Whether you’re heading off to a job or a few months mowing your parents’ lawn, summer is still that time when things slow down to a beautiful, molasses pace. Daylight is longer, the air is heavy and there is time to sneak into a cool place for a few hours of escape — namely, a movie theater. Here are the flicks Dive is most excited to see this summer, in order of release date.
Everything Must Go
(May 13): This movie’s hard to read, but maybe that’s why it looks so interesting. Will Ferrell stars in a story originally written by the great Raymond Carver. After his wife kicks him out, Ferrell’s character must sell all of his belongings. Surely some chaos will ensue. Will this be slapstick goofy or intellectually stimulating? Hard to tell, but it’s certainly worth a gander.
The Hangover Part II
(May 26): This is a dicey one. The original is steeped in the kind of mythology and adoration typically reserved for “Animal House” and “Old School,” so part two has a lot to live up to. Fortunately, Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms are still on board, so there’s some comfort in knowing that the cast won’t be B-list celebrities. Skepticism’s necessary here, but Dive is still optimistic that this sequel will be the rare second-installment success story.
The Tree of Life
(May 27): If you’ve seen the previews for this one, you know it’s not a conventional summer flick. Merging astral, otherworldly visuals with a plot involving a son’s reconciliation with his father’s legacy, Terrence Malick steers this movie in a decidedly left-field direction. Big-name actors like Sean Penn and Brad Pitt are another reason to shell out a few bucks this May. Ignoring “The Tree of Life” would be like missing the latest Darren Aronofsky — there’s no doubt people will talk about it.
Beginners
(June 3): “Beginners” stars Ewan McGregor, so there’s not much surprise that the film features sexual politics and family revelations. After all, this is the leading man who carried both “Big Fish” and “Velvet Goldmine,” so his latest promises to be a highly emotional foray into such relationships. In the film, a son finds that his dying father is gay, and that a younger lover has been in the picture lately. At the very least, the story should play to your intellectual side.
