Karma
Heart Attack
Surf's up!
In a wave of films, its the summer of the sequel
MSN Movies
All the heavy Hollywood hitters are coming out to play in the sun -- because what benighted soul doesn't know that summer's the season for crowd-pleasers and blockbusters? From "Jaws" in 1975 to "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" in 2006, all-time top grossers spawn in May and June -- except for "Forrest Gump," which didn't open its box of chocolates until July.
The biggest box-office earners during the past decade -- "Spider-Man," "Shrek 2" and the aforementioned "Pirates" -- have all been unveiled in May. Summer 2007 sees sequels to each and every one of these juicy franchises, all debuting -- you guessed it! -- in the merry month of May.
Back in 2001, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" hit screens in the fall, breaking the bank big-time. But that was then: Look for the fifth installment of this money machine -- "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" -- to materialize in summer's golden "Gump" slot: July 13. (Burning question: If the weather heats up, will Harry Potter strip down to his "Equus" attire?)
Also, 'tis the season of monster -- and medium-sized -- sequels and franchises (nine and counting). Along with the Big Four, look for "28 Weeks Later" to chronicle the next nasty phase of zombie flu; more Grand Guignol slaughter in "Hostel: Part II"; Bruce Willis as the old-school, unstoppable John McClane in "Live Free or Die Hard"; the coolest kids on the block in "Ocean's Thirteen"; and a planet-wide dustup in "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer." Except for Danny Ocean's supersuave derring-do, these adventures flirt with the end of civilization or the world as we know it -- just the sort of fun in the sun we're supposed to be hot for!
This summer heralds the birth of a potential new franchise: The brainchild of Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay, "Transformers" has been TV show, comic book, toy line and animated feature. Now the venerable favorite of kids everywhere becomes a live-action extravaganza, in which Earth -- do I even need to say it? -- is threatened by Decepticons and Autobots.
To counter the drift toward apocalypse, days and days of sunny comedy are forecast for summer 2007. Small-screen lovables John Krasinksi ("The Office") and Zach Braff ("Scrubs") star, respectively, in laff-fests about getting married ("License to Wed") and being married ("The Ex") . Delectable Izzie (Katherine Heigl) graduates from "Grey's Anatomy" to getting "Knocked Up" by a schlub during a one-night stand, while Adam Sandler and Kevin James go gay in "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry."
Not just the hilarity mined from screwball love fires up this summer's funny flicks -- God and the devil get into it, too. In "Evan Almighty," Steve Carell's a successful congressman when Jehovah -- in the guise of Morgan Freeman -- suggests it's time to build an ark! And in "Shortcut to Happiness," Alec Baldwin (the inimitable Jack Donaghy from "30 Rock") can't get a novel published until he sells his soul to a distaff Satan played by Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Ghost Whisperer").
Horror movies and family fare always heat up the dog days of summer: We'll be hanging out with funny zombies ("Fido"), reluctant lycanthropes ("Skinwalkers"), a rat who wants to be a five-star chef ("Ratatouille") and, yes, yet another flock of über-adorable penguins ("Surf's Up") -- all of whom will lumber, stalk, cook and waddle their way into our favorite megaplexes, if not our hearts. Even the First Family of Dysfunctionality will bring their heartwarming snark to the big screen in "The Simpsons Movie."
Summer can be serious too. Tap into serious Oscar-bait drama with "A Mighty Heart," starring the newly noble Angelina Jolie as the courageous wife of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter murdered by Islamic extremists. "Evening" seems to have grabbed up every available award-winning actress -- Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave and Toni Collette, for starters -- to class up a dying woman's remembrance of things past.
And last but not least, here's a heads up to those with a taste for the exotic: Andy Lau (aka Wai Keung), the Hong Konger who helmed the very hot "Infernal Affairs," remade as "The Departed" by Martin Scorsese, has directed his first English-language movie. "The Flock" is a thriller about a cop's relentless pursuit of a sex offender.
And Wong Kar-wai, art-house king, has ventured deep into American indie territory with "My Blueberry Nights," a road-trip movie with a turbo-charged cast: Norah Jones, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Ed Harris. For Japanime fans, "Paprika" is the cinematic spice of choice, full of shrinks and avatars who dive into dangerous dreamtime adventures.
Here, in our annual Summer Movie Guide, you'll find previews of all these titles and more. Browse images in our gallery, watch trailers and clips on our video page and chart every single title, big and small, in our complete summer calendar. Everything you could ever want to know about what's hot and what's not on this summer's screens is here. Cinematic surf's up!
2007 Summer movie guide:
http://movies.msn.com/movies/summermovieguide07/intro/
In a wave of films, its the summer of the sequel
All the heavy Hollywood hitters are coming out to play in the sun -- because what benighted soul doesn't know that summer's the season for crowd-pleasers and blockbusters? From "Jaws" in 1975 to "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" in 2006, all-time top grossers spawn in May and June -- except for "Forrest Gump," which didn't open its box of chocolates until July.
The biggest box-office earners during the past decade -- "Spider-Man," "Shrek 2" and the aforementioned "Pirates" -- have all been unveiled in May. Summer 2007 sees sequels to each and every one of these juicy franchises, all debuting -- you guessed it! -- in the merry month of May.
Back in 2001, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" hit screens in the fall, breaking the bank big-time. But that was then: Look for the fifth installment of this money machine -- "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" -- to materialize in summer's golden "Gump" slot: July 13. (Burning question: If the weather heats up, will Harry Potter strip down to his "Equus" attire?)
Also, 'tis the season of monster -- and medium-sized -- sequels and franchises (nine and counting). Along with the Big Four, look for "28 Weeks Later" to chronicle the next nasty phase of zombie flu; more Grand Guignol slaughter in "Hostel: Part II"; Bruce Willis as the old-school, unstoppable John McClane in "Live Free or Die Hard"; the coolest kids on the block in "Ocean's Thirteen"; and a planet-wide dustup in "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer." Except for Danny Ocean's supersuave derring-do, these adventures flirt with the end of civilization or the world as we know it -- just the sort of fun in the sun we're supposed to be hot for!
This summer heralds the birth of a potential new franchise: The brainchild of Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay, "Transformers" has been TV show, comic book, toy line and animated feature. Now the venerable favorite of kids everywhere becomes a live-action extravaganza, in which Earth -- do I even need to say it? -- is threatened by Decepticons and Autobots.
To counter the drift toward apocalypse, days and days of sunny comedy are forecast for summer 2007. Small-screen lovables John Krasinksi ("The Office") and Zach Braff ("Scrubs") star, respectively, in laff-fests about getting married ("License to Wed") and being married ("The Ex") . Delectable Izzie (Katherine Heigl) graduates from "Grey's Anatomy" to getting "Knocked Up" by a schlub during a one-night stand, while Adam Sandler and Kevin James go gay in "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry."
Not just the hilarity mined from screwball love fires up this summer's funny flicks -- God and the devil get into it, too. In "Evan Almighty," Steve Carell's a successful congressman when Jehovah -- in the guise of Morgan Freeman -- suggests it's time to build an ark! And in "Shortcut to Happiness," Alec Baldwin (the inimitable Jack Donaghy from "30 Rock") can't get a novel published until he sells his soul to a distaff Satan played by Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Ghost Whisperer").
Horror movies and family fare always heat up the dog days of summer: We'll be hanging out with funny zombies ("Fido"), reluctant lycanthropes ("Skinwalkers"), a rat who wants to be a five-star chef ("Ratatouille") and, yes, yet another flock of über-adorable penguins ("Surf's Up") -- all of whom will lumber, stalk, cook and waddle their way into our favorite megaplexes, if not our hearts. Even the First Family of Dysfunctionality will bring their heartwarming snark to the big screen in "The Simpsons Movie."
Summer can be serious too. Tap into serious Oscar-bait drama with "A Mighty Heart," starring the newly noble Angelina Jolie as the courageous wife of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter murdered by Islamic extremists. "Evening" seems to have grabbed up every available award-winning actress -- Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave and Toni Collette, for starters -- to class up a dying woman's remembrance of things past.
And last but not least, here's a heads up to those with a taste for the exotic: Andy Lau (aka Wai Keung), the Hong Konger who helmed the very hot "Infernal Affairs," remade as "The Departed" by Martin Scorsese, has directed his first English-language movie. "The Flock" is a thriller about a cop's relentless pursuit of a sex offender.
And Wong Kar-wai, art-house king, has ventured deep into American indie territory with "My Blueberry Nights," a road-trip movie with a turbo-charged cast: Norah Jones, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Ed Harris. For Japanime fans, "Paprika" is the cinematic spice of choice, full of shrinks and avatars who dive into dangerous dreamtime adventures.
Here, in our annual Summer Movie Guide, you'll find previews of all these titles and more. Browse images in our gallery, watch trailers and clips on our video page and chart every single title, big and small, in our complete summer calendar. Everything you could ever want to know about what's hot and what's not on this summer's screens is here. Cinematic surf's up!
2007 Summer movie guide:
http://movies.msn.com/movies/summermovieguide07/intro/