Unlike last summer, this summer is boasting a pretty decent distribution of blockbusters and popcorn movies. Whether any of them will be quality is anyone’s guess at this point but at the very least we have a decent selection to choose from this summer. With that in mind, and given that the blockbuster season is starting in a week I thought it would be fun to do a list of the summer movies I am looking the most forward to which can then be matched up with the films’ reviews to see how they stack up. As ever with these lists this is just a list of movies I am excited for which does not inform the reader of any facts nor does it enlighten the reader as to the state of my sexual history or whether or not I am a complete fucking asshole. If films you are looking forward to do not appear on the list, that doesn’t mean I hate those movies and your preferences need validating through profanity and personal attacks in the comments section and the same goes for if you are not excited for the movies I have assembled. If you agree or disagree, let me know in the comments with your own lists. I am happy to debate and discuss but ad hominem personal attacks just make you look like a troll. So with all that in mind, here is the list.

10. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (7/1): I love Transformers and I loved the first movie. I think  the second one lost its way a bit but I didn’t think it was the cinematic abortion that a lot of fans did. Still, three movies deep I am getting worried. I am looking forward to this for Shockwave and the promising first trailer but I am also a bit nervous. Call me cautiously optimistic here.

9. Our Idiot Brother (8/26): With a promising cast which includes Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Rashida Jones, Tj Miller, Steve Coogan and Emily Mortimer, the trailer for Our Idiot Bother looks pretty funny. I am a huge Rudd fan and will see pretty much anything he is in but this movie looks to have even more going for it than Rudd. Summer comedies can be hit and miss and I am really hoping this one will be a hit.

8. Cowboys and Aliens (7/29): I haven’t read the comic property this was based on but given the talent both in front of and behind the camera I am pretty excited. You say Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford on screen together with Jon Favreau directing and I am there. You say they are cowboys fighting aliens and the geek who loves genre mashups starts jumping up and down in glee. The trailers have looked cool but have not given a lot away and that makes things that much better. I am really in this movie’s corner.

7. Hangover 2 (5/26): I really dug the first Hangover and have watched it many, many times. I am a sucker for Todd Phillips’s films in general and a sequel to one of his strongest movies makes me excited. There is a fair amount of cynicism from some fans because the trailer looks like the first movie in Thailand with a monkey but honestly I am cool with that. If I go see a Hangover 2 I don’t really want to see it do something entirely different than the first movie. A shot for shot retread would be tiresome but the same premise with new circumstances and new jokes sounds fine to me. And at least it knows what it is doing even if lampshade hanging the odds of this stuff happening again is pretty tired in and of itself.

6. Green Lantern (6/17): I am really torn on this one. On the one hand you have my enjoyment of Green Lantern as a character and an affection for the comics and on the other hand you have trailers that look kind of stupid to me. I am hoping very much that this is just a context issue and when I see the movie it will fit together and not look bad but the trailers haven’t really impressed me terribly much. The more I see them the worse it gets. Still frames aren’t helping much either. That being said, Kilowog looks pretty badass.

5. Fright Night (8/19): The original Fright Night is my favorite movie of all time (tied with Better Off Dead) and I was very leery of a remake when they announced it. But with the assembled cast and Marti Noxon writing I started to pick up some faith. I will be nervous up until I walk out of the theater and there isn’t a trailer to go on yet but the things I have seen so far have looked really good to me. The stills look like they have a good tone and I am very cautiously optimistic about this one. Of all the movies on this list it has the greatest chance of breaking my heart but it also has a good chance of making me very happy. Only time will tell.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (7/15): This one is kind of bittersweet as it is the end of the film franchise but I made my peace with the loss of the story back when the book came out. Since this was split into two parts, most of the really heavy story moments have happened and this film is going to be mostly badass wizard combat. I really can’t wait. It will be sad for the movies to be over but hopefully this will be an exciting and explosive way to send the series off.

3. Super 8 (6/10): Super 8 is kind of a dark horse on the list as details about the film have been closely guarded but the Goonies meets ET vibe from the trailers looks very appealing. J.J. Abrams is also a fairly trusted name with me (if you ignore Alias) so I am expecting to like this one a lot. It feels like it has the potential to be the breakout movie of the summer. Of course it could also be a staggering disappointment. Hopefully it goes with that first option.

2. Thor (5/6): I was pretty skeptical about how a Thor movie would look. Of all the characters on the Avengers roster he seems like the toughest one to credibly bring to the screen in live action form. The armor alone has a huge potential for failure and that is ignoring doing Odin, Loki and the rest of the Norse Pantheon. The trailers look pretty great so far and while the quality of them has been hotly debated amongst fans I am pretty stoked. With a solid director in Kenneth Branaugh, and a star who looks perfect for the part I think  we are in good hands. It will be interesting to see how they handle the transition from Asgard to earth and how that effects the tone.

1. Captain America: The First Avenger (7/22): This one may be the highest risk and highest reward scenario on the list. It seems pretty easy to flub this one and once flubbed it would be a complete disaster. So many elements can go wrong. But it appears so far that the look and feel of the movie are pretty spot on and if it manages to deliver then it will deliver big. This is pretty important for Marvel as well given that it, along with Thor, will set the tone for the Avengers movie. Director Joe Johnson has a spotty track record but I am hoping that what he did with the Rockateer will be an indication of what he can do here with a WWII period piece. The trailers have been impressive so far so I have high hopes and I want to see this done well. Fingers crossed.

 

So there is the list. If you want to comment, feel free to do below and please include your own list of most anticipated movies.