An abbreviated list of movies for the upcoming summer:
MAY
Aroused - A group of “successful” porn stars talk to the camera about their work and their lives as they pose for a coffee table book by a photographer. Can this really be engaging?
The Iceman - Real-life contract killer Richard Kuklinski, played by steely Michael Shannon (Take Shelter), who claims to have carried out over 100 contract murders while maintaining a “normal” life, complete with wife and children, plays out his life on celluloid; with Wynona Ryder, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta.
Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn - A young man is released from prison and has to make a life-altering choice: join up with his father (Armand Assante) in the legitimate family business or return to a life of crime, an endeavor he seems to excel at; with Ice-T and Ja Rule (whoever that is).
What Maisie Knew - An updated treatment of a Henry James classic novel about a bitter marital breakup between Julianna Moore and Steve Coogan, as experienced by the child of the marriage.
And Now a Word From Our Sponsors - Bruce Greenwood plays an advertising executive who slips into a coma and comes out of it. So far,so good except his speech consists only of advertising slogans. An old flame helps him through the usual difficulties.
Bidder 70 - Back in the Bush administration, there was an auction of wilderness land for oil and gas drilling. In an act of rebellion and defiance, a young environmentalist posed as a legitimate bidder and committed himself to $1.7 million to buy 22,000 acres. Of course, he went to prison for the antic and this film most likely is a sympathetic portrait of the individual. I guess he’s discharged his sentence.
Before Midnight - The third installment in Richard Linklater’s series of the man and woman who met by chance on a train in France back in 1995 in the cult favorite “Before Sunrise.” Now, after that fateful 24-hours together, they’re together, with kids and the whole nine yards. It’s the ups and downs of a real life, far removed from the romanticism of the two prior films.
Kid-Thing - A 10-year old girl, the daughter of a Texas goat herder (never heard of such a thing) develops a strange relationship with an unfortunate woman who has fallen down an abandoned well. You only hear the woman in distress, never to be seen on camera.
The East - A former FBI agent (Brit Marling) goes to work for a private intelligence agency where her job is to infiltrate an anarchist group which is waging a private war against the firm. She succeeds in the mission, only to find herself falling for one of the group’s leaders (Alexander Skarsgard). Her loyalty to the company begins to falter; also starring the reliable Patricia Clarkson.
I Do - A Brit’s plan to marry into U.S. citizenship goes sour when he falls in love with a man. Complications arise. Enough said.
JUNE
Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie - He was the granddaddy of the bombastic talk show hosts who was always in someone’s face. His early 80s show was the rage until, one day, he wasn’t and he fell hard and fast. This is his story.
Rapture-Palooza - It’s another post-Apocalypse film where the Anti-Christ himself (Craig Robinson) takes up an abode in Seattle where he develops a crush on a local teenager (Anna Kendrick). With John Frances Daley, Paul Scheer, Thomas Lennon.
The Blind Ring - Internet-savvy teeners use information they hack off of the Web to plan and execute robberies of Hollywood celebrities. Directed by Sofia Coppola with Emma Watson, Leslie Mann and Nina Siemaszko.
Man of Steel - It’s Superman one mo time; produced by Christopher Nolan. Henry Cavill plays the big guy and Micheal Shannon plays General Zod, originally inhabited by the incomparable Terence Stamp; with Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne and Russell Crowe.
Rushlights - Two L.A. teenagers try to pull off an inheritance scam in a small Texas town; things go wrong, horribly wrong. Josh Henderson and Haley Webb play the punks; with Beau Bridges and Aiden Quinn in support.
JULY
The Lone Ranger - Armie Hammer plays the masked man; Johnny Depp is Tonto in an update on the old chestnut. You should get a load of Depp’s Native American drag outfit as the Lone Ranger’s sidekick. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer who brought you the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. It also stars the always good Tom Wilkinson, Barry Pepper, Ruth Wilson and Helena Carter.
Dealin’ With Idiots - An improvisational comedy about the parents of Little Leaguers; with Christopher Guest, Fred Willard, Bob Odenkirk, Gina Gerson, Kerri Kenney and Timothy Olyphant.
Blackfish - The orca and its dual nature is highlighted in this documentary - theme park attraction and ruthless killer.
Stranded - Christian Slater inhabits a cozy Moon abode with three other crew members who are all doing just fine when a meteor crashes on the surface nearby, producing a creepy, dangerous new organism that they have to defeat.
AUGUST
Europa Report - A corporation finances a trip to Jupiter to explore the possibility of life forms beneath the frozen surface. There are many surprises in store for the six-person crew.
Lovelace - An expose of the hard times of Linda Lovelace who made “Deep Throat” a cultural sound-byte in the 70s. It shows how she was manipulated by her first husband (Peter Sarsgaard) and essentially used up and discarded by the porn movie industry in no time at all. Sharon Stone and Robert Patrick play her parents. Eric Roberts has a supporting role, all the more odd since he hit his stride thirty years ago in a similar film, “Star 80.”
Prince Avalance - Two men spend a summer painting divider lines on rural Texas highways in 1988. Can this be fun? The two men are played by Emile Hirsch and Paul Rudd.
We’re the Millers - A small-time pot dealer is forced by his evil supplier to bring over a very large shipment of marijuana from Mexico. To pull off the job, he recruits some friends and neighbors to pose as a middle-class family on vacation for the Fourth of July; with Jason Sudeikis as the dealer, Ed Helms as the evil overlord, Jennifer Anniston and Emma Roberts, among others, as the phone “family.”
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints - A 1970s Texas convict (Casey Affleck) escapes from prison to reunite with a woman he’s just mad about; with Ben Foster and Keith Carradine (who’s been absent for a long time).