Hot flicks

>> Your best bets for the already
ongoing summer movie season

SHINY SEQUEL: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

by MARK SLUTSKY

What you’re reading right now is technically a “preview,” but as the summer movie season has ballooned over the past several years, we happen to already be right smack in the middle of it. Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, the summer’s monster threequels, have already taken their bows, but fear not, there’s still, in budgetary terms, about $20-billion of movies yet to come in this season of blockbusters.

Robots, cops and aliens

Earlier this year saw the rebirth of the Ninja Turtles, and fellow ’80s toy icons the Transformers hit the screens on July 3 for their first ever “live action” movie, with director Michael Bay at the helm—and without the participation of Orson Welles. Also resurrected for the new millennium is Detective John McClane, aka Bruce Willis, in Live Free or Die Hard, which involves some evil computer hackers or something (June 27).

WIZARD KING: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The thinking man’s threequel has got to be The Bourne Ultimatum, with Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Brian Cox, Chris Cooper and other awesome thesps; Paul Greengrass returns to direct (Aug. 3). That crazy quartet, the Fantastic 4, return in Rise of the Silver Surfer, facing off against the shiny intergalactic herald of evil (June 15). But we all know the sequel most likely to challenge Spidey-supremacy and Pirate pandemonium is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, full of all the familiar faces and a couple of new ones, like Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange (July 13).

Also on the fantasy adaptation tip is Stardust, a fanciful-looking flick based on the Neil Gaiman novel and starring Claire Danes as a falling star (and not in the Hollywood sense), with Michelle Pfeiffer as a baddie and appearances by Robert De Niro, Ian McKellen and Ricky Gervais (Aug. 10). The Invasion, with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, also deals with extraterrestrial visitors, but these are of a more sinister order, as this is yet another update of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Aug. 17). Expect some uncharacteristic action from Werner Herzog, whose Rescue Dawn is a thrill-packed adaptation of his doc Littler Dieter Needs to Fly.

High season for hilarity

There are lots of comedies opening this summer, but the one we’re most excited about has got to be Superbad, co-written by Seth Rogen (who’s already delivered in a big way with Knocked Up) and starring the brilliant Michael Cera (“George Michael” from Arrested Development) and Jonah Hill as a couple of teenagers out to score booze and chicks (Aug. 17). Also highly, if cautiously, anticipated is the long-in-the-making The Simpsons Movie, featuring, well, the Simpsons, and written by a host of veteran scribes from the TV show’s golden years (July 27). More animated fun can be had with the latest from Pixar, the rat-centric Ratatouille, set in a Paris bistro and directed by Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles) (June 29).

LONG IN THE MAKING: The Simpsons Movie

Even the realm of comedy is not safe from the threequel (sorry, there’s got to be a better way of saying that). Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker return for Rush Hour 3, which director Brett Ratner will somehow, against all the odds, make more entertaining than it has any right to be (Aug. 10).

A weird kind of follow-up occurs in the form of Evan Almighty, sequel to the Jim Carrey-as-God comedy Bruce Almighty. Morgan Freeman returns as God, and this time he picks Steve Carell to carry out his will, as he gets the hapless dude to build an ark, fill it with animals, and, well, you know the rest... (June 22). If family humour is more your bag, you have a couple of options: License to Wed stars Mandy Moore and The Office’s John Krasinski as an engaged couple put through trials by marriage counsellor Robin Williams. That ought to be wacky (July 3). And Adam Sandler and Kevin James pretend to be gay for the financial benefits in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (July 20).

Speaking of which, Hairspray reappears in musical form, with a cross-dressing John Travolta, in an adaptation of the Broadway musical—itself based on the John Waters film. Waters doesn’t direct here, instead duties go to Adam Shankman (July 20).

More TV alums pop up in The Brothers Solomon, which has SNL’s Will Forte (who also wrote it) and Arrested Development’s Will Arnett trying to find ladies to procreate with; The Office’s Jenna Fischer and fellow SNL-er Kristen Wiig also appear (Aug. 31)

Docs and fests

For a dose of reality, check out some docs. The documentary event of the summer is likely to be Michael Moore’s Sicko, which has already made its bow at Cannes, and which takes on the American health care industry (June 29). No End in Sight, from former White House consultant and software programmer Charles Ferguson, joins this week’s Iraq in Fragments in condemning the U.S.-Iraq war (July). On a lighter note, The King of Kong looks at champion players of classic video games (August).

And don’t forget the summer’s plethora of festivals and special events. Autumn festival the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal will be presenting a series called Docville, with monthly screenings at the Parc; for info, see www.ridm.qc.ca.

Top on your list for festival fun should be the always entertaining smorgasbord of international genre jollity that is Fantasia, which runs July 5–23 (check www.fantasiafest.com for updates and news). If laughs, giggles, chuckles and guffaws are more your line, check out Just for Laughs movie sidebar Comedia, which runs July 12–22 (see www.justforlaughs.ca/comedia for details).

Gay and lesbian celebration Divers/Cité, Aug. 1–5, always has some movies up its sleeve, and you can check out the schedule when it goes up at www.diverscite.org.

And, of course, there’s always the still-kicking World Film Festival, which runs Aug. 23–Sept. 3 for its 31st edition. See www.ffm-montreal.org for information and (eventually) showtimes.