Minute44 - Dan Schonhaar

I’ve not done one of these for a while so I thought I’d talk about some things that are due for a release in the coming months. I’ll also talk about the success (or not) of some of the things we’ve already seen this year. I’m as excited as ever about the forthcoming releases that summer has to offer, particularly as it sees some of my favourite actors/directors/franchises making their triumphant returns.

So far this year we’ve had a pretty mixed bag, as always. We’ve seen some monumental success stories in the shape of CloverField and Juno as well as some, frankly awful pieces of crap such as Aliens Vs. Predator 2 and Meet the Spartans. We’ve also had some surprise hits, like Street Kings which saw Keanu Reeves getting his gritty cop action on once again and action/shooty/CGI fest in the, surprisingly good, Iron Man. All in all, I think it’s been a better than average first half of a year with my reviews for the most part hitting 3 and above. I have to say though, summer and autumn look to be even better with some truly massive titles still looming large on the horizon.

Sitting in the mix like a giant anchovy on a mini pizza is the forthcoming; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. How many movies can you say you’ve been looking forward to for 19 years? Especially one which features a 60 something man who wears more brown than any man should wear but still manages to be cool. Since my last blog entry on the subject back in December, we’ve heard pretty much naff all else to do with the plot other than Indy must seek out a mythical crystal skull before it falls into the hands of the evil doers, who this time seem to be Russian. Does this lack of information mean I’m less excited about it though? Hell no! The only thing that worries me is that early leaked first impressions speak of it being terrible… please, movie gods, don’t let it be true!! But seriously, I’m still so excited about seeing this I can barely contain myself. Indiana Jones has been one of my favourite all time characters since I came outta my momma… well just about.

The other big hitter which is approaching is The Dark Knight, Chris Nolan’s long awaited sequel to Batman Begins. Early indications seem to suggest that this could easily wipe the floor with most anything else released this year, if not for anything else, because it is, sadly, Heath Ledger’s final on screen performance as he barely finished filming before he died earlier this year. The movie sees Ledger starring as The Joker and the mighty Christian Bale returning as, rich boy who does a lot of push-ups, Bruce Wayne who defends the city of Gotham as Batman. It also sees Aaron Eckhart making an appearance as Harvey Dent, who as Batman fans will know is transformed into Two-Face in a yet to be revealed accident. The latest Trailer gives a very brief glimpse of this but gives nothing away. *gets all giddy and runs around*

The superhero seems to be getting more than his share of cinema time this year with Iron Man being a big success and Batman and the Hulk on the way too but it’s not just the classical superheroes that are making an appearance this year. In July, Will Smith stars as Hancock in what could easily be the summer’s surprise family hit. The story goes; Hancock is a hard-living superhero who’s reckless methods and heavy drinking have caused him to fall out of favour with the public he protects. So with the help of a PR specialist he tries to re-invent his image and restore faith in superhero-kind. The trailer makes this movie look amazing. There’s no denying that Smith is still on top of his game and it’s good to see him back in light-hearted mode even though his role in I Am Legend was what saved that movie. Even though Hancock looks like a fully family orientated movie, I’m still super excited about it.

Other movies that I’m excited about are The X Files: I want to Believe, which you’ll know all about if you read my last blog post about it, M. Night Shyamalan’s new thriller The Happening and Pixar’s latest effort Wall-E which sees an old abandoned robot find friendship on an abandoned planet earth. Indeed, it’s all looking bright for movies in the remainder of this year, with the exception of those “comedy” ass hats who are cranking out yet another diabolical spoof movie, this time called Superhero Movie. I can’t actually believe that those piles of stinking crap actually make enough money to break even, let alone get a green light to make more of them. They give comedy a bad name. But anyway I hope you’re all as excited about the raft of up and coming new movies as I am. As always I’d love to hear what you’re looking forward to.

Dan