DJ B-Clear's summer movie preview - May

The summer movie season officially begins this weekend with the opening of The Avengers. Here is a list of films that I'm going to see, take a chance on and run away from on account I spend a lot of time watching trailers at various websites. I'm going to be spending a good chunk of the summer in Chicago so I'm hoping to see all different types of films. Here we go:

• Marvel's The Avengers: (May 4th)  My sister is living in Hong Kong and she already saw this in 3D. She liked it. If I didn't have to work tomorrow I would be seeing this film across the street from my hotel at 1 of the 2 megaplexes at the Ontario Mills Mall. I went to see Captain America just to see the Avengers easter egg. This film has a high priority for me. 
• Meeting Evil (May 4th): Stars Samuel L. Jackson and Owen Wilson. The previews don't give you much on this one but it's supposed to be a thriller type. I'm 50/50 on this.

Here are some other titles that open this weekend: Mother's Day and  LOL. Mother's Day is a remake of an 1980's film of the same name where bad things happen to good people and the behest of Rebecca De Mornay and her psycho family. LOL is a Miley Cyrus film so that's not for me.

•  Dark Shadows (May 11th): Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's latest collaboration based on the tv show that ran from 1966-1971. Depp plays vampire Barnabas Collins, buried in the 18th century and accidentally dug up in the 1970's I think. This film has an all-star cast and I will probably see it. I'm familiar with the tv show and it was something different from the normal hospital set soap operas. The previews seem to have the update as a bit of a spoof with Depp as an 18th century vampire fish out of water in modern times meeting up with an old enemy. Should be interesting at least, especially with such a great cast. I'm in. 
• God Bless America (May 11th):This film may not make it to wide release but I saw the preview and it looked cool. It's kind of a more violent version of Falling Down. If it's around in Chicago, I'm going to check it out.
• Girl In Progress (May 11th): I've seen this trailer at least 3 times attached to some of the films I've seen so far. Stars Eva Mendes (a goddess) as a neglectful mother to a teen girl about to find her way in the world. Star Mathew Modine, Patricia Arquette and introduces Cierra Ramirez. This film isn't for me but I mentioned it because there may be someone to reads this that might be interested. Personally, I think the plot can be deduced from the trailer. Beware of a scene where Eva & Cierra sing a song together in front of a mirror.     
• Hick (May 11th): Stars Alec Baldwin, Blake Lively and Chloe Moretz. I liked Moretz in Kick Ass and Hugo (she's also in Dark Shadows) and I think she's really talented. Moretz hitchhikes her way out west and gets into troubles and meets some "interesting" people. I haven't seen this trailer but I will see this film if I get the chance.  
• Sleepless Night (May 11th): A French film that got great reviews from critics. It's a dirty cop on the edge film where the cop has to save his son from drug dealers. Looks a lot like Point Blank but I may see it if the opportunity presents itself.
• The Dictator (May 16th): The latest from Sasha Baron Cohen where he plays the militaristic dictator of a fictional country (Saddam of Iraq) who goes too far, gets stripped of his identity and left in NYC. I liked Cohen's Da Ali G Show but I've yet to see his other films, Borat & Bruno. I've seen the preview a few times and it looks real funny. My personal thought is that it could be hot or miss and I'm not sure if I can sit through 90 minutes of Cohen but I may take chance on this as a change of pace film. 
• The Samaritan (May 16th): Samuel L. Jackson is an ex-con who gets sucked back into the grifting life. This is another tough call as Jackson comes out with clusters of films at a time (3 titles in May 2012 alone) it's hard to pick. When I saw the preview it kind of looked like Matchstick Men with a few changes. I might be more inclined to see this than Meeting Evil but who knows.  
• Moonrise Kingdom (May 25th): The latest effort from one of my favorite directors, Wes Anderson. I am a huge Wes Anderson fan. The film stars Anderson veterans Bill Murray (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Rushmore & The Royal Tannenbaum's) and Jason Swartzman (Rushmore and The Darjeeling Limited) as well as Edward Norton, Bruce Willis and Frances McDormand. The story is about a blossoming love between to what looks to be junior high aged kids. Trust me when I say that I will be viewing this opening weekend.
• Men in Black III (May 25th): This is the 3rd installment of the MiB series. In addition to Smith & Jones, Josh Brolin is playing Agent K circa 1969 and I believe I saw Emma Thompson as an MiB supervisor. Yes I will be seeing this one for sure. The 1st two films were fun and  I doubt that the 3rd will disappoint. If I'm going to see a film on this particular weekend, it will be MiB III.
• Battleship (May 25th):  I'm going to stay away from this as it looks like any one of the Transformers films, or ID4 and is probably geared for teenagers. It will have great SFX and action scenes I'm sure but I want no part of it. 
• Chernobyl Diaries (May 25th): I've seen this trailer a few different times already and to be honest, I'm intrigued. It seems similar to other films when good looking twenty somethings being killed off in a remote location by unseen killers but these killers are Russian, irradiated mutants!  I can't explain why I'm intrigued by this but I am so there's a strong possibility that I may see this one as a change a pace. Of course it may end up being similar to other films of this type. Buyer beware on this but I may take a chance.
• What to Expect When You're Expecting (May 25th): An all-star female cast that includes Cameron Diaz, JLo and Elizabeth Banks. Judging by the title and the preview it deals with women, pregnancy and the male emasculation of being a father to an infant (in the preview there's a scene with Chris Rock and other dads giving advice to the new father about diapers and other hijinks that only men could get into while watching an infant). Not something I'm going to see. In fact I may poke fun at people who do go see it.

Other films with a May 25th release include Beyond the Black Rainbow, Quill: Life of a Guide Dog, Hysteria, Lovely Molly and Virginia.  I've seen a preview of Lovely Molly and it appears to be a film about a young woman's descent into madness (a plot line I enjoy) so I may see this one if it comes up. I'm intrigued by the description of Beyond the Black Rainbow but I may wait until more review come out before I take a chance on it (provided it's playing somewhere I can see it). Hysteria stars Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly in what appears to be a gritty drama.

If you're interested in going to the movies I'd advised anyone to check out sites like Rotten Tomatoes, Apple Trailers,Fandango.com or Flixster to get descriptions of titles, reviews, ratings and to see some previews. Entertainment costs money and there's a lot of competition for your entertainment dollar so please do your research when it comes to films. As June approaches I will let you know about films coming out during that month. Thanks for your time.