A Fistful of Summer Anticipation! (Matt's Picks)

 The Summer is almost here, and though I'm not super excited about much in the way of movies this year, there are a few I certainly want to watch.  I think the only movie that didn't make this list that I'm at all excited about is Thor.  Not a character I've ever been too thrilled with, but I do like the cast and director.  So, we'll see.  In the meantime, here are my five most anticipated films of the summer. 

5.  Kung Fu Panda 2:  Having just seen Kung Fu Panda, and having been surprisingly impressed by it, I’m now actually quite excited to see the sequel.  I hope the heart remains in place.

4.  Cowboys & Aliens:  A great cast.  And I do love weird genre mash-ups.  Not that this is the first time science fiction and westerns have been mixed.  Not by a long shot.  Still, looks like it could be fun. 

3.  X-Men: First Class:  OK, when I heard about this film, I had so much less than zero interest, I can’t tell you.  I enjoyed the X-Men films.  Yeah, even the much maligned third one.  But Wolverine was bloody awful, and I am coming to like ‘prequels’ less and less.  Not because I don’t think they can work, but because they usually don’t.  However, the retro-60s vibe, and the awesome cast, teamed up with so far solid director Matthew Vaughn has won me over.  The trailer looks far better than I ever would have expected.

2.  Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides:  I know there’s a lot of hate out there for these films.  I don’t know if it’s just that they were successful and people love to complain about successful films, or what.  But I’ve enjoyed the first three fantasy pirate movies, and I would come back and watch a new adventure every couple of years for as long as they keep making them.  In spite of the casting of Penelope Cruz...Ugh. 

1.  Captain America: The First Avenger:  I LOVE Joe Johnston’s The Rocketeer.  And Captain America, under author Ed Brubaker, is one of the few mainstream Marvel titles I’ve enjoyed reading.  So, I have high hopes for this WWII set action adventure film that so far looks like it keeps its pulp sensibilities firmly in place. 

Least Anticipated films: 

Conan the Barbarian:  Sweet mother of crap, when is someone going to actually try reading some of Robert E. Howard’s awesome work before making an ‘adaptation’ of it?  The first trailer is even more laughably bad than all the production stills that were leaking out last winter.  Literally laughably bad, as the woman sitting behind me proved when it played before Sucker Punch this past weekend.  I mean, even getting beyond the awful casting, why doesn’t he wear a shirt?  In stead of getting the solid, true to Howard adaptation that was promised when this went into production, we’re getting what looks to be the worst of what people have come to believe Conan is about.  This looks more like Conan The Destroyer, or worse, that awful TV series with Ralf Moeller. 

Put. A. Shirt. On.

-Matt