Mad Ramblings of a Movie Geek 04.15.09: Summer Movie Trailers - May

Posted by Jordan Bruns on 04.15.2009

Here are the trailers for some of May's most anticipated releases... and my thoughts on them...

Welcome to this week's edition of Mad Ramblings of a Movie Geek! This week I've reached my first milestone here at 411. It was this week last year when I wrote my first column, and I'm both surprised and excited to have lasted this long. I kicked off my tenure for 411 by offering an abridged summer movie preview. As anyone who's ever read my column can attest, I don't really have a specific format for my writings. I tend to write about whatever I feel like at the time, so long as it relates to movies. To commemorate my one year anniversary I can think of nothing better than to continue this pattern. One of the things I was advised to do when I was hired was to "think outside the box." When I look back at some of my previous columns, I think I've done a pretty good job with that. Whether I get a mountain of feedback or none at all, I try to give everything I write for this page my own little spin, and the same can be said for all 411 writers, not just those in the Movie Zone. We don't try to be Roger Ebert or Peter Travers or Gene Shallit, we try to be who we are. And we strive not just to inform and enlighten our readers, but to hopefully entertain them as well. I hope that I'm entertaining and interesting at least most of the time.

In short, that was my thank you speech to both Ashish and Chad for taking a chance on me, and to everyone who' ever read one of my articles and offered feedback of any kind. It's been an excellent first year, and I don't plan on going anywhere (unless my superiors have other ideas haha). This year I want to revisit my summer movie preview concept in a more creative fashion. Each month I'll post a selection of trailers for some of the most anticipated movies of the summer, and offer an assessment on the quality of the movie, based solely on the quality of a 2-3 minute trailer. Since it's now mid-April, I'll look at some of May's upcoming releases- in May I'll do June, and so on until the end of the summer. As is typical for this time of year, the month of May kicks off with one of the most anticipated movies of the summer. Here's a hint: Hugh Jackman and lots of metal.

Mad Ramblings is proud to present Summer Movie Trailers- May…





My Mad Ramblings
The X-Men franchise appears to be over. X-Men: Last Stand was a disappointment… now we get Wolverine's back story. We all know Hugh Jackman can play the character. It was fun to watch him evolve from movie to movie… Do we need to see where he came from? Who he was? What transformed him from Logan to Wolverine? According to this trailer, the answer is yes on all counts. If there were ever an X-Men character who deserved his own movie, it was Wolverine. This could provide some much-needed insight to the character, or it could fall flat on its face. I'm torn right now. Quality of the movie aside, it'll no doubt rake in the dough.





My Mad Ramblings
I've never been a fan of Star Trek, be it the original TV series, the countless spin offs, or any of the movies. But there are two things that actually have me interested in JJ Abrams' reboot. One, I'm a sucker for origin stories, and here we get to see the crew of the Enterprise when they were young and just starting out. The second reason I'm interested is because Zachary Quinto is playing Spock. Heroes may be alienating fans at an alarming pace, but Quinto makes it worth watching every week with the creepy magnetism he conveys. The guy's effing brilliant. Judging from the trailer, it looks like there may be some tension between Spock and Captain Kirk. This is a project that could either sink or swim, but it benefits from having the Star Trek name attached to it. This will probably be a real crowd pleaser, even if it pisses off some die hard Trekkies.





My Mad Ramblings
Here we have Ron Howard and Tom Hanks teaming up for the fourth time in this follow-up to The Da Vinci Code. I'm not interested in this movie at all. I'll catch it when it hits DVD, because I believe every movie deserves a fair chance, but in doing so I'll also save a good fifteen to twenty bucks. I love Tom Hanks, but for someone who typically chooses his roles very carefully this is just such a thin character for him to be playing. I thought The Da Vinci Code to be only passable escapism- if this trailer is any indication, Angels and Demons looks to be no different. It'll make money because it's a Tom Hanks/Ron Howard collaboration, but don't expect it to rake in any awards.





My Mad Ramblings
James Cameron and Linda Hamilton haven't been involved since the second one, and Arnold's busy doing his governor thing. Thus, we're left with a Terminatormovie that has neither the original director or stars. Christian Bale is the John Connor of the future, the John Connor who sends Kyle Reese back in time to protect his mother and ensure that he'll still be born. It looks like we'll get a lot of battle scenes, and Christian Bale looks to be bringing a little bit of Bruce Wayne to the John Connor role, but really, this just doesn't look that interesting. Terminate this franchise immediately.

That's it for the May trailers. As you can see I have only a moderate level of anticipation for the first batch of summer releases. In a month I'll be back with some trailers for some of the most anticipated releases of June. In the meantime I'll continue dishing out my ramblings on other topics. I hope I can acquire an even wider audience in my second year.

Until next time..