Movie Time

Update: Apparently my prediction about Batman 3 might actually be true! Also, I made a rather off the cuff remark about Adam Sandler below. I know he won't read this, but anyway, Adam, my bad. I liked you in Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison and Punch Drunk Love and I am excited to see how Funny People turns out. I actually used to imitate his routines in junior high and I'm sure he's a lot of fun to work with.

Ok, I ate and now I can write about the three upcoming summer movies I am eagerly awaiting.


WALL-E (June 27): This is the new Pixar film about a cute little robot who gets himself into all kinds of misadventures. It's basically the Voyage of R2D2. I have high hopes for this film as it's developed by the same think-tank team that did Toy Story and Finding Nemo. I hope they do it right. The original teasers made it look like WALL-E was on some existential journey to find himself with these great/cute scenes of him looking into the sky as he is stuck by himself doing menial tasks. It also had great physical comedy and hell, I would be really impressed if they kept dialogue to a minimum.

I know it's a kids movie, but the subsequent trailers have centered on WALL-E finding a love interest and meeting other quirky characters. I think it's a cooler idea to see a kids movie about finding yourself as opposed to the old school Disney romance flick. You know, leave something there for us young adults. If it focuses on the former rather than the latter, we have ourselves a cartoon classic.



The Dark Knight (July 18): No way can this be bad! Oustanding director and great cast with a very dark (duh) storyline. I know everyone's excited to see Heath Ledger's take on the Joker and I'm sure it will be phenomenal, but I'm personally looking forward to Aaron Eckhart's portrayal of Harvey Dent. Spoiler Alert Below.

Dent turns into Two Face in this film and the word is Director Christopher Nolan really makes you feel for this one. I mean, he's a good guy who becomes horribly disfigured and becomes hell-bent on revenge. In many ways, he's Batman's doppelganger.

Also, expect Cillian Murphy back as the Scarecrow. The film will continue its look into the mafia crime world of Gotham and I'll bet Eric Roberts rocks as mob boss Maroni (the rival to Falcone from the last film). He's also the guy that turns Dent into Two Face in the comics.

Now, this movie focuses a lot on the psychology of its bad guys, which unfortunately did not work for Tim Burton's Batman Returns, but in the trailer you see Batman focus on who he has to become in order to face these guys. Thus, the movie will not forget to develop its title character and (I believe) it will succeed where Batman Returns failed.

Predictions: Scarecrow goes to jail, the Joker dies and Two Face gets away.

Batman 3?: They'll definitely do a third one and I think Two Face will be in it. As for the possibility of other villains? I suppose the Penguin could work if you plot him against Two Face (two disfigured men with different ideas of justice), but I guess that would just end up being the same plot as the Dark Knight. Definitely no on the Riddler, Catwoman, Poison Ivy or Mr. Freeze. Still have the bad taste in my mouth from the 90's films.

Batman 3 would continue cleaning up the mobs in Gotham. Mob boss could be Lew Moxon, the guy who hired Joe Chill to kill Bruce's parents, but that might be too Spider-Man 3. Perhaps the other villain will be Holiday or Hangman, which forces Batman to question himself. These guys get rid of mobsters that are ruining the city, but they resort to murder. Batman would have to ask himself: Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

End of nerdiness.



Pineapple Express (August 8): I love Judd Apatow! The 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad, Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall are some of the best comedies of the decade. This film combines two of Apatow's Freaks & Geeks stars (Seth Rogen and James Franco). The story is essentially this: Rogen buys a special blend of weed called Pineapple Express from his buddy Franco. As he is about to smoke it in his car, he witnesses a murder and flips out. The bad guys see him leave and he accidentally drops the bag of PE, which is so rare that it is incredibly traceable, meaning the Feds are on his trail, too. I'm interested to see what happens as this will be Apatow's first comedy that doubles as an action film. I only worry that his recent time with Adam Sandler may have tainted his funny bone. Hopefully, that doesn't happen.