Summer Movie Season: The Good, the Bad and the Maybe
by John NolteNo matter how frustrated, disappointed, or outright disgusted Hollywood makes me, all is forgiven during that brief moment just after the trailers finish and just before the film begins. When those lights dim the chip dissolves from my shoulder and all the filmmaker need do to win me forever is tell one helluva story.
Politics shmolitics… Just take me away.
For we hopeless movie lovers, each year hope (if you’ll pardon the expression) springs eternal with a fresh offering of pull-out-the-stops-studio-balance-sheet-in-the-crosshairs slate of tent poles. And for that reason, this is my favorite part of the movie year because all I want for my ten bucks is to get lost for a couple hours, and from May 1st through the end of August filmdom at least attempts to put the political nonsense on hold to do just that.
So how does this summer’s slate look…
Well, we start by awarding major points for no films starring Nicole Kidman, Keira Knightley, Leonardo DiCaprio, or George Clooney. The result of this news is a hissing sound as some of the suck potential leaks out of the season. Obviously, Shia LeWhats-His-Name’s presence mitigates some of those warm fuzzies, but the Mighty Denzel Washington makes up for a lot. It’s also nice to see that most of the sequels are frontloaded in May as if the Schedule Gods took pity on us and decided to get them out of the way.
We’ll look at what’s coming up in a three-part series:
The Good: Cinematic offerings worthy of anticipation and the emotional investment of hope (if you’ll pardon the expression).
The Bad: Those that if they don’t suck the impact could create a dangerous rip in time forever altering life as we know it.
The Maybe: Those we can only hope (if you’ll pardon the expression) will be good.
And so today we start on a positive note, with those worth getting excited over:
May 21st: Terminator Salvation – I wrote about this the other day but let me just add that the real attraction is Christian Bale. When you’re dealing with a style-over-substance director like McG, the presence of Bale sends a signal that this won’t be “Charlie’s Angels 3: Look at all the Shiny Machines.” Bale’s exactly the kind of action star you want. He’s not some snob who refuses to do popcorn flicks, he just wants them to be good. In a way he reminds me of Harrison Ford when Harrison Ford was still Harrison Ford.
–
June 12th: The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 – Gawd, I love the original and were it not for Denzel Washington’s presence I’d be pretty down on this. You can’t improve on the perfection of the 1974 version, and John Travolta can’t be Robert Shaw and Denzel can’t be Walter Matthau, but the concept is so fool-proof that if they make it their own and set it to David Shire’s same bad-ass score, very little can go wrong (he said naively with a dash of denial).
–
July 1st: Public Enemies – A Michael Mann film is always an event, but casting Christian Bale and Johnny Depp as Melvin Purvis and John Dillinger is the real draw. When it comes to modern actors dropped in this era, whether or not they can pull off looking credible in a fedora is the first test, and the publicity shots look promising. There’s also the promise of mucho machine-gun violence Mann-style.
–
July 24th: Piranha 3-D – There are certain words that when spotted in a film title immediately earn my goodwill, one of them being piranha. Others include: death, aliens, snake, Navarone, vampire, women (when the context involves prison), guns, blood, gladiator, wizard, monkey, Tarzan, hot rod, zombie, and for some strange reason, frogmen.
–
Aug. 21st: Inglorious Basterds - As I get older I’m finding my tolerance for violence has diminished considerably. I still love action, but the gory stuff makes me squirm, and not in a good way. Tarantino’s approach to blood is a notable exception. So over the top and cartoonish it’s like watching Daffy Duck get his beak blown off or Wile E. Coyote go over a cliff. Other than the abysmal “Death Proof,” I love Tarantino’s work. His enthusiams, raw talent and energy wins me over and there’s no film coming out this summer I’m more excited about than this wild man director’s enthusiastic take on the WWII, Man-on-a-Mission genre.
NOTE: Because I’ve already seen “Bruno” (7/10) and respect confidentiality agreements and the reasons behind them when it comes to a work-in-progress, I won’t say anything about the film until legitimate reviews (meaning, non-Roger Friedman-ish) start to roll out.
Coming Next… “The Bad: Those We Dread.”
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71 Comments
I definitely want to see Public Enemies and Inglorious Basterds, but not the remake to The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. How can you improve upon Jerry Stiller's suggestion to Walter Matthau that the hijackers are going to fly the subway car to Cuba? You're a sick man, Rico. God, I love that movie.
You make me feel so optimistic!
Johnny Depp and Christian Bale have some serious baggage, but I'm with you. They are two of the finest actors around, and I never seem to have trouble separating their personal lives from their parts. I'm looking forward to "Public Enemies" and "Terminator." John Travolta doesn't even seem to be able to play John Travolta anymore. But Denzel Washington might yet save the old classic "Taking" from utter destruction. And I like Tarantino movies so long as they don't carry a message beyond the silly violence. They're so overblown that one can almost expect Wile E. Coyote to show up with an Acme Body-Shredder, which he'll trip over and end up the mangled victim of his own nefarious plot. Could be a fun season.
Well, since I've been following Christian's career when I fell in love with him from Newsies when I was in high school, I don't care if he cusses out the Pope, I'll still go to his movies; even in the theatres.
Sorry, but it looks like another summer in which I have to act like I never graduated Junior High.
I agree on Bale and Depp. I'm rarely disappointed in their acting — though sometimes, their films still don't work.
I'm in complete agreement with you on Tarantino, and from what I've seen so far about "Inglorious Basterds" I'm actually pretty excited about seeing it. If Tarantino can stick to just going bats— crazy on the screen and not try to drop in some message, it'll be just the thing.
I'm also a sucker for gangster movies so "Public Enemies" will probably be one I go see as well. As for the rest, with the possible exception of "Terminator" I'll probably only see them on DVD, if at all; my fiancee is a huge Terminator fan so she'll probably arm twist me enough to go see it. I won't complain much since I do like the Terminator movies, but not enough to have it on my "must see on the big screen at all costs" list.
I used to work at the company that developed Piranha (before it was 3D). Trying to clear up the rights on this project was a nightmare (the company I worked for was a remake company; I know. I felt like a whore).
This new version is based on a fun script by Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger (how cool is that for a writer's name) and we went through a long phase with Chuck Russell before Alex Aja and his co-writer came onboard. The beauty of the Stolberg/Goldberg script was that it knew exactly what kind of picture it needed to be. I hope that's what we end up with.
Incidentally, the film won't be released until March of next year.
So John, can I get you to take a look at my script and offer your advice?
The working title is: "Piranha Death Snake Aliens of Navarone Meet Vampire Prison Women In a Frenzy of Guns and Blood While the Gladiator Wizard Monkeys Run Over Tarzan With a Hot-Rod to Appease the Zombie Frogmen."
I know, a bit wordy, but there's a lot going on.
I actually adore Keira Knightly, the hideous Atonement notwithstanding, and am sorry she won't be onscreen much for some time. Oh, well, there's always Harry Potter VI, and the predictable-but-funny-looking chick-flick, The Ugly Truth (with Katherine Heigl and the gorgeous Gerard Butler). I'm not expecting much out of this Summer's movies….. I'm thoroughly bored with sequels and don't see any new and promising material out there, so I think it's going to be a Netflix season.
I could have lived my entire life without "Benny and Joon" and "Reign of Fire," but how can you go wrong with an American actor who does a very credible Brit accent, and a Welsh/Brit who can do a very credible American accent? Of course for years I thought Gary Oldman was from Alabama, so I'm probably no judge.
Add in some leather bikini Amazon biker babes and I'd go see it, repeatedly.
At some point I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Michael Mann. “Don’t go anywhere,” he murmured. “I wanna show you something.” Kevin and I followed him and a crowd of assistants into one of the vacant sports bars the production had taken over. Inside, someone stood on one of the bar tables and fed a DVD into an overhead projector. There, as daylight spread across the set outside, Mann showed us the first edited scene of the movie. It had been shot the month before, in Wisconsin, the scene where Dillinger is returned to Chicago following his arrest in Arizona.
I shouldn’t say much about what I saw, but it was breathtaking, shot in gorgeous high-definition. There were smiles everywhere.
Afterward Mann shook my hand and said, “Nice writing.” I walked outside into the dawn, then into a car for O’Hare, feeling as if I was a very lucky author to have my book in such capable hands.
~Quote from the "nice" writer
Bryan Burrough, whose from my hometown in Texas.
I actually quite liked "Reign of Fire" but then again, as I've said before, I sometimes really like really bad movies.
What the hell, John—no "Girlfriend Experience?"
I don't know if I should thank Keira Knightly for finally teaching everyone how to say/spell my name or abhor her because people look at my…um…fronts now to check if I've got some. Happily I'm nursing my fourth baby (and can nearly knock a person over when entering a room) so there the comparisons end…
It's always good to read Nolte's take on films. I don't always agree (Tarantino and Bale immediately come to mind ) but his observations are always interesting. I'll probably see "Public Enemies" in spite of Bale being in the cast (I'm the contrarian here so far as Bale goes — I've never seen him in a part that I didn't think someone else would have been better) but the others look doubtful.
Alas, they tore down the local drive-in too soon.
I really liked Bale in "Equilibrium". I think that was the first time I noticed him as an actor.
I'm hoping T4 works. I like Nick Stahl (from Carnivale) but T3 left me cold. Yeah, the ending was ok. But the rest of it felt like they didn't really have any plot ideas, kind of like they were just writing a bridge to another movie.
We still have ours, which is why I'm really pushing for the leather bikini Amazon biker babes…
I think you're going to have hard time getting Samuel L. Jackson to utter his trademark phrase to that one … But I'd pay to see him try
That was brilliant. I had a good laugh. You can turn it into a trilogy as well with longer and more ridiculous titles.
Hmmm, lessee … Total sucker for Tarantino films, so I'll likely have to see that one. Then I'm almost certainly going to have to see Christian Bale does Terminator. I'll have to see trailors for the others I think, and I really don't know about Pirahna. Being an aquarium hobbyist like I am, I just know too much about most types of fish to be able to easily suspend my disbelief. It would be like watching a disease film with my microbiologist husband.
Husband also says you need to add "from Mars" in there some where to really make title pop.
To be completely honest, I don't even remember most of the plot to T3, and I saw it a couple times. It just didn't really resonate with me, except for the ending which was decent.
Pete Goldfinger? Okay Piranha 3D definitely gets an upgrade to "probably see" just on that fact alone.
I'm curious, who do you think could have done a better Batman? I thought he did a great job in Batman Begins but dropped the ball slightly with The Dark Knight but still good.
Inglorious Basterds and Public Enemies for sure. Looking forward to Wolverine, too. T4 & Star Trek? maybe.
Bale is good, but he's got some anger issues.
Inglorious Basterds and Public Enemies for sure. Looking forward to Wolverine, too. T4 & Star Trek? maybe.
Bale is good, but he's got some anger issues.
BAHAHA! That's hilarious! Hey, I think she's charming, but there's no question about it: I would forgive that girl for getting some implants. Mother Nature must've used up all available beauty on her face and had none left over for other assets. She'll be fine as long as she never stars alongside Scarlett Johanssen
Hahahhaa! I couldn't agree with you more!
CHRISTIAN BALE FOREVER!!!!!
John, nice job on the photo shop of QT over Lee Marvin from Dirty Dozen. I'm sure he'll love it.
How can you have a Good summer prediction list without including the latest Pixar offering? "Up" should be on that list.
Sorry for the delay, I was finally able to see your message.
The plot of T3, let's see: lots of chasing, lots of shooting, more shooting, governor of CA fights lesbian in death match, computers go all "blue screen of death" (literally), and the world goes boom. That about sums it up.
Every time I see Knightly, I want to hand her a sandwich or something. Doesn't anybody feed her?
When I first heard that Inglorious Basterds would be somewhat like Where Eagles Dare,
I hoped I might enjoy it. But now, knowing the story is centered on repeated mutilations, I am doubtful.
For me, Tarantino is a disappointing/frustrating case of much talent, passion, and individuality wasted on
expressing an impoverished sensibility; happy to remain narrow, ignorant, uncultured, and immature.
There's just so much more to life, humanity, the world, etc than the very limited scope of his consistent focus,
in film after film. And the world he depicts is such an ugly world, with very little mitigating appeal.
His output looks like textbook psychology illustration of overcompensating for insecurity about masculinity.
I remember all that, wait a minute, that was the whole plot???
Wow, I'm going to have to go watch the last 10 minutes of Battlestar Galactica just to recover or something. LOL
So….."Star Trek" in four weeks is in what two categories that are left, John?
Piranha 3-D says 2010 on its IMDB page.
As a fan of the Piranha family of films, I say huzzah!
As a fan of QT, I would add that I loved Death Proof, and not just because it's a QT film (I fell asleep during Planet Terror, I must admit). Maybe it is because it's a QT film – frankly, he makes movies that I like and he's not disappointed me – the only film of his I didn't like was Reservoir Dogs. Tony Scott is in the same category for me – like or don't like his movies, but for those of who do, we don't miss 'em. Can't wait for Inglorious.
Sigh! I know – I just KNOW "State of Play" is going to be the stinker of this summer. I know it. I just know it. Within the first 2 seconds of watching that trailer (and folks, this comes from a woman who stood 5 hours in the hot sun waiting to be first in line to watch Crowe's semi-talented garage band play the Fillmore) I knew this film was going to suck major. I just can't list all of the lousy, hackneyed, cliched, lazy, tired, moronic things wrong with this film. And worst – they're wasting major talent on it. Crowe and Helen Mirren – it doesn't get any better than that. Oh, lord. I know it. I just know this is going to be one of Nolte's stinkers of the summer predicts.
I'm with ya, John. Good Stuff Coming Soon To A Theater Near You.
To me, great films are like the make-up sex after all the knockdown drag-outs we have here at Big Hollywood and elsewhere. It reminds us, despite their ugly personal natures, why we fell in love with them in the first place.
{sigh} Sorry, to me those are all in various degrees been there, seen that, don't see anything new.
I think a lot of people will feel the same, except for the Piranha 3D "novelty" for the young crowd, and the Christian Bale makes it OK sentiment for Terminator.
There's nothing new under the sun…
That movie is hilarious. I just saw it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The action scenes are so ridiculous they are amazing.
I was pretty stunned when they did the scene where he's surrounded in the dark. The whole thing made no sense, but it pretty cool to watch!
I was disappointed with Michael Mann's "Miami Vice", but "Heat" remains one of the greatest crime dramas of all time. I remain optimistic about Public Enemies and the allure of Christian Bale and Johnny Depp playing opposite each other? Priceless.
I'm also with you on Terminator: Salvation… although mainly because of Christian Bale again.
Overall, though, the summer looks disturbingly anemic. Usually, I get excited for about a dozen movies and about 3 of them end up being good movies. This summer, I'm excited for about 4 movies.
It seems like this is going to be "The Year The Hollywood Took A Huge Dump On My Childhood" ("Where The Wild Things Are" was never meant to be a movie, neither was "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs", then we get another "Transformers" movie and "GI Joe: The Real UN Hero". Just shoot me now.)
"Where the Wild Things Are" does look awful, but I must admit the trailor for "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" made me smile.
"No. Not without incident."
(Leaving out the tech's reaction to the polygraph readouts when they suddenly flatline right when Preston says the above. There's a filter for profanity, apparently.)
Oh…. I used to say that to my co-workers before doing something that was invariably harmful to myself or others…. Never quite managed it with the same "Oh sh!t", reaction.
*MissQuinn*
Don't get me started on GI:Joe. My childhood's gonna get mutilated on this one. <sigh>
*MissQuinn*
Same here, GI: Joe has epic fail written all over it.
"I'm curious, who do you think could have done a better Batman?"
Michael Keaton DID do a better job as Batman in the first movie. Bale (IMO) looks the part but is just not a very good actor. He's too stiff and self-conscious. Makes the audience self-conscious for him. In "The Prestige" he had the starring role and came across as just plain boring. Both Michael Caine and Hugh Jackman made him vanish into the woodwork when they were on screen with him. In "The Dark Knight", Ledger, Oldman and the guy who played Harvey Two-faced (forget his name) were much more vital and interesting than Bale. (To be fair, I thought he was one of the worst child actors I've ever seen ("Empire of the Sun")
Who would be a better Batman? Good question. It would be a hard role to cast. I'd like to see Depp give it a try — he's multifaceted — probably the only multifaceted young AMERICAN actor working at present. Perhaps TV actors? Matthew Fox might be a good Batman. He's certainly a better actor than Bale. The actor who is supposed to be the "hunk" on NCIS. He could do it. Fact is, Hollywood has few interesting actors who could play an action role — Denzel is too old now; Crowe not right for the part; Butler too tall; Jackman too tall; Owen too old.
Interesting that of the actors listed above, only Denzel is American.
By asking that question, you singled out a big problem in Hollywood. The lack of real talent in "stars". I imagine that occurred because "stars" have become political spokespeople. What about Rham Emanual as Batman? No kidding. Actors and Dem. politicians are interchangeable these days. "Rhambo" has that "dark knight" look; he's interesting looking; probably can act as well as Bale; and he's no more political than Clooney, Norton or any of the others.
James Caviezal might make a good Batman, but, of course, he's been "gray listed" because of his politics.
"I'm curious, who do you think could have done a better Batman?"
Michael Keaton DID do a better job as Batman in the first movie. Bale (IMO) looks the part but is just not a very good actor. He's too stiff and self-conscious. Makes the audience self-conscious for him. In "The Prestige" he had the starring role and came across as just plain boring. Both Michael Caine and Hugh Jackman made him vanish into the woodwork when they were on screen with him. In "The Dark Knight", Ledger, Oldman and the guy who played Harvey Two-faced (forget his name) were much more vital and interesting than Bale. (To be fair, I thought he was one of the worst child actors I've ever seen ("Empire of the Sun")
Who would be a better Batman? Good question. It would be a hard role to cast. I'd like to see Depp give it a try — he's multifaceted — probably the only multifaceted young AMERICAN actor working at present. Perhaps TV actors? Matthew Fox might be a good Batman. He's certainly a better actor than Bale. The actor who is supposed to be the "hunk" on NCIS. He could do it. Fact is, Hollywood has few interesting actors who could play an action role — Denzel is too old now; Crowe not right for the part; Butler too tall; Jackman too tall; Owen too old.
Interesting that of the actors listed above, only Denzel is American.
By asking that question, you singled out a big problem in Hollywood. The lack of real talent in "stars". I imagine that occurred because "stars" have become political spokespeople. What about Rham Emanual as Batman? No kidding. Actors and Dem. politicians are interchangeable these days. "Rhambo" has that "dark knight" look; he's interesting looking; probably can act as well as Bale; and he's no more political than Clooney, Norton or any of the others.
James Caviezal might make a good Batman, but, of course, he's been "gray listed" because of his politics.
It was called "gun kata" and was supposed to be some sort of martial art based on statistical analysis of gun battles or something like that. (I rewound back a few times during the bit where some lecturer at the Grammaton(sp?) Cleric Training School was explaining it all whilst trainees were sticking their empty hands around, probably practicing the katas.)
Why remake the Taking of Pelham? Is it really so hard to come up with a new idea?
>"There are certain words that when spotted in a film title immediately earn my goodwill, one of them being piranha. Others include: death, aliens, snake, Navarone, vampire, women (when the context involves prison), guns, blood, gladiator, wizard, monkey, Tarzan, hot rod, zombie, and for some strange reason, frogmen."
DH, you had my laughing out loud at work with these comments! Thanks! I'm always going to watch a film with Hot Rod in the title.
Looks like some decent potential coming this summer. I'm glad, cause the last few years have been pretty bare.
Is there any more over-rated actor on the planet than Will Smith?
Here are three possibles:
Jack Black
Adam Sandler
Ben Stiller
There are maybe five true actors/actresses left-the rest are all shams, affirmitive action hires, or relatives.
There. I said it.
Nyah!
My wife bought me Equilibrium for my birthday last month. Man how I love that woman!!
T3 was awful. Thankfully Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles completely obliterated that particular movie
I hope Terminator Salvation is awesome, partly because I hope that would bring SCC back for another season!
I disagree. Heartily. Bale put out a multi-faceted Batman. Look at the Dinner Scene during The Dark Knight. . .look at his eyes versus what he SAYS. Keaton played Bruce Wayne like Peter Parker with money. And that is NOT Bruce Wayne – - playboy/industrialist. Bruce is supposed to walk a fine line between suave and cocky. I say, if you can't like Bale…take another look at Val Kilmer's performances. But Keaton, while okay, is NOT the quintessential Bruce Wayne. . .he just happened to luck into the film that redefined the character for a generation.
But after seeing Frequency, it's a shame Hollywood lost Jim Caviezel's number.
*MissQuinn*
nothing sounds good at all??????????
Um, what about Pixar's "UP"? It looks incredible and imaginative, plus it has an elderly man (that's not Indiana Jones in a bad movie) as the hero. That's certainly what I'm looking forward to the most.
For current Hollywood? YES – They have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for years because they are incapable of an original thought or story line.
[...] week was a look at 5 summer films worthy of both ten-bucks and clock watching, next go-round will be those we’re unsure about, [...]
Yeah, I'm definitely a Bale fangirl now. You can bet I'm seeing both of this summer's releases.
Sorry, but none of these interest me except for the Dillinger flick. Inglorious Bastards? Nope. One of the major draws of the WWII movies of the past was the vicarious feeling of being part of something larger than yourself, the Noble Cause. Do you really believe that QT understands the role of the Allies in preserving civilization? No way. Just another excuse for blood and explosions. A sure fire trash movie.
[...] celebrated the good. We’ve dreaded the [...]
A few comments on this list:
1) Terminator: Salvation & Piranha 3-D might be good, but who knows? It'll depend on whether I'll have the money for them.
2) The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 has a modern look to it, but, again, who knows?
3) Public Enemies is a must see, period.
4) I need to catch up on Quentin Tarantino's films before I can comment on his work, including his upcoming film.
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