May 8th: STAR TREK

I am trying not to get excited about this movie: actually, it’s pretty easy to accomplish that, seeing as how I always work — the time is just rushing past until the movie’s release date. Star Trek is hard to get: all the original series ever was, was a morality play set in space. Racism, bad. Cold war, bad. Misunderstanding other cultures, bad. There’s a tendency for people to think Trek is about space battles and sex with alien chicks, and I mean, obviously those are elements, (I’d like a good story, too), let me just express my hope that JJ Abrams gets what Trek is about. I’m telling myself the film is going to suck, but a lot of that is because after a string of disappointing movies last year — Dark Knight, Indiana Jones — I just don’t want to get myself too excited and walk away let down.

July 1st: PUBLIC ENEMIES

I’m not a particular fan of any of the actors in this movie, and I’m not even a big fan of gangster movies. All I can really say about this film is that the trailer hooked me, and I really would like to see this on the big screen.

July 15th:

I’ve actually been looking forward to the sixth Harry Potter film since last summer, but then Warner Brothers decided to postpone it for the bulk of the year. However, I will admit to some apprehension: the HP films are usually more miss than hit, with the exception of 2007′s Order of the Phoenix, which was excellent. The good news is that OotP’s director, David Yates, also helmed Half Blood Prince, and is set to direct the remaining two films*. However, the bad news is that OotP’s wins were as likely due to the excellent script adaptation, and Michael Goldberg was a one-hit wonder, replaced by Steve Kloves, who has written all of the other films (including a really awful adaptation of Goblet of Fire).

*Not a typo: Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows is being made into two films. It’s sort of like Kill Bill, without the Bill.

August 21st:

I am not a big fan of Quentin Tarantino. I know this is sacrilige to a lot of people, but his movies generally just don’t really hold my attention or interest. I think they’re stylish, I think they’re weird, I don’t think there’s a single Tarantino movie I would ever want to see again. So my utter fascination with Inglorious Basterds I can only assume has to be in the utter revelry that is seeing Nazis getting killed in all sorts of creative ways. I’ll totally see this in theaters (and maybe I won’t even berate myself for having spent money on it).