June's Most Anticipated Films
by Brian Eggert
The below list of theatrical releases includes this site’s Most Anticipated Films for June 2011. The choices—based on the quality of actors, director, story, and trailers—are pure guesswork and have no bearing on the inevitable review. For a complete list of upcoming releases and their respective movie trailers, visit the Calendar.
June 3:
Beginners (Limited)
Writer-director Mike Mills, whose last film Thumbsucker was full of conventional indie movie charm (in a good way), reaches for a similar tone with his latest, Beginners. As the cute trailer tells us, just after getting a new dog that talks to him (via subtitles), Oliver (Ewan McGregor) learns that his father (Christopher Plummer, most recently seen in—sigh—Priest) is gay and has terminal cancer. Luckily, Oliver has met a new woman (Mélanie Laurent, from Inglourious Basterds), who helps him approach the situation with understanding, which in turn brings him closer to his father. In limited release, this piece of counter-programming should offer a nice reprieve from this summer’s blockbuster season, when and if it opens in your area. Click here for the trailer.
X-Men: First Class
More than a decade after Bryan Singer’s first X-Men movie comes this highly-anticipated prequel from helmer Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Kick-Ass). X-Men: First Class takes place entirely in the 1960s, complete with period garb and the political backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis to heighten the sense of real-world danger. Here we learn how Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) met, became friends, and ultimately became mortal enemies. With a stellar cast (including Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Kevin Bacon, Jason Flemyng, and Nicholas Hoult) and a director who cares about artistic integrity enough to leave a project when it’s not going how it should (i.e. X-Men: The Last Stand), this unofficial franchise revamp should more than make up for the last two X-Men movies, and hopefully create renewed interest in a worthwhile Wolverine solo movie. Click here for the trailer.
June 10:
Super 8
Without a doubt the film I’m anticipating most this summer, J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 looks like something we’d have seen in the heyday of the 1980s blockbuster streak—like something from Steven Spielberg (executive producer here) or Robert Zemeckis in their prime. The story follows a group of 1970s youngsters who, while making a homemade movie, witness a government train crash with something mysterious aboard. Abrams says he was inspired by films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, Alien, Scanners, and The Thing among others, and admits the tone is very Spielberg-meets-John Carpenter. And while the trailer is pure Spielberg, Abrams retains a sense of mystery by forcing us to wonder about the Carpenter and David Cronenberg allusions. Abrams has always been a master at keeping his productions top-secret, so this one will be a joy to discover. Click here for the trailer.
The Trip
Reuniting the talent from Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, in limited release is The Trip. Director Michael Winterbottom follows stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon on a tour of Northern England’s finest restaurants for The Observer, in what was originally a six-episode television series for BBC2. Though said to work better in the longer televised form, Winterbottom edited together the best moments for this improvised road comedy. Not entirely a documentary, Coogan and Brydon behave as exaggerations of themselves, dining and talking about everything from movies to the opposite sex. Everyone who’s seen it can’t stop talking about a pair of Michael Caine impressions. IFC will quietly distribute the film on the arthouse theater market, with a video-on-demand debut on June 10. Click here for the trailer.
June 17:
The Green Lantern
In a summer of risky superhero movies like Thor and Captain America, Green Lantern might be the most daring of the bunch. Most superhero titles feature a hero discovering his powers and then using them to save his respective city from destruction. Here, Ryan Reynolds adds some unnecessary but expected humor to Hal Jordan, the first human selected as a member of intergalactic cops known as the Green Lantern Corps. Hal travels across the galaxy to train with beings from countless planets, only to return home and save the day. The scope of Casino Royale director Martin Campbell’s vision is vast, but the special FX look perhaps too cartoony in some scenes based on the trailer. Here’s hoping the live action and largely animated scenes mesh well together. If they don’t, viewers are advised to check out Warner Bros. Animation’s Green Lantern: First Flight and its upcoming sequel Green Lantern: Emerald Knights for some consistent Green Lantern entertainment. Click here for the trailer.
June 24:
Cars 2
Pixar’s most popular franchise (next to Toy Story), 2005’s Cars was also the animation studio’s most conventional film—more akin to a Dreamworks Animation title—albeit an entertaining one. Perhaps it’s the theme of cars. America loves cars, and the idea of making an animated movie based on talking cars certainly appeals to vast NASCAR crowds and children alike. For Cars 2, Pixar broadens their horizons by sending Lightning McQueen and his trusty white trash cohort Mater around the globe for a worldwide racing competition. Of course, Mater is mistaken for an international spy by a new character Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Caine), and a James Bond-esque actioner ensues. Certainly not what one might expect from a Cars sequel, the setup proves once again how there’s no limit to Pixar’s ability to defy audience expectations. Click here for the trailer.
One Film You Shouldn't See
June 17:
Mr. Popper's Penguins
Jim Carrey dances to “Ice, Ice, Baby” with a dance line of CGI rendered penguins. If that sounds at all funny or new or “fresh” to you, then perhaps you’re the audience for Mr. Popper’s Penguins, the live-action movie based on Richard and Florence Atwater’s book. Carrey stars as some guy who gets a bunch of penguins. That’s the story. A talented actor who has resolved to stop trying and instead make predictable summer comedies to which audiences will flock, Carrey seems to have given up. From Liar, Liar to Bruce Almighty to Yes Man, Hollywood loves putting Carrey in wacky situations and watching him react in the over-the-top way only Carrey can. He’s made a career on such behavior, but that career’s been anything but memorable for almost a decade of familiar material. Skip it. Click here for the trailer.