• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    And the hits just keep on coming

    Movie madness: 10 must-see summer flicks — from vampire-hunting prez to JaneFonda's hippie ways

    Joe Leydon
    May 21, 2012 | 11:43 am
    • Josh Brolin, from left, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black 3
      MovieBlog.com
    • Jane Fonda in Peace, Love, Misunderstanding
    • The Amazing Spider Man
    • A scene from Savages
      EThunder.com
    • The Dark Knight Rises
      WallpapersWide.com

    Well now this is weird: It’s not even Memorial Day yet, and we movie fans may have already seen the biggest hit of the summer. Indeed, judging from the disappointing grosses for Dark Shadows and Battleship, it looks like some of us may be more interested in seeing that hit again and again, rather than buying tickets to anything else.

    But don’t start singing “Summertime Blues” — yet – because there really are some promising pictures on the horizon. Maybe they won’t all be blockbusters – maybe one or two might never make it past the art-house circuit – but that doesn’t mean they won’t be worth the price of admission.

    Don’t start singing “Summertime Blues” — yet – because there really are some promising pictures on the horizon.

    And I’ve come up with a list of the 10 titles (arranged by release date) that I’m looking forward to most eagerly.

    Mind you, I’m basing my high hopes entirely on what I’ve read (reviews by respected colleagues, hype-laden feature stories), seen (intriguing trailers, previous films by the same filmmakers and film stars) and heard (mostly during interviews I’ve watched or conducted). At the time I’m typing these words, I haven’t yet seen a single one of these summer releases. As Ving Rhames so memorably said in Striptease: “Call me a dreamer.”

    So remember: There are other upcoming films that might turn out to be much better than any of the ones that appear on this purely (or, if you prefer, impurely) subjective countdown. And, of course, your mileage may vary.

    Men in Black 3

    Opens: May 25

    Marquee Allure: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson, director Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black, Men in Black 2).

    The Pitch: To save the life of Agent K (Jones), his long-time taciturn partner, and protect the planet from humongous disaster, Agent J (Smith) travels back in time to seek help from… well, a much younger, but no less taciturn, Agent K (Brolin).

    The Attraction: OK, I’ll admit – just the reteaming of Smith and Jones would be enough for me to fork over the dough for a first-run admission ticket. (Maybe at a bargain matinee, but a first-run admission ticket nonetheless.) But c’mon: You mean to tell me the prospect of Brolin channeling Jones for the better part of 90 minutes isn’t enough to draw you to the megaplex?

    Peace, Love & Misunderstanding

    Opens: June 8 (Limited Release)

    Marquee Allure: Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener, Chace Crawford, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Nat Wolff, Elizabeth Olsen, director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Tender Mercies).

    The Pitch: After her husband asks for a divorce, a conservative Manhattan lawyer (Keener) seeks respite from stress by taking a road trip to upstate New York with her teen children (Olsen, Wolff) – and introducing them to her long-estranged mom, an unreconstructed hippie (Fonda) who’s never met her grandchildren.

    The Attraction: Beresford – an Australian-born filmmaker whose other credits include Breaker Morant, Crimes of the Heart and the partly-filmed-in-Houston Mao’s Last Dancer – usually can be relied upon for intelligent grown-up entertainment. And, yes, I’m curious to see how Fonda handles a role that calls for some wink-wink allusions to her well-known political leanings. Also – and I can’t deny it – the 74-year-old actress is still pretty easy on the eyes.

    Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

    Opens: June 22

    Marquee Allure: Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rufus Sewell, director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted).

    The Pitch: A fanciful mix of historical fact and horrific fiction, adapted by screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith from his own novel, based on the provocative premise that the 16th President of the United States had a lifelong secret sideline as a beheader of bloodsuckers.

    The Attraction: While I recently interviewed Walker – who plays the title role – for Cowboys & Indians magazine, the 29-year-old up-and-comer disarmed my skepticism by insisting that, no, the movie isn’t a comedy. Or at least not an intentional one.

    “The only joke is in the title,” he said. “After that, we completely commit to it. And it becomes a drama-thriller about our greatest American hero.”

    So what was more difficult – being a credible Abraham Lincoln or a persuasive vampire killer?

    “That’s a very interesting question,” Walker replied with a chuckle. “But look, once you get used to being Abraham Lincoln, killing vampires is easy. Because, hey, you’re Abraham Lincoln. So you just look at vampires and say, ‘OK, they’ve got to go.’”

    The Amazing Spider-Man

    Opens: July 3

    Marquee Allure: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, director Marc Webb ([500] Days of Summer).

    The Pitch: Remember Spider-Man? Seriously, it was just 12 years ago – you must remember Spider-Man. Well, anyway, this movie is a reboot of that one...

    The Attraction: And while I think the whole idea of a 12-years-later reboot is kinda-sorta premature – after all, they waited for 16 years after Batman (1989) before we got Batman Begins (2005) – I’m really curious to see just how easily director Webb shifts from rom-com to comic book. (Especially since that rom-com was so damn good.) And the trailer does look cool.

    Savages

    Opens: July 6

    Marquee Allure: Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Johnson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch, Demian Bichir, director Oliver Stone.

    The Pitch: Two hunky entrepreneurs (Kitsch, Johnson) share a successful marijuana-growing business, and a jaw-droppingly beautiful woman (Lively), while living the good life in Laguna Beach. And then the ruthless chief of a Mexican drug cartel (Hayek) makes them offer they can’t refuse. But they do refuse it. Nothing good comes of this.

    The Attraction: Have you seen the trailer for this bad boy? Director Stone hasn’t done anything that looked so down-and-dirty, wild-and-crazy, freaky-and-deaky since the second Clinton Administration. I am so there on opening weekend. (Unless I can scam a pass to a preview screening.)

    The Dark Knight Rises

    Opens: July 20

    Marquee Allure: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, director Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight).

    The Pitch: And speaking of Batman…

    The Attraction: Director Nolan promises a satisfying closure for his Caped Crusader trilogy – and after Inception, I’m ready to believe he can make good on any promise — though I seriously doubt that means bad guy Bane (Hardy) will destroy The Dark Knight (Bale). I mean, if they really snuff Batman, how can they expect to do another reboot in a decade or so? Remember: These dudes don’t have a Robin in the wings to take over.

    Killer Joe

    Opens: July 27 (Limited Release)

    Marquee Allure: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon, director William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist).

    The Pitch: Based on the 1993 play by Tracy Lett (winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for August: Osage County), this Texas noir drama finds Texas-born hunk McConaughey cast as a part-time hit man who agrees to help a financially strapped drug dealer (Hirsch) collect on his mother’s life insurance policy. The dealer can’t make the $25,000 down payment for the termination? No problem: He’s got a sweetly virginal sister (Temple) to give the hit man as collateral. At least, she’s virginal until…

    The Attraction:Killer Joe got slapped with an NC-17 rating. The producers appealed – but refused to make cuts. The appeal was rejected. So they’re releasing it – independently – anyway. Consider the possibilities. (And check out the director’s credits. Not shabby.)

    Red Hook Summer

    Opens: Aug. 10 (Limited Release)

    Marquee Allure: Clarke Peters, Jules Brown, Toni Lysaith, James Ransone, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, director Spike Lee.

    The Pitch: A sullen young African-American (Brown), used to a comfortable life in Atlanta, plunges into a stint as a fish out of water when his mom drops him off for an extended stay with his grandfather (Peters), a flamboyant minister at Brooklyn’s inner-city Lil' Peace of Heaven Baptist Church.

    The Appeal: Director Lee returns to Brooklyn – the setting of She's Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, Crookyln, Clockers and He Got Game – which would be reason enough for a trip to the megaplex (or, more likely in this case of this indie release, the art-house). But Lee also returns on a screen in a signature supporting role: Mookie, the neighborhood motor-mouth who’s still delivering Sal’s Famous Pizza. I really want to see how that’s possible, seeing how Mookie was responsible for that place burning down in Do the Right Thing.

    The Expendables 2

    Opens: Aug. 17

    Marquee Appeal: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

    The Pitch: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger shoot a lot of guns and kill a lot of people.

    The Appeal: Dammit, they didn’t find a way to fit Steven Seagal into this one, either. And it’s still an exclusive boys-only club: No femmes fatale get to join in the butt-kicking. (Maybe Shannon Tweed is too busy with her domestic chores these days?)

    But never mind: The first Expendables (2010) was an unreasonably enjoyable hoot, and this sequel adds Van Damme and Norris to the line-up for additional amping of the testosterone level. Only the most lactose-intolerant action-flick fans could resist cheese that looks this tasty.

    Lawless

    Opens: Aug. 29

    Marquee Allure: Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska, director John Hillcoat (The Road, The Proposition).

    The Pitch: In this reportedly ultra-violent filmization of Matt Bondurant’s acclaimed The Wettest County in the World, three rural Virginia brothers (LeBeouf, Hardy, Clark) thrive as bootleggers during the Great Depression. Unfortunately, their success attracts the attention of a vicious lawman (Pearce) and his brutish underlings, who shoot first, and second, and seldom bother to ask questions afterwards. The brothers, not surprisingly, respond in kind.

    The Attraction: For those of you who have always wanted see Shia LaBeouf go all bad-ass on folks – and you know who you are, so don’t try to be coy – this period piece should redefine the term “guilty pleasure.” Also worth considering: Film critic Jeff Wells – a.k.a. Mr. Tightass N. Grumpypants – got down from his high horse at Cannes long enough to diss Lawless (one of the contenders for the top prize there) as “a better acted, more finely photographed and much more violent upgrade of an early '70s Roger Corman film.” Hey, sounds good to me.

    Joe Leydon will be on Great Day Houston, on Channel 11, Tuesday at 9 a.m., to talk about the best summer movies.

    unspecifiedseries568664033
    series/summer-fun-2012
    news/entertainment

    most read posts

    Casual River Oaks restaurant closure leads our top stories this week

    Houston company ranks No. 13 worldwide on new Forbes Global 2000 list

    Houston fave Frank Billingsley's house hits the market for $1.5 million

    Higgledy-Piggledy

    Summer mystery: Why is the water hose always in a twisted pile?

    Katie Oxford
    Jun 3, 2012 | 8:30 am
    Summer mystery: Why is the water hose always in a twisted pile?
    Photo by Katie Oxford

    One of summer's most mysterious questions: Why is the water hose always in a twisted pile, no matter what you do?

    News_Katie_a water hose rogue_May 2012_3 _yellow water hose waggery.jpg
      
    Photo by Katie Oxford
    I have a thing about finding the water hose clumped in a pile. It’s usually so twisted that even when you turn the faucet on at full capacity, no water comes out. Only a whistling sound, like a siren, smothered by distance.
    unspecified
    series/summer-fun-2012
    news/entertainment
    Loading...