10 Movies We Want to See This Summer (and 5 That Make Us Nervous)
by Brian Tallerico

5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (May 22nd)

We're just a month away from the first Indiana Jones movie in 19 years, something I'm pretty sure I drunkenly bet would never happen circa 2000. By 2004 or so, my "it'll never happen and if it does I'll buy you a shot" argument had turned into "it should never happen, now buy me a shot." But for some reason, the late '00s have been all about resurrecting long-considered-dead film franchises - Rocky, Rambo, The X-Files, and Indiana Jones. We'll have to wait a few more weeks to know for sure if Indy 4 was a good idea (there won't be a widely-attended critics screening until May 18th, a move that has already created butterflies in the blogosphere's stomach), and the only released preview (while heavily downloaded) was really only so-so, pumping up the expectations of a few non-believers, while leaving others even more apprehensive. The thing is, with this movie, more than any other film this summer, it’s all a matter of standards and how high the bar has been set. Watch the first three Indy movies again, especially the first one, and ask yourself whether they possibly find that kind of magic again? The supporting cast is strong. We love the return of Karen Allen, Cate Blanchett can do no wrong, and Spielberg has made very few mistakes over the course of his entire career. Still, we can't shake the feeling that this is at least ten years too late... even if the little boy in our hearts wants us to believe. The fact that it still ranks so high on our most anticipated list is purely a byproduct of our love for all things Indy (we already pre-ordered the Lego Indiana Jones game). Ten years ago, it would have been number one. Honestly, if Crystal Skull is a complete disaster, movie fans could be so deflated that the rest of summer 2008 won't even matter. We have that much of our movie-loving hopes riding on the man with the whip. Sad, but true.

4. Iron Man (May 2nd)

We're less than two weeks away from the debut of the most-anticipated movie of the year and we're already starting to sense a little IM marketing fatigue, even if we're still TOTALLY pumped for the big screen adventures of Tony Stark. We do recognize however that commercials, previews, toys, and games can reach a threshold where anyone over the age of 18 feels like they've already seen the movie and might just want it to go away. Even worse, they can set expectations so high that not even the best cast in a superhero movie since Batman Begins can save it. It almost feels like people want to knock Iron Man down from its pedestal before they even see it. Which makes it all the more remarkable that we're still this excited. We still believe that casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark was the most brilliant decision since someone convinced Daniel Craig to play Bond. We'll take Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges over any three co-stars in a superhero movie this year (that doesn't feature The Joker). And the previews, despite being admittedly overplayed, simply rock. Maybe it's our love for Black Sabbath or the ennui drilled into us by 2008’s underachieving spring releases, but Iron Man looks like an intelligent thrill ride after months of waiting in line. We're ready to finally go from the spinning tea cups to the roller coaster.

3. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (July 11th)

Guillermo Del Toro is one of our favorite directors, but we'll be the first to admit that his Spanish-language films are better than the English ones. We'll take Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone, and Cronos over Hellboy, Mimic, and Blade II any day of the week. So why are we ranking The Golden Army so high on our list above Indy and Iron Man? Have you SEEN the preview? Not only is the two-minute clip for The Golden Army arguably better constructed than any of Del Toro's English-language films to date, but it feels like the man behind Pan's Labyrinth is taking the lessons learned on that masterpiece (and the creative freedom given him by it) to really craft something unique with Hellboy II. Remember the leap in quality between Spider-Man and Spider-Man II? It's going to pale in comparison between the original Hellboy and the sequel. Del Toro only gets more visually arresting and confident with every film, and channeling the success of Pan's into a big summer movie could easily make for the best film of the season. The fact that there are two movies we're even MORE excited about shows you the true potential of the summer 2008 movie slate.

2. The Dark Knight (July 18th)

Let’s face facts - will audiences be able to get past the death of Heath Ledger and recognize The Dark Knight as a movie all on its own? Probably not. Rumors of a shot of The Joker in a body bag have already whipped gossip magazines into a frenzy, and someone actually fired up the INSANE story that Heath would be cut entirely from the flick. Imagine Jack Nicholson cut from Tim Burton's Batman, and you'll realize the depths of stupidity in that rumor. You'd think no one else was even in the movie or that Christopher Nolan has yet to make a bad film. Like Del Toro, he gets more confident with each movie and the preview for The Dark Knight is, quite simply, one of the best ever. Like Hellboy, we're fully convinced that The Dark Knight will take what was wrong with the last film (like some muddled fight choreography and, um, Katie Holmes) and improve on it. We're not usually sequel whores, but The Golden Army and The Dark Knight don't look so much like continuations as they do improvements and enhancements of the original visions of their predecessors. Christian Bale, Ledger, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy - it's the most talented cast for a superhero movie ever. If it's the slight step up from Batman Begins that we expect it will turn out to be, then The Dark Knight won't only be one of the best movies of the summer but it'll be one of the best movies of the year. That is, if audiences can get past the real-life tragedy that threatens to hang over the entire production. We're still greatly saddened by the death of the very talented young actor, but don't you think Heath would want you to view the movie for what it is and not take the Us Weekly headlines and stupid internet rumors into the theater with you? Don't we owe him that?

1. Wall-E (June 27th)

The dynamic duo of sequels - Golden Army and The Dark Knight - fit neatly into the 1 and 2 spots on this list until just a few days ago when the latest preview for Wall-E hit the internet. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a great favor and check it out. We're automatically excited for anything Pixar, but this sci-fi adventure looks even better than our wildest dreams. Think about the Pixar track record. They have a proud tradition of pulling things from the subconscious of the little boy that still lives in all our hearts and minds and making them into movie magic. Isn't that what the summer season is all about? Making us feel like little kids again? Toy cowboys (Toy Story), superheroes (The Incredibles), the monsters in our closets (Monsters Inc.), and race cars (Cars) have been hits for Pixar already and now we get to something that every young boy loves - science fiction. If Brad Bird is the Scorsese of animation, the writer/director of Wall-E, Andrew Stanton, is Francis Ford Coppola in the '70s, nearly keeping pace with the recognized leader. Stanton worked on both Toy Story movies, Bug's Life, Monsters Inc, and wrote and directed Finding Nemo, arguably the best Pixar movie ever. The preview feels like E.T., Close Encounters, and the Star Wars Trilogy filtered through Pixar's unique worldview. It will be very hard to top Ratatouille, one of the best films of 2007, but the preview for Wall-E makes us think they could do it.

10 Movies We Want to See This Summer (and 5 That Make Us Nervous) Page 3