Must Watch 2008 Summer Movies

I’m a big movie buff. When the summer releases from Hollywood hit the Malaysian cinemas, you can be sure of me being there. I do also go watch Tamil movies, but they don’t exactly come out following the 4 seasons.

So, next month, May is the beginning of the summer releases. And what does a movie buff like me do? I compiled a list of must-watch movies, for both good AND bad reasons all the same. Last year’s summer movies were all about sequels. Spidey 3 (aiyo… too much love drama, and too little Venom), Pirates 3 (well, Orlando Bloom was getting on my nerves), Shrek 3 (why oh why?!), Ocean’s Thirteen (give it up, Clooney), Fantastic Four 2 (yawn, except for Ms. Alba), Die Hard 4.0 (won’t Bruce Willis die?), Harry Potter 5 (David Yates, will ya just follow the book please?), and Bourne 3 (well, it was kinda good actually). Some of the other great movies were Transformers (yeah baby yeah!!) and The Simpsons (can I ever say no to Homer?).

Well, let’s have a look at what we have this year, and why we should go download watch them.

Iron Man (2nd may)
Why: It’s Robert Downey, Jr. potraying an alcoholic superhero. Talk about real life experiences for Downey, Jr. Nah, he wasn’t a superhero. But he was an alcoholic. And at least we don’t need to watch crappy love scenes like in Spidey 3. The Iron Suit looks oh-so-fucking-cool. Expect mind-blowing CGI. Plus, Tony Stark ain’t a pansy. He’s a womaniser to boot. Marvel fans, start drooling.

Speed Racer (9th May)
Why: Well, it’s either gonna be a love-it movie, or a hate-it movie. The trailer’s crazy CGI is enough to make you go dizzy, but hey, that’s Hollywood for you. Plus it’s from the Wachowski Brothers. Let’s see if they can make us love it like the original Matrix, and make us dizzy with possible sequels like the Matrix sequels.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (16th May)
Why: I’m not so much of a fan of Narnia. But, since Disney said that the next Narnia movie (Voyage of the Dawn Trader) would be the last one, let’s go catch a dying franchise, shall we?

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (22nd May)
Why: Don’t ever tell me you DID NOT enjoy the last 3 movies. Harrison Ford wants to prove to himself (and Bruce Willis) that he can still make action movies like those good ‘ol days. And it’s that money-making duo, Spielberg and Lucas behind the scenes. Let’s crack the whip and tilt the fedora!

War, Inc. (23rd May)
Why: John Cusack in a dark satire movie on war. And Hillary Duff (with bigger boobs now that’s she’s a young adult) acts as a nymphomaniac. Well, almost a nymphomaniac.

Kung Fu Panda (6th June)
Why: Fat people doing Kung Fu moves crack us up. Remember Chris Farley from Beverly Hills Ninja? This time, it’s Jack Black. And he’s a Panda. ‘Nuff said.

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (6th June)
Why: It’s Adam Sandler, goddamnit! An Israeli commando becoming a hair stylist in New York. Do you need a better reason for an Adam Sandler movie? Plus, he co-wrote it with Judd Apatow, the now King of Comedy Movies. Though I am worried that Malaysia’s stand on Israel might cause the movie to be banned here. So what? You don’t have other means of watching the movie?

The Incredible Hulk (13th June)
Why: The big green destruction machine is back. Forget the awful flourescent green monster from Ang Lee’s Hulk. We have Edward Norton here, and the Hulk looks even more menacing. Not to mention the 26-minute fight scene at the end of the movie between the Hulk and the Abomination. 26-freaking-minutes! You better go watch it!

Get Smart (20th June)
Why: Remember Don Adams and his shoe phone? That was funny. Very funny. Let’s see whether Steve Carrell can beat that. Or on second thought, come close to it.

The Love Guru (20th June)
Why: Mike Myers return with a wig and more make-up after making a lot of us overdose ourselves with laughter with Austin Powers. And he has Mini-Me with him.

WALL-E (27th June)
Why: Another 3-D animation flick. We’re suckers for that, ain’t we?

Wanted (27th June)
Why: Angelina Jolie. Watch her shoot stuff in hot and sexy attire, simultaneously showing off her awesome body. Oh, and that girly looking guy from Atonement, James McAvoy, is also in this movie. James who? Exactly. And oh! Morgan Freeman.

Hancock (2nd July)
Why: Will Smith as a superhero. But not just any superhero. A drunkard, I-dont-give-a-fuck kinda superhero. With bad people skills. Who destroys more stuff than he can save. Plus almost all of the A-List stars have done superhero movies. Why shouldn’t we watch the Fresh Price of Bel-Air do it?

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (11th July)
Why: Oh, come on now! He ain’t all that bad. Plus there’s more action in this one compared to the last one. Perhaps Guillermo Del Toro realised that crappy squid-like tentacle at the end of the movie was, well, crappy. This time there’s more bad guys, and an extra good guy, Johann Strauss.

The Dark Knight (18th July)
Why: Batman Begins rebooted the franchise. The Dark Knight is going to take it to bigger heights. Bats is darker and more determined in this movie. Christian Bale’s potrayal can be seriously applauded. Heath Ledger in his final complete role here. And by the looks of it, his Joker is much, much better than Jack Nicholson’s. Not to forget Harvey Dent’s character, where we MIGHT get to see Two-Face emerging.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (1st August)
Why: Let’s watch Brendan Fraser’s cliched jokes onscreen. Luckily, we don’t have The Rock here TRYING to potray a CGI scorpion. Instead, we have Jet Li as a dead emperor. Makes no difference.

Pineapple Express (8th August)
Why: Coz it’s gonna be the BEST comedy movie this year! A stoner-action-movie! Seth Rogen and James Franco! AND Judd Apatow again as the writer. Never, never miss this one.

Tropic Thunder (15th August)
Why: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr and Jack Black in another comedy. A comedy about “soldiers” in war, I think Vietnam, maybe. Downey, Jr. acting as an actor who acts as an African American. Ben Stiller returns to directing after Zoolander. Very nice.

There you have it. My must-watch summer movie list. Of course this is the list from Hollywood lah. Perhaps I might do a piece on Kollywood (that’s the Tamil movie industry). And fuck Bollywood.