Summertime is now upon us, and that means one thing: blockbusters. If it’s too hot outside and you want to spend a couple hours in a nice air-conditioned movie theater, or if you can’t afford to go to that big summer tour that everybody else is going to, there are dozens of big-budget blockbusters with A-list stars coming your way. Here are my top 10 recommendations for the summer:
June 1:
“Knocked Up” is the first big summer comedy to hit theaters. Written and directed by “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” mastermind Judd Apatow, this movie delivers non-stop laughs for all of its two hours and nine minutes. Seth Rogen (Cal from “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) is hilarious as stoned slacker Ben Stone, and he has great chemistry with “Grey’s Anatomy” Katherine Heigl. Paul Rudd is always a scene-stealer.
If you’re not feeling in the mood for a comedy, check out “Mr. Brooks.” This thriller stars Kevin Costner as a man who has a thriving business and a loving family, but at night is haunted by his murderous alter ego, played by the brilliant William Hurt. Known as the “Thumbprint Killer,” Brooks is the one serial killer that the cops just can’t catch. But when he gets sloppy and is caught on film by an amateur photographer, played by Dane Cook, his life as he knows it is on the line. He has to worry about all this while avoiding detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore) who is hot on his trail.
June 22:
The second big comedy to grace the silver screen will be “Evan Almighty.” This Jim Carrey-less sequel to 2003’s “Bruce Almighty” stars Steve Carell (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Little Miss Sunshine”) reprising his role as Evan Baxter. Baxter has left the newsroom and has just been elected to Congress when God (the amazing Morgan Freeman) comes to him and tells him there is going to be a flood and he needs Evan to build an ark. Any movie Carell is in guarantees laughs.
If you’re looking for more of a thriller, check out “1408.” This movie is based off a Stephen King short story by the same name, and stars John Cusack as a father who lost his daughter to sickness and becomes obsessed with ghosts and the paranormal. After finding nothing in other “haunted” places, he checks into room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel against the recommendation of hotel manager Mr. Olin (Samuel L. Jackson). Fifty-six people have died in 1408, none of them lasting more than an hour. Will Cusack be number 57? I know that I can’t wait to find out.
June 27:
I am a huge fan of the “Die Hard” trilogy, and when I heard they were making a fourth installment, “Live Free or Die Hard,” I couldn’t have been more stoked. Bruce Willis is reprising the role that put him on the map as an action actor, John McLane. McLane is an old-school police detective who gets wind that a terrorist group is trying to take out the entire computer structure that supports the U.S. economy. He is aided by young hacker Matt Foster, who is played by Justin Long (“DodgeBall” “Accepted”). The trailer has a car crashing into a helicopter, a semi truck being chased by a fighter pilot jet, and Willis saying “Yippie-ki-yay.” Sounds like a masterpiece to me.
June 29:
If you’re a fan of the Pixar animated films, “Ratatouille” is the summer movie for you. Written and directed by “The Incredibles'” Brad Bird, “Ratatouille” tells the story of Remy (voiced by “The King of Queens,” Patton Oswalt), a rat who lives in Paris and dreams of becoming a chef. This is obviously a difficult goal for a rat, but when a kid with no cooking skills gets promoted to a chef position, he looks to Remy for help. Ian Holm, Brad Garrett and Janeane Garofalo also contribute voices.
July 13:
If you’re an estranged student of Hogwarts, then I don’t even have to tell you that “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is coming out on July 13. In what promises to be the darkest of the “Harry Potter” movies yet, Harry is back for his fifth year at Hogwarts and nobody believes him when he says that the evil Lord Voldemort is back. I have never read any of the “Harry Potter” books, but the movies are always fun and very well done. This one shouldn’t be any different.
July 27:
After 18 long years on the television, “The Simpsons” are finally hitting the big screen. Do I need to say anything else?
Aug. 3:
“Hot Rod” may be the sleeper hit of the summer. “Saturday Night Live” stars Andy Samberg and Bill Hader team up with Isla Fisher, Danny McBride and Jorma Taccone to tell a story of an amateur stuntman who needs to raise money so he can save his stepdad’s life, but only so he can beat his ass. It has the quirkiness of “Napoleon Dynamite” and the over-the-top-ness of “Talladega Nights.”
Aug. 31:
Very little information has been released about this film yet, but the few still images are enough to put Rob Zombie’s remake of “Halloween” in my top 10. Zombie has written, directed, produced and put together the music for this film, and he promises it’s not so much a remake as it is a re-imagining of the story. If you’ve seen any other of Zombie’s films (“House of 1000 Corpses,” “The Devil’s Recjects”) then you know what he is capable of imagining.
