As the semester draws to a close, I've decided to take this time to look forward and not back. I'm not leaving a university that I love and a three-year long column but am anticipating another summer of big-budget, exciting cinema. Or am I? Let's take a look at what these hot months have waiting for us in the air-conditioned theaters of summer 2009.
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine": Nope, I didn't watch the leaked copy. I have remained blissfully ignorant of the spoilers. I'm looking forward to this film. It looks like a dumb special-effects spectacle, but we all know I'm not a fan of the superhero films that brag about being "so serious." Wolverine is a character in which I don't have much emotional investment, so they can do whatever they want to him. And I heard they butchered Deadpool, but who cares about Deadpool anyway?
"Star Trek": J.J. Abrams is very hit-or-miss with me. I loved the first two seasons of "Alias," but that's about it. And I've never seen a "Star Trek" episode or movie. But this seems like a Star Trek simultaneously made for Trekkies and those like me who have remained oblivious to the whole thing. Ultimately, I feel lukewarm. Though, if I go, I better see some people in red shirts die horrific deaths.
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince": I think we can all agree that the only reason people may be excited for this movie is because it means that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is next. "Half-Blood Prince" suffers the misfortune of needing to seem important when clearly the bigger spectacle will be the finale.
"Up": After "Wall-E" (2008), Pixar has my complete faith. And I must admit, I'm curious about this whole films in 3-D craze. I'm digging the style and the concept. It should be quality stuff.
"Terminator Salvation": Hurray for the sequel that no one really asked for, and yet, no one really opposes. The "Terminator" franchise makes no sense to me. Every movie (or TV show) appears to give people the next installment to a story they really were fine with leaving as is. Yet when the film/TV show comes out, it's not exactly an unwelcome visitor. It's just sort of there, not defiling the franchise but not doing too much to enhance it either. Like "Star Trek," I'm not going to rule out seeing it, but I will probably have to be pretty bored or have a friend ask me to go. Though I must admit, I (and probably a few others) am quite curious to see what scene could have been so intense to provoke Christian Bale's outburst.
"Brüno": I enjoyed "Borat" (2006), especially since I got to analyze it for a Tufts class, but I wasn't as in love with it as some people are. I've seen it once, and that was enough for me. I'm a bit worried this will suffer from a typical comedy sequel pitfall of just rehashing a lot of the original's jokes.
"Inglourious Basterds": Quentin Tarantino defined a lot of my high school personality. I'm curious to see what I think of a new film of his now that I have four years of college behind me. Will I be more cynical? Will I be as bored as I was with the masturbatory "Death Proof" (2007)? Or will I find that my love of Tarantino is not just colored with nostalgia and embrace this new film? If nothing else, this definitely is one of the few films I can assuredly say I will be seeing in theaters.
See you at Commencement, folks! Now that sentence is scarier than Voldemort, Megatron and the T-1000 combined.
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Devin Toohey is a senior majoring in classics. He can be reached at Devin.Toohey@tufts.edu.
