Searching for Inception

So Jackie wrote on my wall noting that it seemed like there weren't many good movies coming out this summer. Now as someone who awesomely (read: probably not awesomly) perpetually looks at IMDb's Coming Soon section and follows movie news and trailers far too much, I had to beg to differ! But I wanted to also break it down in writing, and try to give an idea of upcoming movies to people who were curious about what this summer has to offer. Now there are plenty articles out there about this stuff (including this one, which I plan on reading after I write this, an article that is also a preview of Bill Simmons' new website, what what: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=110502/preview/molly-lambert-on-2011-summer-movie-preview), but hopefully you'll enjoy my thoughts on things.

I'm gonna rank these based on movies I'm least looking forward that I feel are worth mentioning, to movies I'm most psyched about/suggest most. Go here: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/summer/ or here: http://www.imdb.com/nowplaying/2011/05/ to check out more regarding these movies. I'll try to say what I think of the upcoming movie... but seeing as I was very off on my expectations for the first two and their reviews, I don't know how good my opinion will be (though I was pumped for Inception for months before it came out, and that totally paid off).

Mr. Popper's Penguins (June 17): Why is Jim Carrey in this movie? I'm confused. Is this what adults felt like when I would be super-pumped as a kid to see Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls?

Cars 2 (June 24): So uh, don't judge me, but I haven't seen the first one still. Yeah, I know. This is like the only Pixar movie I haven't seen. But if I know Pixar, they're only doing this because they have a good script for a sequel... I hope. fingers crossed. And if it's good, I'll check the first one and then this one, you got it.

Everything Must Go (May 13): Starring Will Ferrell in another of his comedy/drama-type roles. Not sure if this will be as good as Stranger Than Fiction, but I'm curious to see. The trailer seemed a bit cheese, but Rebecca Hall is in it (The Town, aw yeah), and Notorious B.I.G's son (say wha).

Larry Crowne (July 1): Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, but this doesn't seem that good.

Bad Teacher (June 24): I didn't even hear about this movie until its poster was pointed out to me after Fast Five. So uh, I don't know what the studio is going for here. Cameron Diaz hasn't really had a good track record recently, but it's nice to see Phyllis from The Office in a flick, and JT is at it with another movie. Jason Segel too. But yeah, the lack of buzz around this film is strange to me.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (May 20): Johnny Depp is back, and so is Geoffrey Rush, who were two of the main highlights of the original trilogy (sorry Orlando Bloom). Penelope Cruz is cool, and Ian McShane apparently played a badass in Deadwood... so this could be interesting. Apparently there is a new type of couple in this one played by two-lesser-famous folk, so it'll be interesting to see if they can be the next Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. I'm not too psyched for this one... but I bet it won't be half bad.

Midnight in Paris (May 20): Woody Allen movie starring Owen Wilson. Trailer seems to have promise... I'm not a big Allen guy but I liked what I saw in the trailer.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (August 5): Franco may have sucked as an Oscar host, but he was great in 127 Hours, and the trailer looks intringuing. I'm not saying I wanna watch it, but I don't think it'll be turrrrible.

The Change-Up (August 5): These guys are funny. The concept is dumb, but it could be good.

Horrible Bosses (July 8): Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie from It's Always Sunny. And Jennifer Aniston. This could be funny, and I wanna see how Charlie does in a feature film...

Bridesmaids (May 13): I've seen like 3 different versions of trailers of this movie, and none of the 3 have made me that uber-pumped about it. But I want it to be good, and I also didn't really like The Hangover trailer when it first came out, so I'm hoping this will still be good. I like most of the actresses a decent amount in this one. Judd Apatow's Twitter has been selling out with Tweets and RTs about this movie for what seems like 20 years, so it better be good, or I'm gonna punch Apatow myself.

The Tree of Life (May 27): Terrence Malick is a filmmaking legend who I've yet to come to appreciate. I saw The Thin Red Line when I was a kid, and I didn't really get it, but I imagine I'd like it more now. I haven't seen any of his earlier stuff or The New World, but this new one looks cool. Brad Pitt as an angry, tough dad? Sean Penn, even though I think he overacts sometimes? The trailer looks cool. What is that tree about? How trippy and confused am I gonna be watching this movie?

The Green Lantern (June 17): I like Ryan Reynolds, and I mainly just wanna see him in a good superhero movie. But we'll see how this goes. They're gonna be dancing on the line between awesome and cheesy on this one...

30 Minutes or Less (August 12): I'd love to see Aziz be a lead in a popular movie. And Eisenberg ain't half bad either. The trailer was funny, with some already good Aziz lines.

Captain America (July 22): Another movie where I wanna root for the star, Chris Evans, to succeed. Shoot, this guy made Cellular half-watchable (read: half-watchable. nothing more). It seems like a cool concept, but like I felt with Thor, I dunno how I feel about how they're gonna eventually connect this with the rest of the Avengers timeline. I guess they've come up with something cool though...

Thor (May 6): I thought this looked lame. The whole bring-Thor-to-modern-age concept seemed weird to me, and I'm still not as crazy about Natalie Portman as others. But watch out, because Thor is getting Iron Man 1-worthy reviews and seems to be on its way to replicate that Iron Man's success in the first weekend of May (though I don't think Iron Man had a Fast Five-type movie to compete with. 95% on Rotten Tomatoes so far. It must be doing something right. Also, it has Idris Elba aka Stringer Bell yo in it. Strangely they aren't putting him in the trailer at all. Weak, movie studio, weak...

The Hangover Part II (May 27): Oh boy here we go. Yes, the trailer is somewhat repetitive, but that doesn't mean the movie won't be funny. I think this one could be almost as funny as the first one, and I'm looking forward to it... the 3 main guys are funny. So is Ken Jeong... If you like the first one, I'd say to be pumped about this one...

Fast Five (now): So I actually got around to watching Fast Five yesterday. it started off its first weekend with the biggest movie opening of 2011 by far, and that says one thing: Summer movies are here. How was Fast Five? Well I've seen the first and third ones, and I don't really feel like getting around to the 2nd one ever, but damn was the fifth one fun! Crazy, right? Fast Five puts together all the fun characters from past movies that they can, throw them into a ridiculous plot in Brazil, but in turn gives the audience impressive and fun action scenes. The climax action scene is loads of fun, as are lots of other parts. Vin Diesel-The Rock fight? Sold. Awesome cheesy lines? You got it.

Is the movie ridiculous? Absolutely. You will unintentionally laugh at various points. But it's the good side of ridiculous, and it's fun, and it'll keep you entertained. This is the modern classic-type of action movie that Stallone or Van Damme used to give us, only instead it's with current guys like Vin Diesel, The Rock, and Paul Walker. And mix in a touch of Ocean's 11. Good stuff. Come expecting a fun, not brilliant, movie. You will be pleased.

X-Men First Class (June 3): I thought the 3rd X-Men was terrible, and I never got around to the not-so-great Wolverine movie. This one looks good though. Origin stuff can be tricky, but with story material like Xavier pre-wheelchair and his initial friendship with Magneto, combined with the always-intriguing-in-movies Cuban Missle Crisis and the director of Kick-Ass, and I've got high hopes for this one.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (July 29): Is it weird that my friends and I caught part of The Notebook the other night, and Ryan Gosling was going out with Rachel McAdams, and now he's going after a character played by Emma Stone? Whatever. They're both funny, and Steve Carell's character has promise here. This movie is getting some hype. I'm curious about it.

Cowboys & Aliens (July 29): Daniel Craig is a g, and Harrison Ford still gots it, I bet. I read an early review of the first 30 minutes or whatever of the movie, and they loved it. Olivia Wilde ain't half bad either. The title is absurd, the concept is absurd, but I think Favreau can pull it off. He's money and he knows it.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (July 1): The second movie was disappointing, but Megan Fox is gone, it seems like they're giving more time to Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duhamel (remember that Aziz Ansari joke about Las Vegas? Good times), and it seems like they're grounding this more (with a city, I think Chicago, as opposed to pyramids in Egypt). I think this could be a winner. Shia's pumped, yo!

Harry Potter (July 15): I'm generally a disappointed fan in the movies, but I liked the Part I of Deathly Hallows enough (I just didn't like that it wasn't really a full film), and Part I saved a schload of crazy action for the last one. The trailer was electric, and it's gonna be crazy. I might even go to a midnight showing for this one.

Super 8 (June 10): Oh. Em. Gee. This is my Inception of the summer, the original movie I'm most looking forward too. I think this is the movie that will take JJ Abrams to the next stage, after proving himself in the TV world and with Star Trek. The father figure played by Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights. Count me in. Just watching the trailer gives me chills, like the part where the main kid says to the disturbed guy that he believes him. Can this movie reach the level of a Spielberg classic? Looking forward to finding out.

And with that... we'll see what happens. Maybe I'm completely wrong on some of these movies. I'll always rather be wrong about thinking negatively of a movie than thinking too highly of it. But fear not, Jackie, and others. There's some promise for this summer. Maybe not an Oscar winner, but shoot, maybe so with Super 8 or Harry Potter, and it's the summer anyway, so we're talking about fun popcorn flicks that are hopefully above half-decent. You only get a Best Picture nom like Inception every now and then. And now I'm gonna read that other article previewing summer movies...