Summer 2011 movie preview

Though summer doesn't officially begin for at least a few weeks, in movie terms it got off to a faster-than-expected start last week with "Fast Five," and is now set to really explode with the release of the first big superhero flick.

So, here are the 10-plus movies I'm most looking forward to seeing between now and the end of August, with a couple of caveats. First of all, these are only my picks. It won't have every superhero movie coming out (there are four, if you're wondering) or pirates, and though there is an animated sequel, it's not "Cars 2." And second, these are only the movies likely to open where I live, so though I really want to see the British flick "Submarine," you won't find it here today.

And with that, in order of release (which may, of course, change), here goes:

May 6: "Thor"
I'm thinking I'll skip "Captain America" unless it just gets some really big buzz, but this is one "Avengers" lead-in I'm definitely in for. Directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Chris Hemsworth as the warrior cast out of Asgard and sent down to Earth, I've been hearing that, like the first "Iron Man" flick, this will be one with almost as brain as brawn (and hopefully a lot of fun, too.)

May 13: "Bridesmaids"
I know women are funny, and you most likely do, too. So why is it so rare for a group of truly funny chicks to get to star in a movie where they get to really act up? That's a topic for another day, but this time out veryfunnywoman Kristen Wiig, who wrote the script, is the maid of honor planning a rambunctious bachelorette party and more that should just be a hoot to watch.

May 26: "The Hangover Part II" and "Kung Fu Panda 2"
At least there's a week off between "Bridesmaids" and the sequel to the movie that's pretty much its dude equivalent. The first "Hangover" was nothing but funny, so especially when Ken Jeong turns up again as Zach Galifianakis' "plus one," this one should be, too. And as for "Kung Fu Panda 2," I'm thinking it will share an impressive trait with its predecessor: Being an animated movie that's better than the Pixar movie it shares the same year with (Yes, I thought "Kung Fu Panda" was better than "Wall-E," and am certain the sequel will be superior to "Cars 2.")

June 3: "X-Men: First Class"
I doubt director Matthew Vaughn can re-create the genuine comic-book spirit that pervaded "Kick-Ass," and probably won't really try, but as the trailers have gotten better, I'm more and more convinced that this tale of the cold-war origins of Magneto, Professor X and other mutants (though a lot less than in "X-3") should be a real winner.

June 10: "Super 8"
If it's what I'm expecting, than director J.J. Abrams' flick about a group of kids who make an otherworldly discovery should harken back to the kinds of movies that Steven Spielberg made back in the '80s, and that would be just fine with me.

July 8: "Horrible Bosses"
The workplace revenge comedy is a truly tired gambit, but since this comes from "King of Kong" director Seth Gordon and stars Charlie Day of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," I'm hoping this tale of three friends who conspire to murder their bosses will be dark enough to be a summer treat.

July  15: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Though "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" (two movies you'll notice didn't make this list) should give it a run for the money, the end of Harry Potter's long saga (in 2D for me) should be the box office champ this summer, and just a much better movie than either of those. Bring it on.

July 24: "Cowboys and Aliens" and "Crazy, Stupid, Love"
With the most "Snakes on a Plane" title of this summer, as long as Jon Favreau's flick indeed delivers plenty of the titular cowboys (Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford among them) battling alien invaders, how can you really go wrong? Also this week, Steve Carell makes his first post-"Office" movie appearance in "Crazy, Stupid, Love" as a dude facing divorce who gets advice on pitching woo from ladies' man Ryan Gosling. The thought of the two of them together already makes me laugh.


Aug. 12: "30 Minutes or Less" and "The Help"
"30 Minutes or Less," Ruben Fleischer's follow-up to the sublime "Zombieland," stars Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari as two dudes forced to rob a bank. I'm betting on very funny. And in genuine counterprogramming, "The Help," based on Kathyrn Stockett's novel about a Southern woman who leads a group of Mississippi house maids to tell their stories, should finally make a big star out of Emma Stone.

Aug. 26: "Our Idiot Brother"
With Paul Rudd unleashed to be genuinely funny as the titular idiot and Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks and Rashida Jones all tarring as his sisters, I'm hoping this will somehow be as good as the sum of its parts.

So, there you have it. A few more than 10, and I'm still sure I left some out, so please feel free to add any I may have snubbed, and have a perfectly pleasant Tuesday. Peace out.

Harry Potter, X-Men and much more on a jam-packed Thursday

Before we get into some truly fun trailers for smashes coming this summer and fall, there's some other movie news out there, and for me it all starts with the news that "Rabbit Hole" playwright David Lindsay-Abaire is headed back to the big screen.

If you haven't seen "Rabbit Hole," it's out now on DVD, and there really are very few recent movies I can recommend higher. It features a sublime performance from Nicole Kidman and just tells a great story very well, with touches of wicked humor throughout.

And now, Lindsay-Abaire will have another great leading lady to work with as he adapts his current Broadway hit, "Good People," for the big screen. Frances McDormand, who plays the lead role on Broadway, will do the same for the movie.

So, what's it about? Well, it's set in Boston's working-class Southie neighborhood, and McDormand plays Margie Walsh, a high school dropout and single mother of a mentally disabled daughter struggling to make ends meet. On Broadway at least, Tate Donovan plays a successful former classmate of Margie's who enters into a relationship with her, but no word yet on whether he will reprise that role for the movie.

"Rabbit Hole" focused on similarly odd relationships, so this should be a real winner. And just in case you need any more convincing, here's a clip of McDormand in the play on Broadway. Definitely stay tuned for more on this.



In other news, you know, I can really take or leave Sacha Baron Cohen. Like most of the world, I loved "Borat," but I couldn't even bring myself to watch "Bruno" (and if I'm somehow missing on some kind of comic masterpiece with that one, please let me know.)

His next collaboration with co-conspirator and "Seinfeld" veteran Larry Charles, however, sounds like something I'll definitely be into, especially since he's whittled his candidates for the female lead to, for my money, probably the funniest two women in movies, plus one other solid choice from TV.

The duo are working on "The Dictator," "inspired" by "Zabibah and the King," a novel purportedly written by Saddam Hussein. Cohen would play dual roles of a goat herder and eventually the titular dictator, and now comes word that he's down to Anna Faris, Kristen Wiig and Gillian Jacobs to play the female lead.

Anyone who's been here before knows that I'm extremely partial to Faris and Wiig, but am a big fan of "Community," too, so any of these comediennes would make what already sounds like a very funny movie even better. But for my money, if I had to choose, I'll take Anna Faris every time.

OK, now on to some great clips for a Thursday morning, starting with a couple of trailers for sure-to-be summer smashes. In fact, if I were a betting man (and I no longer am), I'd put my money on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" being the highest-grossing flick of this summer. My favorite among both the books and movies will always be "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," but part one of the finale was fantastic, too, and I can't wait to see the saga finally come to a close July 15 (though, for me at least, certainly not in 3D!) Enjoy the trailer.



Next up comes the first trailer I've seen that really has me thinking that Matthew Vaughn will deliver something fairly great when "X-Men: First Class" really launches Summer when it drops June 3. Enjoy what should be the final trailer for it.

Does the world really need another "300"? I really don't, but even if this trailer for Tarsem Singh's "Immortals" seems to promise just about exactly that, I still have enough faith in Singh to be looking forward to this. If you've never seen his "The Fall," there really are few better examples of truly imaginative filmmaking, and I recommend watching it as soon as you can. And with an eclectic cast that features Superman Henry Cavill, Freida Pinto and somehow Mickey Rourke, too, this should be nothing but fun when it finally drops Nov. 11. Enjoy the first trailer I know of for it.



And finally today, tonight will indeed bring the final appearance of Steve Carell's Michael Scott on "The Office," and NBC has stretched the episode out to 50 minutes to make room for it (though I'm looking forward to the also-extended episode of "Parks and Recreation" that will follow just as much.) The run-up to his departure has been some of the show's funniest stuff in years, and tonight should be no different. I probably won't watch it until next week, though, because today I'm off to the Atlanta Film Festival 365 for the first of two weekends, and really looking forward to it. Enjoy this short clip from tonight's episode of "The Office," and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.