened.

Brian O'Rourke said...

Phil -

The parachuting tank shooting down a plane (helicopter?) has got me a little worried. On the other hand, Murdock's line, "You can't park there, it's a handicapped spot" sealed the deal.