JUNE 2013
The Rhode Island Echo
17
AT THE MOVIES WITH FRAN SYNER SUMMER MOVIES 2013 A sizzling summer is shaping up at theaters across the country as some of the year's most anticipated films hit the screen. Already burning up the box office: the guy- gross- out comedy, "The Hangover: Part 3," a fourth film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic, "The Great Gatsby," a Star Trek sequel and an acclaimed comedy drama, "Frances Ha." But there are many more features set to debut during the next three months. Here are some highlights:
JUNE Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, of "The Wedding Crashers" fame, pair up once again for another comedy, "The Internship," directed by Shawn Levy. Here they play two older, unemployed salesmen vying for a job at Google where they are in competition with young geniuses. Rose Byrne and John Good man costar. Inspired by true events, The "Bling Ring" revolves around a group of celebrity obsessed girls who, with the help of the Internet, rob the Beverly Hills homes of Lindsey Lohan, Orland Bloom and other stars. Sophia Coppola ("Lost in Translation") directs: with Emma Watson, Leslie Mann, Taissa Farmiga, and Nina Seimaszko. "Man of Steel" provides an early summer fix for the the action/ adventure/ fantasy crowd as the super hero returns to the screen. Henry Cavill plays journalist Clark Kent, who returns to save the world as Superman. This second installment is directed by Zack Snyder (Sucker Punch) and costars Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, and Diane Lane. For kids and animated feature lovers, this summer " Monster University" comes to the screen, a 3 D prequel to the 2001 "Monsters Inc.", with an all-star cast, including Billy Crystal, Helen Mirren, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Sean Hayes voicing the characters. The story examines the relationship of characters Mike (Crystal) and Sulley (Goodman) as students at university that pre-
pares...well, monsters. A foul mouthed Boston cop (Melissa McCarthy) and an uptight FBI agent (Sandra Bullock) team up in Paul Feig directed crime comedy, "The Heat." Filmed in Massachusetts (as were two July releases, "R.I P.D.," starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges and the Adam Sandler sequel, "Grownups 2,") this buddy movie takes on friendship as well as the bad guys. Brad Pitt's zombie epic "World War Z" finally hits screens this month after several delays. Pitt plays a United Nations employee who's out to stop a pandemic that threatens the planet. Mirelle Enos plays his wife and Marc Forster ("Quantum Solace") directs.
JULY Steve Carell once again voices the villain Gru in "Despicable Me 2", the Pierre Coffin directed sequel to the 2010 animated feature. He is joined by Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, and Steve Coogan, among others. A film version of the classic television western, "The Lone Ranger" also opens this month with Johnny Depp playing the hero's sidekick, Tonto, while wearing a crow on his head (couldn't help but mention that piece of wardrobe trivia). Armie Hammer portrays the Texas Ranger who hides his real identity behind a mask while fighting evil and injustice in the action adventure directed by Gore Verbinski ("Pirates of the Caribbean"). Two comedy/drama/ thriller features aimed at a mature audience also arrive on screen. Susan Seidleman ("Desperately Seeking Susan") directs " Hot Flashes," about a basketball team of the same name. The characters are middle age women who play the game for charity against much younger teams. Virginia Marsden ("Sideways") and Brooke Shields star. In "Reds" 2, a sequel to the 2010 thriller, Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins and John Malkovitch reprise their roles as retired CIA agents, this time their characters are on the hunt for a portable nuclear weapon. And also in July, the perennial Woody Allen returns with "Blue Jasmine," a drama rumored to be based on "A Streetcar Named Desire." Cate Blanchett plays a wealthy New York
housewife facing an acute crisis. Alex Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Peter Sarsgaard and Louis C.K (really) round out the cast.
AUGUST Going way against type," Les Miserable's" Amanda Seyfried portrays Linda Boreman aka as Linda Lovelace in "Lovelace," a biopic about young wife who became a sensation as a '70's porno star. Peter Sarsgaard plays Chuck Traynor, her abusive husband and manager; the one responsible for introducing her into the porn business. With Sharon Stone and Robert Patrick. Directed by Rob Epstein. Jason Sudeikis takes a break from his SNL duties to play a small time drug dealer forced by a major drug lord (Ed Helms) to bring a big marijuana shipment in to the US from Mexico in the comedy, "We’re the Millers." Sudeikis' character disguises the task by forming a fake family (Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter) to take with him on a vacation to Mexico. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. From Disney Pictures comes the animated 3D feature, "Planes." Dusty, a little crop duster, dreams of becoming an air racing champion but first must overcome a big obstacle: his fear of heights. Dane Cook voices the little plane that could while John Cleese, Brad Garrett, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, among others, voice the characters.