Day 13

What Looks Good: July at the Movies

July 4

Hancock: My history with Will Smith movies is that I enjoy them for the two hours I'm there and then pretty much forget about them afterwards. I don't expect this one will be any different.

I might've had higher hopes if they hadn't already spoiled his character development in the trailer. I think it would've been a bolder choice to have him stay a butthole the entire movie, but maybe they pull off the change really well.

Kabluey: (Limited release) I expect I'll like this costumed hero a lot more than Hancock. Plus: Teri Garr.

July 11

Hellboy II: The Golden Army: C'mon, it's Hellboy. I'd see it even if it didn't look the most awesomely imaginative fantasy film since Return of the King. Which it totally does.

Journey to the Center of the Earth: Despite my liking both Jules Verne's imagination and Brendan Fraser's screen presence, I'm having a hard time getting excited about this one at all. They've changed two of the main characters into kids ("...making [the Icelandic guide] Hans into Hannah was just an obvious choice," says director Eric Brevig) and seem more focused on playing with the 3D technology than on telling a great story ("...The rest of it [aside from adapting a couple of iconic moments from the book] was me coming up with pieces of business that I thought would just play wonderfully in 3-D as well as 2-D"). This is probably a DVD rental for me.

July 18

The Dark Knight: As much as my brain tells me that this is going to be awesome because the first one was and Christopher Nolan can Do No Wrong, my heart's just not in it. I'm getting a little more excited the more we see of Two-Face, but I'm so tired of the Joker being played as just another psychotic killer. This is absolutely NOT a criticism of Heath Ledger whom I love as an actor and I expect is brilliant with the part he was given, but just once I'd like to see the Joker in the movies hatch a scheme involving an oversized mallet and a giant jack-in-the-box.

Transsiberian: (NY and LA only) The trailer looks uninspired, but I love trains and snow enough that I'm hoping those elements will carry me through even if the plot is lousy. But maybe it won't be. Maybe it's just a lousy trailer.

Space Chimps: Talking apes in a space adventure. What could be nicer?

July 25

Step Brothers: This is such a toss up as to whether or not I'm going to like it. John C. Reilly is great, but I can't usually take much of Will Ferrell. All the ads I've seen for it have made me laugh though, so on the list it goes.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe: This has the potential to be my favorite movie of the summer. I love and miss Mulder and Scully like you wouldn't believe. Unfortunately, it also has the potential to be the biggest disappointment. My hopes for it are way too high.