It's Memorial Day weekend and the official kick-off to the summer and that of course means big, loud and dumb movies hitting the screens with force. Don't get me wrong I love the summer movie season but I wanted to take a moment to address some smaller films that are also coming to theaters this summer which I am looking forward to seeing.
The Brothers Bloom (Opens this weekend in limited release)
Writer/Director Rian Johnson follows-up his fantastic debut Brick with this comedic tale of two con men brothers (Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo) who embark on that elusive final job by taking a bored heiress (Rachel Weisz) on adventures around the world. The cast is top-notch and this looks like a funny and lite romp. Trailer link blow:
The Brothers Bloom (Opens this weekend in limited release)
Writer/Director Rian Johnson follows-up his fantastic debut Brick with this comedic tale of two con men brothers (Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo) who embark on that elusive final job by taking a bored heiress (Rachel Weisz) on adventures around the world. The cast is top-notch and this looks like a funny and lite romp. Trailer link blow:
Moon (Opens June 12th in limited release)
Sam Rockwell stars as an American astronaut nearing the end of a 3 year long stay at a secluded mining base on the moon when he begins to contemplate the consequences of his work and what the future may hold for him. Kevin Spacey voices the HAL-ish robot that controls the station Rockwell works at. The always great Rockwell seems a perfect fit for this role and I love seeing smart and thought-provoking sci-fi that doesn't rely on CGI. Trailer link below:
Humpday (Opens in July)
Director Lynn Shelton does not shy away from the taboo or boundaries in this tale two overly competitive male college friends who after many libations find themselves enthralled in a dare to make an erotic art film whereupon the two of them have sex with each other on camera. Sometimes writer/director Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair, Baghead) co-stars in what looks to be a funny and hopefully honest twist on male commraderie. Trailer link below:
Away We Go (Opens June 5th in limited release)
From Oscar winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) and a screenplay co-written by literary uber star Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) is this film about a young couple (John Krasinski & Maya Rudolph) expecting the birth of their first child who travel around the U.S. visiting friends and relatives all the while trying to find a home of their own. The wonderful supporting cast includes Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Allison Janey but I'm very happy and eager to see Krasinski and Rudolph get to carry what seems likes a lovely and touching film. Trailer link below:
Whatever Works (Opens June 19th in limited release)
I'm an unabashed fan of Woody Allen whatever style or mood he's working with and think a collab between him and Larry David is more than fitting. David portrays a neurotic New Yorker(surprise!) who enters into a strange bedfellows relationship with a young Southern Belle (Evan Rachel Wood) with equally eccentric and confused parents played the comparable Ed Begley Jr and Patricia Clarkson. Allen hasn't disappointed me since he started his current hot-streak dating back to 2004's Melinda and Melinda and this looks to be no exception. Trailer link below:
500 Days of Summer (Opens July 17th in limited release)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, two of the best young actors working today, headline this unorthodox film about a young man examining the best and not so best days of his now ending relationship with the girl of his dreams. Trailer link below:
Paper Heart (Opens August 14th)
Actress Charlyne Yi, best known for some scene-stealing moments in Judd Apatow's Knocked Up, portrays herself in this "mockumentary" about the search for the love in the modern world. Yi's real life boyfriend Michael Cera co-stars and will hopefully redeem himself for last year's painful Nick and Nora... and the not so promising looking Year One coming out earlier in the summer. Trailer link below:
The Hurt Locker (Opens June 26th in limited release)
Formerly an A-List director in the male dominated action genre Katheryn Bigelow (Blue Steel, Point Break) presents this well-received war film set in Iraq and surrounding an elite Army bombing squad with a cast that features Jeremy Renner(who should be a bigger name) and a certain favorite castaway by the name of Evangeline Lily. It looks intense and sharp. I'm glad there are still filmmakers brave enough to make movie about Iraq despite the critical and commercial backlash toward them in recent years. All it is going to take is one really great film about the subject to unleash a wave of the stories that deserve to be told. Trailer link below:
The Boat That Rocked (Opens August 28th)
British writer and filmmaker Richard Curtis (Notting Hill, Love Actually) the mastermind of smart and charming but not too saccarine romantic comedy steps out of his comfort zone for this fictionalized telling of a pirate Rock 'n' Roll radio station in England during the 1960s that actually broadcasts from a ship in the North Sea. Phillip Seymour Hoffman leads a great cast that also includes my favorite "Mad Women" January Jones, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy, Gemma Arterton and Kenneth Branagh. Trailer link below:
Taking Woodstock (Opens August 14th)
The last film we preview comes from director Ang Lee with the true story of how a closeted Hotel Manager by the name Elliot Tiber (here played by Demetri Martin) living in the Catskills of upstate New York was able to help the organizers of Woodstock keep the legendary festival alive. The supporting cast includes Eugene Levy, Emile Hirsch, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kelli Garner and Liev Schrieber. Trailer link below:
Well that's all for now. I hope you'll check out the previews and maybe catch some of the flicks on the big screen sometime this summer in between the Transformers and Terminators and Star Treks we'll all be making to the cineplexes this summer.
