Moments of Absolute Clarity: Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: June 2012

Hey folks,

It's been over a month since my last post, though that isn't due to lack of writing. There are about five different semi-completed drafts waiting to be fine-tuned, finished, reconsidered or scrapped entirely. Hopefully at least a couple of those will see the light of day at some point, but in the meantime, let's move on to our monthly look at the films coming up over the course of the next month.

June 1st

"Ha! Look at David Hasselhoff satirizing his Baywatch image!" - Something no one says anymore due to how often The Hoff has done this in recent years

I've been slowly but surely warming up to the idea of Snow White and the Huntsman, as the marketing has gotten progressively better and the buzz has been encouraging. Additionally, considering how many sarcastic reworkings of fairy tales we've gotten in the post-Shrek era, it's kinda nice to see a movie erring on the side of taking things a bit too seriously. It's only wide release opposition is Pirahna 3DD, which... yeah. Elsewhere, there's the "teenagers compete with each other in a dance competition" flick Battlefield America and a movie about stoned teenagers aptly entitled High School. Basically, that Snow White movie looks better by the minute.

June 8th

Glad to see the franchise hasn't lost its subtly witty touch.

There's probably no way that Prometheus can possibly live up to the expectations which have been placed upon it, but I'm incredibly excited about seeing Ridley Scott return to science fiction (the genre which produced his two finest films to date). For the wee ones, there's Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, though I still can't force myself to demonstrate any interest in that tedious series (and this is coming from an animation junkie who will probably watch yet another Ice Age movie in the theatre later this summer). Again, the choice is pretty obvious. In limited release, we have a diverse slate of options: the Aubrey Plaza comedy Safety Not Guaranteed, the Robert Pattinson-starring period piece Bel Ami, the Greta Gerwig comedy Lola Versus and Jane Fonda's return to theatres with Peace, Love and Misunderstanding (a sigh-inducing title if ever there was one).

June 15th

How is it possible for Paul Giamatti to look even more Paul Giamatti-ish?

The musical comedy Rock of Ages has a terrific cast, but so did Mamma Mia! and look what happened there. Also, in the wake of M:I:IV, it seems like the public might just be ready to embrace Tom Cruise again, but I'm not sure this is the path which best suits him. Adam Sandler also continues his ambitious attempt to determine just how little effort the American public is willing to tolerate with the inevitable future Razzie nominee That's My Boy. In limited release, the Ethan Hawke thriller The Woman in the Fifth is arriving (and has generated solid early reviews) alongside Lynn Shelton's indie comedy Your Sister's Sister (starring present-day indie staple Mark Duplass).

June 22nd

A still from Impenetrable Fog: The Movie

Fingers crossed that Brave represents a return to form for Pixar. No, Cars 2 wasn't an abominable disaster, but it was the first of their films which felt like it could have been made by any major animation studio. Honestly, the Brave trailers haven't done a lot for me, but Pixar's marketing campaigns have traditionally been pretty poor indicators of the final product's (usually impressive) quality. Its biggest competition is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which I suspect will turn out to be one of the summer's most ill-advised experiments. It's a cute idea for about 30 seconds, but the trailers make it look like an exceptionally tedious long-form joke. I'm far more interested in the comedy/drama Seeking a Friend at the End of the World, which looks like it might actually bring some fresh ideas to an increasingly overused idea. Finally, Woody Allen delivers his annual feature with the comedy anthology To Rome with Love. Considering Allen's track record, he'll undoubtedly follow his unexpected Midnight in Paris success with a film which disappoints viewers and causes them to dismiss the prolific director for the umpteenth time.

June 29th

Eugene Levy and Tyler Perry in a playful scene from Formulaic Adventures Test Market Audiences Enjoy: The Movie

The final weekend of the month offers a blend of peculiarities, beginning with Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike, a romantic comedy set within the world of male strippers. Former real-life male stripper Channing Tatum removes his shirt (and more, presumably) alongside such other frequently-shirtless actors as Alex Pettyfyr, Matthew McConaughey and Olivia Munn. If nothing else, it once again demonstrates that there's nothing Soderbergh won't try at least once. Tyler Perry delivers his latest in the form of Madea's Witness Protection (this time bringing Eugene Levy along to do yet another variation on his "square white man" routine), and Seth McFarlane takes one of the year's biggest risks by spending $100 million on Ted, a movie in which Mark Wahlberg gets into hallucinatory R-rated adventures with a stuffed bear. Good luck with that, pal. In limited release, the critically-acclaimed Beasts of the Southern Wild is finally arriving in theatres. Several folks have described it as a live-action Miyazaki flick, which sounds amazing. Also, Transformers/Star Trek/Fringe writer Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci turn their attention to robot-free drama with the Chris Pine vehicle People Like Us. Curious to see how well these two fare when dealing with more down-to-earth material.

Picks of the Month

3. Seeking a Friend at the End of the World