The days of summer move on, but the June movie month will be busy reflecting on the past. Three out of four of the Movies of the Week are adaptations of earlier works, and caveman comedy Year One is bound to kick it old, old, old school - Harold Ramis style. Movies like The Taking of Pelham 123 and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen are gonna turn up the action heat, with alternative laughs provided by films like The Hangover and even Woody Allen's newest, Whatever Works. Sure, some may think they've already seen the best movie of the summer (Star Trek), but there's plenty of possible sources for entertainment from the lovely month of June. And no, I'm not talking about the King of Kong rematch happening on the 2nd. But that could certainly be as epic as another showdown of Optimus versus Megatron.
June 5th
Movie of the Week
Land of the Lost
The Stars: Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride, Jorma Taccone
The Plot: Dr. Rick Marshall (Ferrell) and two other followers (Friel, McBride) get Lost in an alternate universe, but attempt to make some revolutionary discoveries in the process. A remake of the 1974 TV series.
The Buzz: With funny dudes Will Ferrell and Danny McBride, working with a whole melange of adventure story ingredients (dinosaurs, time travel, bugs), this looks like it could be the summer fun that the new Night at the Museum doesn't seem to be. This movie's aim to be a family hit will probably succeed if the laughs can play to both kids and their parents. But then again, lines like "Matt Lauer can suck it!" should be funny to anyone.
The Others:
Away We Go - John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph
The Hangover - Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis
My Life In Ruins - Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Rachel Dratch
June 12th
Movie of the Week
The Taking of Pelham 123
The Stars: Denzel Washington, John Travolta
The Plot: Criminals (led by Travolta) take a subway train in New York City hostage, forcing a regular dispatcher (Washington) to become a hostage negotiator. A remake of the 1974 action classic.
The Buzz: A vanilla trailer didn't give a very good first impression - it certainly didn't provide much reason as to why this movie had to be redone. However, Inside Man proved that watching Washington battle mental breakdowns on duty made him an engaging negotiator. Let's hope the same can be said for Travolta, who I predict will be spending much of the film yelling into his walkie-talkie and scowling. My biggest fear is for Tony Scott, whose hyperactive pacing could make a stalled subway car feel like it was flying 800 miles per hour, with different color tints and dizzying camera work to boot.
The Others:
Moon - Sam Rockwell
Tetro - Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich, Maribel Verdu
Imagine That - Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church
June 19th
Movie of the Week
Year One
The Stars: Jack Black, Michael Cera
The Plot: Black and Cera play two primitive human beings who embark on a journey through the ancient world.
The Buzz: Harold Ramis returns with a film that sounds like it'll rely on actors to handle its comedic weight - something that I believe can be done by the zippy Black and the still-funny Cera. The movie looks to be a simple concept that'll be full with gags, and it is equally packed with a promising cast of funny people. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, David Cross, and Bill Hader all make an appearance in the movie, along with a historic list of others.
The Others:
The Proposal - Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds
Whatever Works - Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood
Dead Snow - Charlotte Frogner, Stig Frode Henriksen
June 26th
Movie of the Week
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The Stars: Shia LeBouf, Megan Fox
The Plot: The second film in the proposed Transformers trilogy. Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) is now in college, but soon becomes the target of Decepticons when he learns about the origins of the Transformers.
The Buzz: For a summer blockbuster helmed by none other than Michael Bay, it doesn't seem like people are talking about this one very much. Maybe people still have Star Trek fever, or maybe one helping of Transformers was all we needed. But now that we have been introduced to our favorite robots, lets hope Bay can take advantage of their possibility of boundless destruction, making that more of a focus over gags about robot urination.
The Others:
My Sister's Keeper - Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin
Cheri - Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend
The Stoning of Soraya M. - Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jim Caviezel