Summer Silliness

As the Hollywood summer silly season grows longer and longer every year, perhaps I've left it a little late to share the big dumb blockbusters I'm most anticipating this summer. After all, I've already seen one excellent jumpy screechy horror (Insidious), one head-smackingly dumb but fun action movie (Fast Five) and one comedy sequel that seems just as overrated as the first (The Hangover Part 2).

However with more superheroes, pirates and giant robots on the way, I thought I'd share the biggest of the big that I'm most looking forward to. So I'll begin by saying I'm not really a comic book/superhero fan. Forget X-Men, Green Lantern, Captain America, Thor and any super grouping that Marvel are carefully constructing for the future. I'm not interested. And Captain Jack's just never been that funny to me so despite the loss of Keira and Orlando, I'm not too excited by that behemoth either.

Here's my top five to look out for this summer.

1. Cowboys and Aliens
That had me from the second I heard the title. I know it's based on a graphic novel, but that makes immediately makes it more interesting than the superhero's of this summer. It's got a great cast including Harrison Ford going grumpy, Daniel Craig doing heroic and Paul Dano doing dunno what. Oh and the always excellent Sam Rockwell. It's directed by Jon Favreau who's done a great job with the Iron Man's and it's got freaking cowboys VS freaking aliens. Trailer looks great; violent, ridiculous and taking itself very seriously. Check it out



Released 19th August.

2. Super 8
Written and directed by J.J. Abrams and featuring a virtually unknown cast, the teaser trailer got me interested straight away with a mysterious cargo using its considerable strength to break free from a crashed train. The vibe of this is very Speilbergy with kids in the main roles, bike riding, young love, aliens, awe, 70s setting and mystery and suspense aplenty. I can't forgive Abrams for allowing Lost to end the way it did (though I'm not sure how involved he was by the end) but I'll always be sucked in by the clever marketing campaigns that revolve around work he is attached to as producer or director.



3. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Love the original, hate the Tim Burton remake. This has James Franco and sounds like a prequel that actually may just have an interesting story to tell. How did earth get overrun by apes leading to Charlton Heston's chilling discovery? Implausible: certainly! Big, dumb, fun; hopefully! Looks like the writers took a leaf out of Deep Blue Sea's book and have gone down the 'don't experiment on dangerous animal's brains' route, otherwise they will grow smart, strategic and us humans will be shafted!



Released 12th August.

4. Transformers 3: Dark Side of the Moon
This is one I really should not be excited about. The second Transformers was instantly forgettable. Megan Fox is gone. Michael Bay really does make some crap sometimes. But watch the trailer and try not to let your jaw drop. The action and the special effects look mind-melting (though it may all turn out to be an overly edited nonsensical mess). Shia's still in (though getting less and less goofy and there's no sign of his parents!) and Michael Bay still knows how to blow your mind. Toppling buildings, more giant robots than ever and this time the earth looks seriously under threat of destruction. I just hope this time they kill Optimus properly and I can shed a tear for a real childhood hero. Released 1st July



5. Bad Teacher
Well I thought I better include a comedy and this Cameron Diaz pic looks pretty damn good. So all the best bits are probably in the trailer, but isn't that always the way with comedies? This looks rude, sexy and funny. Segel's charming, Timberlake's geeky and Diaz looks just plain filthy! And personally I can definitely relate to Diaz's bad teacher in many ways. Go watch the trailer, forget The Hangover Part 2 and save your comedy cash for this:



Released 17th June

So that's it for me. Anyone still reading? Have I missed anything? Am I deluded?

And if you haven't seen Attack the Block yet, please do go support this British film. I really want to see what Joe Cornish comes up with next. And if you're in the mood for a rental, go get Rubber; this film will melt your brain and make you piss your pants.