movies

so summer movie season has officially started. we went to a midnight showing of spiderman 3 this evening. it was outstanding in my opinion. i think they have done so well with these movies. they create legitimate story lines. there are real characters that they have developed. the people have a very 'human' sense to them. i find myself actually believing that spiderman could really exist, and i think its because peter parker comes across as so human. and kirsten dunst, while not my favorite actress, she is flawed, and i like that. she has crooked teeth. and its almost refreshing. i have yet to find a flaw in jessica alba (especially since we are alums of the same jr. high), and so it makes her superhero movie seem that much more fake. she cant possibly be real, so of course the story isnt. but tobey maguire seems like a real dude, so spiderman could be also. anyways, i enjoy these movies. i think they put a lot of thought and effort into them. there is good story, good plot and highly entertaining. what else could one want from a summer blockbuster? speaking of which, the list of movies coming out this summer is astounding. this has to be the summer of thirds with spiderman, shrek, pirates, oceans, bourne and rush hour all completing the trilogy this summer. since there are so many coming out ill just highlight 20.

terrible movies that will sadly probably make a profit:

20. delta farce - thank you middle america. from keeping shows like 'everybody loves raymond' on air to providing the financial support for movies like this one, you really have improved my life.

19. i now pronounce thee - i think i would send adam sandler $100 directly if it prevented him from making his next 10 movies.

18. the wedding daze - i think this yet another one of those movies in that 'american pie' series. this must be the twelfth or something. yea for cheap, crude college humor.

mind blowingly awesome:

17. skinwalkers - i just found this movie. here is the brief synopsis: 'a 12-year-old boy suddenly finds himself at the center of a battle between two warring groups of werewolves.' im speechless. there is no follow up remark to that synopsis. just gasping for air.

not sure what to think yet:

16. gracie - i havnt heard anything about this movie. all i know is that it has elizabeth shue in it, and ever since 'adventures in babysitting' ive had a crush on her. its still going strong.

15. the invasion - also havnt heard anything about it, but it has nicole kidman and daniel craig (the most recent bond). i like both those people so i think this might have potential.

14. superbad - saw a preview for this the other day. it looks like it could be pretty terrible or pretty funny, but probably the former. either way, it has michael cera in it. michael cera is better known for his role as george michael bluth in arrested development. i feel i must support all former actors of arrested development in all their future endeavors.

blockbusters that i probably wont see:

13. harry potter - i hear they are really good. ive seen a few on video. just not enough of a fan to pay money to see it.

12. pirates 3 - did you know that pirates 2 is the third highest grossing movie of all time? it made over a billion dollars! its right behind 'titanic' and 'return of the king.' the first one was great. i fell asleep in the second one. it was so long and boring. unless people rave about this one, ill wait till video.

11. fantastic 4 - while the whole silver surfer bit does look pretty good, i watched the first ten minutes of the first one and couldnt really stand the ridiculousness of it. this one might be better, but this is the exact reason why i enjoy spiderman so much. movie companies know they can get a big names and sexy stars, throw in a lot of special effects and make a superhero movie, without any thought thrown in and still make a killing in profit (see hulk, daredevil, ghost rider et al). granted its nice to stare at a pretty face and shut off your brain every once in awhile, but ill go to the beach instead. the girls are more real and i dont have to pay.

10. the simpsons movie - here's the thing: im sure this movie will be really good. there is no way that after 17 years, matt goering would finally make this movie and let it be lame. im sure it will be enteratining and brilliant. im sure i will watch it at some point in my life. the simpsons are great, but they just dont do it for me like they used to, which is why i know ill wait to see this on dvd.

still cant decide:

9. die hard 4: live free or die hard - sometimes when i think about the die hard movies i get the idiot tingles. just think about the titles of the four: die hard. die harder. die hard - with a vengence. and now live free or die hard. utterly absurd. yet, at the same time, these movies are pretty dang cool.

alright, so i wrote most of this last night, but this morning i was adding a few links and i just watched the die hard trailer. im now pretty much sold on this movie. i dont know if it was the taking out a helicopter by launching a car off a ramp, or if it was the playing of beethoveen's 5th on electric guitar while showing clips of the movie. either way, i think im now sold.

probably:

8. shrek the third - i like the shreks.

7. ratatouille - ever since toy story, pixar has a special place in my heart. while 'cars' wasnt as amazing as the others, it wasnt so bad to turn me off from any future movies. the pixar movies are always well thought out and always a good time.

6. rush hour 3 - we saw a preview for this tonight. zach said he wasnt sure if he needed another rush hour movie. normally zach and i dont agree on movies (he owns alien vs. predator, or 'a v. p' if you will, and is more excited to see pirates than he was spiderman) but i thought we would for sure agree about this. the second rush hour was pretty lame, but i really like jackie chan movies. plus, the guy does all his own stunts. just watch this clip from closing credits of 'rumble in the bronx.' either jackie or someone else is always getting hurt. he's great.

the guaranteed $50 ill be spending at the theatres this summer:

5. evan almighty - i just decided i will go see it. i surprisingly really liked the first one, 'bruce almighty.' i thought it was going to be completely blasphemous, but it wasnt really at all. i really like steve carell. i enjoy him in every role he does, so im going to go.


4. ocean's 13 - alright, so oceans 12 totally bit. but oceans 11 was still by far the coolest movie in the past 10 years, or maybe 11.... anyways, after the first one being so good, ill definitely give them another chance. plus, those guys are so stinkin cool. just look at them. jusf flat out cool guys. seriously though. im happy to pay $10 just to watch all those guys on the same screen for a couple of hours and pretend that im cool too and that im hanging out doing backflips off yachts in lake como.




3. spiderman 3 - $10 already gone.

2. the bourne ultimatum - the other day, during a routine 'if you could be any superhero who would it be' conversation, i mentioned that i think i would like to be jason bourne. i later said spiderman as my final answer, but jason bourne is rad. (by the way, superman pretty much holds the trump card in this conversation. he is just as strong as everyone else and he can fly. i mean, you can make a good argument for spiderman, but thats it. who else is there? green lantern? captain america?) some people didnt really like bourne supremacy, i loved it, as i did the first. these are movies along the same vein as the first mission impossible. they are exciting movies with a good plot that makes you think and are fast paced. add a little euro disco trash techno like the first two and im a very satisfied customer wanting to come back for more.

1. transformers - is everyone giddy about this movie? im not sure. i think that everyone with a pulse that doesnt live in a country ending with 'stan' should be excited about this movie. maybe im just pumped because i loved transformers when i was younger. i owned many. but seeing the preview gave me goosebumps. check it out here. there is a longer trailer out now. im so happy this movie has been made. and it looks like they did a good job. but even if they didnt, and even if it gets terrible reviews, ill still be there opening weekend. basically putting myself in that group that im ripping on with movies like hulk and ghost rider. a movie company knew they could make a movie called transformers and by the title alone at least 30 million people would go. well, im one of those suckers.