If you could see one movie this summer . . .
A friend of mine wrote:
My husband and I are going out for dinner and a movie and we VERY rarely go to the movies. If you could see just one movie this summer what would it be (OK to pick one that's not out yet; we haven't set a date for our date yet)? Have you heard about The Fast Runner?
I replied:
I had never heard of The Fast Runner before, but it does indeed look great. The movie has been heaped with critical acclaim (I also read the summary, which is quite intriguing, although I think it contains a few spoilers which I am fortunately likely to forget by the time I see the movie).
I was quite excited for Minority Report, but several Listology folks that I respect have indicated that it's good but not great. As a result I don't mind so much waiting for the DVD (although I really liked A.I., so I'm looking forward to the DVD release quite a bit).
I loved Men in Black, and the trailer for Men in Black II (release: 7/3) looks like more of the same. So I'd like to see that one in the theater, pending decent reviews. Of course, I don't know if we'll get out to see any movies this summer.
Road to Perdition (release: 7/12) is intriguing, since it's Sam Mendes's sophomore effort (American Beauty was his directorial debut), and features Tom Hanks as a 1930s hit man known as "The Angel of Death". And check out the cast: Tom Hanks, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Al Molina, Paul Newman, and Stanley Tucci.
The new Austin Powers movie (Austin Powers in Goldmember, release: 7/26) promises more spoofiness. I'll certainly wait for DVD on this one, since I didn't like the sequel nearly as much as the original. Diehard Austin Powers fan can take this paragraph with the appopriately sized grain of salt. :-)
I think the big budget summer release that most excites me is Signs (release: 8/2), by M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable). I really liked his other movies, and this one stars Mel Gibson, who I usually enjoy (although he's been more unpredictable lately). Your mileage may vary, as Unbreakable was a love-it-or-hate-it kind of movie.
Finally, even though you asked me about summer releases, I have to mention that none of the summer releases excite me as much as the holiday releases. If I see two movies in the theaters this year they will be Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (release: 12/20) and Zhang Yimou's new movie, Hero (release: sometime in November).
Does the Listology community have any thoughts on this topic?
My answer is Road to Perdition. I really liked American Beauty and gangster movies are often a favorite of mine.
I hope they muddy up Hanks character enough to make it interesting. And oh yeah the rest of the cast are almost always good. Especially Newman, Tucci and Jude law
For the summer, The Fast Runner is the film I am most interested in. For the entire year, I'm a-hankerin' for Gangs of New York, which will either be horrible or, as I hope and tend to think, brilliant.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Usually when someone asks me a question like this I ask them "What were the last 2 or 3 movies that you saw that you really liked?" and "What is 1 or 2 of your favorite movies?" and from there I'm usually able to gauge what they might like pretty well. If you happen to know the answer to these questions for this couple then let me know. Otherwise I'll just assume we're working in the dark here. That being said...
The Fast Runner has gotten stellar reviews and I myself would love to see it but because of the nature of these art/foreign language films I don't know that I would want it to be my 1 movie.
I just browsed through the released from June 1 to August 31 and I must admit the pickings are pretty slim.
I think you have nailed the big quality 4 movies in Minority Report, Men In Black II, Road to Perdition and Signs.
Road to Perdition is probably the only one of these that has an Oscar hope. Although from the trailer I've seen it looks to be pretty grim.
I can't imagine that Men In Black II is better than Minority Report but it's certainly going to be more light-hearted. If as well made as The Sixth Sense then Signs could be awesome.
The only other suggestion I might add is K-19, the new Harrison Ford movie. It has a good director in Kathryn Bigelow and looks promising from the trailers. If it gets a good Tomatometer Rating then I plan on checking that out.
Hello! I'm the subject of this post. :-)
I can't figure out what the last (non-kid) movie we saw in the theaters was. When I say we hardly ever go to the movie theater together, I mean it. I'm sure I'm missing one, but sadly I think the last two were the X-files movie; the 2nd Austen Powers movie (liked the first one, HATED the 2nd one). (I saw the fellowship of the ring and loved it but not with Bill.)
I think the winner will be Road to Perdition. I'm sure we'll end up renting the Fast Runner. I'm afraid I'll need the rewind button to make up for missing the subtitles sometimes. Also, living in DC area, I'm looking forward to Minority Report to see how they depict the future of our capitol city; but again I think I'll wait for the rental. I think I'd choose Signs if it were coming out earlier, but our free babysitting offer may disappear by then. :-) We actually never saw MiB I, we'll rent that someday . . .
Question: isn't Robin Williams coming out with a new movie?
If you saw a preview for something then it was probably One Hour Photo (2002). Death to Smoochy (2002) and Insomnia (2002) are the only other films he has released in 2002. He doesn't have anything else lined up in the immediate future.
Yep, that was the one I was thinking of. Think I'll stick with Road to Perdition. We've set a date and lined up the babysitter! July 16. We'll even get to go to dinner first, with no baby crying to get out of the highchair and no 6 year old whining about not liking her food. Bliss. :-)
Jim, I don't know if you are familiar with this film but Zhang Yimou's Xingfu Shiguang (2000) (aka Happy Times) is hitting limited release on July 26th, 2002. If you haven't seen it yet there's another one to look forward to...