Isn't redux such a great word? And one so rarely has the opportunity to use it. This weekend I saw two movies on my summer list: Julie & Julia and (500) Days of Summer both of which were excellent. 500 Days is a delightful 95 minute romp of great music, great outfits (thank you Hope Hanafin; I want Tom's wardrobe!), and the always great Zooey Deschanel being unbearably cute. The movie tells you up front that it is NOT a love story--no happy ending, no boy gets girl--rather it's the story of Tom who falls in love with Summer who stomps his heart to bits. It's a deft portrayal of the twentysomething not-love-story complete with an Enchanted-styled musical number, and I highly recommend it. Anyway, seeing these movies got me thinking about my summer movie list--because I love to make lists and I love even more to check items off. Anyway, I've regrettably missed a few films including Easy Virtue, Cheri, and Whatever Works. The problem with indie movie theaters is that they don't play these movies for very long. One has to pounce when these movies come out or else miss the goods. And yet movies come out on DVD so quickly now and thank god for Netflix. So to help me see the rest of the films on my summer list, including a few new ones, I've decided to post them here.
Star Trek: Okay, yes I've already seen it, but it's awesome and it's playing at the dollar theater so I don't think one final theater screening is out of line.
The Hangover: A movie with almost no promotion garnered a lot of buzz when it was released while still earning mixed reviews. Nevertheless, it's playing at Brewvies Cinema Pub and really any excuse to drink beer at the movies in Utah is a worthwhile endeavor.
The Hurt Locker: Kathryn Bigelow's film has garnered a lot of attention and has been billed as one of the most important and affecting movies about Iraq to date. It's also 98% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes. So I need to get over to the Broadway before it, like the rest, disappears.
Moon: The trailer bills this movie, starring Sam Rockwell, as an intelligent sci-fi thriller about alternative energy sources on the moon as well as artificial intelligence. I love me some science fiction that combines social commentary with actual science/technology and how it affects mankind.
The Cove: I just saw the trailer for this documentary and it was terrifying. It's described as a "pulse-pounding eco-thriller" that infiltrates a secret cove in Japan to expose a shocking crime against nature that involves dolphins.
The Time Traveler's Wife: I'm mostly going to see this because I read the novel for book club and I wonder how it's going to turn out. I also love Rachel McAdams. I hope it's good, but I don't have the highest expectations.
Humpday: Lynn Shelton's movie, which premiered at SIFF, is also getting a lot of attention as would any movie whose premise is two straight friends who decide to make a gay porno together (like an art house Zack and Miri, but with dudes). Is the attention or the film homophobic? I don't know. But I think it will be an interesting film nevertheless.
Adam: I'm going mostly to see Hugh Dancy (my celeb crush) who plays a man with Asperger's and falls in love with his neighbor played by Rose Byrne.
Little Ashes: A biopic about Lorca, Dali, and Bunuel is finally coming to SLC. I was excited to see this, but the reviews haven't been very good. If anyone else has seen this, please let me know if it's worthwhile.
The other films that have come out this summer that I'm semi-interested in seeing but probably won't include Funny People, Harry Potter 6, Public Enemies, Paper Heart, Ponyo, and Inglourious Basterds. If there are any movies on this list that I should definitely see or skip, let me know. Also, I need to get myself to a drive-in theater because they're awesome.
And here's just a brief run-down of films coming out this fall that have caught at least a passing interest.
Fame
Coco Before Chanel
An Education
The Road
Amelia
Nine
Brothers
All Good Things
The Princess and the Frog
The Lovely Bones
It's Complicated
I want to see The Hurt Locker, and District 9 when it comes out. That is all.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen a whole lot of previews for District 9, though I'm generally not a fan of alien movies. I do think it's a bit odd that there are two other films called 9 and Nine coming out this year. It's very confusing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Dain, and I'm looking forward to your first Philly post.
I don't even look at apple/trailers anymore, thanks to you. As usual, I'm behind and I haven't heard about most of these, but I definitely think we should dedicate an evening to something cinematic--only old school, like get all dressed up to see a movie. Ok, maybe not. But we should go see a movie as we catch up. I'm all about Coco. When does it come out?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, Coco doesn't come out until I've already started school. But I would love to see a movie with you before I leave, and I'm even up for dressing up--though I don't own many dressy clothes.
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