Page 62 - The Peorian, Vol 3 Issue 2

IT’S ALMOST SUMMER
BLOCKBUSTER SEASON!
By Tim Wyman
62 thePeorian.com
At The Movies
A fter the seemingly
never-ending winter
of polar vortexes and
temperatures that have caused
polar bears to give thought about
moving south, the initial signs of
winter’s end are upon us.
Snow is melting. Birds are
returning from wherever it is
they take refuge. And Peoria
potholes are destroying tire rims
at a breakneck pace. Soon we will
be sharing pitchers of margaritas
around the pool, grilling
hamburgers and enjoying warm,
clear nights while a baseball
game soothes in the background.
The return of warmth to the
earth means one other thing —
the return of the Hollywood
movie blockbuster season.
The time between Memorial
Day and Labor Day is more
than just the traditional
grilling season. It also means
that Hollywood has a lineup
of movies ready for us that
showcase its biggest stars, boast
$150 million production budgets,
and offer loud, sit-you-back,
visually thrilling, and jaw-
dropping scenes guaranteed to
delight even the most cynical of
moviegoers.
This year is a little different,
too. In Hollywood’s never-
ending pursuit of the almighty
dollar, this year’s blockbuster
season starts earlier than ever
before.
Already in early March, we
saw the sequel to “300” and by
month’s end, we will see the
epic “Noah,” based upon (yeah,
really) that story from the bible.
Starring Russell Crowe as the
titular character and Jennifer
Connelly, perhaps now we will
find out what really happened
to the unicorns and how Noah
handled all that dung. This
$130 million epic is offered in
the same vein as a 1960s “Ten
Commandments” so let us
hope that the writing is good
and that Crowe has not picked
another bad script to lend his
considerable talent.
Then almost immediately in
April, Disney/Marvel releases
“Captain America: The Winter
Soldier” with the same cast as
typically replete in these Marvel
movies that have inundated
the last few summer seasons.
Supposedly, the plot harkens
back to the 1970s spy thriller
genre, so there is hope that this
could be an interesting film
beyond the CGI. And Scarlett
Johansson is back as the Black
Widow, so, really, what more
does it need?
One of the most eagerly
awaited shows for this summer
will be “Transcendence,”
released on April 18. Directed by
Wally Pfister, the guy who was
cinematographer for the “Dark
Knight” trilogy, this film stars
Johnny Depp and Rebecca Hall
in a sci-fi story about a computer
scientist who is studying the
human brain and after some sort
of immediate issue, must upload
his own mind to the computer.
Whether he becomes a 2014 HAL
is unclear, but with Christopher
Nolan as a producer and
supporting stars such as Cillian
Murphy and Morgan Freeman,
this is one that offers hope for
being pretty good.