Thursday, July 16, 2015

Movies: Schumer/Apatow Versus Rudd/Marvel

Tomorrow's summer movie openings include a newish type of entry -- a sort of raunchy women's story -- in addition to the usual superhero epics and family-oriented animated stuff that are staples of the season.  

(Speaking of animation.  Parents who took their children to last weekend's Universal release, "Minions," were not enchanted.  I would recommend hiring a babysitter to accompany your tots if they insist on seeing the movie.)

But tomorrow beckons.


Trainwreck

"Trainwreck" is coming to every theater near you.  Directed by Judd Apatow, it stars Amy Schumer, the Comedy Central and standup star who is famous for the kind of outre vulgarity that is popular in humorous films these days.  

(Yes, it probably was inspired by that "Bridesmaids" movie, which was produced but not directed by Apatow in 2011.  But, no, Schumer probably doesn't go as far as Melissa McCarthy did in that bathroom scene.  We can hope, anyway.)

This is the trailer, which gives the general idea.



Apatow ("Knocked Up," "Superbad," "This Is 40") is a smart writer and director.  He seems to have tried to broaden "Trainwreck's" appeal to guys by casting LeBron James as the best friend/advisor to the Schumer "love interest" character.  There are even a couple fun videos on YouTube featuring Apatow and James talking about working together.


Ant-Man

This is the second Marvel Studios release of the summer.  (The first, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" came out May 1 and had grossed $1.39 billion by last Tuesday.)

This movie features Paul Rudd, who is mostly thought of as a comic actor, and Michael Douglas as the mentor who has devised a nifty ant-suit that can make Rudd tiny and/or wickedly powerful.  The trailer is below.



I don't think I will be giving anything away if I quote this much from the film's publicity: 

         "Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles,  Dr. Hank Pym (Douglas) and 
         Ant-Man (Rudd) must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world."

Summer is always a good season for Marvel.  Word of mouth about "Ant-Man" is very positive. 


Oh, and another thing:



Mr. Holmes



A third film is opening this weekend, broadly but not as broadly as the two mentioned above.  It features the fine actor Ian McKellan as Sherlock Holmes in his dotage.  


Both McKellan and Holmes have legions of fans.  For a non-blockbuster, this movie should do pretty well. 

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