MONDOmagazine

By Sean Kelly, Brian Last and Rachel West

The Summer Movie MegaCalendar rolls on with greater momentum than ever, smashing everything in its path to smithereens! Sean Kelly, Brian Last, and Rachel West hit you with this installment of predictions on July’s excitingly diverse releases: Public Enemies, Harry Potter, The Hurt Locker, The Ugly Truth, Funny People and more. Stick around after the credits to learn about a shocking upcoming documentary.

JULY 1st

Public Enemies

Sean
I could watch Johnny Depp be a gangster all day long. Director Michael Mann has always been hit or miss with me, however this looks like it will be a fun film. Hopefully this will also help Christian Bale rebound from the Terminator misstep. I also find it very ironic that this classic American tale is opening on Canada Day. That’s what you get when Hollywood prefers five-day Independence Day holidays and the calendar is aligned just right.

Brian
This film is one I have been waiting all summer for. Johnny Depp plays John Dillinger, an infamous gangster who committed a slew of crimes committed in Chicago in the 30’s. Christian Bale plays Melvin Purvis, an FBI agent who has his sights set on Dillinger.

With the exception of Miami Vice, Michael Mann is the man (no pun intended) at gritty crime films. He knows how to tell a great story, and has a knack for shooting big shoot outs. He’s working with a great cast — Depp and Bale as the leads and Billy Crudup, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Dorff, and several other great actors playing supporting parts.

My prediction is that this film will be in the top ten of the year, and with Ice Age its main competition it will have a strong box office draw, bringing the teens-adult crowd in.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Sean
I’ve only ever seen the first film in this series and I am under belief that the entire main story is constantly overshadowed by the adventures of that little sabre-toothed squirrel Scrat. This will probably go down as an “also run” in the year’s run-down of animated films.

JULY 10th

Bruno

Sean
Once upon a time (about a decade ago), I thought that Ali G was a real person and I had no idea that he was one of the many creations of Sacha Baron Cohen. I guess that is a testament to Cohen’s ability to make believable his over-the-top characters. If nothing else, 2006’s Borat just proved how gullible Americans can be (to the point that they sued Cohen after the movie came out). The question with this film is whether the people approached are truly being fooled by the character or if they were just going along with the joke. Still, it should be very funny.

The Hurt Locker

Brian
This film is about a unit that specialized in bomb diffusion in the Iraq war that are so close to a break they can smell it, when they are dragged into urban combat by their new Sergeant (Jeremy Renner). Now their focus is staying alive.

This film has been around a bunch of festivals and was released in Italy months ago and the buzz has been very good. “Finally an Iraq war movie worth discussing” is what the tag is around this film. From an early glimpse, I like the Renner character, he’s decorated and cavalier in how he conducts his business and he keeps his men on their toes but unnerved at the same time.

Because this is appears to be a smarter different style of action film, it will attract a different audience. Not the shut your brain off kind. The buzz of this film will not slow down and it will continue to gain strong reviews and stronger box office.

Rachel
I managed to see The Hurt Locker at TIFF and was struck by the gritty intensity of this Iraq war-based film. Expertly directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film has some shockingly realistic and armchair-gripping tension as we follow a U.S. bomb-disposal unit counting down to the end of their tour of duty. Cameos by Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, and Evangeline Lily join the relatively unfamiliar cast. With the political undertones and inclusion of current events, the film is much more loaded than your average summer action film.

JULY 17th

500 Days of Summer

Sean
This is a film I want to see based on the cast alone. Former Third Rock from the Sun star Joseph Gordon-Levitt has really gained a lot of indie cred in the last few years (my favourite of his indie films being 2005’s Brick) and Zoey Deschanel really deserves more of the leading roles currently occupied by so-called “it girls” (Megan Fox, I’m looking at you). Either way, this should be an enjoyable little indie film.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Sean
I can remember when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone opened back in 2001. The fourth book had just came out the year before and if anyone suggested to me that they would do the unprecedented act of adapting ALL seven of the books in the series (including the three unpublished ones) with most of the cast intact, I wouldn’t have believe it. Well, now with the release of the second-last story (and third-last film), the end is now in sight, with the only major cast change having been Michael Gambon replacing the late Richard Harris. In fact, Warner Bros were “nice” enough to push this film back by sixth months, so the gap between films will be shorter (or so they say). As someone who hasn’t read the books (I’m a slow read), I’m actually looking forward to the continuation of the story, as much as the film.

Rachel
This movie is what July is all about. An already incredible cast of top British talent adds Oscar winner Jim Broadbent to the teaching staff at Hogwarts as the students of wizardry face their darkest and most difficult year yet. Throw in a blossoming romance and an increasingly evil Voldemort and the film is sure to be action-packed. Despite the years that have passed between films and the publishing of the last book in the Potter series, the Harry Potter-mania continues and the film is sure to be a box office smash.

JULY 24th

The Ugly Truth

Sean
I have absolutely NO plans on seeing this film. I am mentioning it because I want to talk about how this is the second mainstream romantic comedy in recent memory (the other being My Best Friend’s Girl) that tries to hide the fact that it is really a chick-flick by giving it an R-rating. I don’t know if they are trying to cash in on the success of Judd Apatow’s “rom-coms for guys,” but I really don’t buy it.

Brian
Katherine Heigl plays a producer of a morning show who is unwise and, some would say, challenged in the ways of relationships and love. Gerard Butler plays a correspondent who is quite the chauvinist. He puts her through a slew of ridiculous tests in order to prove his theories about relationships and help her find love.

Now, this film is far from inventing the wheel, and as I write this preview I could make a prediction about how it would end and probably be correct. It does, however, differ from those other clichéd romantic comedies as it’s got jokes that actually made me laugh in the trailer — Butler’s character could push the humour well into enjoyable raunchy territory.

There are other romantic comedies this summer, but this one appears to stand above the others. Plus, I like Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl. This will be a big mid summer draw for couples that want to see something different from the big blockbusters that bombard us all summer.

Rachel
Although I have a slight girl-crush on Katherine Heigl, The Ugly Truth is not a movie I have any interest in seeing. It’s your standard formulaic boy-meets-girl rom-com, except, of course the twist is that the boy and girl in question hate each other! With an ending you can see a mile away — even though they seem totally wrong together, they will fall madly in love and live happily ever after. The Ugly Truth might provide a few subtle laughs but most audiences will likely be laughing at the film and not with it.

JULY 31st

Funny People

Sean
It would be an understatement to say that both Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen risked serious overexposure in the two years since Knocked Up. However, Apatow’s third directorial effort aims to turn up the seriousness, while at the same time keeping the laughs. If anyone has anything to gain from this film, it is Adam Sandler, who has been hit or miss pretty much for his entire career. If the stars are aligned right, this will be the comedy to beat this summer.

Brian
Judd Apatow returns to the director’s chair for the first time since the very funny and highly-successful Knocked Up. While Knocked Up had a lot of goofyness and vulgarity, there were a few sweet moments in it as well. This looks like he has kept on that sweeter path. With the direction that Adam Sandler has taken in his career with Click and Spanglish, Funny People seems to fall in line. Sandler plays George Simmons, a popular comedian who learns he has a terminal illness. He befriends a green but up-and-coming comedian Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) and takes him under his wing as his assistant and new friend.

The laughs look sparse and the story is familiar territory. I’m also getting annoyed how Apatow feels the need to throw his wife and kids in almost everything he does. It does, however, look like a potential opportunity for Seth Rogen to actually attempt to act and not just be the gravel voiced moron that has won everyone over.

Even though this film looks less than great, I predict that it will do well because people see Apatow/Rogen on the marquee and they flock. Also, there doesn’t appear to be much competition at the end of the month so they will ease into August with a strong opening.

Rachel
Anyone who has seen the trailer for Funny People has essentially seen the entire movie — comedian thinks he is dying, comedian befriends protégé, comedian does not die, conflict ensues. The film is overpopulated with familiar faces, most of whom have overstayed their welcome, including Seth Rogan who continues to play the same character as he did in his days on Freaks & Geeks. Hopefully writer/director Judd Apatow can work some magic and turn a stale Adam Sandler vehicle into something fresh and funny. With Apatow on board, the film might just have a chance.

The Cove

Rachel
Documentaries that get a lot of buzz in mainstream film-land are few and far between — think An Inconvenient Truth and Up the Yangtze. The Cove is getting some serious buzz outside the doc community, picking up the audience award at Sundance for its use of investigative journalism to tackle eco-conscious subject matter. The film has been called thrilling and action-packed as the cameras follow dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry into an ominously guarded cove off the coast of Japan. In a region that appears to celebrate the dolphin, something much more sinister is happening after dark. What the filmmakers discover in the cove is chilling for both animal lovers and non-lovers alike, as the filmmakers begin the journey to expose their find to the rest of the world.