By Robin E. Simmons
After informally surveying, or possibly annoying, dozens of strangers in Westfield’s food court, more than 80% of the people I spoke to said they were planning to see a movie in a theater this summer. Only 80%! Sometimes I assume that everyone is a movie buff, but I know that’s not so. Kind of sad, isn’t it? We movie lovers are ever hopeful that some of the most anticipated — and hyped — films may actually deliver the premise of the poster and promise of the trailer! It’s a rare event, but sometimes it happens. There’s nothing like the surprise of a great film that never breaks that strange hypnotic spell from fade-in to final credits. That’s a high we cinema addicts crave. Here are some of the most mentioned of this summer’s titles based on my unscientific poll.
GODZILLA
The rubber suited Godzilla first stomped the Tokyo in 1954. His rampage has been understood as a pop culture response to the atomic and hydrogen bombs dropped on Japan. Now, sixty years later, a bigger and much badder Godzilla rises from the depths of the abyss and threatens mankind for what we have wrought. There’s huge buzz for this film and wide praise for its director Gareth Edwards, who has only directed one previous film, the micro budgeted ($12,500), but great looking MONSTERS. Bryan Cranston is featured in the trailer and already people are asking, “Can Godzilla survive Heisenberg?” Opens May 16.
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
The last reboot of the great Ape saga was well-written and tightly directed. It had emotional power and a great look, to say nothing of the remarkable physical acting of Andy Serkis in a motion capture performance that left no doubt about Caesar’s intelligence and anger. Now, the human survivors of a devastating plague threaten the league of evolved apes. With Gary Oldman and Keri Russell. Directed by Matt Reeves. The word on the street is “intense and nightmarish.” Opens July 11.
SEX TAPE
What an inspired premise: A couple married for a decade decides to spice up their love life by video recording a marathon sex session. Only problem is, when they wake up the next morning, they realize it has been inadvertently sent to friends and family. If the couple is to maintain a shred of dignity in their world, they must somehow undo the potential damage immediately and, to our delight, they make an increasingly desperate effort do to so. Director Jake Kasdan’s spicy, cringe-worthy comedy stars ace comic performers Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel who have great on screen chemistry. Opens July 25.
GET ON UP
Chadwick Boseman ignites the screen as James Brown, the Godfather of Soul. Early talk of a Best Actor award is already attached to this biography that tracks Brown’s life from his dirt-poor childhood to his stardom. It’s big, mostly true melodrama with a brilliant, soul-throbbing score. From producers Brian Grazer and Mick Jagger. Opens August 1.
A MOST WANTED MAN
Philip Seymour Hoffman’s final screen performance is in an adaptation of a tense novel from spymaster author John Le Carre. Set in present day Hamburg, Hoffman is a mysterious, tortured, near dead Chechen-Russian searching for his Russian father’s stolen fortune in an Islamic community. Major international intrigue unfolds as catalytic forces and disparate desires converge while the clock ticks. Rachel McAdams and Willem Dafoe co star in this promising thriller adapted by Andrew Bovell and directed by Anton Corbijn. Opens July 25.
MALIFICENT
Who better to play the wicked witch behind “Sleeping Beauty’s” curse than Angelina Jolie? Beyond inspired casting, there’s said to be a darker than expected interpretation from Jolie in the retelling of this classic fairy tale about a betrayal and its consequences on truth, goodness and beauty. In IMAX 3D and no, it’s not from Disney. Opens May 30.
LUCY
Scarlet Johansson has established herself as an actress and a star. The about-to-be mom hotness remains combustible on screen — even if only for her singularly seductive voice. In Luc Besson’s sci-fi thriller set in a futuristic Taipei, Johansson is a drug mule who accidentally ingests a drug she was carrying in her stomach that gives her incredible abilities including great physical strength and massive intelligence that’s beyond any other human! High hopes for this film that promises to be a roller coaster thrill ride that tickles the mind and dazzles the senses. Keep you fingers crossed. Opens August 8.
Strangely, no one, not even male teens, brought up anticipation for the gargantuan budgeted TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION that’s about an amateur inventor (Mark Wahlberg) who comes up with something that reopens the robot war. The fourth version of this movie that reinforces the notion that Hollywood is bereft of originality is again directed by Michael Bay and will be shown worldwide in 3D. Opens May 30.
robinesimmons@aol.com
