Slate's Bizbox
summer movies: The joy of blockbusters.

Wait Till Next YearNot impressed with this summer's blockbusters? Check out what's on tap for summer 2008.

By Keith Phipps
Posted Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 12:55 PM ET

Read more from Slate's Summer Movies.

(Continued from page 1)

June 20

The Love Guru
After a long break from live-action filmmaking, Mike Myers returns with a new larger-than-life character: Pitka, a South Asian self-help guru who dispenses romantic advice and, no doubt, at least three different endlessly repeated catchphrases.
Awesomeness probability: Let's call this a wait-and-see situation. Myers has been quietly testing Pitka in comedy clubs to great response. But after two Powers sequels and three Shrek films, the opportunity to see Myers doing a funny accent for two hours doesn't hold the appeal it once did.
Will fans line up in costume? Last chance to bust out the Dr. Evil costume without inviting public scorn.

July 11

Tropic Thunder
A group of actors have to call on their boot-camp training in order to survive a threat of some kind.
Awesomeness probability: moderate to high. Ben Stiller, who's long overdue to release something truly funny, stars and directs alongside Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte, and the always delightfully serpentine Justin Theroux (who co-wrote the screenplay). This could be the moment when Stiller, Black, and Wilson shore up their reputations as their generation's most reliable funnymen or lose them forever.
Will fans line up in costume? Who doesn't have a pair of army fatigues laying around?

July 25

Step Brothers
Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly star as men who become stepbrothers late in life and do not like it one bit. Adam McKay of Anchorman and Talladega Nights directs, and Judd Apatow produces. Seriously.
Awesomeness probability: high. With that team, does the plot even matter?
Will fans line up in costume? Probably not. By this point in the summer, even those most dedicated to parading around in costumes should be getting tired.

August 8

Pineapple Express
Seth Rogen co-stars with James Franco as two slackers on the run from criminals. With Freaks and Geeks veterans Rogen and Franco in the cast, do you need to be told who the producer is?
Awesomeness probability: high. The Apatow crew is on a roll, and the oddball recruitment of arthouse favorite David Gordon Green (George Washington) to direct makes it look even more promising.
Will fans line up in costume? No. They'll be sharpening their swords for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, coming to a theater near you in May 2009.

VIEW AS SINGLE PAGE
Print This ArticlePRINTDiscuss this in The FrayDISCUSSEmail to a FriendE-MAIL
Share on FacebookPost to MySpace!Share with MixxDigg ThisShare with RedditShare with del.icio.usShare with FurlShare with Ma.gnolia.comShare with SphereShare with Stumble Upon
Keith Phipps writes about movies for The A.V. Club, the entertainment section of the Onion.
Photograph of Harrison Ford by Steven Spielberg courtesy Lucasfilm.
Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum
What did you think of this article?
POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES

Remarks from the Fray:

I don't understand Phipps's dismissal of this summer's roster in his opening. Either it was a poorly worded argument (i.e. the audiences haven't been receptive this summer to big blockbusters--also not true), a really cheap segue for his "look ahead," or he's been under a rock for the past 2 months.

Any summer that contains closing chapters of big blockbuster series (Spiderman 3, Pirates 3, Shrek 3, Ocean's 13), revival of a huge blockbuster series "Die Hard," a Harry Potter movie, and a Pixar flick could hardly be called "not good." As another bewildering choice in argument, P uses a 2 decade-old cartoon, aka Transformers, as a sign of a lackluster summer, then goes on to talk about Speedracer as a "relatively high awesomeness" movie. If Transformers is a bad idea for a blockbuster because it's a 20 years old franchise, then how bad would Speedracer be? It's 40 years old!

Am I missing something? Is there some insight that P should be drawing from this article? Or is it just a rather pedestrian preview with a contentious, but not well thought-out premise?

--juicefriend

(To reply, click here.)

(7/3)

Washington Post
The Washington Post
OPINIONS
Topic A: Obama's Speech
| Pundits and diplomats respond.
Robinson: Sunshine in BerlinToles: Obama the UniterTelnaes: Meanwhile, McCain
PLUS » Stumped: Bring Back Bill Clinton