We’re now at the end of the summer blockbuster movie season. From here on out, it’s nothing but movies starring Anthony Hopkins as lovesick butlers and Kathy Bates trying to save her farm from foreclosure. The good news is, before everyone has to go back to school and head back to the office, Hollywood saved us one very special treat. We all get to live vicariously through Sylvester Stallone as he cuts a path of destruction through the jungle one last time. There is no doubt what everyone has to see this weekend, so let’s get to it.
The Expendables – Christ, it’s hard to believe we’ve only been talking about this movie for more or less 2 years. As a movie fan, I don’t know if I have ever personally witnessed this much excitement for an original film from script, through casting, through filming, to release. For those of you that somehow don’t know the plot: Sylvester Stallone leads a team of mercenaries to South America to overthrow a dictator. Simple. Precise. What has everyone so excited? Check out this cast: Jason Statham, Jet Li, Eric Roberts, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarznegger, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Gary Daniels….Great, now I have to change my pants. Check out the trailer here.
Eat Pray Love – Guys, I have taken my wife to see a lot of movies that I didn’t necessarily want to see. Hell, I just took her to see Sex & the City 2 a few weeks ago as a surprise because I’m like that. If you go see Eat Pray Love instead of The Expendables this weekend, and you had a choice in the matter, screw you. Seriously, if for no other reason that the “based on a true story” tag. Yes, because everyone needs to know that someone really took this vacation and then wrote a book about it. Oh, but I hear Julia Roberts found religion while filming this, so it has that going for it, too.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – Have you ever been in a situation where everything is lined up for you to really like something, but you still can’t pull the trigger? Like, say you’re a Pearl Jam fan, but you hate all of the band members’ side/solo projects albums? I love everything Edgar Wright has touched on film. Despite the backlash, I am a huge Michael Cera fan. Still, something about this movie just feels…off, like if Woody Allen had directed Singles. Admittedly, I have never read the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels, and there is a huge crowd waiting to love adore this upon release, but I think we may have one last summer bomb on our hands. Here is the international trailer, which looks really cool.
Animal Kingdom – Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema at Sundance this year, this crime drama hailing from Australia has a ton of good word of mouth behind it. The story of a young boy that is sent to live with his criminal relatives after the death of his mom, and the police officer that offers him a way out. Guy Pearce is earning raves as the officer, and the distributors hope that award talk for him will propel box office for the film into the fall. Here’s a trailer.
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