Film: June 2011
Green Lantern
Out: 17th June
I have a massive crush on Ryan Reynolds and for me this is the most anticipated film of 2011. Harry who? Who cares. Green Lantern is the big box office hero of 2011. In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity.
Mother’s Day
Out: 10th June
A hot young cast make this worthy thriller a must-see. After a bank robbery gone wrong, three brothers head for home… only to discover that their mother lost the house in a foreclosure. The new owners and their guests, gathered for an ill-timed birthday party, become the brothers’ unwitting hostages. Their mother and sister arrive, and it soon becomes obvious that Mother will do absolutely anything to protect her children. In one terrifying evening, Mother brilliantly takes control of the situation and masterminds her sons’ escape. Sides will be taken, secrets revealed, and sins punished as the hostages struggle to make it through the night.
Senna
Out: 1st June
Okay, so I have a thing for Brazilians and fast cars, hence why I have included this. Senna’s remarkable story, charting his physical and spiritual achievements on the track and off, his quest for perfection, and the mythical status he has since attained, is the subject of Senna, a documentary feature that spans the racing legend’s years as an F1 driver, from his opening season in 1984 to his untimely death a decade later. Far more than a film for F1 fans, Senna unfolds a remarkable story in a remarkable manner, eschewing many standard documentary techniques in favour of a more cinematic approach that makes full use of astounding footage, much of which is drawn from F1 archives and is previously unseen.
Kaboom
Out: 10th June
Legendary art-house director Gregg Araki’s films are not everyone’s taste. I love them. Kaboom doesn’t disappoint. A hyper-stylized Twin Peaks for the Coachella Generation, featuring a gorgeous, super hot young cast, Kaboom is a wild and sex-drenched horror-comedy thriller that tells the story of Smith, an ambisexual 18-year-old college freshman who stumbles upon a monstrous conspiracy in a seemingly idyllic Southern California seaside town. Smith’s everyday life in the dorms – hanging out with his arty, sarcastic best friend Stella, hooking up with a beautiful free spirit named London, lusting for his gorgeous but dim surfer room-mate Thor – all gets turned upside-down after one fateful, terrifying night after tripping on some hallucinogenic cookies he ate at a party.
Bad Teacher
Out: 17th June
Bad Teacher sees Cameron Diaz in the type of role we love her for. Some teachers just don’t give an F. For example, there’s Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz). She’s foul-mouthed, ruthless, and inappropriate. She drinks, she gets high, and she can’t wait to marry her meal ticket and get out of her bogus day job. When she’s dumped by her fiancé, she sets her plan in motion to win over a rich, handsome substitute (Justin Timberlake) – competing for his affections with an overly energetic colleague, Amy (Lucy Punch). When Elizabeth also finds herself fighting off the advances of a sarcastic, irreverent gym teacher (Jason Segel), the consequences of her wild and outrageous schemes give her students, her co-workers, and even herself an education like no other. Good fun.
Bridesmaids
Out: 24th June
Producer Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, Superbad) and director Paul Feig (creator of Freaks and Geeks) bring us Bridesmaids. Kristen Wiig leads the cast as Annie, a maid of honour whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), and a group of colourful bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to matrimony. Annie’s life is a mess. But when she finds out her lifetime best friend is engaged, she simply must serve as Lillian’s maid of honour. Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. A chick flick the gays are going to love too.
BUZZ
Darren Aronofsky, after backing out of The Wolverine, is now eyeing a new project called Human Nature. The fifteen-year-old original script of a man who is cryogenically frozen and wakes up years later to a world in which humans have become pets of another species. George Clooney is attached for the lead role.
Director F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job) will return to the heist genre and bring Sam Worthington with him in The Last Days of American Crime. The graphic novel adaptation is set in a near future where the government plans to implement a form of legal mind control (Clockwork Orange, Minority Report?), making it impossible for its citizens to commit unlawful acts.
Queer As Folk’s Charlie Hunnam has entered negotiations to star in director Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim. The film now appears on track to become del Toro’s next feature, after Universal put the brakes on the Tom Cruise-led At the Mountains of Madness. Pacific Rim certainly brings the promise of more of del Toro’s always imaginative critters, as it takes place in a future where giant malevolent creatures threaten to destroy the world.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s (There Will Be Blood) untitled religious drama known around the web as The Master looks to be back on track. Philip Seymour Hoffman will star as a man who creates a new belief system (a la L. Ron Hubbard), while Joaquin Phoenix will play the alcoholic drifter who becomes his disciple.
Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained may have a leading man. Will Smith has emerged as the front-runner to play the film’s title character. The film is described as a spaghetti Western centering on Django, a freed slave who seeks to reunite with his slave wife, a journey which will see him team up with a German bounty hunter to take down Monsieur Calvin Candie, an evil plantation owner.