Mark Vader Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 Now that March has arrived we are just two months away from the start of the big Summer Season of movies. Once again the summer will be headlined with several comic book movies, a couple of established franchises and one brand new. Sequels will also be in the forefront. As of now there are 8 sequels scheduled this summer. There will be reboots of older franchises and of course plenty of action to thrill. Don't worry there is some original stuff out there as well, even if it's something you don't want. So without further ado, here are some highlights of what we have to look forward to this Summer. Marvel, 20th Century Fox & Bryan Singer bring everything full circle with "X-Men: Days of Future Past". The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants. The cast of the original X-Men trilogy combine with the cast of "X-Men: First Class" in an intriguing storyline. Whatever the future has left in store for this franchise, is anyone's guess. Warner Bros. revives a franchise that dates back to 1954, with the reboot of "Godzilla". An ancient colossal creature is accidentally awakened by mankind, and seemingly leaves noting but destruction in its wake, as its presence becomes known to the world. Hoping to remove the bad taste of the 1998 film, Warner Bros. has assembled a young up-and-coming director(Gareth Edwards), a most impressive cast of actors, and a serious, darker themed story that looks to be reminiscent to the original Japanese movie. Despite the name brand, this movie is a big risk, but early trailers have not gone unnoticed. If people can forget about what happened in 1998, this could very well be the first Godzilla movie that becomes a box office smash. Marvel & Disney look to strike gold late this summer with what they are hoping is the next big franchise for both of them in the form of "Guardians of the Galaxy". In the far reaches of space, an American pilot named Peter Quill finds himself the object of a manhunt after stealing an orb coveted by the villainous Ronan. Taking a different path from their usual superhero stories, Marvel goes more sci-fi with this tale of a group of anti-heroes. This is another huge risk movie for the summer, as this brand is not as commonly known as the Avengers & X-men series are. However, people who clamor on and on about Hollywood not having any originality left, just might be able to find that with this film. If so, the sky is the limit for Marvel & Disney. The robots in disguise return for a fourth outing and a new cast with "Transformers: Age of Extinction". A mechanic and his daughter make a discovery that brings down Autobots and Decepticons - and a paranoid government official - on them. Shia LeBeouf is out and Mark Wahlberg is in. Unfortunately, Michael Bay is still in, but at least we finally get the Dinobots. Or is it just one Dinobot? Disney brings a live action based movie around what many consider to be their most famous villain in their animated feature stories with "Maleficent". Angelina Jolie looks oh so deliciously evil in the part, and Disney feels very strongly about this movies chances, that they gave it a release in late May instead of mid June. 20th Century Fox continues their new Apes saga with "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes". Survivors of the simian plague trigger an all-out war between humanity and Caesar's growing forces. A bigger cast(Gary Oldman, Keri Russell) and a possibly darker story, have this movie down as a must-see. Dreamworks brings back Hiccup & Toothless for more adventures in the animated sequel, "How To Train Your Dragon 2". It's been five years since Hiccup and Toothless successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snotlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races, the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. Hopefully Dreamworks will continue to concentrate more on this franchise and a little less on "Kung Fu Panda". Marvel & Sony continue their Spider-Man series with "The Amazing Spider-Man 2". Peter Parker runs the gauntlet as the mysterious company Oscorp sends up a slew of supervillains against him, impacting on his life. Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Rhino (Paul Giamatti) are the villains, and maybe even Green Goblin as well? Sounds like villain overkill, but Marvel & Sony already have dates for two more sequels, so their confidence is high. Warner Bros. tabs Tom Cruise & Emily Blunt for their Sci-Fi/Action film "Edge of Tomorrow". A soldier fighting in a war with aliens finds himself caught in a time loop of his last day in the battle, though he becomes better skilled along the way. Cruise & Blunt seem like an odd pairing for this type of film, but with Doug Liman directing, it could very well work. Warner Bros. continues to give the Wachowski siblings more opportunities to succeed, despite their recent and continuing failures. This time they give us "Jupiter Ascending". n the future, a young destitute human woman gets targeted for assassination by the Queen of the Universe, and begins her destiny to finish the Queen's reign. Combining a pair of hot items like Mila Kunis & Channing Tatum is a good start, now will audiences show enough interest? Paramount reboots the heroes in a half shell with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". No plot has been officially released, nor has a teaser trailer. There are a lot of question marks surrounding this film. First there was producer Michael Bay refusing to give the film the full title(for the longest time it was simply "Ninja Turtles"). Second, they gave this a release date the week after "Guardians of the Galaxy". And third, many fans do not understand the casting of Megan Fox. Do not be surprised if this film gets pushed back. Jonah Hill & Channing Tatum return in "22 Jump Street", get it? Seth McFarlane stars and directs "A Million Ways To Die In The West", and brings Liam Neeson, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried & Neil Patrick Harris along with him. Seth Rogen & Zac Efron star in the comedy "Neighbors". A couple with a newborn baby face unexpected difficulties after they are forced to live next to a fraternity house. Jon Favreau stars and directs "Chef". A chef who loses his restaurant job starts up a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family. Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson & Dustin Hoffman co-star. Finally director Clint Eastwood brings the broadway musical "Jersey Boys" to the big screen. Calendar (Not all of these films have trailers) 5/2 "The Amazing Spider-Man 2": http://www.theamazingspiderman.com/site/ 5/9 "Neighbors": http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi509126681/ "Chef" 5/16 "Godzilla": http://www.legendary.com/films/godzilla 5/23 "X-Men: Days of Future Past": http://www.x-menmovies.com/ 5/30 "Maleficent": http://movies.disney.com/maleficent "A Million Ways to Die in the West": http://www.amillionways.com/ One trailer is NSFW 6/6 "Edge of Tomorrow: http://www.edgeoftomorrowmovie.com/#home 6/13 "22 Jump Street": http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi476293145/ "How To Train Your Dragon 2": http://www.howtotrainyourdragon.com/ 6/20 "Jersey Boys" 6/27 "Transformers: Age of Extinction": http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2416028185/ 7/18 "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes": http://www.dawnofapes.com/ 7/25 "Jupiter Ascending": http://www.jupiterascending.com/index.html 8/1 "Guardians of the Galaxy": http://www.guardiansofthegalaxy-movie.com/ 8/8 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" That's all for now. I'll have the March movies up very soon. Until then.....Enjoy!
shrader Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 Thanks for the write up Mark. I'm going to be very busy this summer.
Fan in Chicago Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 That's all for now. I'll have the March movies up very soon. Until then.....Enjoy! Good write-up as usual, Mark. I would add that releasing Captain America in April seems to be an attempt to start the summer season earlier. As I recall, the unofficial start used to be a Memorial Day release but then it crept up to early May. I was initially surprised to see The Winter Soldier's early release date and am speculating that it is a test case for the future.
shrader Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 Good write-up as usual, Mark. I would add that releasing Captain America in April seems to be an attempt to start the summer season earlier. As I recall, the unofficial start used to be a Memorial Day release but then it crept up to early May. I was initially surprised to see The Winter Soldier's early release date and am speculating that it is a test case for the future. I always just assumed that it was as simple as trying to keep it separate from Guardians. They had a two month longer gap between Ironman 3 and Thor last year. It looks like they're trying to stick close to that one, but shrink the gap slightly.
Wayne Cubed Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 Saw the new trailer for Transformers: Age of Extinction, and it just seems like more Michael Bay crap... I wish he would just give up and let some other director take over. I hate all his gimmicks he uses and especially dislike his desire to inject comedy into every action movie. Rant over.
DC Tom Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 Warner Bros. tabs Tom Cruise & Emily Blunt for their Sci-Fi/Action film "Edge of Tomorrow". A soldier fighting in a war with aliens finds himself caught in a time loop of his last day in the battle, though he becomes better skilled along the way. Cruise & Blunt seem like an odd pairing for this type of film, but with Doug Liman directing, it could very well work. Would have loved to be a fly on the wall when they pitched this one. "Hey, here's an idea: Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers!" Still, it's an idea with potential. There's certainly enough science fiction written that shows the "sci-fi war with 'time travel'" trope can be done effectively. Saw the new trailer for Transformers: Age of Extinction, and it just seems like more Michael Bay crap... I wish he would just give up and let some other director take over. I hate all his gimmicks he uses and especially dislike his desire to inject comedy into every action movie. Rant over. As soon as I saw that trailer, I said "There's going to be a '3 second low-angle with something looming over the star's head' camera shot in there." And sure enough...it's at 1:48. People talk about Bay's fixation on explosions, but that shot is his real fetish. Bay can't even make a trailer without that shot, let alone a movie.
Mark Vader Posted March 7, 2014 Author Posted March 7, 2014 Thanks for the write up Mark. I'm going to be very busy this summer. Your welcome. I'll be busy too. I'm intrigued by "Guardians" and "X-Men" should be fantastic, but right now it's all about "Godzilla". Good write-up as usual, Mark. I would add that releasing Captain America in April seems to be an attempt to start the summer season earlier. As I recall, the unofficial start used to be a Memorial Day release but then it crept up to early May. I was initially surprised to see The Winter Soldier's early release date and am speculating that it is a test case for the future. It does seem that Captain America starts it off early, but it's appropriately placed at the beginning of April. This Spring does not appear to be that loaded with surefire hits, but we shall see.
rockpile Posted March 7, 2014 Posted March 7, 2014 (edited) Down the road from Nick Tahous and a Garbage Plate http://roc.democrata...otted-Rochester Spider-Man 2 Edited March 7, 2014 by rockpile
Dorkington Posted March 7, 2014 Posted March 7, 2014 I'm a long time comic book reader, so this whole comic movie era has made me very happy. I know absolutely nothing about Guardians of the Galaxy, though... and you know what... I kinda like it that way. After seeing the preview, its the movie I'm looking forward to the most. I'm pumped.
Mark Vader Posted March 7, 2014 Author Posted March 7, 2014 As soon as I saw that trailer, I said "There's going to be a '3 second low-angle with something looming over the star's head' camera shot in there." And sure enough...it's at 1:48. People talk about Bay's fixation on explosions, but that shot is his real fetish. Bay can't even make a trailer without that shot, let alone a movie. I never thought about that.
Wayne Cubed Posted March 7, 2014 Posted March 7, 2014 As soon as I saw that trailer, I said "There's going to be a '3 second low-angle with something looming over the star's head' camera shot in there." And sure enough...it's at 1:48. People talk about Bay's fixation on explosions, but that shot is his real fetish. Bay can't even make a trailer without that shot, let alone a movie. He's also a huge fan of the slow-motion action sequence. He uses it in every movie. It's horrible, because he over uses it. Much like the low angle slow motion, which he also over uses. Lots of directors are known for specific shots, like Scorsese who is known for long tracking shots or freeze frames, but they work and he doesn't use them in every single film.
Mark Vader Posted March 7, 2014 Author Posted March 7, 2014 Down the road from Nick Tahous and a Garbage Plate http://roc.democrata...otted-Rochester Spider-Man 2 That's cool. I just wish I could get more excited about that movie. Jamie Foxx is sub-par but looks good as Electro, and I have gotten used to Rhino being a machine. I'm just worried that they will do too much with this film. Still Marvel & Sony have already made plans for two more sequels, so Spider-Man isn't going anywhere.
Mark Vader Posted March 17, 2014 Author Posted March 17, 2014 (edited) 8/22 "Sin City: A Dame To Kill For": http://sincity-2.com/ Edited March 17, 2014 by Mark Vader
Mark Vader Posted March 26, 2014 Author Posted March 26, 2014 Latest trailer for "X-Men: Days of Future Past". http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4250380825/
shrader Posted March 26, 2014 Posted March 26, 2014 It's interesting that they pretty much show Storm getting killed.
shrader Posted May 9, 2014 Posted May 9, 2014 New trailer for Dawn Of Planet Of The Apes Gary Oldman, sweet! I wasn't really thinking much about this movie even though I enjoyed the first one, but that knocks it up a couple pegs on my must see list.
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