5.
Brave
June 22
The use of colors alone have me interested, but the fact it comes from Pixar makes me that much more excited to see Brave along with the recognizable voice talents of Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters and Craig Ferguson. It’s really that simple with this one.
4.
Lawless
August 31
After the build-up and eventual letdown (for myself personally) of John Hillcoat‘s The Road, it hasn’t stopped me from anticipating the helmer’s latest film, a moonshining featuring based on the true story of the infamous Bondurant Brothers (Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Jason Clarke): bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia. In this epic gangster tale, inspired by true-life tales of author Matt Bondurant’s family in his novel “The Wettest County in the World”, the loyalty of three brothers is put to the test against the backdrop of the nation’s most notorious crime wave.
Lawless will play in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival so look for a review from me this May and look for the film to hit theaters this August.
By the way, did you know Shia LaBeouf now has his own theme song?
3.
To Rome With Love
June 22
I know the early reviews out of Italy weren’t stellar, which is the reason Woody Allen‘s To Rome with Love has dropped ever so slightly on my anticipation meter from earlier this year. That said, I didn’t read the early reviews, I only heard the buzz, so I remain optimistic and I don’t think there will ever be a time I don’t look forward to a Woody Allen film and thankfully he’s already lining up his next one.
2.
The Dark Knight Rises
July 20
It’s the final film in what is arguably the best superhero/comic book franchise so far. As tired as I am with reading people’s comments comparing Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight to every movie that has come out since, there is no denying its impact on film culture. Nolan’s films have become an example of how to excite not only a fan base, but the regular Joe Schmoe movie-going public in general. It’s a rare thing these days for a director to achieve Nolan’s level of success and do so with his cinematic voice still intact.
I look forward to The Dark Knight Rises because I am excited to see the film, but also because I’m excited to see Nolan move on from Batman in the future, leaving the door open for other directors to be inspired by Nolan’s work and find their own voice.
1.
Prometheus
June 8
It has become almost impossible to avoid learning the secrets of Ridley Scott‘s Prometheus considering the recent marketing onslaught, but I would like to think I have remained untainted to this point outside of seeing a boatload of images from the film. As someone that considers Scott’s original Alien the best of the original four-film franchise, the idea of him returning to that world and kick-starting a whole new mythology that doesn’t involve Predators and merely involves the mystery of the vicious alien species (or something along those lines) as well as mankind itself is intriguing beyond imagination.
If anything the expectation and hype for the film may have created unrealistic expectations, but if you aren’t hoping for the best is a film even worth anticipating? After all, I remember the last time I thought a film faced unfair expectations.
So that does it for me as far as films on the current summer release schedule.
For all the movies coming out this summer you can always browse my release date calendar where I try and make sure to have all the major upcoming releases and the high profile limited releases.
