There will be reviews…soon!!! July movie guide (Philippines)

Here I am, in the midst of the Summer Blockbuster™ season, stewing quite a bit over the fact that we over here still have to wait for the local release of Wall*E and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (then again, we Pinoys should count ourselves lucky in the region, ‘coz the Japanese won’t get their Pixar goodness well until December, maybe so just becase they’re afraid it might eat in on the market for the latest Doraemon and Detective Conan films)

Meanwhile, even while Paris Hilton’s universally maligned The Hottie & the Nottie has came and went by with barely a whimper (let alone a sigh of regret) to local cinemas, we are still kept in the dark on the local release of Be Kind Rewind and even Forgetting Sarah Marshall…remember how trailers for Charlie Wilson’s War kept running in local cinemas, only to have this rather star-studded political comedy (with no less than Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts) debut on DVD.

Same rules apply…local releases in orange, must-sees in italics.

Jul 3
Hancock
Alone
Tirador
Paupahan
My Monster Mom

Still trying to make up my mind whether to catch Hancock or not…haven’t been following Big Will’s career as religiously as ever (he’s getting blah as a rapper…besides, I remain fiercely loyal to Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. Speaking of rappers-turned-Hollywood-actors, Denzel’s American Gangster co-star Common is proving himself well in the likes of Smokin’ Aces and Wanted). I kinda look to Mr. Smith like too much of a Hollywood Fourth of July slam-dunk.

Jul 9/10
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
Mamma Mia
The Warlords
Kambyo
Barako

I’m still very much disappointed over Spy Kids 3-D, so it looks like I’m gonna skip Brendan Fraser’s Jules Vernian subterranean romp. It’s about time The Warlords got a local release, though it irks me about the long wait (the bad reviews I’m hearing re the dub work on this one isn’t whetting my enthu anyhoo). Even the sheer curiosity value about (an erstwhile) 007 singing ABBA choons isn’t gonna get me into Mamma Mia! The Movie…is it me or why do we Pinoys jump the gun on our Yank brethren in the local opening of MMtM (maybe because American cinemas already have fanboy-fave bum-filler Hellboy II penciled on that date)

I have a confession to make…this is my favourite ABBA song:

Christine Baranski vampin’ out “Does Your Mother Know” from the Mamma Mia! the Movie soundtrack

Savour the camp Europop goodness!!!

Hey, I was only ’round 7 or 8 when ABBA first burst onto the scene….

Jul 16
The Dark Knight

I’ve a hunch that this will definitely own Iron Man & The Hulk’s collective asses when it opens…not just because of the near-deafening buzz over Heath Ledger’s cinematic “swan song”.

Holy Method acting, Batman!!!

I’ll also bet that this will be yet another achievement for Chris Nolan as he redeems the franchise from Joel Schumacher’s campoid hands…watch out for my review soonish enough!!!

Jul 23
Meet Dave

Is it yet another monument to Eddie Murphy’s already gargantuan ego that he can work best against himself – isn’t the hallmark of a true comedian the ability to work opposite others???

He “married” himself in Norbit (and was his own father), now he’s a human-sized spaceship piloted with mini-versions of himself in this one! Philip K. Dick should crawl out of his grave and start suing…

Jul 29
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Ghaaaahhhh….I still hate mummies!!!

Especially when they start ripping off “The Myth” and “The Touch” (Ms. Yeoh….did you even get to read the script when it was handed to you??)

Also in July (no confirmed release date…all depends on the MTRCB’s final imprimatur)
The Bank Job
Prom Night

Speaking of superheroes (esp. the DC variety)…you should definitely check out the upcoming direct-to-DVD release of Wonder Woman, Warner Bros. & DC Comics’ retelling of the origins story of the Amazing Amazon!!! Even if a much-awaited live-action adaptation remains in development hell, they have leaked out “the-making-of” featurettes as bonus material in the Batman: Gotham Knights animated DVD .

What a cast they’ve assembled…Keri Russell as Princess Diana of Themiscyra/Wonder Woman, Nathan Fillon (Keri’s Waitress co-star) as Sgt. Steve Trevor, Academy Award-winner Virginia Madsen as Queen Hippolyta, Rosario Dawson as Artemis (mmmm…catfights) and Alfred “Doc Ock” Molina as Ares (holy crossovers, Batman!!!!), the “original” God of War (yeah, he’s gonna make Kratos look like a pussy)

Sample dialogue:

Diana (to Artemis): “Mention ‘Felicity’ one more time in my presence and you’re truly gonna get it!!!”
Artemis: “You think I got into this ‘coz the casting people saw me in cat-suit drag at ‘Josie and the Pussycats’??? Well, I thought I was going to read the part of The Cheetah!!!”

Hah – just getting you on that one!!

movie releases