The heat is on, not only outdoors but on the big screen as Hollywood rolls out its biggest, priciest and most heavily-hyped movies over the next three months. While Iron Man 3 may have gotten a jump start at the cineplex, there is plenty more to look forward to below. Note: All release dates are subject to change.
The “Wolfpack” comprised of stars Bradley
Cooper (fresh off his Oscar nomination for Silver
Linings Playbook), Ed Helms and Zack Galifianakis take a road trip
this time around. Their numerous adversaries, inadvertent victims and/or
allies are played by Heather Graham (returning from the first Hangover), Melissa McCarthy, John Goodman
and The New Normal’s Justin
Bartha. And, of course, Ken Jeong is once again on hand as the oft-naked Mr. Chow.
Fast & Furious 6 - Opens May 24:
Musclemen Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson (who
seems to be in every other movie nowadays), Tyrese Gibson and Jason Statham and
their muscle cars once again crash onto the big screen. Michelle
Rodriguez also returns as tough yet sensitive car thief Letty. Few fans
likely go to the Fast & Furious
films for their plots, but are instead drawn by the admittedly cool spectacle
of flying, rolling, cartwheeling roadster mayhem. This one definitely
looks like it will fulfill their expectations.
A big hit at January’s Sundance Film Festival.
Three teenaged boys, seeking to escape their repressive home lives, decide to
build a house in the woods for themselves and live off the land. They
face unexpected environmental and relational challenges along their
coming-of-age path. Karen Walker herself, Megan Mullally, appears as the mother of one
of the boys.
James Franco, the hardest-working man in movies after Dwayne
Johnson, teams up with funny guys Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera and
Jason Segel. They and a host of other celebs play themselves, who
unfortunately have to confront the end of the world while attending a party
hosted by Franco. Reportedly, the gay-curious Franco (see his recent
turns in Milk, Howl, The Broken Tower
and Interior. Leather Bar; no, Oz The Great and Powerful doesn’t
count) is raked over the coals about his sexuality in this comedy.
Super-stylish director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch) teams up with
the Dark Knight producer-writer
team of Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer for this new, darker take on
Superman’s origin and exploits. Henry Cavill (The Tudors, Immortals) stars in the title role, with Oscar nominee
Michael Shannon opposite him as evil General Zod. The all-star supporting
cast includes Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Pa and
Ma Kent, Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Laurence Fishburne, in colorblind casting,
as news editor Perry White. Gay fave Christopher Meloni (Oz) also appears as a
military bigwig.
Brangelina’s
male half, Brad Pitt, produced and stars
in this apocalyptic chiller. He plays a United Nations worker and
family
man who races around the world in order to stop an unknown virus that is
rapidly turning humanity into flesh-craving zombies. The film’s
trailer showing the creatures literally crawling over themselves like
ants to scale
walls and catch their prey is truly unsettling. These aren’t your
traditional, slo-mo walking dead. Lost
hottie Matthew Fox co-stars.
Pedro Almodóvar’s latest looks like a return to
all-out comedy form after the gay filmmaker’s more serious, recent
endeavors such as The Skin I Live In
and Broken Embraces. Almost
entirely set on a passenger jet forced to keep circling Mexico City due to a malfunction, it sounds
like a delirious spoof of the old Airport
disaster movies. A healthy dose of bisexuality, a drug-fueled orgy and
Pointer Sisters songs are reportedly thrown into the mix. Almodovar
regulars Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz head the cast.
The potentially hilarious teaming of Oscar winner Sandra Bullock and Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy
has definitely piqued my interest. Here, they play a mismatched FBI agent
and a Boston
cop assigned to work together in order to take down a ruthless drug lord.
Directed by Paul Feig, whose last film was the estrogen-powered monster hit Bridesmaids.
Gay director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Godzilla, 2012) is not one to be outdone
when it comes to large-scale destruction on screen. Although the
similarly-plotted Olympus Has Fallen
beat it to theaters, this action-thriller about bad guys attacking 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
and attempting to kidnap the President (played by Jamie Foxx) will probably
leave the earlier movie in the dust. Channing Tatum (Magic Mike) stars as the Commander-in-Chief’s
studly, tank top-clad bodyguard.
Armie Hammer (The Social
Network, J. Edgar) stars as the masked do-gooder of radio, TV and a
flop 1981 big-screen take on the legend. Johnny Depp is at his side as
devoted Native American partner Tonto. The new version recounts the
hero’s beginnings while pitting him against arch-enemy Butch Cavendish
(William Fichtner) and other miscreants played by Oscar nominees Tom Wilkinson
and Helena Bonham Carter. Hi-yo, Silver, away!
In what may well be this summer’s most original
adventure, the human race is forced to battle massive monsters from another
dimension who invade Earth by creating giant robot warriors. Charlie
Hunnam, who played the original twink Nathan on the British Queer as Folk and now appears on Sons of Anarchy, has his first lead action movie
role as the robots’ chief pilot. Written and directed by Guillermo
Del Toro of Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth fame.
I've
actually already seen this sports-tinged comedy, which could emerge as
the sleeper hit of the summer. The stellar, menopausal quintet of
Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah (in a lesbian role), Camryn Manheim, out
comedian Wanda Sykes and Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen are former high
school athletes who re-group to save their deceased friend's mobile
breast cancer clinic. It is hilarious, heartfelt and, most
significantly during a special effects-dominated season, human.
Our favorite adamantium-clawed hero returns, once again
played by one of our favorite leading men of screen and stage, Hugh Jackman. His
latest adventure, which reportedly takes place after the events of 2006’s
X-Men: The Last Stand, finds Logan in Japan
fighting ninjas, gangsters and the villainous female mutant, Viper. Famke
Janssen is also slated to make a re-appearance as Jean Grey/Phoenix. Of
course, the main draw for many will be Hugh taking his shirt off.
Oh no! Smurfette (voiced by Katy Perry) has been
abducted by that nasty Gargamel (Hank Azaria). The Smurfs’ human
friend, gay poster boy Neil Patrick Harris, must come to their aid. Other
gay actors or community favorites in this sequel’s voice cast include AlanCumming, Christina Ricci, Modern Family’s
Sofia Vergara and the late, great Jonathan Winters. With so much GLBT
energy in these family films, I’m surprised the Smurfs don’t change
colors from blue to rainbow!
Matt Damon and out actress Jodie Foster (she did finally come
out at the Golden Globes, didn’t she?) headline this sci-fi opus from the writer-director
of the terrific District 9. Set
in the year 2159, Damon plays a lower-class, earthbound worker who becomes
contaminated by radiation and must break into the space station community of the wealthy
to find a cure. Foster is the amoral Corporate Authority out to stop him.
It sounds like it will play with class issues the way District 9 potently did with race.
A big-screen biography of 1970’s porn star Linda
Lovelace. Though she suffered greatly, Lovelace’s popularity helped
legitimize the adult industry and arguably helped to empower women at the
height of the sexual revolution. Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!, Les Miserables) takes on the
title role, with Peter Sarsgaard as her abusive husband and James Franco
(again!) making a cameo as Playboy publisher
Hugh Hefner. Co-directed by gay filmmakers Rob Epstein and JeffreyFriedman (The Celluloid Closet, Howl).
1 comment:
The best thing about LOVELACE is the fact that Amanda Seyfried doesn't sing!
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