(Movieposterdb.com)
(Movieposterdb.com)
(Movieposterdb.com)
BY JOSH PRESLEY
joshpresley551@gmail.com
After two years of some of the best damn movie reviewing you’ll ever (never) read, we’ve finally come to the end of the third act. The climax. The conclusion. The resolution. The end. I’ll try to do it better than “Lost.”
What’s left for me to say? Well, there’s a summer movie season to preview, of course.
The season kicks off Friday with “Iron Man 3.” Marvel has released a movie on the last day of class every year that I’ve been at Ole Miss, so I’m happy that this year will be no different. “Iron Man 3” has a tremendous amount of hype, being the first post-“Avengers” Marvel movie and with writer/director Shane Black at the helm. Black previously wrote and directed Robert Downey Jr. in the fantastic “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” and I’m hoping that magic will be rekindled here.
“Star Trek Into Darkness” opens on May 17 and is the movie I’m second most excited about this summer, or this year really (more on number one in a sec). J.J. Abrams’ first foray into “Star Trek” produced one of the best films of 2009, and I’m predicting “Into Darkness” is another home run before he moves on to resurrecting “Star Wars.”
The next weekend we get “The Hangover Part III” (ugh) and “Before Midnight.” Diligent readers of my column (both of them) will know that “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset” are two of my favorite films, so I’m downright giddy at the idea of this third film in probably the most unlikely trilogy in history.
June 14 brings the movie I am most excited about this year: “The Man of Steel.” I’m a big Superman fan and am cautiously optimistic about this one based on the epic trailers we’ve seen so far. I can’t imagine “The Man of Steel” having any middle ground. It will either be terrible or one of the best movies of the year.
“World War Z” looks nothing like the book, “This is the End” looks hilarious, and “Byzantium,” “Pacific Rim,” and “The Wolverine” all look promising.
I’m rushing now. How can you possibly go through a summer’s worth of movies and sum up two years worth of writing in one short column?
I can’t. I can thank you for reading it, though. If you’ve read and gotten any enjoyment out of anything I’ve ever written, even if it was that frivolous Col. Reb column from a few weeks ago, then I thank you.
I thank/blame Jacob Batte for having the bright idea that I should start doing movie reviews for The DM two years ago. So now you know it’s all his fault.
I thank the section editors and copy editors who’ve had to deal with my egomania. Cain Madden and Kristie Warino in particular had to endure more complaining from me than they probably thought was humanly possible, and I thank them for having the patience of Job.
I hope I’ve made you laugh and maybe encouraged you to see some movies you wouldn’t have otherwise. I may not take myself seriously, but I take film very seriously.
A kind reader once asked me what I loved so much about movies and, in closing, I’ll share my response with you now: To begin with? Everything.
For more entertainment musings and general silliness, follow Josh on Twitter @joshuapresley.
