We all know that the best movies are big-budget blockbuster studio extravaganzas. They really can’t miss, and if you don’t believe me, just look at films like “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, “Collateral Damage” and “Wild Wild West”. See? Can’t miss. Here’s the buzz on a few of the more anticipated films of this summer.

Troy

It’s no surprise that this movie is the most-hyped of the summer. It has all the ingredients: a star-studded cast including Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, a $200 million budget, and Wolfgang Petersen, a director known for delivering the goods.

In 1981 Petersen made “Das Boot”, the best submarine movie ever (and one of the best war movies ever), and since then has directed four big-budget American films: “In the Line of Fire”, “Outbreak”, “Air Force One” and “The Perfect Storm”. Each one has grossed over $150 million worldwide, and it looks like “Troy” will too.

The story obviously follows Homer’s epic tale of the Trojan War, and the action sequences will probably be some of the best ever seen. I wouldn’t expect to get the true skinny on Achilles and Patroclus, though.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner at Azkaban

I know I wasn’t the only person in theaters gasping audibly with anticipation when seeing the trailer for this one! In the third installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry is in his third year at Hogwart’s school, but the evil Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban prison (Escaped? Maybe they should have been keeping this guy at Abu Ghraib or something) and is intent on killing Harry!

Anyway, all the characters we came to know and love in the first two Potter movies are back for more, and the criminally underrated Gary Oldman guest stars as Black.

The Day After Tomorrow

This movie, starring Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal, portrays cataclysmic events caused by global warming and the greenhouse effect. These include special effects set pieces like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tidal waves, floods and the beginning of the next Ice Age.

Roland Emmerich wrote and directed this movie; his track record includes hits such as “The Patriot” and “Independence Day” and misses like “Godzilla” (Who knew casting Matthew Broderick as the lead in an action film was a bad idea? Not Emmerich, evidently.) and “Universal Soldier” (This one starred Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and that crusty old detective from “Law and Order”. Yikes!) Hopefully Emmerich will be on target this time.

Shrek 2

According to the Internet Movie Database, “Shrek 2” picks up right where “Shrek” left off. Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) return from their honeymoon to find a letter inviting them to Fiona’s parents’ house for dinner. Evidently the parents do not know that their daughter is now an ogre (Can you say “awkward”?) and things are complicated even more when a Fairy Godmother tells Fiona she was supposed to marry Prince Charming (Rupert Everett), and King Harold (John Cleese!) hires a sword-fighting, ogre-slaying cat named Puss-in-Boots (Antonio Banderas) to kill Shrek.

As convoluted as that may sound, I must admit I was pretty skeptical of “Shrek” the first time around, and it turned out to be a pretty great movie. And really, when was the last time Mike Myers made a flop? (If you’re curious, it was in 1999’s “Mystery, Alaska”) This one shouldn’t disappoint.

The Terminal

Steven Spielberg’s first film since “Catch Me If You Can” again stars the reliable Tom Hanks, who is joined by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stanley Tucci.

Hanks plays an immigrant from a war-torn Eastern European country who flees to the United States and arrives in New York City at the same moment the war back home causes his native country to no longer exist, making his passport and paperwork invalid.

Hanks’ character then takes up residence in the terminal of the airport, and along the way falls in love with a flight attendant (Jones, probably) and befriends a bunch of airport workers and other people.

At this point you might be saying that this is the most ridiculous premise for a movie you’ve ever heard. I’d agree with you but for the fact that it’s actually based on the true story of a man who spent 10 years in Charles De Gaulle airport in France for the same reason. Sounds interesting, to say the least.

About The Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.