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A Rosey View: The challenge of seeing it all this summer
Published: May 4, 2007
OK, I am officially annoyed.
Given the massive number of movies I want to see this season, not only will I need a third mortgage on my condo, but apparently I need to use up a lot of vacation time - and maybe even a few sick days. After all, if you've got five movies opening every week, so many films will make only a fleeting appearance at a theater near you.
In many ways, it's not fair that Hollywood saves almost all of its best movies for summer. For the record, they could have used a few more interesting films earlier this year. The pickings this winter were so slim, people saw pretty much anything - how else do you explain the $115 million "Ghost Rider" raked in?
At least this summer, there are better films. And when I say better, I am not necessarily referring to good, although I do have high expectations for "A Mighty Heart," in which Angelina Jolie plays the widow of journalist Daniel Pearl, and "Becoming Jane," with "The Devil Wears Prada" star Anne Hathaway in the role of my favorite author, Jane Austen.
In my opinion, the best summer movies are the popcorn movies - little more than eye candy that require minimal thought on a rainy summer day. I think we all know what to expect from the big three: "Spider-Man 3," "Shrek the Third" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and from the looks of the trailers, we shouldn't be disappointed in the promises of more action, more suspense and more humor.
If you think about the natures of sequels, really the whole trend is insidious. If you saw the first two, don't you feel like you're missing something if you don't see the third? We all need closure - especially after the cop-out that passed as an ending in "Pirates 2." Hopefully I can draw the line at "Spider-Man 25," but I make no promises.
This is the 10th or so summer heavily populated with sequels and remakes (so far no sequels of remakes, but I'll keep watch). It's all gotten completely out of hand. I mean "Evan Almighty?" Was "Bruce Almighty" supposed to have a sequel? I don't think so. Even with Steve Carrell in the starring role, I have my doubts about the wisdom of such a movie, which at best may rehash the jokes of the original. Been there, laughed at that.
Given the massive number of movies I want to see this season, not only will I need a third mortgage on my condo, but apparently I need to use up a lot of vacation time - and maybe even a few sick days. After all, if you've got five movies opening every week, so many films will make only a fleeting appearance at a theater near you.
In many ways, it's not fair that Hollywood saves almost all of its best movies for summer. For the record, they could have used a few more interesting films earlier this year. The pickings this winter were so slim, people saw pretty much anything - how else do you explain the $115 million "Ghost Rider" raked in?
At least this summer, there are better films. And when I say better, I am not necessarily referring to good, although I do have high expectations for "A Mighty Heart," in which Angelina Jolie plays the widow of journalist Daniel Pearl, and "Becoming Jane," with "The Devil Wears Prada" star Anne Hathaway in the role of my favorite author, Jane Austen.
In my opinion, the best summer movies are the popcorn movies - little more than eye candy that require minimal thought on a rainy summer day. I think we all know what to expect from the big three: "Spider-Man 3," "Shrek the Third" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and from the looks of the trailers, we shouldn't be disappointed in the promises of more action, more suspense and more humor.
If you think about the natures of sequels, really the whole trend is insidious. If you saw the first two, don't you feel like you're missing something if you don't see the third? We all need closure - especially after the cop-out that passed as an ending in "Pirates 2." Hopefully I can draw the line at "Spider-Man 25," but I make no promises.
This is the 10th or so summer heavily populated with sequels and remakes (so far no sequels of remakes, but I'll keep watch). It's all gotten completely out of hand. I mean "Evan Almighty?" Was "Bruce Almighty" supposed to have a sequel? I don't think so. Even with Steve Carrell in the starring role, I have my doubts about the wisdom of such a movie, which at best may rehash the jokes of the original. Been there, laughed at that.
I think "28 Weeks Later" may also be a bit of a mistake. First of all, there's the bad name - it's the sequel to horror film "28 Days Later" which was way too similar in title to the Sandra-Bullock-in-rehab film "28 Days" (though truth be told, it was also horrific, just not in the same way). Second, how many ways can zombies hopped up on rage munch on people?
Hollywood discovered "fresh" material when it raided my childhood toy chest. For its 2007 offerings - from June's "Nancy Drew" to July's "Transformers" to August's "Underdog" - these are things I must see to make sure that they didn't screw anything up. (And no, I am not happy that in "Transformers," Bumblebee is a Chevy Camaro instead of a VW Bug).
Last but not least: "The Simpsons Movie." How long have I been waiting for this? I feel like people have been talking about it since I was in diapers. Although it hasn't really been that long, I think expectations are pretty high for a certain wise-cracking fourth-grader and his family to bring in the "d'oh." Given the lackluster TV episodes, I expect they've been saving the good material. If not, I demand an explanation.
While it looks like summer can be pretty busy, there is always hope if you miss one of the fleeting films: Netflix.
nnn
Rosemary Ford is a staff writer who covers arts and entertainment.
