2010 Summer movie preview
By Riley Simpson
As final exams sweep teenagers into their rooms with their respective books and notes, Hollywood sweeps huge blockbusters into your local cinemas to cash in on summer movie-goers with a thirst for outrageous and extraneous action scenes. While many critics and studio executives consider the summer movie season’s start date to be the first Friday of May, I think the true season starts when we get out of school when summer begins.
So, here are my picks for the long and sweltering season ahead:
The A-Team — June 11
Liam Neeson as Hannibal! Sharlto Copley (the guy from “District 9”) as Murdock! And Jessica Biel!! Wow, this remake of the 80’s television show has everything! Of course, if it doesn’t have the classic opening monologue of the original, I will not be happy: “In [2010], a crack-commando unit [of Iraqi War veterans] was sent to prison by a military court, for a crime they didn’t commit and who promptly escaped a maximum-security stockade…Today they are soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem and if no one else can help and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the ‘A-Team.’” Yeah, that’s classic.
Toy Story 3 — June 18
The first two “Toy Story” movies were the basis of my childhood enjoyment and after 11 years, Disney has finally made a third. This time around, Woddy, Buzz and company are donated to a preschool after their owner Andy goes off to college. I just hope the folks at Pixar stick to their magical formula: amazing animation, great stories, developed characters and great emotion.
Inception — July 16
This Christopher Nolan-directed movie (remember him? He made that little movie called “The Dark Knight”) seems to take the term “mystery-thriller” a little too seriously, since I honestly do not know what this movie is about. All I got from the trailer is that buildings shift around and Leonardo DiCaprio wants to steal an idea. Either way, it looks as good as any movie without Batman can be.
Dinner for Schmucks — July 23
Paul Rudd and Steve Carell (two of the funniest men in the biz) give us this comedy about business men who bring the most idiotic and stupid people they can find to dinner for belly laughs. Rudd is the business man and Carell is the idiot and “The Hangover’s” Zach Galifianakis claims he controls people with his mind. I’m calling the ending:  Rudd is going to have a change of heart towards the end and become best friends with Carell. Just sayin’.

The Other Guys — August 6
I admit it. I’m a sucker for Will Ferrell movies — especially when they’re directed by Adam McKay, who gave us the hilarious “Anchorman” and “Step Brothers.” Ferrell (really looking like Harry Caray) and Mark Wahlberg play inexperienced detectives who look up to hot shots Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Also, this movie might challenge the myth that cool guys can just walk away from explosions.
The Expendables — August 13
Sylvester Stallone unites almost every action star you can imagine (Jason Statham, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke AND Arnold Schwarzenegger) and put them in a huge, explosion and stunt-filled adventure about a group of mercenaries who battle a dictator in South America. Honestly, this movie looks terrible. But having all those tough guys in one movie is nothing short of historical.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World — August 13
From Edgar Wright, the director of “Hot Fuzz” and “Shaun of the Dead” — two of my favorites — comes this comic book-adaptation that follows Scott Pilgrim (the innocent Michael Cera) and his struggle to defeat his new gal’s seven evil ex-boyfriends. And one of them is a chick. From the trailer, this looks like visual eye candy, but I hope the amazing direction takes this movie to the heights of “Fuzz” and “Shaun.”