A Fistful of Summer Anticipation 2012! (Brad's Picks)

Boy, 2012 has been a fairly uninteresting year at the movies so far.  I've seen a few good things (The Grey, 21 Jump Street, Casa De Mi Padre, The Raid, Cabin in the Woods) but a whole lotta blah (everything else).  And I'm more excited about the Fall film slate than I am the summer.  That being said, there are some serious Blockbusters I'm geeking out over and even a couple bits of dreck (Step Up 4 The Revolution...seriously) I'm willing to drop cash on.

5.  Lawless:  Formerly titled The Wettest County In The World and based on the book by Matt Bondurant, this film sees brothers Tom Hardy & Shia LaBeouf as a couple of bootlegging brothers in Depression Era Virginia.  I hate, hate, hate the title change but I'm stoked at the prospect of director John Hillcoat & screenwriter Nick Cave (the team behind both The Road & the awesome Aussie Western The Proposition) taking a crack at this Big Bad Mama gangster stuff.

4.  The Avengers:  I've said it before and I'll say it again, we live in a magical dork paradise in which us fanboys are going to be granted an Avengers film.  What's next, Doctor Who becomes popular?  Uh...But seriously, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Hawkeye all in one movie!  That's bananas!  And I'm all a tingle to finally see it.  Granted, none of the previous Marvel films have really pleased every geek fiber of my being but Iron Man & Captain America came so gosh darn close.  Fingers crossed on some serious, non-disappointed entertainment.

3.  GI Joe - Retaliation:  Now, here's the craziest entry on my list.  I (and I think most sane people) thought that Stephen Sommers' original GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra was complete and utter horseshit, and if you had told me as I was walking out of the theater that I would be looking forward to its sequel more than an Avengers film in 2012 than I would have punched you in the throat and called you flipping crazy.  But here you go.  GI Joe 2.  My number 3 most anticipated summer film of 2012.  Crazy.  But it's got The Rock.  And as he's proved, in Journey 2 and Fast Five, that he can make any franchise better.  And judging by the White House Cobra banners & the rock climbing Red Ninjas, director Justin Lin (Step Up 3D!) looks like he knows to bring out the Hasbro Toy Product insanity of the original cartoon.  Queue up the Jay-Z and I'm ready to chant "Yo Joe!"

2.  Prometheus:  This came oh-so-close to ranking #1 and I'd almost like to say that it tied for first place.  But I don't cotton to that nonsense and my Bat-Love beat out Ridley Scott.  However, I am super pumped for this Alien prequel and the sheer brilliance of the trailer imagery has me all a squee.  I'm trying not to watch any more trailers or watch any of the viral videos.  Visually I'm sold, but as much as I can guess on the plot I've managed to keep myself fairly distanced from spoilers.

1. The Dark Knight Rises:  Ah, the internet (and several of my friends) are gearing up to unleash all sorts of hate on The Dark Knight Rises if it doesn't live up to their ridiculous expectations, but I'm staying curious (again, avoiding trailers & spoilers) and hopeful.  Batman Begins is still my favorite Bat-Film and even though I have some problems with the third act, I do love love love The Dark Knight.  What I want here is a Batman story, maybe the final Batman (or at least Bruce Wayne) story.  Tom Hardy's Bane is cool looking and I'm not as disgusted by an Anne Hathaway Catwoman like I once thought I was, but I want this final Christopher Nolan Bat-Film to be a Batman story.  Stay on focus, don't Schumacher it up (as if that was possible).

--Brad