Ruthless Roundtable: Summer Movie Season 2012
A little late, I know, but coming from someone who grew up thinking the Summer Movie Season started on Memorial Day (which it did for years!) along with the fact that I didn’t realize how close the month of May actually was; I didn’t get started on this until last week!
I also thought that the Ruthless Rountable was originally supposed to be a group of people discussing topics, not just about wrestling, I might as well get some of the guys from that group to get in on this. So, I pitched them the idea of having a Top 3 or 5 list of “must see” movies that are coming out this summer along with at least 1 “skip worthy” movie that you definitely will not be going to see.
Most of the guys did give some “Honorable Mentions”, movies that are interesting, but we won’t go out of our way to check out.
Anyway, here is our list, hope you enjoy it, let us know if you agree, disagree, if we complete missed a movie that you think should be on this list! Let us know, leave comments below!
Cos’ Summer Movie Season 2012 Must Watch List
With the 2012 Summer Movie Season in full swing with this past weekend’s release of the Marvel (smash hit would probably be an understatement now) entry of ‘The Avengers’ I figured I should come up with a list of must watch movies for this summer. I have yet to see ‘The Avengers’ but I do find it on my list, but it is not the first movie on my list, nor is it the only super hero movie on my list.
Without further ado, here is my list for the
Summer Movie Season 2012:
1. The Dark Knight Rises– Could there be anything bigger this summer than Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (in hindsight to what I wrote here, ‘The Avengers’ is doing great at the box office, but when I say bigger I really mean quality-wise)? I for one hope that ‘Rises’ blows away ‘Dark Knight’ in terms of suspense. And I’m hoping that Nolan did a good job with his casting calls from Tom Hardy as Bane and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. I guess only time will tell. We were all heavily disappointed when he cast Heath Ledger as The Joker; and that character was probably the best one in the last movie!
2. The Avengers– The term “gangbusters” really should be considered an understatement when it comes to ‘The Avengers’ at this point in time. As of my (re-)writing of this, it is about to (if not already) cross the $1 billion mark world wide and has broken too many records to count (for further proof, check out my post: ‘Avengers’ to cross $1 billion!). I feel as if this is a must see movie at movie theater, and should be enjoyed on the big screen. The hype surrounding this movie bring me back to when the summer movie season was built on event movies, like Jurassic Park or Independence Day or Twister. Movies that got people out of their houses to go see. Makes me nostalgic for those great summers…
3. Prometheus– Ridley Scott’s return and so-called prequel to the Alien franchise. Everyone involved has been trying their hardest not to say anything Alien related, I guess they really want this to be a secret or something, but even as they began with the pre-production phase of this film everyone knew that it was supposed to be an Alien prequel. It just isn’t a prequel in the sense of Star Wars prequels, where George Lucas felt the need to jam everything that was in the original trilogy back into the prequels, even if those elements didn’t fit (for one example: C3PO) but it is more of an origin story for how the Alien came to be. Or at least at the location where they are found in the original 1979 Alien. I’m curious enough to want to see this in the theater.
4. G.I. Joe: Retaliation– I saw ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra’ not too long ago off of Netflix streaming and I have to say I wish I could ask for my time back. I can’t even say that had a good idea when they started filming the movie, it just seemed as if director Stephen Sommers thought (as he does with a bunch of his movies) the special effects will cover the parts of the movie where we don’t have a story (not to bring George Lucas back into this, but that’s something along the lines of what he must have been thinking when he wrote the prequels). With not only Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Bruce Willis starring in this movie, but also the right feel of the cartoon series as seen in the trailer; this looks like it could be a fun ride this summer. Now comes the challenge of actually seeing if my wife would like to go see it.
5. The Dictator– I wasn’t sold on this movie when I first saw the trailer for it, but after seeing a few of the additional trailers up and running online, I have to say I am really curious about Sacha Baron Cohen’s next comedy. It just looks as if he has just been let out of his cage and allowed to just be an all out and out-of-control in this movie. I hope to see this soon.
Runner Ups:
Here are some movies that I’m on the fence about seeing this summer, for one reason or another:
Total Recall
Men in Black 3
The Expendables 2
That one movie that I just won’t go see:
When did SyFy allow their made for cable movies to be put out for mainstream audiences? Well, at least that’s how I feel about this movie. Only made for 14 year old boys, even the title screams come see me, with its 3 Double D title…
Piranha 3DD
Mother Brain’s Top 5 Highly Anticipated Summer Movies List
By Mother Brain
As I see it, 2012 is shaping up to be the biggest summer for Hollywood blockbusters in years. There’s a plethora of sequels and prequels reminiscent of the summer sequel bloodbath of 1989 along with some unnecessary remakes and high concept epics. With that said, here’s my list of the top 5 films I’m looking forward to seeing this summer as well as the 1 I flat out refuse to see:
The Dark Knight Rises
The historical 2008 blockbuster The Dark Knight left audiences wanting more while leaving a lot of questions left unanswered. It raised the bar for how comic book movies needed to be translated and completely eclipsed the 90s Batman flicks. Now the stakes are raised with Bane in Gotham City raising hell for everyone in a scale much bigger than the Joker’s reign of anarchy from the last film. Then you got Catwoman in the mix despite the negative response towards her costume this go around. With so much mystery with speculation of a very somber finale for this final installment of director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, expectations are incredibly high.
The Avengers
This is not just 4 years in the making since the post-credits ending of Iron Man. Marvel fans have waited decades to see some of the biggest superheroes in the Marvel Universe come together on the big screen. Thanks to the independent Marvel Studios, we now have the opportunity to see Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Hawkeye kick some outer-worldly ass the best way they know. Add to this the fanboy director Joss Whedon at the helm and you got something very special. Like Dark Knight Rises, this isn’t just another comic book movie. It’s an event.
The Expendables 2
After watching the latest trailer for the action packed sequel, my interest has peaked. I had written a blog a while back about the major action stars I wanted to see in this sequel and out of that list, the producers managed to get Jean Claude Van Damme and the legendary Chuck Norris. But even with those icons plus extended appearances by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, interest had dropped when word got out that Sylvester Stallone was aiming for a PG-13 rating. The fans on the internet freaked out, forming petitions for the R rating and starting Twitter wars with stars like Terry Crews. Ultimately, Stallone gave in. Lets hope this one lives up to the hype and promise of the kind of action we’ve been missing since the 80s.
G.I. Joe Retaliation
As an avid G.I. Joe fan who once hunted down the figures and comic books at flea markets and watched the cartoon regularly, I was so disappointed with 2009’s The Rise of Cobra. Too much CGI, bad acting, and lackluster script. So for sometime, I lacked faith in this upcoming sequel until the first trailer hit. This movie already looks like it will erase the memory of the previous film. The Joes look like the Joes. Cobra Commander is Cobra Commander leading the forces of Cobra. The action is more grounded and not over the top like the last film. Then you have the star power of The Rock as Roadblock and Bruce Willis as the G.I. Joe founder, Joe Colton. Even Snake-Eyes’ new costume looks less rubbery than the last film and they managed to remove his unnecessary lips from the mask! But man I still hope they get this one right all the way.
Prometheus
There’s very little I want to say because I want to be kept in the mystery of it. All I can say is this: Director Ridley Scott returns to the Alien universe in the spirited prequel to his 1979 classic that started it all. I’m in.
Now for the 1 summer movie I refuse to see, I was originally planning to address The Amazing Spider-Man. A reboot this soon doesn’t feel right and the trailers don’t seem to distinguish it enough from Sam Raimi’s movies. But given the possibility that Spider-Man could be good and will likely smash records at the box office, only one other movie could end up being a lot worse:
Battleship
So Hasbro toys finds big success in the movie market with Transformers and G.I. Joe. What did they think of next? A freaking board game! Now I do remember playing the game with friends in school. As a movie, it could have made for an interesting Hunt For Red October-type sea combat flick. Instead, we have our men and women in uniform battling aliens Independence Day-style. Don’t even get me started with the casting. Hollywood not only has no ideas anymore but they completely lost their imagination. Anyone who buys a ticket to see this garbage will continue to make Hollywood desecrate every major movie theater on the planet.
Chosen 1’s TOP 3 MUST SEE MOVIES SUMMER 2012
1. No questions here much like millions and millions of others the weekend of July 20th I will happily hand over my 12 bucks to catch the conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Series. It is an easy choice for the number one spot. If it even is half as good as its predecessors, it will solidify its spot as one of the greatest “trilogies” ever. When I first heard that the villain of choice to headline this chapter was Bane, I was a little worried. But after the trailers and reading some of the “spoilers” I think Nolan will have himself another masterpiece.
2. The number 2 slot was a little more difficult to fill. There are a few movies that I could have chosen to put here. After much deliberation I had to go with the reboot of Total Recall. I loved the original 1990 version. This one is based off a book and has gotten a lot of negative review on its adaptation. Knowing that it is not based on the Arnold version doesn’t kill it for me like it seems to do for so many others. Look at it this way, “The Dark Knight” is not based off the original Batman Movies. They are taken from the darker comics that depict batman as almost villainous. I am excited to see where this movie goes. It could flop but we shall see.
3. Rounding off the top 3 list is more like a please don’t let me down again request. “The Amazing Spiderman.” Another “reboot” of a series that started off awesome and just failed to deliver at its end. Spiderman 3 with the introduction of Venom had such great possibilities in making that series a contender and it just fell apart with the “bad-ass” Peter Parker. It totally ruined all that the franchise had been built up to be. Add all this ontop of the flop of bringing Spiderman to Broadway and It will take a blockbuster to bring Spidy back to life. Lets hope that this installment delivers.
Honorable mentions- These are a few movies that didnt crack the top list but that I will most likely dig into my spare change to catch before they leave the theater:
Prometheus
 GI Joe (Its like my childhood reborn GI Joes and the Rock its the small things as you reach the age of 30)
The you couldnt pay me to see this movie of the summer…..This one goes to TED
Marky Mark meets Teddy Ruxpin – This is like a the opposite of my childhood reborn this is like a childhood nightmare…
Ahh Summer movies, the only time of the year when a 29 year old guy (who’s married with a kid) can feel like a 14 year old virgin again. Boy those were the days (when I didn’t get laid or have friends). Yes, there’s nothing like blowing ten to fifteen bucks on watching muscled men in spandex save the World/City from evil foreigners. Actually, ten bucks is a bargain considering wrestling fans pay forty five dollars for the same thing.
Anyways, let’s get to the topic you came here to read about: The top 5 Summer movies that I want to see
 5. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: Yes this has cheesy and over the top written all over it, but I’m a bit of a sucker for those kind of movies. I know most people probably look at this and go “there’s no way Abe Lincoln was ever a Vampire Hunter. That’s so stupidâ€. Impossible? Probably. Stupid? Abso-fucking-lutly, but hey if Michael Bay can claim that astronauts found Transformers on the moon and if Jerry Brockheimer can claim there’s a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence, then why not this? If you’re going to re-write history, why not do it with some style? A vampire killing axe in the hands of old captain stove pipe hat? Sign me up.
4. Snow White & the Huntsmen: Yes, I know let me have it if you will, but this movie looks friggin awesome. I know Kristen Stewart still has Twilight stink on her, but even if you’re not a fan of hers, Charlize Theron (in the nude) as the evil Queen should be more than sufficient to at least peak your interest. Then throw in the special effects and some fight scenes and you probably have a movie that at the very least is passable. If your looking for a good fairy tale come to life movie this one might finally strike the right chords unlike the goofy looking Snow White movie with Julia Roberts. That one is sure to be turdtastic compared to the more serious or “darker†version.
3. Men in Black 3: This movie was not even on my radar. When it was announced I responded with a loud groaning noise. As many people know Men in Black II…well…how do I put this delicately…sucked major donkey balls. It was by definition a franchise killing sequel or so it would seem. However, the geniuses at Columbia saw fit to take another whack at it with the duo of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as agents J and K respectively. However, instead of just the same two guys running around in the boring old present time, J is going back in time to figure out what happened to his now dead partner. So he goes back to 1969 to find young K who’s being played by Josh Brolin. Brolin (who starred with Jones in No Country for Old Men) can be seen in the trailers and commercials doing a DEAD ON Jones impersonation. Exhibit A:
Look at that. That is what really drew me in and got me excited. Now sometimes when actors are portraying other actors it sometimes comes off bad or cheesy (see: Steve Martin as the Pink Panther). I don’t think that’s going to be the case here. Brolin is a very good actor and while he’s stepping in for a great actor, I do feel that justice will be done. May 25th cannot come soon enough.
2. The Avengers: Yes, it’s already out and no I haven’t seen it (please no spoilers) so I’m still excited about it. How could you not be? This is not only the teaming of some of the greatest superheroes ever, but the first time a movie studio has done something on a scale of this magnitude. I mean just when you think these big budget movies couldn’t get any bigger, along comes something like Avatar and now this. This is about as big as it gets and it will be topped one day, but for the next few years this one will be the standard. Even though we’ve seen Robert Downey as Iron man twice, it won’t matter. He IS Iron Man, he IS Tony Stark just as Hugh Jackman has come to define Wolverine. The others should also do an admirable job just as they did in their introductory movies and I’m interested to see how Mark Ruffalo does in his role as the Hulk. Buckle up, its time to avenge the World.
1. The Dark Knight Rises: No surprises here folks. As excited as I am about the Avengers, I am about fifty bajillion times more excited for this one. You can take all the Avengers, combine them into one giant hulking super solider robotic ball and it still would not equal the greatness of Batman. There are so many layers to the character of Batman and what he has come to symbolize that the other heroes can’t even scratch the surface.  Take that kind of status and add it to the story telling and directing that Christopher Nolan has done and you have that rare mix of comic book and art that every other super hero movie has failed to achieve. I know that there is certainly going to be some disappointment here, even if it’s some small letdown, but the Dark Knight set a standard that even this talented group may not be able to top. We’ll see soon enough. I hope I’m wrong. I hope it’s better than we all imagine, but there is some trepidation with this one. Still, there isn’t a movie in this World that I am more ready to experience.
Honorable Mentions:
Ted: Seth McFarlane has been on my shit list for the last few years, but maybe he can restore my faith with his feature directorial debut. This could be the R rated Toy Story we’ve all been waiting for or it could be as painful as getting your Teddy Ruxpin doll to shut the fuck up!
Savages: A drug trafficking movie directed by Oliver Stone starring Blake Lively whose doing two guys at the same time. Someone tell me what’s NOT to like about that?
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World: Who said the end of the World has to be all doom and gloom? Why can’t there be a funnier side to it? Yea, I get it. Limited food supply, fire and brimstone, etc, but who’s to say what it will be like. Maybe we all just go out with some quite dignity or finding a lost love like Steve Carell tries to do here: