July in Film

July continues the summer season with a few blockbusters and a surprising numbers of mid-level films for a primetime summer platform like the month of July typically is. Here are my thoughts on all of July's films.

Films I want to see:
7.Grown Ups 2 (7/12)-I'll be completely honest this doesn't look particularly good. This first Grown-Ups was just decent and based on the trailer, Grown Ups 2 looks inferior to the original in every single way. However, I'm kind of obligated to see it since it was filmed in my hometown and other surrounding towns. Hopefully it ends up being better than expected and I can enjoy it for more than just seeing familiar sights.

6.Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (7/3)-Kevin Hart is one of the more consistently funny comedians right now and I'm pretty excited to hear his new material on the big screen.

5.R.I.P.D. (7/19)-R.I.P.D. screams Men in Black which is awesome. It has been a long time since there's a been a sc-fi comedy that looked like this much fun and the presence of Jeff Bridges in a lead role is encouraging for its quality.

4.The Wolverine (7/26)-The first solo Wolverine movie was nothing special, but this looks to be an improvement from its predecessor  and I trust James Mangold in the director's chair.

3.Red 2 (7/19)-Looks very reminiscent of the original and with the same writers and most of the cast returning (mostly importantly John Malkovich as the scene-stealing Marvin Boggs), I fully expect to be at least as good as the first one. The additions of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins to the cast should only add to the fun.

2.The Lone Ranger (7/3)-Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinksi re-teaming already has me excited and every trailer I've seen for this has been great. This has an old-school adventure vibe to it and hopefully it can deliver on the vintage thrills the trailers promise.

1.Pacific Rim (7/12)-This movie looks like it was made for me. It's a film about giant, human-controlled robots smashing the shit out of giant sea monsters that come of the Pacific Ocean, what's not to like? Throw in a stellar cast including Charlie Hunnam, Charlie Day, Idris Elba and Ron Perlman and I'm there opening weekend.

Films I'm not sure about:
The Conjuring (7/19)-The first trailer was eerie and had potential, the second one looked like more of the same haunting/exorcism crap that's been dominating the horror world for the past few years. The quality of the first trailer had me intrigued and the early word has been excellent which is encouraging, but the presence of James Wan (who directed Insidious, which self-destructed on itself in the second half after a promising start) and the generic-looking second trailer has me on the fence.

The To Do List (7/26)-The trailers are just alright, but a great cast including Aubrey Plaza, Bill Hader, Connie Britton, Donald Glover, Andy Samberg and Christopher Mintz-Plasse may be enough to get me to see it at some point.

Film I have zero interest in seeing:
Despicable Me 2 (7/3)-The first one did nothing for me and the sequel looks absolutely awful.

Turbo (7/17)-I'm sorry, the concept of a movie about a racing snail that enters the Indy 500 is completely idiotic to me. I had a hard time sitting through the trailer, I can only imagine how painful it would sitting through the whole movie.

The Smurfs 2 (7/31)-I had the displeasure of seeing the original Smurfs movie during my massive 2011 film experiment where I saw every wide release film of that year and it was the epitome of a painful viewing experience. Rest assured, I won't be stepping anywhere near the sequel to this abomination of a franchise.