This summer is jam-packed from end to end with films, and with the informal launch of the summer season coming with the release of The Amazing Spider-Man this Friday May 2, it's the perfect time to create a four-part guide to the biggest films this year that'll be competing for your money, your attention and your love. Our guide doesn't just tell you who's in it and when it's coming out, though -- instead, it'll give the reasons to be excited and the possible reasons to be wary for every one of the 32 films we're going to cover. Of course, this list doesn't cover every film coming out before Labor Day -- like, for examples, indie prospects that nonetheless star major talents like Chris Evans in Snowpiercer or the Amy Pohler/Paul Rudd rom-com parody They Came Together -- but it will cover every mega-movie opening between now and the start of September. Let's begin ...
Release: May 1
The Upswing: Director Marc Webb himself has said that he worked on this film to make it lighter and brighter -- literally and figuratively, with many more daytime scenes than the shaded, dark-background action of its predecessor. Also, the chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone -- the only highlight from the first film -- is also something to look forward to more of.
The Downside: Written by the screenwriting 'powerhouse' team of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (alongside producer/associate Jeff Pinker), this sequel basically winds up feeling like a lumpy collection of screenwriting cliches ... and burns up valuable running time either telling us things we already know or setting up future films at the expense of this one. I wrote a full review for Hollywood news-and-views website The Wrap; you can find my 1.5/5-star review here.
Release: May 9
The Upswing: After working on Iron Man and Iron Man II -- and the much-maligned Cowboys and Aliens -- director-star Jon Favreau steps back to something a little smaller-scale with his new film, where he plays a chef who turns his disgruntlement at working in staid, white-linen restaurants with no soul into a barely-functional food truck where his passion matters more than the plating.
The Downside: Not much, as near as we can see -- and the supporting cast, from Scarlett Johansson to Robert Downey, Jr., Dustin Hoffman to Oliver Platt, is enough to whet the artistic appetites of any film fan.
Release: May 9
The Upswing: Seth Rogen and Zac Efron team up with Nicolas Stoller (The Five-Year Engagement, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) for a comedy of domesticity vs. degeneracy as new parents Rogen and Rose Byrne have a fraternity house move in next door, where Efron's president fights back fiercely against Rogen and Byrne's attempts to shut the newly-christened party palace down. Everyone involved is pretty funny ...
The Downside: ... and they are, in fact, although a few scenes of physical comedy involving prosthetic body parts from what we politely call 'the swimsuit area' are possibly a gag too far. However, while casting wildman Rogen as a dad and suburbanite seemingly plays opposite his typical roles, the film judo-flips that seeming contradiction into some nice, strong comedic bits and themes under the gags.
Release: May 16
The Upswing: With the trailers going short on showing the monster and long on uneasy menace and widescreen views of destruction, this may be the one summer blockbuster to realize than when it comes to get us into the theater, less can be a lot more. The cast -- including Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olson, David Strathairn and plenty of other greats -- is also a good sign. And director Gareth Edwards' earlier film, Monsters, was a brilliant indie monster movie-- such things do exist -- that proved he can handle both conveying characters and creating creatures.
The Downside: None that we can see, but, at the same time, Edwards went from an indie with a budget of, perhaps, $100,000 to a mega-billion big-studio film with no in-between -- and those bigger leagues can mean very big challenges for filmmakers who don't get to make a medium-sized movie between their origins and what the major studios want from them. Also, can the title monster, in his latest re-boot, himself be reclaimed from not just the bad 1998 Roland Emmerich disaster but also his own status as a running joke?
Release: May 16
The Upswing: The script for this film, with sports agent Jon Hamm heading to India to find potential Major League Baseball pitchers, is written by the always-excellent Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, Win-Win), so it has much, much more heart and smarts than the trailer shows -- and a supporting cast that includes Lake Bell, Assif Mandivi and Bill Paxton is nothing to sneeze at.
The Downside: After nearly a decade of Don Draper, are audiences ready and willing to see Hamm play yet another character who's good at business but doesn't like it who's also in desperate need of realizing what really matters?
Release: May 23
The Upswing: Almost none; the trailer looks like a collection of crimes against comedy, with plenty of the kind of vomit-and-CGI gags that Sandler confuses with humor; also, the on-an-African-safari plot suggests that Adam Sandler keeps on wanting us to pay for his working vacations with his friends.
The Downside: Everything. Sandler's been sleepwalking on-screen a lot lately, and you have to wonder what bet Drew Barrymore lost, and when, that she has to keep chaining herself to him in comedies that, so far range from the barely-watchable to the utterly awful.
Release: May 23
The Upswing: Franchise originator Bryan Singer is back as director, and the split-timeline plot allows your favorite old-school mutants (Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Halle Berry) to join First Class new additions like Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence; new additions like Peter Dinklage and Evan Peters also round out the cast on a saga fans have been waiting for and a film that might make Fox's way to future X-films much, much easier. And the trailers have been looking, consistently, better and better.
The Downside: Nevermind allegations against Singer; this is one of the most expensive films 20th Century Fox has made -- and considering how they made Avatar, that's saying a lot. Also, the X-movies have had a disturbing tendency, in the past few outings, to add more and more characters to less and less effect; the expansive, expensive cast list for Days of Future Past portends another movie jammed to the gills with blink-and-you'll-miss-them mutants at the possible expense of storytelling.
Release: May 30
The Upswing: Trying to get away a little from his animation roots and the plots he's most familiar with (really, there's not much difference between Ted the bear and Brian the dog), Seth MacFarlane gives us a comedy-western with a huge cast (including Neil Patrick Harris, Liam Neeson, Charlize Thereon and many more). The film promises action, musical numbers, meta-comedy and a lot more ...
The Downside: ... But at the same time, considering how few Westerns there are these days, will audiences be eager to see a comedy that mocks them? And will audiences take to McFarlane in the lead role, or will they prefer him more as the man behind the curtain from their favorite shows?
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Release: May 1
The Upswing: Director Marc Webb himself has said that he worked on this film to make it lighter and brighter -- literally and figuratively, with many more daytime scenes than the shaded, dark-background action of its predecessor. Also, the chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone -- the only highlight from the first film -- is also something to look forward to more of.
The Downside: Written by the screenwriting 'powerhouse' team of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (alongside producer/associate Jeff Pinker), this sequel basically winds up feeling like a lumpy collection of screenwriting cliches ... and burns up valuable running time either telling us things we already know or setting up future films at the expense of this one. I wrote a full review for Hollywood news-and-views website The Wrap; you can find my 1.5/5-star review here.
Chef
Release: May 9
The Upswing: After working on Iron Man and Iron Man II -- and the much-maligned Cowboys and Aliens -- director-star Jon Favreau steps back to something a little smaller-scale with his new film, where he plays a chef who turns his disgruntlement at working in staid, white-linen restaurants with no soul into a barely-functional food truck where his passion matters more than the plating.
The Downside: Not much, as near as we can see -- and the supporting cast, from Scarlett Johansson to Robert Downey, Jr., Dustin Hoffman to Oliver Platt, is enough to whet the artistic appetites of any film fan.
Neighbors
Release: May 9
The Upswing: Seth Rogen and Zac Efron team up with Nicolas Stoller (The Five-Year Engagement, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) for a comedy of domesticity vs. degeneracy as new parents Rogen and Rose Byrne have a fraternity house move in next door, where Efron's president fights back fiercely against Rogen and Byrne's attempts to shut the newly-christened party palace down. Everyone involved is pretty funny ...
The Downside: ... and they are, in fact, although a few scenes of physical comedy involving prosthetic body parts from what we politely call 'the swimsuit area' are possibly a gag too far. However, while casting wildman Rogen as a dad and suburbanite seemingly plays opposite his typical roles, the film judo-flips that seeming contradiction into some nice, strong comedic bits and themes under the gags.
Godzilla
Release: May 16
The Upswing: With the trailers going short on showing the monster and long on uneasy menace and widescreen views of destruction, this may be the one summer blockbuster to realize than when it comes to get us into the theater, less can be a lot more. The cast -- including Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olson, David Strathairn and plenty of other greats -- is also a good sign. And director Gareth Edwards' earlier film, Monsters, was a brilliant indie monster movie-- such things do exist -- that proved he can handle both conveying characters and creating creatures.
The Downside: None that we can see, but, at the same time, Edwards went from an indie with a budget of, perhaps, $100,000 to a mega-billion big-studio film with no in-between -- and those bigger leagues can mean very big challenges for filmmakers who don't get to make a medium-sized movie between their origins and what the major studios want from them. Also, can the title monster, in his latest re-boot, himself be reclaimed from not just the bad 1998 Roland Emmerich disaster but also his own status as a running joke?
Million Dollar Arm
Release: May 16
The Upswing: The script for this film, with sports agent Jon Hamm heading to India to find potential Major League Baseball pitchers, is written by the always-excellent Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, Win-Win), so it has much, much more heart and smarts than the trailer shows -- and a supporting cast that includes Lake Bell, Assif Mandivi and Bill Paxton is nothing to sneeze at.
The Downside: After nearly a decade of Don Draper, are audiences ready and willing to see Hamm play yet another character who's good at business but doesn't like it who's also in desperate need of realizing what really matters?
Blended
Release: May 23
The Upswing: Almost none; the trailer looks like a collection of crimes against comedy, with plenty of the kind of vomit-and-CGI gags that Sandler confuses with humor; also, the on-an-African-safari plot suggests that Adam Sandler keeps on wanting us to pay for his working vacations with his friends.
The Downside: Everything. Sandler's been sleepwalking on-screen a lot lately, and you have to wonder what bet Drew Barrymore lost, and when, that she has to keep chaining herself to him in comedies that, so far range from the barely-watchable to the utterly awful.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Release: May 23
The Upswing: Franchise originator Bryan Singer is back as director, and the split-timeline plot allows your favorite old-school mutants (Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Halle Berry) to join First Class new additions like Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence; new additions like Peter Dinklage and Evan Peters also round out the cast on a saga fans have been waiting for and a film that might make Fox's way to future X-films much, much easier. And the trailers have been looking, consistently, better and better.
The Downside: Nevermind allegations against Singer; this is one of the most expensive films 20th Century Fox has made -- and considering how they made Avatar, that's saying a lot. Also, the X-movies have had a disturbing tendency, in the past few outings, to add more and more characters to less and less effect; the expansive, expensive cast list for Days of Future Past portends another movie jammed to the gills with blink-and-you'll-miss-them mutants at the possible expense of storytelling.
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Release: May 30
The Upswing: Trying to get away a little from his animation roots and the plots he's most familiar with (really, there's not much difference between Ted the bear and Brian the dog), Seth MacFarlane gives us a comedy-western with a huge cast (including Neil Patrick Harris, Liam Neeson, Charlize Thereon and many more). The film promises action, musical numbers, meta-comedy and a lot more ...
The Downside: ... But at the same time, considering how few Westerns there are these days, will audiences be eager to see a comedy that mocks them? And will audiences take to McFarlane in the lead role, or will they prefer him more as the man behind the curtain from their favorite shows?
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