ENTERTAINMENT

Summer 2015 movie preview

Todd Hill
Reporter

It's easy to be cynical about the summer movie season. For several years now, the warmest months of the year have played host to a seemingly endless barrage of aging sequels, television adaptations, cartoons, and of course, superhero epics with $100 million marketing budgets.

Welcome to the summer of 2015 at the movies. Nevertheless, Hollywood has really high hopes for this season. Box-office records, it's believed, will be broken. And looking at the following 25 motion pictures slated for release over the next 15 weeks, a record summer seems inevitable.

It's actually difficult to be jaded about this coming summer at the movies. Yes, there will be hits and misses, most of them already easy to identify. But there are a lot of titles that look mighty intriguing, to say the very least. Cynicism is about to go out of season.

May 1

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" – If box-office projections are correct, it will be the biggest sequel of all time, at least until the next one. What more do you really need to know? There's a villain, portrayed by James Spader, out to annihilate humanity. And Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner save the world as various superheroes, until it needs saving again.

"Far From the Madding Crowd" – In an extreme example of counter-programming (nobody interested in this title will be at "Avengers," or vice versa), Thomas Hardy's novel about a Victorian lady with three suitors is brought to the big screen. Carey Mulligan stars, always a good thing.

"Welcome to Me" – "Saturday Night Live" alumna Kristen Wiig is showing real promise as a big-screen comedienne. This picture, in which Wiig portrays a woman with mental issues who wins the lottery and starts her own TV show, was held for one of the biggest weekends of the year, and that's encouraging.

May 15

"Mad Max Fury Road" – It's been 30 years since the last "Mad Max" title, more than enough time for a fresh reboot. Franchise creator George Miller has returned, and the movie looks ridiculous, but in a good way. Tom Hardy, one of today's more interesting young actors, stars, but bet on Charlize Theron stealing his thunder.

"Pitch Perfect 2" – The film is just one of many examples this summer of more of the same. If you liked the first installment, here's 90 more minutes of it. But "Pitch Perfect," concerned with the Barden Bellas, a college singing ensemble, still has legs, and the music is fun. Anna Kendrick stars, but Rebel Wilson gets all the best lines.

May 22

"Spy" – It's a new, arguably unfortunate, summer tradition – a comedy starring Melissa McCarthy. Here she plays a bland CIA analyst charged with going undercover, in what only seems like her umpteenth fish-out-of-water flick. The film appears only mediocre, not awful, so that's progress.

"Tomorrowland" – Disney has a surprisingly good track record turning amusement park rides into movies ("Pirates of the Caribbean") and this one is a no-brainer. Brad Bird seems like the right kind of filmmaker for a project like this, and it appears no expense was spared. George Clooney stars. Promising.

May 29

"Aloha" – When writer/director Cameron Crowe is off his game, the results are ugly. But he's also been responsible for "Jerry Maguire" and "Almost Famous." Here, he sends Bradley Cooper to Hawaii to decide between Rachel McAdams and Emma Stone. Choices, choices.

"San Andreas" – It's been a while, too long, since a decent disaster flick appeared on the summer slate. An earthquake destroys the West Coast in this cliche-ridden effort — star Dwayne Johnson utters the line "oh my God" at least once — but if there's one thing killer special effects should do it's come to the rescue of movies like these.

June 5

"Entourage" – There's a sense that the moment has passed for the HBO series about Hollywood golden boys, which ended its eight-year run four years ago. But for years its supporters have willed that a movie be made, so here it is. If nothing, it gives Jeremy Piven a chance to reprise his super-agent Ari Gold, a terrific character.

June 12

"Jurassic World" – Once more to the money trough. The fourth in this series of escapist flicks about dinosaurs coming life and wreaking havoc could very easily be mistaken for any of the films that came before. We can criticize Universal Pictures for its lack of originality, but fans will be happy. Chris Pratt stars.

"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" – Beware the phrase "wowed them at Sundance." Performing well at a high-brow film festival is no guarantee of wider success. But this little indie, about two young guys who bond with a female leukemia patient through wildly creative home movies, has a lot of heart. No big names are attached, so breaking through will be an uphill battle.

June 26

"Ricki and the Flash" – Anyone who's paid attention to Meryl Streep's career knows about her totally decent singing voice. She gives it a run as a rocker in this comedy, directed by Jonathan Demme and written by Diablo Cody. Kevin Kline and Rick Springfield also star, and Oscar nomination No. 20 for Streep is probably inevitable.

"Ted 2" – Speaking of inevitable, if a follow-up to the hit comedy featuring Mark Wahlberg and a talking, albeit foul-mouthed, teddy bear feels like a good idea, it's probably because it's only been three years between films. The sequel takes a gag about a teddy bear suing for his civil rights and has fun with it.

July 1

"Magic Mike XXL" – One for the ladies. Be aware that Matthew McConaughey, all about the prestige roles now, has not returned for this male-stripping sequel. But this is really Channing Tatum's show, and by all appearances he's having even more fun with his character than he did three years ago. Amber Heard, Elizabeth Banks and Jada Pinkett Smith also star.

July 3

"Terminator Genisys" – Once more into the time machine. With each new installment, this action franchise's plot points become harder to keep straight, and the screenwriters really have their work cut out for them this time if they want to capture the mind-blowing spirit of the first film, from way back in 1984. Yes, Arnold Schwarzenegger is bahck.

July 10

"Minions" – After stealing the show in animated offerings such as "Despicable Me," those little, yellow, thimble-shaped fellows called Minions have gotten their own movie. Their brand of humor is definitely an acquired taste; what little I saw of them in the film's trailer was too much for me. A relatively fallow period for the animated film genre looks to continue this summer.

July 17

"Ant-Man" – It's only the second superhero movie of the summer, the first for this character and star Paul Rudd. But the template is, of course, familiar, with lots of size-related sight gags thrown in for good measure. Rudd and "Anchorman" director Adam McKay had their hands on the script, but this genre isn't known for its comedic turns.

"Trainwreck" – It's just another romantic comedy. Or is it? Amy Schumer is a hot property at this very moment, and she's paired here with Bill Hader, enjoying his post-"SNL" life with a series of solid film roles. This title is good news for the rom-com genre, stale in recent years. Also starring … LeBron James?

July 24

"Pixels" – Space aliens, in the form of 1980s video games, attack Earth, and the only people who can save the planet are people who play 1980s video games. It's a great concept, but the movie features Adam Sandler and Kevin James, and I'm trying to think of the last film either of them starred in that was watchable.

"Poltergeist" – Here's the thing. The 1982 ghost story still stands up, really well. Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt – that's smart casting. But if you stand the trailer for this remake up against the trailer for the other movie that's now 33 years old, you'll be amazed to find how much better the original movie looks.

"Irrational Man" – It wouldn't be summertime without the umpteenth Woody Allen film. An older man (Joaquin Phoenix) falls for a younger woman (Emma Stone, everywhere these days), extremely familiar terrain for the Woodman. Allen has never had any trouble finding A-list actors, or audiences, for his little movies.

July 31

"Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation" – See Tom Cruise hang from flying airplanes! See Tom Cruise spill from speeding motorcycles! Isn't he getting a little old for this? This is the fifth in a spy thriller franchise that's consistently delivered the goods. Yes, we know exactly what to expect, but Cruise does do all his own stuntwork (with some CGI help), so that's cool.

Aug. 7

"Fantastic Four" – Miles Teller, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell are on board for the third superhero flick of the summer. This genre is still years away from jumping the shark. After a quick look at this offering, it's not hard to spy that moment on the horizon, but there's no denying that the brightest talents in the business are working today on movies like "Fantastic Four." The money is on the screen.

Aug. 14

"The Man From U.N.C.L.E." – Movies gleaned from long-ago TV shows have a very mixed rate of success. Movies made by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie have a success rate something less than mixed. He's given this effort a nice, swinging London feel, but a release date this late in the season suggests somebody would like to see the film go quietly, which it most likely will. Henry Cavill stars.

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