Movies I'm Geeked About Seeing

I could totally state the obvious here, like Wolverine:Origin, or Star Trek, but anyone who knows me knows that I'm a card carrying member of Dorks United, a fan group run by 43 year old men still living in their mother's basement. Instead, I'd like to point out a few other movies that you might not have thought of, such as....

The Brothers Bloom - Mark Ruffallo is so handsome! Those big brown eyes and that scruffy/wavy hair! Is there anything he's been in (besides the brutal rape violence and infidelity of Blindness) that I haven't just enjoyed watching him in? Nope, not really - he's completely charming to watch. And Rachel Weisz's performance looks so free spirited and fun. She's such a phenomenal actress to begin with, and this seems like a refreshing performance after some of her more grave roles. Rumor has it that she learned how to play piano, violin, accordion, banjo, break-dance, juggle, do karate, play ping-pong, ride a unicycle and even skateboard for her role as Penelope. Whew!! I'm anxious to see both her and Adrian Brody step into something a little more comedic, if for no other reason than as a litmus test of their acting chops and timing. This movie seems to have a very lighthearted appeal, though, and that should make it a nice balance after delving into movies such as.....

Terminator Salvation - Ooooh, doesn't Christian Bale make such a good John Connor? Epic casting! This could really be the second best Terminator movie ever. Salvation seems to have the jumbo-sized special effects that one would expect from a Terminator movie while delving into the more human points of Connor's struggle with learning the truth about Skynet while fueling the resistance's efforts to bring them down. With narration by Linda Hamilton, and a cameo from the governor of California, this really should be something to see! But will it be as much fun as....

Land Of The Lost - Ok, honestly I don't know that this movie is going to be more than just a piece of cheapo fluff with mediocre comedy, like most of man-boy Will Farrell's movies lately. In the trailer, I find myself rooting for the clandestinely cut Matt Lauer to kick Will's droopy white butt. After all, this is one of those shows from the 70's that my brother and I would watch all hopped up on sugar cereals, bouncing our heads and singing along to the theme song. And though the show had dinosaurs, and kids, and creepy looking Slestaks, really to us, as to many kids of our generation, it was all about Chaka. Good old furry monkey dude Chaka. There's a certain level of nostalgic loyalty inherent in all these memories. Sid and Marty Kroft, the original creators of the show are on board this 2009 remake, which from what I've read translates into some of the original campiness remaining in place, so that's reassuring. The scene where Marshall and his associates go through the gigantic underground waterfall to enter the Land of the Lost looks so much like those old scenes at the beginning of the show, that I hold out the highest hopes that this movie will not disappoint original fans. Speaking of beloved franchises ....

Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince - SPOILER ALERT!!! Oooooh, we've waited a long time for this movie, as it's original release date last year was postponed for what seemed no good reason. I can't wait to see this next installment in the HP series, wherein Harry learns more about the untold history of Tom Riddle, aka Voldie, Deatheaters start their fierce attacks on Muggles and Diagon Alley, Harry and Ginny finally kiss, the soon-to-be climatic element of Horcruxes is introduced, and in what sent shockwaves through legions of fans everywhere, Dumbledore buys the farm. Yep, as the series winds to a close, with only one more book left to be released in cinematic form, and dear little unibrowed Daniel Radcliffe starting to show his true age of somewhere in his twenties, I am becoming more and more anxious for these abbreviated forms of the classic novels to come out. July couldn't get here sooner.

Dead Snow - or Dod Sno as it's called in Norwegian. I just like saying Dod, you know. In the meantime, can I get a YES!! A Norwegian Nazi Zombie movie? How unreal! The premise goes something like: Snowmobiling vacationers are staying at a cabin in the mountains for Easter vacation. During WWII, the cabin had been used by a group of Nazi's, who had been raping and pillaging the local villagers. In retribution the villagers had chased the Nazi's up the mountain, where they froze to death. The vacationers, also medical students, find the treasure that the Nazi's had stolen and as a result, the Nazi's emerge from the frosty white ground and are coming to reclaim their gold and feast on the hapless vacationing victims. There are chainsaws, and machine guns, and subtitles. The fat Chris Farley looking dude, and the chick with the dreads are my first vote off the island, as from the trailer, they seem the most annoying. This looks like it could be a fresh retake on the typical Zombie flick. With a tagline like "Eins, Zwie, Die!" one can only hope. But really, if it's WWII inspired European violence you're after, then what about ...

Inglourious Basterds - Yep, it's the new Tarantino flick. The one that took him ten years to write. The one that holds out the motto, "There are no crimes behind enemy lines" and has a southern-drawled, Clark Gable mustachioed/lookin' Brad Pitt telling the Jewish-American soldiers under his command that each and every one of them owes him 100 Nazi scalps, and he wants his scalps. With two intersecting storylines, IB is touted as a Spaghetti Western with WWII iconography (the cinematic influence of past crushes aside, I do love me a Spaghetti Western). I'm sure this movie will have plenty of brutal violence, in the genre of Tarantino of course. But I would venture to bet that under the historical circumstances it seems less gratuitous than previous Tarantino flicks. I could be wrong, but only August will tell.

In the meantime, I do have a few Honorable Mentions:

Public Enemies - Now I've had a stake in this on HSX since I don't know when. It is Michael Mann, after all. And Johnny Depp. And Christian Bale. And Marion Cotillard. And after so many years without anything as wonderfully depictive of that area as the Untouchables was, I can't wait to see John Dillinger's story brought to life by the enormously gifted cast and crew.

Night At The Museum II. The first one was amusingly pleasant, if not a bit juvenile and predictable. This one has all the old cast returning, including Robin Williams as the most convincing Teddy Roosevelt. Even more exciting though, is one of my favorite actresses, Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart.

And there are even a few that you couldn't drag me to kicking and screaming

The Explosive RoboPorn of Transformers II

Tom Hanks and that awful hair in Angels & Demons

Jack Black and Michael Cera in Year One - so utterly predictable

Anything remotely associated with the genre "Romantic Comedy", aka The Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past, The Ugly Truth, The Proposal .....

.....Ok, except maybe if it's (500) Days of Summer, with Zoey Deschanel (who I want to be when I grow up), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Supposedly off-beat, this is about a quirky young woman who doesn't believe "true love" exists (sound like anyone you know?), and the young man who falls for her. Touted as a "summery, visually unique film about romance that avoids the overworked romantic comedy genre, while attempting to be a film about love, without being a love story", I really don't think it could sound more perfect. In one of the stills, Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt are having a picnic in the park, on a little blanket, with people playing in the background. He's sitting there with a stack of books, one open on his lap, and she's in tights and a cardigan, and I swear it's like a snapshot out of my girly daydreams about being in love.

So, there you have it - my choices for what to see this summer. There's a lot out there to choose from, and a whopping load of it coming out in May, so get to the theaters if you can, and if you happen to be seeing any of the above, make sure you give me a call too - I want to go!