Summer movie guide | ‘Indiana Jones,’ superheroes and ‘Sex and the City’ battle at the box office
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And holding it all together is Harrison Ford, whose Indy isn’t so much getting older as getting better.
ALSO:
•“Son of Rambow” (May 23): It’s called counterprogramming — against a big flashy Hollywood picture you open a tiny, heartfelt movie … and hope for the best.
Set in 1982, “Rambow” is the story of a British lad whose strict religious sect won’t allow him to watch movies or TV. So when a troublemaking classmate exposes him to a bootleg video of Sylvester Stallone’s “First Blood,” the movie virgin is blown away. He and his pal decide to make their own “Rambo” movie, using their classmates as cast members.
If you liked the little Irish flick “Millions,” you’ll probably like this one.
‘Sex and the City: The Movie’
Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda are back in business … although just what that business might be is one of Hollywood’s best kept secrets.
This we do know: The story takes place four years after we last saw the ladies, and they’ve settled into new lives of domestic bliss (or not). Chris Noth is on hand as Carrie’s squeeze Big (and, no, they’re not married yet). Apparently there’s a big shocker in the movie’s opening minutes. (Does somebody die?)
Beyond that, about all you can count on are some fabulous shoes. Veteran “Sex” director Michael Patrick King is at the helm and wrote the screenplay.
ALSO:
•“The Strangers”: Vacationers Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman are terrorized in their cabin by psychos. It’s the writing/directing debut of Bryan Bertino.
•“The Fall”: The latest from director Tarsem Singh (“The Cell”) has been described both as a visual tour de force and narratively incomprehensible (and it has been in distribution limbo for a year). A hospitalized man (Lee Pace) relates to a fellow patient — a little girl (Catinca Untaru) — a fantastic story. Slowly reality and fiction become one.
‘Kung Fu Panda’
The latest from DreamWorks Animation is this yarn about a slothful panda (voiced by Jack Black) who must study martial arts so he can defend his patch of jungle from a predatory leopard (Ian McShane).
Dustin Hoffman voices his kung fu mentor; others include Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, David Cross and Michael Clarke Duncan.
ALSO:
•“You Don’t Mess With the Zohan”: An Israeli secret agent (Adam Sandler) fakes his death and begins life anew as an NYC hairstylist. Dennis Dugan directs; with Mariah Carey, Rob Schneider.
•“Stuck”: Heavy drama and black humor vie when an alcohol-impaired nurse (Mena Suvari) hits a homeless man (Stephen Rea) and drives home with his body stuck halfway through her windshield. Stuart Gordon (“Re-Animator”) directs.
‘The Incredible Hulk’
Ang Lee’s 2003 psycho-heavy take on Hulk was a box office and critical dud. But at least it got out of the way the whole origin-of-the-Hulk thing.
As this version starts, Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is already on the lam, trying to find out how to reverse the gamma ray-induced mutation that periodically turns him into a big, green behemoth.
Gotta love that a chops-heavy thesp like Norton would take on this iconic role. But since filming concluded, the actor has had a falling out with Marvel Enterprises and has declined to do publicity for the movie. Apparently he and director Louis Leterrier (“The Transporter”) wanted a slower, more thoughtful “Hulk.” The guys at Marvel wanted a faster, more furious “Hulk.” Guess who won?
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