Summer Movie Top Ten

[EandCDad]

Spider-Man 2 - Can't wait, literally giddy with excitement. Ok, not giddy, but I want to see this, the first one surprised me by being much better than expected. Definate.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Some day this will play on TV for free and I'll probably still skip it. No chance.

Shrek 2 - Only needs to be about half as good as the first one to be worth seeing. Definate.

The Village - Signs showed the guy is no fluke. Might have to go alone, but I'm going. Definate.

The Day After Tomorrow - As Tref likes to say "Can't wait to miss it!" Unlikely, maybe on Netflix.

The Terminal - Eh. Netflix.

Troy I have no desire to see it, but will have no choice. Definate, but not by choice.

Van Helsing - Puhlease. No chance.

Collateral - Not dying to see it, but I might give it a whirl. Probably Netflix, though.

I, Robot Will Smith and Robots. Two reasons to skip this. Maybe Netflix.

I think the one with the best chance to drop out of the top ten is The Terminal. People have shown they just won't show up to Tom Hanks movies for no reason. I think it will do well, but if it doesn't get good reviews, it might get pushed out by the action stuff.

Other movies I want to see - Anchorman (although I'm not against waiting for a rental, The Bourne Supremacy (Top 10 potential), and The Manchurian Candidate.

[Scamp]

I am looking forward to:

Harry Potter
Home On The Range (Late release in Scandinavia)
I, Robot
Shrek 2
Spider Man 2
The Day After Tomorrow
The Village
Troy
Van Helsing

[The Jazzman]

Guaranteed to see;

Prisoner of Azkaban - Best book of the series and I'm really excited to see the new style and tone of the movie as compared to the first two. I loved the first two films, but the darker interpretation definitely fits better with PoA.

VanHelsing - I dig monster flix and the FX look cool, but the real clincher is because the soon-to-be Mrs. Jazzman will not allow us to miss Mr. Jackman. I hope it shows at the drive-in, it'd be way cool there. (OMG, did I just say way cool?)

Spidey & Shrek - Loved the first two and the trailers for the sequels look like they actually invested in real stories instead of copying what worked the first time. Should both probably be worth it.

Troy - I'm a history buff, especially ancient history and mythology, so this has me overflowing with anticipation. I just really worry that the love-story portion will be over played (a la Pearl Harbor) or that history will be overly manipulated for dramatic effect (a la Pearl Harbor.) The “epic scope” type picture always lures me in too.

Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow - After seeing the trailer, there's only one word...
[Cartman Voice] Sweet [/Cartman Voice]

Possibles;

Day After Tomorrow - I always dig huge FX flix that let you turn off reason and thought and just enjoy a tub of popcorn, so this'll probably be fun.

I Robot - Has shades of the überstinker Minority Report so it may stink too, but I'll give it a shot. It helps having a friend who manages the theater and let's us in free so these "chance flix" don't cost a bundle.

Arthur - May be cool, maybe not. After the defeat of the Alamo, this one, I'll wager, will sink. But, like I said, I dig history, so what the heck.

Alien vs Predator - Same reason as VanHelsing, minus the Jackman quotient.

For everything else there's Netflix.
(Hey, that could be a good catch phrase! Hmmm ;) )

[JeffG]

Since this is the first summer movie season where we have to worry about finding babysitters, I suspect that I'll be seeing considerably fewer releases theatrically than I generally have in the past. Here is the run-down of my expectations for the major releases at this point:

The Terminal - This is the one film that I can pretty much promise we will arrange for a sitter so that we can go see it theatrically. The last Steven Spielberg directed film that I failed to see in a theater was 1941. In fact, I don't think I have missed seeing any of his subsequent films during the opening weekend. I think the concept and trailers on this one make it look like a lot of fun.

The big sequels (Harry Potter, Shrek 2, Spider-man 2) - All three of these are promising sequels to films that I really liked, so I'm sure I'll see all of them sooner or later. If the opportunity allows, I would imagine I'd see any of them in the theater. I could see a fair possibility that I might end up going to see Spider-man 2 on my own, since I think I liked the first one more than my wife did.

The Village - I actually liked both The Sixth Sense and Signs a great deal (never got around to seeing Unbreakable), but I never got around to seeing either one theatrically. If the reviews and word of mouth on this one are really positive, I could see this being an eventual rental.

The Day After Tomorrow - Based on Roland Emmerich's past films, I have a hunch this movie won't be very good, but that it also will be one that I'd enjoy quite a bit. I'll probably see it eventually. If the opportunity arises to go see it on the big screen, it probably would play better there than on TV.

Troy - Although I generally admire Wolfgang Petersen as a director, I really can't build up much interest in this one. The various promos I've seen have struck me as relatively dull, although the film is of a genre I don't particularly like. If the film gets extremely good reviews, major awards, and/or word-of-mouth, I might end up seeing it on DVD.

Van Helsing - I never got around to seeing either of the Mummy movies, although they are movies I've always figured I'd get around to seeing on DVD eventually. Unless this one is monumentally more acclaimed, it probably will end up below those on the list. I will admit, though, that I look forward to the soundtrack album to this one. I'm a big fan of composer Alan Silvestri and he does a really good job with this type of film. As I said, I never saw Mummy Returns, but I enjoy the CD... :)

Collateral - What I have heard about this one doesn't really make me all that interested. The fact that director Michael Mann has a style that tends to bore me to tears makes me even less interested. Tom Cruise's acting runs hot and cold for me as well, with his performances often leaving me cold if he ends up with the wrong director. I doubt I'll ever see this one...

I, Robot - This one could easily turn out to be really terrific, really awful, or just about anything in-between. It may have the best source material of any film this summer, but the big question is what they plan to do with it. I'll probably be closely watching the buzz and early word-of-mouth on this one. It might be worth the effort to go to the theater, but I have major doubts.

-Jeff

[EandCDad]

Although the summer movie season isn't quite over yet and some of these movies are still pulling in a few dollars, it's probably as good a time as any to see how Premiere did with their predictions. Also, I can look back and see what I said I might see versus what I actually did see.

The movies below are listed in the order that Premiere predicted they would finish for the summer with the predicted box office. Actual box office through monday and actual rank for the summer follow.

1. Spider-man - $300M, Actual rank 2, Actual box office $365M. I saw this, it was great, everything I expected and hoped for.
2. Harry Potter - $275 M, Actual Rank 3, Actual box office $246M. Didn't see it, never will.
3. Shrek 2 - $250 M, Actual Rank 1, Actual box office $436M. Although it projected it to be a hit, Premiere underestimated how big a hit it would be. I saw it, it wasn't as good as the first, but it was enjoyable.
4. The Village - $220M, Actual Rank 11, Actual box office $107M. Still out there, but will be unlikely to hit the projection. Might finish 7th or 8th. I thought the atmosphere was good, the "surprise" was weak and obvious, but the acting by Howard and Phoenix was excellent.
5. The Day After Tomorrow - $180 M, Actual Rank 4, Actual box office $186M. Didn't see it.
6. The Terminal - $150 M, Actual Rank 13, Actual box office $77M. Probably the biggest disappointment (over the Village). A great performance by Tom Hanks for absolutely no purpose. I give it a marginal recommend based on Hank's work alone.
7. Troy - $140 M - Actual Rank 7, Actual box office $133M. Didn't see it, surprisingly. I didn't want to see it, but I thought my wife might force me.
8. Van Helsing - $130 M - Actual Rank 8, Actual box office $120M. Didn't see this pile o' dung.
9. Collateral - $120 M - Actual Rank 16, Actual box office $71M. Still out there, will probably end up 11th or so. This was actually, after Spider-Man, the best movie I've seen this summer.
10. I, Robot - $110 M, Actual Rank 6, Actual box office $138 M. Better than I expected. I was actually glad I saw it. However, the overuse of special fx/blue screen became very annoying at the end.

Top ten summer films that weren't on Premier's list. Bourne Supremacy (very much worth seeing, a good sequel), Dodgeball, and Farenheit 9/11