Aaron's Summer Movie Commentary

6/3/2007

Here are the movies I’m psyched about for the summer. I took a few chances here and I also didn’t cover movies that have already come out (Spiderman, Pirates, Knocked Up).

the simpsons movie, july 27
Yellow people! America’s First Family hits the big screen. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the previews, we still have little idea of what is going to go down in this movie. Nevertheless, I’m still excited because, it IS the Simpsons.
Positive: The family we love
Negative: Does this mark the beginning of the end?

brothers solomon, august 31
Will Arnett in a leading role, enough said! I’ve thought this guy was hysterical since “Arrested Development,” and now he gets his own movie. I hope he can carry his own, and the premise – incompetent brothers race to find “mates” so they can give their father grandchildren – is childish and reminiscent of “The Bachelor” (the movie), but I think Arnett can pull this one out.
Positive: Will Arnett!
Negative: Risky…

rescue dawn, august 31
Batman plays John McCain in a gritty portrait of war. Bale is a pilot, captured in Laos and held by the Vietcong. He leads an escape and he and many other POWS do their best to get the hell out of Dodge. Hopefully the movie spends more time with the cool, “Apocalypto” type running-action instead of the torture the beginning will likely entail.
Positive: Christian Bale
Negative: Not enough info on the flick

trade, august 31
Babel + Man on Fire + Children of Men + Ransom = Trade. This movie, which will likely only be a limited release sounds amazing. A girl is kidnapped and sold into the sex trade. The movie focuses on her brother, racing to rescue her, and also herself, as she makes friends with the other girls who share her fate. The movie sounds like it would have been a great Alfonso Cuaron project, and despite his absence, I’m still really excited.
Positive: Optimism
Negative: Who are these people?

fantastic four: rise of the silver surfer, june 15
This could go either way, but hopefully with the voice of Morpheus, it will end up okay. The most annoying thing to me is that Jessica Alba looks ridiculous with her hair the way it is in the preview. Also, the plot seems shaky at best, and while the first movie was decent, it was thin on plot and little more than a good origin story, so this movie has a lot to do.
Positive: Bad-ass-looking Silver Surfer
Negative: Ass-terrible-looking Jessica Alba (it’s the hair)

the last legion, august 24
Roman times with Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley. The movie seems like a combination of “Gladiator” and “King Arthur.” While the former was great and the latter was mediocre, this movie could be the healthy medium – more focused on history and less on action, while tossing you the action scenes you need to keep crunching on popcorn. This is probably the biggest risk for disappointment, but I’ve gotta have some hopes and dreams.
Positive: Ben Kinglsey
Negative: No one else…

rush hour 3, august 10
Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth? I still don’t understand how Ratner can continue to make movies, or why Tucker gets so much more money than Jackie Chan. That said, I want to see where the story will go as the first two were pretty solid and this franchise seems to be the only thing Tucker and Ratner can do right. And adding Vinnie Jones can only make the movie better…right?
Positive: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Vinnie Jokes
Negative: No Johnny Drama

i now pronounce you chuck and larry, july 20
Too soon? Guess not – comedy about New York firefighters pretending to be gay. The concept alone brings a smile to my face. The biggest risk this movie has to seeming like a lame Spade-Farley movie is Kevin James (I thought he was just a cheap version of Drew Carrey). But…hopefully Biel’s hotness can help you cope with the pain of James.
Positive: Adam Sandler’s comedy
Negative: Jessica Biel’s body

live free or die hard, june 27
Yipee kayaye motherfucker! McClane is back and it seems like he’s badder than ever. The story looks like standard Die Hard fare and we finally move away from those lame Germans into a more Mission Impossible 3 type villain played by Timothy Olyphant, who I love. My biggest fear is that since the movie is PG13, it will be softer than the first three which were great action movies.
Positive: John McClane is back
Negative: …With Justin Long

stardust, august 10
I’m thinking Lord of the Rings without all the pretentious crap. This movie knows it’s a fantasy movie and it knows its based on a book that was more engineered for children than LOTR. The world seems more interesting and the magic seems simpler (witches and such). Hopefully this movie can survive the push from the “Golden Compass” movies.
Positive: Sienna Miller AND Michelle Pfeiffer
Negative: Everyone’s British

ocean's thirteen, june 8
This one has to be better than the third one, right? The preview makes we want to believe that this one is closer to the original than the middle movie. It also seems like they have moved away from working with self-centered prima donnas and more toward real (albeit less attractive) actresses and tangible plotlines. At the very least, Brad Pitt will be a badass.
Positive: Brad Pitt
Negative: No hotties

the bourne ultimatum, august 3
The first two were solid and Damon is a beast. Unconditionally, far and away the movie I am most excited for. The first movie was simply amazing and I think the second one built onto the first, so I would like to believe this movie will go a step farther and continue the awesomeness. Unfortunately the trailer was made by a seven year old hack who just spliced scenes together from the first two movies and added some lame voiceover. I guess the movie will just be that much more of a surprise.
Positive: Matt Damon!
Negative: Strong possibility of no women for Matt Damon

Could “Avatar” Win Best Picture?

By Brett Hogan

 

Last week, the trailer for James Cameron’s sci-fi experiment “Avatar” debuted. While initially unimpressed with the teaser, I began to wonder: Could this film win best picture? 

 

Buzz has been generating for this movie for years. Years. The technology to make this movie didn’t exist when Cameron conceived it, so he invented it. When is the last time you heard of a director spearheading the invention of anything? The casting started in 2005. Most movies these days, even epics, are done in half that time. I could go on. 

 

The most important thing to take away from all of this is that people are saying this will be the future of movies. Now, I don’t agree with the idea that CGI will become more prevalent than it already is. But I do believe that this will set the bar miles higher for sci-fi. I mean, that is what Titanic did. And that won some awards if memory serves.

 

I’ll bet you’re asking yourself, how can you even suggest that a film like this will win Best Picture when the initial trailer was nothing better than visual stimulation? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, the Academy has expanded Best Picture to ten films. This doesn’t guarantee anything other than improved chances for most films on the cusp.

 

Second, after last year’s Oscars debacle, which saw the best film of the year, “The Dark Knight,” not only get shafted in awards but nominations as well, the Academy is pulling out all the stops to appease those with the loudest voices in the film industry, the fanboys. Now, the Academy probably didn’t lose anything because of that other than some viewers of the award show. Perhaps if people are again outraged with the winners or nominees, the heads of the Academy would lose their jobs. So this is all about the Academy protecting itself, which is not so outrageous.  

 

 

Third, there is an economic motive here. I’ve heard this film will cost $190 million, not counting the R&D costs associated with Cameron’s inventions or the cost of getting 3-D cameras into every theater in the country. The Academy will do everything in its power to get people into the seats and make this the next “Titanic” or “The Dark Knight.” But the Academy doesn’t have much power, besides nominating and awarding, so they will slap the “Nominated for Best Picture” moniker onto every commercial and print ad to get the people who didn’t believe the critics to relent and see this movie.

 

Of course, all of this is pure conjecture, and no revolutionary film (Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, etc.) has ever won the Best Picture category because it changed the game. Except maybe Titanic. But still, could this movie actually win? My answer is no but a nomination is certain and who knows what could happen from there. We’ll know more come February 2010.