Summer Movies 2011

Updated on April 27, 2011 By Ken Begg 25 Comments

I Will Definitely See:

Captain America: The First Avenger No surprise here, Cap’s always been my favorite superhero. Don’t screw this up! Moreover, it’s leading up to my favorite dream project ever, next year’s Avengers movies. That started shooting this week, by the way.

Thor So far so good. Aggregate score on Rottentomatoes is a stellar 95%. That will probably drop a bit as the rush of reviews from (assuming there is such a thing anymore) mainstream critics come in, but still, that’s pretty amazing. Can’t wait.

Am Interested

Pirates of the Caribbean
Kung Fu Panda 2 (mildly so)
Cowboys & Aliens
Trollhunter

Further Interest Depends on Reviews

Super 8 Giant monster!
X-Men First Class The X-Men movies were decent at best, not great. That means you could actually top them. On the other hand, this could just be highly lame, like the Wolverine movie.
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark This looks pretty good, actually. Hope the reviews hold up.

Would See, Probably Won’t

Hobo With a Shotgun Good in the abstract, but I guess I’m a little tired of super-gory ‘70s knock-off movies. Also, not sure who else would want to see this. Still, Rutger Hauer points.

Would Have to See All the Other Movies

Harry Potter Nothing against this series, I just kind of lost track of it. Haven’t seen the last three or four entries.
Cars 2

Not Likely

Priest CGI vampires. Yawn. Likely this year’s Jonah Hex.
Green Lantern This looks awful.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins Jim Carrey + Kid’s Movie = Fart Jokes, Desecration of Classic Kid’s Book
Transformers Whatever
Rise of the Planet of the Apes Yawn
Conan the Barbarian Meh, didn’t like the ‘classic’ original, chances are this will blow
Fright Night Chances of this being anywhere near as good as the first one? Maybe 10%, if that.
Fast Five Meh

Rom-Coms

I actually love a good romantic comedy, but since I grew up watching stuff like My Man Godfrey and Bringing Up Baby, my standards are pretty high. I guess the last really good one I saw in a theater was The Wedding Singer. Nothing coming out this year looks to break that trend.

So what about you guys?

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  • Ericb

    Slightly OT: I know it probably wouldn’t make economic sense but I was hoping that they would have released Thor on a Thursday, considering that the day is named after the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Thor. It could have made for a quirky add campaign.

  • The Rev.

    Somehow this is the first I’ve heard of Trollhunter and Super 8. Need to do more research…

    Will probably take SD to see Thor; LotH not as interested. Probably the same will happen with Cap. I’m interested in C&A, but since I have only seen the first PotC I doubt I’ll see this latest installment, unless it gets reviews like the first one did (the reviews for the second and third kept me away from it; well, that and my own sense of sequelitis I got from the trailers).

    Having never seen the original DBAotD, I wouldn’t have anything to keep me from seeing this remake, especially if it looks and sounds to be good. However, I really like the original FN and thus highly doubt I’ll see this remake.

    I also have to admit to being surprised when I first watched The Wedding Singer (albeit not in the theater). I generally don’t go for rom-coms of any era, but I found that one suprisingly sweet (without usually crossing the line into sappy) and even funny. Whatever his sins (i.e. most of his other movies), Adam Sandler has that one in his “good karma” scale.

  • Reed

    Please, please let Cap and Thor be good movies.

    I actually liked the Wolverine movie quite a bit, and thought X-Men 2 was the best of the current Marvel movies, so maybe First Class will be good. Might wait to catch that one on cable, though.

    They re-made Conan and Fright Night? I had no idea. Millius’ Conan may have differed significantly from the source material, but I still thought it was one of the best fantasy movies of the 80’s. Frankly, I think Conan is one of those characters that is much cooler in peoples’ heads than on Howard’s printed page.

    And Fright Night? Seriously? What do they possibly think that they have to add to that story? About the only thing that they could do to it is take the televangelist out of it (a very 80’s topic) and replace him with something current. Like a crooked investor.

  • Foywonder

    FYI – Hobo with a Shotgun isn’t a summer release. It’s already more or less come and gone from what few theaters it played in. DVD is scheduled for July 5th.

    I’ve seen Trollhunter and I can tell you it is one of the best movies I’ve seen thus far this year. Best of all, it’s a cinema verite film that won’t make you queasy watching it as the shaky cam is not overdone.

    You left a movie off of your list that looks as god awful as they come: Smurfs. It only features six Smurfs and has them magically transported to New York City where they take refuge in Central Park before becoming roommates in Neil Patrick Harris’ apartment. The trailer is painful to sit through.

  • Rock Baker

    I go into a movie with very low expectations, if any. I find I enjoy a lot of movies that get sliced to ribbons by others. All I realy remember about the X-Men series was that I found the first one to be really good, and all the others were just over-stuffed. That’s just me, though, and I admit they had their moments. Maybe if I were more of a Marvel fan I would’ve enjoyed them more (or not, if Ken’s impressions are any indication).

    I want Captain America to be good. The couple of previews I saw looked promising. I’m not holding my breath. I’ll watch it when my brother buys the disk. I suppose if things work out really well, I might head over to the drive-in and give the flick a peek. I just don’t trust Hollywood not to screw this up. Since the last Superman movie, I’ve lost all confidence that they can make a patriotic super-movie.

  • fish eye no miko

    I def. wanna see Captain America; the ads look really cool. I’ll also see Harry Potter. I’ve read the books and seen all the other films (and own all up to six; I’m waiting for the second part of DH to come out to get that one).

    I’m not sure about Kung Fu Panda. Honestly, the villain was my favorite character in the first one. Oh, speaking of 3D animated sequels, there’s also a Hoodwinked! sequel coming out this Summer (as in, this Friday). Not sure about that one, either.

    The X-Men films lost me with the pretty sucky 3rd film. The only one I care about at this point is Deadpool.

    Super 8… maybe. I do loves me some giant monster action. And I’ve liked Abrams other stuff, Cloverfield and Fringe especially.

    I looked up Trollhunter, and it turns out there’s a Trollhnter AND a Trollhunters (note the plural). I’m guessing you mean the singular, which is a Norwegian film(!)… interesting. The other one is an upcoming Dreamworks Animation project.

  • rockrocky77

    “Hobo With a Shotgun” is Awesome it looks like Tax break made Canadian Horror film from the 80’s and it ends with the theme song from “The Racoons”(Run with Us).

  • GalaxyJane

    I haven’t seen a movie in the theater (unless a rare, recent RHPS outing counts) since December 2009, so it will be interesting if I break that streak this year. I am at the point where I get much more pleasure watching at home, where no-one is talking on cell-phones, the picture’s better, I’m not listening to the movie next door and it doesn’t cost me a day’s salary to take the fam. That said…

    Thor is playing opening weekend at out semi-local (hourish) drive-in on opening weekend, and I’d REALLY like to head out there with the kids, but it’s a busy weekend, so no telling.

    I am already so pissed-off with the determnation to make Cap “less jingoistic” (i.e. get rid of anything uniquely, ya know, American about him) that I don’t see me seeing it unless I hear really good stuff about it from the right folks (i.e. you guys). EVen then will likely wait for Netflix.

    Will probably hit HP 8 with the kids. 7 was the only one I missed in the theater, just due to life stuff getting in the way, and I really enjoyed it once I got around to the DVD.

    May get dragged to Cars 2 with the boys. I did end up liking the first WAY more than I expected, but the last Pixar flick I saw in the theater was The Incredibles.

    Don’t imagine I’ll be seeing most of the others, even on DVD. A Fright Night remake is one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard, and I spent 5 years in an infantry Brigade.

  • Gamera

    I have to say Troll Hunter does look interesting. I’m bored to death with vampires and zombies but trolls, ogres, and giants would be cool! Though I hope the ‘government conspiracy’ BS is played for laughs. I mean how do you cover up a thirty foot (10 meter) tall critter!?!

    And did one of the trolls in the trailer have multiple heads? Even cooler!!!

    I’d have to see more about ‘Super 8’ to decide if I have any interest.

    And remakes of ‘Conan’, ‘Fright Night’, and what sounds like the fourth ‘Planet of the Apes’ film? Meh, I think I have better things to do….

  • Aussiesmurf

    Thor came out in Australia last week and saw it Saturday night.

    The verdict : Better than Iron Man 2, Incredible Hulk, not quite as good as Iron Man.

    The acting is generally good, and the rendition of Asgard is a fan-boys wet dream.

    There is a brief sequence part-way through a character that I presume will become a fifth Avenger (ie. not Hulk, Thor, Cap or Iron Man).

    There’s also a sequence after the credits.

  • Thanks for the word from Oz, Aussie.

  • tim

    I think the most useless job in the new century is movie reviewer. with the wealth of info available and the ability to find out anything about any movie, watch trailers, etc., people don’t need or care about opinions of the roger eberts anymore. I also think roger ebert knows that and it infuriates him, and accounts for a lot of the problems with his penchant for throwing politics into 99% of the reviews he does.

    also, wasn’t someone on here betting steak dinners last year that thor wouldn’t be any good?

  • zombiewhacker

    “There’s also a sequence after the credits.”

    Let me guess, surprise cameo X invites Thor to join Y.

    or

    Dead character Z turns out to be not so dead, thereby paving the way directly to Thor 2.

  • Toby Clark

    I can second Aussiesmurf’s recommendation: for me, it did not disappoint for a second.

    zombiewhacker: 50% correct on one guess, 75% on the other. I found the scene a little underwhelming though, at least compared to the ones in the Iron Man movies.

    Ericb: I was thinking the same thing when I heard it was coming out April 21st here. Then I found out the US release date and realised it was probably coincidental.

    Ken, is there any particular reason you’re not optimistic about Green Lantern? I haven’t seen the trailer myself but I think it has a lot going for it – eg Martin Campbell, Mark Strong, Michael Goldenberg.

    Will definitely be seeing Captain America, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (although I don’t expect it to make up for the poor adaptations that were the last five movies). Will probably see Cars 2 and X-Men: First Class and may see Cowboys and Aliens, Super 8 and Transformers 3 if the reviews are good.

  • Toby — 1) lead actor woefully miscast; 2) the special effects in the trailer looked awful to me, 3) they have that overdesigned look that makes me suspect this will be one of those films where they will spend a hundred times as much effort trying to make it look ‘cool’ than they will on the script. See Suckerpunch, Van Helsing, etc.

    The first point is important because it shows that Warners just can’t get their act together on this live-action stuff. Rather than following in Marvel’s footsteps–you know, the really successful ones–they still do things like thinking you can plug any ‘name’ actor in to play any role; see Nick Cage being seriously considered to play Superman. Its astounding to me how Warners is just foundering in the wake of Marvel’s extraordinary skein of conjoined movies. If not for Christopher Nolan, they’d be completely screwed.

  • The Rev.

    I realized last night I HAD heard of Trollhunter because Keith reviewed it. For some reason the name hadn’t connected when I wrote my earlier post.

    If that’s getting an American release, then I definitely want to go see it. If it’s as good as Rare Exports I’ll be quite satisfied.

  • monoceros4

    I’ve actually seen Hobo with a Shotgun already. I can’t quite recommend it. It’s like an ultraviolent, stupid version of Taxi Driver. Hauer puts some energy into his performance, true, but that only goes to show he deserves better material to work with.

    I want the Green Lantern movie to be good but it won’t be. It’ll be a stultified retelling of “Emerald Dawn” crammed into the same “reluctant hero” straitjacket that every goddamn movie hero is crammed into these days. And it’s yet another origin story. Why must Hollywood superhero movies always be origin stories? Anyone who wants to see these movies already knows who these guys are. We just want to see them in action, not see some hack screenwriter’s attempt to retread their origin stories except with some shambolic attempt at a new twist thrown in.

    I must see Thor. Since it’s Kenneth Branagh directing it’ll probably suck but in a really interesting way.

    Does Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams count as a summer release? I’m curious to see what a competent filmmaker does with 3D. There are a number of other good directors playing with the format; Wim Wenders, for instance, applied 3D to making a documentary of Pina Bausch’s dance company. The fact that filmmakers like Wenders and Herzog are experimenting with 3D makes me think, hey, maybe it’s not just a gimmick for selling crappy action movies.

  • Reed

    I am ashamed – I had totally forgotten that the new Pirates movie was an adaptation of Tim Powers’ On Stranger Tides. I love much of Powers’ work, and I would love for this movie to be commerically successful so that movie studios will look at some of his other (and better) works.

    Honestly, a lot of his modern day occult stories like “Expiration Date” could be made into interesting movies on SyFy level budgets; they don’t need to be Hollywood blockbusters.

  • Petoht

    Super 8? Dang! When did Super through Super 7 come out?

    Shockingly, Fast Five is getting good reviews. No, seriously, this isn’t another lame joke. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 79%(!) fresh. I mean, wow.

    Also, I don’t quite get the hate for origin stories. Not everyone is a massive fan of the comic in question and would like to see how they became the hero they are. Skipping the origin alienates audiences, and frankly, comic book geeks aren’t a big enough demographic for a major movie. Now, I was pretty young when the original Superman came out, but did everyone complain about time being wasted with an origin story? And that was freaking Superman, probably the most known super hero out there. I’m sorry, but most people have no clue who the hell Green Lantern is and if you open with “Dude with magic ring does crazy stuff”, your audience is going to check out.

  • No One of Consequence

    I’ve seen the Deathly Hallows. The wife and I agree it is easily our favorite of the bunch. Looking forward to part 2.

    I’ve also seen the trailer for Cars 2. If that’s any indication, it might be a rare miss for Pixar.

  • Toby Clark

    No one: I kind of agree about Deathly Hallows but I think its storytelling has been severely compromised by how much information was left out of the previous movies. The Chamber of Secrets is still my favourite.

    Back on Green Lantern – I haven’t seen enough of Ryan Reynolds or read/seen enough Green Lantern (have only seen him in Justice League: New Frontier and Green Lantern: First Flight) to comment on his casting, but I would question the notion that he’s more of a “name” star than Christian Bale was.

    Petoht: Very much agreed on the subject of origin stories.

    At the end of the day, it’s still a Martin Campbell movie, so I’m fairly optimistic.

  • Eric Hinkle

    There was a televangelist in the original Fright Night? I thought the character was a horror show TV host?

  • He was. Amusingly enough, they changed his character into a Vegas style magician to keep him “current”. Also gave him a history with the main vampire because of course he has to.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Oh well, of course. The more I hear about the remake of FRIGHT NIGHT the less I want to see it.

  • It’s not bad, as remakes go. I would have liked it a lot better had I not been a fan of the original.