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It’s summertime which means it’s time for the big summer movie blockbusters! The movie season already began with movies like Iron Man 2, Robin Hood, Shrek Forever After, and Sex and the City 2. A couple of those movies did great while others fell victim to terrible box office numbers but never fear, it’s only the beginning. This is the first time we’re doing a monthly preview roundup so let us know what you think and we’ll see if we continue to do them. Here we go!



Week 1: Get Him to the Greek, Killers, Marmaduke, Splice


This is truly a weekend offering a movie for everyone. Get Him to the Greek is your typical comedy of this generation from Judd Apatow. Starring Russel Brand, and Jonah Hill, it follows a record company intern trying to bring a washed up rockstar who makes his own rules from London to California for an anniversary concert that’s supposed to restart his career. (Check out our Get Him to the Greek review) Killers is a romantic comedy staring eye candy for both the guys and girls, Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl about a super spy who doesn’t let his wife know he’s a super spy…until now. Marmaduke is a film for the kids about the beloved comic book dog voiced by Owen Wilson. And Splice is a movie like no other for moviegoers looking for something different and edgy. It’s about two rockstar geneticists who have spliced together a new creation which they end up raising as their own until it becomes it’s own…(Check out our Splice review with some Q&A with the director)


My pick of the week: Splice.




Week 2: The A-Team, The Karate Kid


Week 2 is your 80s remake weekend. The Karate Kid replaces Pat Morita with Jackie Chan and casts Will Smith’s son, Jaden Smith, as the Karate Kid. Unlike the original, this movie is actually based in China where it throws an American kid into a crowd he’s unfamiliar with. They were almost going to release this movie as “Kung Fu Kid” but decided to stick with the original title…it’s definitely targeted for younger kids this time around but should still come with the same comedic edge. The A-Team is your a-typical action remake. All the regular characters are back for a stretched out episode of the classic tv series with an updated modern twist. It’s a comedic action film where you can expect huge explosions, outrageous situations, and a clever script. I just want to hear the theme song…


My pick for Week 2: The A-Team.




Week 3: Jonah Hex, Toy Story 3


Here are a couple of fantasy movies. Toy Story 3 is the much anticipated continuation of the beloved Toy Story series which keeps impressing audiences of every generation. There hasn’t been a Toy Story movie in a decade (the original was released in 1995 and the sequel was in 1999) so the real target market has never had a new Toy Story movie to go to even though we all know that almost every age group can relate and enjoy these films. The way the structure the movies and write the scripts is incredible the way it reaches every kid, young and old from all sorts of backgrounds. You can expect new characters alongside with the classic toys we grew up with. Jonah Hex is for a much older crowd and combines modern technology with the wild wild west genre. I never quite understood why people kept combining westerns with updated weaponry, but here we go again. Jonah Hex is about a bounty hunter with warrants getting an offer to clear his name by stopping a terrorist. Go at your own risk.


My easy pick of the week: Toy Story 3




Week 4: Grown Ups, Knight and Day


Grown Ups has an all-star cast of comedians: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, and David Spade. It’s about five friends who reunite years after their childhood when their basketball coach passes away. Eventhough they’ve grown older…they haven’t really grown up…Knight and Day is another action comedy promising huge explosions, daring stunts, and witty dialogue. Starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, this is a super spy movie on overdrive where the super spy (Tom Cruise) seems to be perfect in every situation and the damsel in distress (Cameron Diaz) seems to mess up everything with ease.


My pick for this week: Did you see Splice or Toy Story 3 already?




Week 4 1/2: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse


I haven’t even seen the second twilight and they’re already releasing the third. After the first, I just didn’t want to continue…to be honest. But it’s not about me, it’s about the army of teenage girls who are obsessed with vampires and warewolves named Jacob and Edward. Which team are you on? It doesn’t matter, because Team Twilight wins every time. They’re going to keep churning out these movies as fast as they can to appease their audience and make as much money as they can before the fad is over. They’re even releasing this movie on a Wednesday to get that extra couple days of movie income to boost their first weekend numbers.


I don’t have to pick this movie, thousands of teenage girls and their mothers already have.




Limited Notables: Holy Rollers, Solitary Man, Cyrus


It’s hard to really put these limited releases in a monthly roundup because they open up in different cities at different times. Either way, they should be easiest to find during this month. I’m a huge fan of smaller films and love to expose people to them who wouldn’t even know about them. Holy Rollers is inspired by true events about Hasidic Jews who were international ecstasy traffickers. Solitary Man is the aftermath of a mid-life crisis starring Michael Douglas. It’s a comedic look at the result of a lot of bad decisions. Cyrus is a modern comedy about an older divorced man (John C. Reilly) who meets an amazing women (Marisa Tomei) who even more amazingly is interested in him. There’s one problem though: her twenty-one-year-old son (Jonah Hill) who has a freakishly close relationship with his mom. You can expect these reviews later on in the month.


My Limited Pick: All of them, but if I had to pick one: Solitary Man.




And there you have it, June in a nutshell. This month is dominated with comedies, primarily action comedies, especially action comedies with super spies. Splice is probably the only unique film of the month and everything else is just more of the same. To be honest, I’m not really looking forward to any of these movies which works out because I’ll be out most of the month in South Africa for the World Cup . July, on the other hand, looks to be my favorite movie month of the year with The Last Airbender, Inception, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and the limited film: The Kids Are Alright (which I have already seen, and it’s great!). I can’t wait to write that roundup in a few weeks. Look out for it!