Summer Movie Preview
Our picks for the best flicks of May, June, July and August
May 2
Iron Man
It’s fitting that Robert Downey Jr. (pictured above) caps his career comeback by playing the Teflon-coated comic book hero Iron Man. Actually, he starts off as arms dealer Tony Stark, who changes his war-mongering ways when he creates a flying metallic suit that he uses for good. Look for Gwyneth Paltrow as his love interest, “Pepper” Potts, and Samuel L. Jackson as superspy Nick Fury.
Fugitive Pieces
Director Jeremy Podeswa adapts Anne Michaels’ novel about the life of Holocaust survivor Jakob (Stephen Dillane), who immigrates first to Greece, then Canada, where he struggles to come to terms with his past. Read our web-exclusive interview with Jeremy Podeswa.
Made of Honor
Poor Tom (Patrick Dempsey) is asked to be the maid of honour at the wedding of the woman (Michelle Monaghan) he secretly loves. See Patrick Dempsey interview.
May 9
What Happens in Vegas...
Get into the spirit of wedding season with this rom-com starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz as strangers who get married after a night of partying in Las Vegas, and win $3-million at a slot machine to boot. Since they each want all the moolah, they torture one another in the hopes that the other will walk away from the union.
Speed Racer
The Wachowskis (directors of The Matrix trilogy) bring their groundbreaking visual style to bear in this vibrant adaptation of the 1960s cartoon series. Emile Hirsch stars as Speed Racer, who gets a hand from his girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) and his one-time rival, Racer X (Matthew Fox), while competing in the dangerous cross-country rally known as “The Crucible.”
The Stone Angel
Fugitive Pieces isn't the only Canadian literary classic on the big screen this month. Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel gets the celluloid treatment with Ellen Burstyn playing the aged Hagar Shipley, who recalls her feisty, younger self (Christine Horne) and her life in a small prairie town. See Christine Horne interview.
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From left, Kim Cattrall, Sarah Jessica
Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis
in Sex and the City: The Movie
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May 16
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Penvensie children
return to the land of Narnia. Although it’s only been a short time for
the kiddies, many years have passed in the kingdom, and an evil king
has usurped the throne from the comely Prince Caspian.
May 23
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Harrison Ford
returns as aging archaeologist Indiana Jones, who, along with his young
partner (Shia LaBeouf), takes on a nasty Soviet agent (Cate Blanchett)
while searching for the fabled Crystal Skull. See Cate Blanchett and
Shia LaBeouf interview.
May 30
Sex and the City: The Movie (pictured left)
Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim
Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis finally bring their TV
characters to the big screen. See Sarah Jessica Parker interview.
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The Incredible Hulk
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June 13
The Incredible Hulk (pictured left)
We’re still getting used to the idea that
cerebral Edward Norton is taking over as the big green guy, but we like
it. In this reboot of the franchise, Norton’s Bruce Banner has to
outrun the military while trying to figure out why he turns into a
monster every time he gets peeved. Liv Tyler plays Banner’s love
interest and Tim Roth is The Abomination, Hulk’s equally gargantuan foe.
The Happening
Director M. Night Shyamalan’s latest taps into that part of our psyche
that just knows one of these days a catastrophic environmental event
(wrought either by mother nature or our own stupidity) will bring an
end to mankind. Mark Wahlberg plays a schoolteacher who, along with his
wife (Zooey Deschanel), goes on the run from a mysterious force that’s
killing everyone in its path.
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June 20
The Love Guru
Aside from the Shrek pics, Mike Myers hasn’t been on the big screen
since 2003’s The Cat in the Hat. Our boy’s hoping for a triumphant
return as Pitka, a guru tapping into the lucrative self-help market by
helping a broken-hearted Toronto Maple Leaf get back on his game (the
Leafs were very co-operative). Jessica Alba plays the Leafs’ owner and
Verne Troyer its coach. Really.
Get Smart
This update of the 1960s TV show has Steve Carell as Maxwell
Smart, a bumbling analyst for spy agency Control who’s promoted to
agent when Control’s spies have their secret identities revealed. Now
he and Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) must stop crime syndicate KAOS from
taking over the world.
June 27
Wanted
Scottish cutie-pie James McAvoy adopts an American accent for his first big-budget action pic. He plays unremarkable 25-year-old Wesley Gibson, who’s recruited by a secret society trying to avenge his estranged father’s murder. It’s head recruiter Fox’s (Angelina Jolie) job to put Wes in touch with his inner killer.
WALL•E
The latest animated joint from Pixar sees the adorable robot WALL•E left behind on Earth to clean up when the humans evacuate. After hundreds of lonely years, WALL•E meets fellow robot EVE, sent by the humans to see if Earth is habitable again. When EVE leaves the planet, WALL•E follows.
July 2
Hancock
Will Smith is Hancock, a superhero with a less-than-super attitude. Sure, he saves people, but he usually ends up doing a lot of damage to city property in the process, and his bad temper is making him less than popular with the regular humans. So he lets Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), a PR executive that he saved from something, retool his image.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The second movie based on the Hellboy comics should look even wilder thanks to director Guillermo del Toro’s experience working on Pan’s Labyrinth in between. This time, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) must stop a ruthless villain from awakening an army of robots and taking over our world and the one below.
July 11
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
Who would have thought
the centre of the Earth was populated with strange creatures, and that
they’d be in 3D! This update of Jules Verne’s novel centres on a
science teacher (Brendan Fraser) who, along with his nephew (Josh
Hutcherson) and their guide (Anita Briem), finds a way inside our
planet’s core.
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Heath Ledger as the Joker in
The Dark Knight
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July 18
The Dark Knight (pictured left)
It’s inevitable that the release of this Batman Begins sequel will be
dominated by talk of the late Heath Ledger’s performance as a Joker
more morose and menacing than any before. Ledger’s painted villain
arrives on the scene as a bank robber, but what he really wants is to
do away with Batman (Christian Bale) and throw Gotham into chaos.
Mamma Mia!
Newbie
movie director Phyllida Lloyd (she’s done theatre till now) brings the
stage musical to the screen. Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) invites three
men (Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard) to Greece for her
wedding because one may be her father. Her mom (Meryl Streep) knows
nothing of the plan. Warning: ABBA songs abound.
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July 25
The X-Files: I Want to Believe
The super-secret plot is still under wraps, but we can tell you this much about the movie: it has a stand-alone plot, so you don’t have to bone up on that disappointing last season.
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Brendan Fraser returns in The Mummy:
Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
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August 1 (pictured left)
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
The Mummy franchise
reawakens with this third installment that sees Maria Bello take over
Rachel Weisz’s role as Evelyn. It’s 1946, and Rick (Brendan Fraser),
Evelyn (Bello) and Alex (Luke Ford) O’Connell team up to fight an
ancient Chinese emperor (Jet Li).
August 8
Pineapple Express
Based on an idea by Judd Apatow, and penned
by Superbad writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, comes this dope
comedy about pothead Dale (Rogen), who witnesses a murder and leaves
behind his roach clip for the killers to find. Afraid the rare weed
will be traced back to his dealer Saul (James Franco), Dale and Saul go
on the run.
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August 15
Tropic Thunder
Ben Stiller’s first directing effort since 2001’s Zoolander stars Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack
Black, and Brandon T. Jackson as actors making a war flick who don’t
realize their director (Steve Coogan) has put the troupe in the middle
of a war zone and they’re fighting real soldiers. Let’s see if Downey’s
performance as a white actor who undergoes a procedure to look
African-American will cause a stir among viewers.
The International
The always-debonair Clive Owen stars as an Interpol agent trying to gather enough evidence to prove a huge international bank is also heavily involved in arms dealing. The thriller co-stars Naomi Watts as a New York District Attorney who works hard to keep the obsessive Owen in check.
Special Events on the Big Screen
The Metropolitan Opera
La Bohème (Puccini)
Encore performance: Saturday, May 3, 1:30 p.m. EST
La Fille du Régiment (Donizetti)
Encore performance: Saturday, May 10, 1:30 p.m. EST
WWE-Pay-Per-View
Judgment Day: May 18
One Night Stand: June 1
Great American Bash: July 20
SummerSlam: August 17
All release dates are subject to change.