5 Summer Movies You’re Dying To See – And 5 You Should Be

Saturday, April 30th, 2011 at 7:30am
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5 Summer Movies You’re Dying To See – And 5 You Should Be  

This week’s release of Fast Five didn’t just herald the rebirth of the cars-and-hot-girls franchise as a series of heist movies, it also marked the official start of Summer Movie Season, that time of year when studios push out their biggest and best, and multiplexes get filled by aliens, robots and superheroes. But what films should you make a point of seeing? Here’s our pick of the five big names, and the five you might not have heard of — but should seek out.

Thor
What is it? Oh, you know what it is by now. The first of Marvel’s two movies this year — Captain America follows in July, and worryingly enough is still rumored to be in reshoots — and the one that’s already getting some great reviews and word of mouth, compared with cautious excitement or outright worrying for Cap. The casting looks spot-on, and the trailers seem to promise the mix of comedy and action that made Iron Man work so well, but with added epic scale and Shakespearean gravitas, courtesy of director Kenneth Branagh and Anthony Hopkins’ Odin. Dare we hope that it’ll be great?
Released: May 6th.

The Hangover, Part II
What is it? The sequel to the, let’s face it, surprise blockbuster from 2009, The Hangover, Part II takes Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis to the next level of pre-wedding insanity… if you consider the next level to be defined by chain-smoking monkeys, long-lost relatives and waking up with no idea of what’s going on in the middle of Bangkok (Doesn’t everyone?). Director Todd Philips promises “something I know people want to see,” which suggests that he knows that the pressure is on to deliver something that eclipses the first outing. Here’s hoping he delivers.
Released: May 26th.

Super 8
What is it? Well, that’s kind of the question, isn’t it? JJ Abrams’ tribute to the early movies of (executive producer) Steven Spielberg, Super 8‘s trailers have given hints as to a story filled with Spielbergian touches like teen nerds having to save small-town America from something unknown but not necessarily evil. If the finished product is anywhere as good as the trailer – which manages to evoke early Spielberg without parodying what made his movies great — then this could be the big movie of the summer.
Released: June 10th.

Green Lantern
What is it? DC Comics tries to jump-start its (non-Batman) competition with Marvel with this high-profile, special effects-heavy adaptation of its top non-Batman franchise. The first teaser left fans a little flat, but everything we’ve seen since the second trailer has gotten the buzz back towards positive. Director Martin Campbell promises a “realistic” superhero epic, but considering the source material has aliens, cosmic personifications of existential emotions and magic rings, it’ll be interesting to see how well that turns out for him. If nothing else, Ryan Reynolds will probably have fun as the cocky, Han-Solo-as-superhero Hal Jordan.
Released: June 17th.

Cowboys & Aliens
What is it? It’s the genre match-up the world always wanted but never knew it, with the kind of creative line-up that promises interesting, if not outright great, things: Indiana Jones co-starring with James Bond and 13 from House, directed by the guy behind Iron Man and written by the men behind Star Trek and Transformers! How could this go wrong? Well, there are the two slightly underwhelming trailers to contend with, as well as the stated intention “not to have it play like camp,” according to co-writer Bob Orci. With that title? Isn’t camp exactly what people will be wanting to see?
Released: July 29th.

Hobo With A Shotgun
What is it? The second movie to go from Grindhouse trailer joke to full-length exploitation flick, Jason Eisener’s movie begins what I can only hope is a full-scale comeback for Rutger Hauer, who’s so committed to the role that he’s already talking about his hopes for a trilogy. As to what the movie is about, doesn’t the title say it all?
Released: May 6th.

Beginners
What is it? Videomaker-turned-feature director Mike Mills follows up Thumbsucker with this movie about romance, family and people starting over after everything in their life changes. It might not be for everyone, but the trailer shows Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer (playing McGregor’s dad, coming out of the closet after 75 years) and the woman McGregor falls in love with, Melanie Laurent, to be handling the story with understated skill and a good sense of humor.
Released: June 3rd.

Another Earth
What is it? Already a hit at this year’s Sundance, this low-budget science fiction movie about the discovery of an alternate Earth identical to our own has been compared to movies like Moon and Primer — pretty good company to be in, really. The idea may be big, but the scale is purposefully small, allowing director Mike Cahill to focus on the characters in the story, as well as keep the budget sensible.
Released: July 22nd.

30 Minutes or Less
What is it? A heist gone wrong is at the center of this new comedy from Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer, but the story really comes secondary to the cast list, which includes Danny McBride, Parks and Recreation‘s Aziz Ansari and The Social Network‘s Jesse Eisenberg. Crime may not pay, but it’s pretty much a certainty that this movie will be worth its weight in comedy gold.
Released: August 12th.

Our Idiot Brother
What is it? Again, this one – described as a cross between Alexander Payne (Sideways) and Woody Allen, about a slacker who ends up couch surfing between the homes of his three successful sisters after a drugs bust – might be all about the cast list. But when that cast list includes Paul Rudd, Parks and Recreation‘s (again!) Adam Scott, 30 Rock‘s Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Steve Coogan, that’s a cast worth showing up to see.
Released: August 26th.

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  • Chasingshadows076

    what, no Captain America?

  • stealthwise

    Don’t recall Hobo with a Shotgun being a trailer from Grindhouse…

  • Braunrodman

    forgot Captain America

  • http://twitter.com/shawnrichison shawn richter

    I could honestly care less about another Danny McBride comedy (I think he’s said everything he has to say with his current ouevre, considering how unabashedly stupid “Your Highness” was) and the less of Zooey Deschanel I see the better. I am surprised that Captain America was missed on your list, however (despite an “honourable mention” in the Thor description), as it is one of the 5 movies that I and I think many other fans are looking forward to this summer.

  • LightningBug

    I feel like Graeme McMillan just completely made up the “cautious excitement or outright worrying for Cap” or is projecting his own feelings on the rest of the internet. Most places I look seem to reflect more of a hot anticipation. Honestly, I feel like it is a Joke that Captain America is not one of these ten movies.

  • karl

    beginners is…. less than good. saw it at san francisco international film fest. it’s got good laughs and cool film tricks, but nothing that would make me want to see it again or even talk about it to everyone. mike mills and ewan mcgregor gave a q+a afterwards which was cool though. seems an odd choice for this list….

  • Luke Aviator Kuhns

    thor is one of three marvel films coming out this year. there is xmen first class which is a marvel film too.

  • Flaubert’s apprentice

    Green Lantern looks epic.

  • Coryjameson

    While I like some of your choices Graeme, there are two glaring omissions that bring your taste level into question:
    - X-Men First Class (looks very interesting – especially with the first good on screen portrayal of Emma Frost)
    - Captain America (Chris Evans is hot – nuff said)

  • MM

    Why are you “worried” about Cap’s “re-shoots”? yo’re dogging on it when it’s most likely just additional footage and Green Latern is still in effects work. Remember that little tid-bit about WB “injecting” $9million MORE dollars to FINISH and refine their lackluster effects??? If you’re worried about a movie, worry about that one!

  • http://nevernotanerd.com Jamie

    Did you forget about X-Men: First Class? Or does it not count as Marvel because Fox made it?

  • Anonymous

    Don’t you think the movie title paragraph headers should be links to the trailers? Or a link politely included somewhere in the description? I mean, I’d do it for ya…

  • Gopegasus

    Im fron Argentina and already saw Thor and its an AMAZING film REAL GOOD I hope that GL and Cap. America be as good as this one!!! If they are this will be a great year for comic book adaptations!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    I don’t give a fuck about most of these. The movies I’m looking forward to?

    Thor
    Captain America
    Green Lantern
    Transformers
    Fast Five
    Cowboys & Aliens
    Doctor Who (honorable mention)

    I honestly don’t care about The Hangover. The first one was great, but I waited until disc release for that one, do the same here. The rest I haven’t even heard about and will wait to see if they get positive buzz to even think about seeing them.

  • GiantRaven

    Another Earth and Beginners sound like very interesting films. I hadn’t heard of them before but they sound like the the two films (as well as Cowboys & Aliens) that I’d be happy to pay money to see.

  • http://nevernotanerd.com Jamie

    It’s not from Grindhouse, but it was a joke trailer. The director won a contest to get his joke trailer made into a movie. He recently held a similar contest to kind of “pass the torch”.

  • Scud

    Say what you want about Danny McBride but Zooey is AMAZING.

  • Scud

    Why don’t you do stuff like this more ofter Graeme?

  • Scud

    I think it was only shown in certain theaters.

  • Anonymous

    Can we start the “Fire Graeme Because his Articles Are Substanceless” movement soon?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    No, because that’s just being a dick. Just because you don’t like his articles doesn’t mean he should be fired. Just stop reading them. You can tell who it is by the title.

  • Thesnappysneezer

    which are 5 I’m dying to see and which are 5 I should be?

  • Woburn

    I saw Thor on Wednesday, it just came out here in the UK. It was good! Really good. Not fanfuckingtastic, not nail-your-balls-to-the-walls-for-the-entire-runtime great, but really good. To be fair, some of those action sequences did nail my balls to the walls, yet only briefly. The first time you see Thor swinging that hammer… damn. and that Avengers cameo? as my favourite character, that was badass to see. I shouted “YYEAAHH BOYY!!” in the cinema. It must be said though – Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is undoubtedly the best part about the film. The guy just owns, he understands Loki down to a tee – and underneath it all, just like you keep hearing about in interviews, it’s a story about a dysfunctional family. and that works. Shame it’s just a bit on the cheesy side at times – but with the subject matter, how can it not be?

  • paul holst

    I think he was talking about Marvel produced/controlled films, X-Men (like Spider-Man, Dare Devil, FF, Blade and whatever others I forgot) are all currently owned (in terms of movie rights) by different studios (Fox, Sony, etc), Marvel doesn’t have any influence over them unlike IM, Hulk, Thor, Cap and so on.

  • demoncat_4

    super eight and thor i am looking forward to seeing the most. green lantern and the hang over two curious to see if they can top the first hangover. green latern will see it just to see if Ryan can pull off playing a comic book hero other then deadpool.

  • http://profiles.google.com/200328sept David Fullam

    Wait, there’s a buzz for Green Lantern?

  • Alex H

    Ah the novelty of having seen Thor in the cinema almost a week ago now, compared to the usual being behind America on these things. Brief non spoilered review: enjoyable if slightly odd film.

    I have to say that First Class is currently the one I’m looking forward to – it sounded appalling from the initial information on it, but the more I see of it, it is looking more and more like potentially the most “X-meny” X-men film so far.

  • Jon

    I’m in South Korea where Thor was offically released already. It was lots of fun!

  • http://profiles.google.com/warwicksjohnson Warwick Johnson

    They’re not doing full re-shoots for Captain America, they’re filming the scenes that lead into the Avengers, and they’ve finished filming that stuff already. And I’m WAY more excited for Captain America than most of the films on this list.

  • JMC

    That’s what I was gonna write – they’ve just finished filming the post-credits sequence for the Avengers tie-in. Anyone with a computer and internet access would know that.

    But that would require McMillan actually RESEARCHING his topic before writing meaningless commentary. I’ve yet to see that happen.

  • JMC

    The list is seriously flawed, much like the writng of this article.

    X-Men First Class should be on that list.

    Not to mention CONAN

    and the Judge Dredd reboot, DREDD hits in December of this year.

  • JMC

    That sounds funny coming from a guy who’s taking the day off work to go see the first session. Deny it all you want but you, and everyone else here knows it’s true.

  • Red

    Just last weekend they were shooting a Cap scene in NYC, Samuel L Jackson & Chris Evans were shooting a scene in plain view and there are you-tube videos up on it, it was before shooting started on The Avengers and it was reported that the Captain America director was there, I’m not certain this is a re-shoot but I’d guess that is what he is thinking of.

  • Red

    I don’t really understand the visceral reaction some have to Graeme’s articles but you sir are correct, though if there is one thing everybody knows the internet is full of people who like to be dicks.

  • T. Van

    @Lightning

    Couldn’t agree with you more. Honestly, there seems to be near-consensus that having some reshoots is quite pedestrian with most movies like Captain America. It may have been best for the author to have stated that the worry was on his own part, rather than imply the presence of a wider sentiment.

  • Reth Sogan

    As soon as I saw that Captain America wasn’t on this list, I was suddenly devoid of all interest in anything this article. I’ll go find something better to read. I’m gone, man… solid gone.

  • Anonymous

    December is in the summer now?

  • Faust

    Yeah, putting trailers would be a good idea. Haven’t heard of a few of these – but I’m heading to Youtube to check em out! ;)

  • MattyG999

    How about Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and Captain America? Those should’ve been on your list. I notice that a lot of this “author’s” articles are from HIS perspective, and he just seems to project his thoughts/ideas/worries/what-have-you on the rest of the “community.” Not a very professional writer. I thought true professional writers were supposed to be unbiased?

  • Anonymous

    X-Men First Class should *definitely* be on this list, it’s the one I’m most excited for right now. And isn’t the Final Potter movie also out this summer? (Though I’m getting less interested in that one.)

    Thor: I think I’ll enjoy this, but I don’t see it as a “great” movie.
    The Hangover II: Not seen the first, won’t see this. Except maybe on TV.
    Super 8: Depends. Must find out more first.
    Green Lantern: Maybe. Jordan doesn’t sound like himself so far. And yes I know he’s supposed to be just starting out, but he sounds too much like Kyle Reyner.
    Cowboy vs Aliens, oh sorry, AND Aliens: Looks cool. But again, probably more fun than great.
    Hobo with a Shotgun: Not interested. Not even if it guest stars Axe Cop. :P
    Beginners: Still don’t know enough to tell.
    Another Earth: MAY be interesting. Depends on what they do with it. (Aren’t they doing a similar TV show already?)
    30 Minutes or less: More details, please?
    Our Idiot Brother: This could suck or rule, depending on whether the idiot brother is charming and helpful despite appearances or just an ass.

    Also, how about animated movies? What’s Pixar got lined up (besides Cars II?)

  • Anonymous

    Specifically, it was a contest run by QT and Robert for fans to come up with their best fake trailer. The winner got the trailer included on the Complete Grindhouse set which came out last year. It was readily available on the YouTube before that, however.

    And Machete, presumably the first of the two trailers to movies that Graeme refers to, didn’t really get its start as a trailer in Grindhouse either. Robert’s had a machete script in one form or another for years. Machete (a very family-friendly version anyway) first appeared on screen in the Spy Kids movies, played by the same actor, the awesome and magnificent Danny Trejo.

  • http://twitter.com/shawnrichison shawn richter

    meh, I always find that she plays the same character (standoffish, artsy and flat) and they always want her to sing, which annoys me. Obviously, this is just my take on her, but it’s gotten to the point where I will go out of my way to avoid watching her. (And I actually really like Paul Rudd!)

    Also as someone mentioned, they totally forgot First Class, as well – another movie I am very much looking forward to. And Harry Potter – definitely beats out the Hangover, for sure.

    So my list would be:
    Thor
    Captain America
    Pirates of the Carribbean
    Harry Potter
    Cowboys and Aliens
    X-Men
    Green Lantern
    Conan the Barbarian
    Transformers
    Super 8

    But, hey, I’m a nerd (unlike all of you! ;) )

  • Ozymandas

    Oops, I thought this was CBR. No Captain America, X-Men, Transformers 3 on the list while Hangover 2 & the like are?

  • JMC

    Well, I’m from Australia so yes, yes it is : P

  • 38yrsold on this planet

    Thats the absolute DUMBEST list ive ever seen for 2011.

    Of all the HUGE movies geek movies coming out in the next 4 months — THIS is your list??????????

    Thor
    Pirates 4
    Hangover
    Green Lantern
    Xmen first class
    Transformers 3
    Captain America
    Cowboys & ALiens
    Rise of the Apes
    Conan

    Thats your list america. Anything else will be a SURPRISE must see hit.

  • Shane

    Saw Thor on Sunday, then ended up seeing it again later on in the evening. I’ve always been more of a DC comics buyer over Marvel, but I thought it was fantastic, lots of little nods to both Marvel continuity and Norse Mythology without detracting from the overall story. The cast was great and obviously enjoying the roles without exception, and the big action payoff left me breathless and hungry for Avengers which I hope to god doesn’t suck.

  • Faust

    I like the list – it says it in the title ’5 movies you should see’ – hence they are going to be the obscure ones.

    After checking out some trailers….

    Another Earth and 30 Minutes or Less look great – I’ll be checking those out.

    Beginners and Our Idiot Brother look a bit average.

    And I wouldn’t see Hobo With A Shotgun if entry to the cinema was FREE – it’s just not my cup of tea.

  • mida$touch

    NO mention of Rise of the Planet of the Apes?! COME ON!

  • http://cromeyellow.com cromeyellow.com

    no tree of life? no x-men? come on guys.

  • Alex

    After yesterday, I really want to see the business Captain America is going to do this summer. I might even see the thing myself.

 

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