Nine summer movies Dann's dying to see
Here are the nine 2009 summer movies I'm so stoked to see, I would actually buy a ticket to watch them:
1. "Drag Me to Hell" Why? Because the great Sam Raimi finally has returned to pure horror, the genre he loved before he got sidetracked by the "Spider-Man" movies. The director of the "Evil Dead" trilogy serves up a treat about a pretty loan officer cursed by an old woman to spend eternity down where the sun don't shine.
2. "Star Trek" Why? Because I want to see how Star Fleet gets the new USS Enterprise - which is roughly the size of Alaska - blasted into the beyond after building it on land instead of in the weightlessness of space. I also am curious to see what young James T. Kirk does with his spare time growing up in Iowa.
3. "Up" Why? Because it's the first animated feature to open the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France. And because this Disney/Pixar flick's title is the same as Russ Meyer's X-rated, 1976 cult exploitation romp featuring chain saw killings and wanton couplings.
4. "Funny People" Why? It will be Judd Apatow's follow-up to "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up." Plus it stars Apatow's wife, the delightful Leslie Mann, and Seth Rogen. And that Adam Sandler guy.
5. "I Love You, Beth Cooper" Why? Because this high school tale of impossible romance was written by Arlington Heights native Larry Doyle, who graduated from Buffalo Grove High School, which might explain why the school in this movie is called Buffalo Glenn.
6. "Inglourious Basterds" Why? Because Quentin Tarantino finally tackles an insane revenge film packaged as a World War II action movie. Brad Pitt stars along with Mike Myers? Cloris Leachman?
7. "Public Enemies" Why? Because Chicago-raised Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp as notorious bank robber John Dillinger, and if those aren't two good enough reasons to see this movie, toss in Christian "Dark Knight" Bale as the FBI agent sworn to bring him down. Excellent Windy City locations, too.
8. "Bruno" Why? Because Sacha Baron Cohen's follow-up to his mind-blowing comedy "Borat" has already been rated NC-17 on its first pass through the Ratings Board. So maybe we should just skip the R-rated theatrical release and wait to see Cohen's original, really over-the-top version on DVD.
9. "Final Destination: Death Trip" Why? Because I'm fascinated to see how the filmmakers devise even more outrageously stupid ways to kill off even stupider young people who imagine they've actually cheated death. It's in 3-D, too.
- Dann Gire
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=289407">Dann Gire's summer movie guide <span class="date">[04/28/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>