Movie Nerd: Films I'm Borderline Pee-My-Pants-Excited About For This Year

Borderline, people. I said borderline.

It's the time once again, folks: Summertime. The arrival of the sun, of tans, of sand getting stuck in uncomfortable places and, of course, of movies. Yes, movies. Movies of all shapes and sizes: dumb ones, smart ones, funny ones, sad ones. The thing about "Summer Movies", however, is that there are very rarely 'good' ones. More often than not, the most successful and popular movies of the summer are 'blockbusters', which usually have about all the charm and substance as a block of cheese. Actually, wait. Cheese can be very charming and substantial...

Oh well. Failed pun #1.

I shouldn't poo-poo the Summer Blockbuster, actually. One of my all-time favorite movies (The Dark Knight) was technically a 'Summer Blockbuster'. And, I guess, there have always been very funny and satisfying blockbusters around - especially in recent years past and usually starring Robert Downey, Jr. That is why I decided to include a few 'blockbusters' on my list this year as well as the 'good ones'.

Alright folks, this is going to be a long one, so I hope you're sitting down. Here goes!

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X-Men: First Class
Starring: Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, January Jones
Why I Wanna See It: It's a fairly well-kept secret of mine (well...not anymore) that I used to watch those old superhero/comic book cartoons when I came home as a kid. Like...every day. X-Men quickly became one of my favorites, and I mildly enjoyed the first X-Men movies. Also, I'm borderline obsessed with Michael Fassbender...I mean...

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Super 8
Starring: Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Noah Emmerich
Why I Wanna See It: JJ. Abrams. I'm fairly positive he's some sort of evil super genius. If it's half as good as Lost, or 1/3 as good as Cloverfield, (which, judging by the teaser trailer alone, it will be) I think we'll be good.

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The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Stellan Skarsgård
Why I Wanna See It: I read the book, thought it was 'eh'. Saw the Swedish originals, though, and thought it was definitely not 'eh'. I'm very interested to see how Rooney Mara does with a character that's so well known to so many people, and just generally interested in seeing how the entire movie translates. It shall be interesting..

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The Muppets
Starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Kermie
Why I Wanna See It: I'm pretty sure that Jason Segel is the future Mr. Julie P. I'm just saying we were meant for each other and I totally think we should get married. That being said, I'm really excited to see his collaboration with the Muppets! Everyone and their mothers, apparently, are in this movie (including Lady GaGa with Ed Helms and John Krasinski reportedly playing members of her posse!) and I can't wait to see how it all pans out.

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The Ides of March

Starring: George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood

Why I Wanna See It: Um, please imdb the cast if you honestly have questions re: why this movie looks good. George Clooney. Ryan Gosling. Paul Giamatti. Philip Seymour Hoffman. Evan Rachel Wood? Yes, please thank you. And it's based on a play about political corruption and intrigue?!

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Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
Why I Wanna See It: The last of the last Harry Potter films (which I think as a whole have turned out quite well, don't you??) which will feature the epic battle between good and evil, wizard-style. If the poster of Hogwarts in fiery ruins doesn't pique your interest, I don't know what will. Also, I just cannot wait to see Molly Weasley kick Bellatrix's ass.

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Drive
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Christina Hendricks
Why I Wanna See It: For those who have been reading along, have you begun to notice a common theme in the list of films I want to see? They all have outstanding casts, the majority of which star Ryan Gosling. What can I say? The boy's a stud. And one of the better actors of our generation. I mean, did you see Half Nelson? Blue Valentine? Young Hercules? Ok, well, even if it weren't for him, I'd still want to see this movie. Carey Mulligan is bomb, and Christina Hendricks is actually one of my idols, AND it won for best director at Cannes the other week. Seriously, this should be a good one.

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Immortals
Starring: Henry Cavill, Freida Pinto, Mickey Rourke
Why I Wanna See It: Ok, this movie will probably be miserable. Not Clash of The Titans miserable, but probably somewhere between that and, say...Troy. However, it stars Henry Cavill. As in Charles Brandon. As in the future-man-of-steel. As in dashing, charming, handsome. And British. So, it'll be worth it. It will.

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Cowboys and Aliens
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde
Why I Wanna See It: Five words - Indiana Jones and James Bond. In the Old West. With aliens. Ok, more than five words, but still. This will probably be one of those really bad movies, but hey, who knows? Maybe they'll go all District 9 on us and use this film as a platform to have a serious discussion about immigration. Maybe. But judging by the gratuitous naked Olivia Wilde in the trailer...I'm gonna go with not.

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Bad Teacher
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake
Why I Wanna See It: 1.) Jason Segel. 2.) Yelling at children. 3.) Possible Justin Timberlake/Cameron Diaz tension. 4.) Phyllis from The Office

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A Dangerous Method
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley
Why I Wanna See It: Michael Fassbender as Carl Jung, Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud. CHECK PLEASE.

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50/50
Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick
Why I Wanna See It: This is a risky one, folks. It's the story of a 27-year-old's fight with cancer. As a comedy. Risky. But, judging from the trailer, it looks like it might play out. I mean, Joseph Gordon Levitt's character tries to pick up girls using his diagnosis.

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Crazy, Stupid, Love
Starring: Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling (again, I know), Emma Stone
Why I Wanna See It: Ladies....Also, it looks both funny and heartfelt. And Emma Stone is in it, and I like her. And Steve Carrell bails out of a moving vehicle. And Kevin Bacon plays a douche. Sounds great.

And Finally:

Contagion
Starring: Everyone in the world that rocks.
Why I Wanna See It: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. About a deadly disease and the international team of doctors working with the CDC to fight it. I smell Oscars. Lots of them.