Video of the Day: The New Pornographers, “Your Hands (Together)”
Ninjas and various other practitioners of the martial arts bust several impressive moves. What does it all mean? It means you need to work on your flexibility, desk boy. From the new album, “Together.”
StaticBlog and BAM Present Summer Movies 2010
By early May, having been through the serious art of Oscar season, a switch flips in moviegoers’ collective brains, and they start craving adrenaline surges. It’s summer, and even the most self-serious critics start salivating over the latest Pixar movie, or the one gazillion-dollar effects extravaganza that doesn’t treat audiences like illiterate chumps. Fun is in order, stadium-seating style.
The bitter pill to be choked back and washed down with a $5 soda is that this summer is chockablock full with sequels, remakes and adaptations. This might be the most market-tested movie season in cinematic history.
That still doesn’t diminish expectations for “Iron Man 2,” mainly because director Jon Favreau is not some Michael Bay-style hack, taking pleasure-center readouts from Maxim subscribers and front-loading them into big, dumb, computer-generation-heavy flicks. And there’s more — much, much more. It’s a summer movie explosion, and Bay has nothing to do with it.
So, check out this special StaticBlog and BAM crossover edition, and note the most promising potential blockbusters on your calendar. But remember that movie studios often shift release dates, so check your local listings before heading to the theater.
Today
Robert Downey Jr. returns as the man in the red suit in “Iron Man 2,” doing battle with Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) and undercover spy Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in what is possibly the most anticipated movie of the summer.
For something a lot cuddlier, there is “Babies,” a documentary following the first year in the lives of babies in Mongolia, San Francisco, Tokyo and Namibia.
May 14
Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe tromp into Sherwood Forest for yet another retelling of the “Robin Hood” saga, with Cate Blanchett as Marian, and Matthew Macfadyen (“Pride and Prejudice”) as the Sherriff of Nottingham.
That bow-and-arrow fest is counterprogrammed by “Letters to Juliet,” in which a young woman (ingenue du jour Amanda Seyfried) finds one of the many notes left for William Shakespeare’s fictional heroine at her Verona home.
In “Just Wright,” a physical therapist (Queen Latifah) falls for NBA all-star Scott McKnight (Common) but has to compete for his affections with his childhood friend (Paula Patton), who has trophy-wife dreams.
May 21
Now picking his ears in 3-D, Shrek (Mike Myers) returns in “Shrek Forever After,” only to find his fairytale home in shambles and waging war with Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) in what is expected to be the final chapter — unless it just rakes in tons of green.
Meanwhile, Will Forte takes his “MacGruber” character from “Saturday Night Live” to the big screen, where he attempts to recover a nuclear warhead stolen by his arch nemesis (Val Kilmer, of course).
May 27
There might be a wedding — or not — but Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) encounter shoes, sexual hijinks, an Abu Dhabi getaway, Liza Minnelli and possibly a flashback sequence in “Sex and the City 2.”
May 28
Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), a former street urchin adopted by royalty, must recover some mystical dirt from an evil overlord (Ben Kingsley) in the video game adaptation, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.”
Then, zombies invade a bucolic island refuge as powerful factions argue over whether to kill or cure the rotting brain masticators in George A. Romero’s “Survival of the Dead.”
June 4
In “Get Him to the Greek,” a sorta-kinda sequel to “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” music business flunky Aaron Green (Jonah Hill, not playing his “Sarah Marshall” character) must ferry uncontrollable rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand, playing his “Sarah Marshall character”) from London to Los Angeles.
Then, Katherine Heigl reteams with her “Ugly Truth” director, Robert Luketic, for “Killers,” in which desperate lonely heart Jennifer (Heigl) meets Spencer (Ashton Kutcher), a spy with a best friend (Rob Riggle) trying to kill him.
If those sound too wacky, check out “Splice,” a sci-fi thriller starring Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley as scientists creating human-animal mutations, or Owen Wilson as the voice of a big dog in “Marmaduke.”
June 11
Joe Carnahan (“Smokin’ Aces”) engages in ’80s schlock nostalgia but possibly to super-cool effect in “The A-Team,” with Bradley Cooper as Faceman, Liam Neeson as Hannibal and, best of all, Sharlto Copley (“District 9”) as Murdoch. We pity the fool that isn’t excited.
Jaden Smith engages in ’80s schlock nostalgia but possibly to super-cool effect in “The Karate Kid,” starring Jackie Chan as the inscrutable martial-arts master.
June 18
Kindergarteners who loved “Toy Story 2” when it first ran in theaters are now picking colleges, but Woody and Buzz Lightyear have eternal appeal. In “Toy Story 3,” Andy is headed to college himself, and our heroes must face the ultimate challenge: surviving donation to a day care.
Josh Brolin plays a different kind of cowboy in “Jonah Hex,” a mystical bounty hunter who can hunt down anyone or anything.
June 25
High-minded humor is the order of the day as Adam Sandler, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock and Kevin James yuck it up in “Grown Ups,” a comedy about old high school buddies reuniting for a classy weekend.
And this is not “Killers”: In “Knight and Day,” desperate lonely heart June (Cameron Diaz) meets Roy (Tom Cruise), a spy with many people trying to kill him.
June 30
Team Edward and Team Jacob, get your T-shirts on: In “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” Bella (Kristen Stewart) must choose between brooding vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) and oft-shirtless werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner).
July 2
Now that James Cameron has authoritatively called dibs on the title “Avatar,” writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’s adaptation of the animated TV series is just dubbed “The Last Airbender.” Set for 3-D release, the fantasy follows young Aang (Noah Ringer), who has the rare ability to manipulate all four elements: fire, air, water and earth.
For less fanciful drama, Chace Crawford stars as a Manhattan drug dealer whose life unravels after his cousin’s murder in “Twelve,” a Sundance selection directed by bombast whiz Joel Schumacher.
July 9
In the 3-D computer-animated comedy “Despicable Me,” eagerly evil Gru (Steve Carell) plans to pull off the world’s biggest heist: stealing the moon. But a trio of adorable orphan girls makes him rethink his villainous ways.
Some vicious aliens — and the franchises that spawned them — apparently never die, since Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne and Topher Grace are set to become the latest prey for “Predators.”
July 16
Details about “Inception,” Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to “The Dark Knight,” are under close guard, but this is known: Leonardo DiCaprio stars as the leader of a team of dream thieves, stealing people’s subconscious visions for corporate concerns. Because dreams are an infinite source of creativity (except for that old “naked at school” thing everybody has at least once a month), expect Hollywood’s reigning dark genius to create a breathtaking brain-fryer.
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” features Nicolas Cage dressed like a late-’80s movie bounty hunter while playing the titular magic man. No word if the Paul Dukas music from “Fantasia” will be there.
July 23
In “Salt,” Angelina Jolie takes over a role originally built for Tom Cruise: a CIA agent suspected of being a Russian mole. Expect killer action, a healthy dose of “Parallax View”-style paranoia and fuller lips.
No one does snide mockery like the French, but director Jay Roach (“Meet the Parents”) gives it a good old American try with “Dinner for Schmucks,” a remake of “Le dîner de cons.” Paul Rudd stars as a rising executive who finds the perfect guest for his boss’ monthly “dinner for idiots”: a buffoonish IRS worker played by Steve Carell.
Beverly Cleary’s beloved children’s novels get the big-screen treatment with “Ramona and Beezus,” featuring Joey King as the impish Ramona and Disney Channel starlet Selena Gomez as long-suffering big sister Beezus. If done right, the adaptation could be a refreshingly explosion-free family film.
July 30
The fairytale “Beauty and the Beast” gets a modern-day New York revamp with “Beastly,” starring Alex Pettyfer, Mary-Kate Olsen and “High School Musical” alum Vanessa Hudgens.
In the fantasy-drama “Charlie St. Cloud,” fellow “HSM” grad Zac Efron plays the title character, who is so grief-stricken at his younger brother’s death that he takes a job as a caretaker in the cemetery where his sibling is buried so their bond can live on.
Continuing the fantasy theme, the long-running war between felines and canines comes to a halt when the naturally opposing sides join forces to stop a rogue cat spy (voice of Bette Midler) in the sequel “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.”
Aug. 6
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg team up for the buddy-cop comedy “The Other Guys,” playing mismatched New York detectives who try to step into the roles of the city’s top team of crime fighters (Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson).
In “Step Up 3-D,” a pack of underground New York street dancers teams with a New York University freshman to compete in a high-stakes hip-hop showdown.
And for something completely different, step back to 1995 for the indie drama “Middle Men,” starring Luke Wilson as the entrepreneur who revolutionizes the Internet porn industry.
Aug. 13
In “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” Edgar Wright (“Hot Fuzz”) directs Michael Cera as the title character, who must fight his new girlfriend’s seven evil exes, all of whom have hard-to-beat superpowers or fighting abilities. The movie is based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels.
For relationship drama, Julia Roberts packs her bags for the film version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir “Eat Pray Love,” playing a divorcee on an around-the-globe journey of self-discovery.
They practically wrote the book on slam-bang action movies, and now Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and Jet Li team up as mercenaries on a South American mission in “The Expendables,” which Sly also directed and co-wrote.
Aug. 20
In “Nanny McPhee Returns,” Emma Thompson reprises her role as a homely but magical governess, this time assisting an overburdened mother (Maggie Gyllenhaal) trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war.
Directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck (“Blades of Glory”) birth the comedy “The Switch,” about an unmarried woman (Jennifer Aniston) who turns to artificial insemination to get pregnant. Seven years later, she reunites with her best pal (Jason Bateman), who secretly swapped her chosen sperm sample with his own.
“Lottery Ticket,” another comedy of deception if not conception, stars rapper/actor Bow Wow as a lucky guy trying to protect his $370 million winning ticket from his sneaky and avaricious neighbors.
In “Takers,” a hard-boiled detective (Matt Dillon) foils a group of bank robbers (including Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen and rapper/actor T.I.) pursuing a $20 million jackpot.
Aug. 27
Don’t think the cast and crew of “Piranha 3-D” don’t detect that deliberately fishy smell, too. The horror-thriller, starring Elisabeth Shue, Richard Dreyfuss and Eli Roth, remakes the 1978 film of the same name, but with an added dimension.
Eli Roth also has his horror-crafting hands in “The Last Exorcism,” serving as one of the producers of this thriller about a troubled evangelical minister (Patrick Fabian) who lets a documentary crew film his final evil spirit expulsion.
In the romantic comedy “Going the Distance,” Drew Barrymore and Justin Long play a couple trying to navigate the horrors and joys of long-distance love.
Sept. 1
In “The American,” George Clooney stars as a skilled assassin who hides out in an Italian hamlet while awaiting his last assignment. He surprises himself by forging a friendship with the village priest and wooing a local lovely, decisions that could compromise his cover.
Sept. 3
Writer-director Robert Rodriguez (“Desperado”) finally brings the fake trailer from his half of the 2007 “Grindhouse” double-feature to full cinematic fruition with the revenge rampage “Machete.”
In “Born to Be a Star,” a nerdy Iowan (Nick Swardson) learns his parents were ’70s porn stars and heads for Hollywood with similar career aspirations.
Also for summer
These films also are planned for summer release, but they do not have firm opening dates for Oklahoma City:
Two teens (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) conceived by artificial insemination meet their biological father (Mark Ruffalo) in the indie dramedy “The Kids Are All Right,” a hit at this year’s Sundance.
In the comedy “Cyrus,” a divorced bachelor (John C. Reilly) finds a spirited potential soul mate (Marisa Tomei) only to discover she has another man in her life: her 21-year-old son Cyrus (Jonah Hill).
It’s the word: With the “Grease Sing-Along,” the highest-grossing movie musical of all time gets a newly restored print and an audience-participation twist.
Video of the Day: The Fall, “Bury”
Now signed to Domino, easily the best label Mark E. Smith has been on since his early ’90s stand with Matador, The Fall sounds vital and truly energized on “Bury,” the first single from “Your Future, Our Clutter.” And, strangely enough, all the band members from “Imperial Wax Solvent” return. In Smith’s world, that’s somewhere between victory and miracle.
Video of the Day: The Black Keys, “Next Girl”
Frank the Funkasaurus Rex gets in deep with bikini-clad jacuzzi maidens in this grindhousey clip from the Black Keys’ forthcoming “Brothers” disc — which is due May 18, in case you black out during the last minute or so.
Video of the Day 2: Craig Ferguson lip-synchs the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s “Look Out, There’s a Monster Coming”
Such a description would seem to capture it all, but it really doesn’t. Thank you to Greg “Dr. Pants” Elwell for sending my day off the rails with this one.
“Vampire’s Kiss”: Nicolas Cage’s Greatest Performance
My brother, Chris, just sent me this collection of the finest parts of Cage’s manic, genius performance in 1988′s “Vampire’s Kiss,” a monument to inhibition-free, bat-guano-crazy acting. Makes Max Schreck look positively subtle. Am I getting through to you — Alva!
“Iron Man 2″ Week Begins on Planet 46 with Jon Favreau
Director Jon Favreau lays out his “Iron Man 2″ plan in the first installment of Matt Price’s daily, Tony Stark-related interviews on Planet46.com.
Conan O’Brien on ’60 Minutes’
Conan O’Brien opened up yesterday on “60 Minutes,” discussing the putsch that sent him packing for TBS and reinstalled Jay Leno (from this point on displayed in brown type to reflect StaticBlog’s opinion of him) as host of “The Tonight Show.” Of course, that “opened up” deserves a caveat, since O’Brien is still subject to a hardcore non-disparagement agreement, so the knives didn’t exactly come out.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Video of the Day: The Black Keys, “Tighten Up”
Prehistoric lizard puppets generally don’t have the wicked soul moves that Frank breaks out in this video. And no, Chase, this is not an Archie Bell and the Drells cover.
