There are some potentially great movies coming out this year. Go anywhere else on the internet and you will read about movies like PACIFIC RIM and ANCHORMAN 2 and THE WORLD’S END and ELYSIUM. I’m excited about those too. There’s also all the obvious nerd bait like STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS and HUNGER GAMES 2 and THOR THE DARK WORLD. Not really my thing, but it’s certainly understandable if those are the kind of titles that make your heart do a happy dance.
But step off the beaten path with me. Let’s take a moment to give some attention to the real weirdos out there. Let’s look at some of the movies of 2013 which no one in their right mind is looking forward to. I’m not talking about intentional cult items like MACHETE KILLS or ESCAPE PLAN. Those movies are that guy or girl at the party who’s trying too hard to be sexy and therefore failing big for exactly that reason. I’m talking about the ugly guys or girls who just don’t give a fuck what you think they look like. They just wandered in off the street because they got a whiff of the guacamole dip.
This isn’t about schadenfreude. Well, not really. I mean, I’m no saint. There are a couple movies I wouldn’t mind watching crash and burn. In that category are ENDER’S GAME — written by a bigot, directed by the guy who made X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE; sure, no way that pairing could go wrong — and a pair of Vince Vaughn movies, one where he hangs out at Google for an entire movie and another movie where he plays a sperm donor, because no one learned anything from THE SWITCH and holy Lord do I ever not want to see or ever be asked to think about Vince Vaughn donating sperm.
But generally, my natural good nature wins out and I am a sweetheart who only wishes the best for everyone. Still, there are some movies coming up in 2013 whose very existence perplexes me. And that in turn makes me curious. Call me a a jerk, a creep, a kook, a contrarian, a nihilist, an anarchist — I’ve been called all of those things before and that was only this morning at the nunnery — but I like really bizarre movies that make no rational sense, and I like it even better when those movies turn out to be entertaining. So the following bunch is a group I’ve got my eye on in 2013 (some are getting real close now!):
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ASSAULT ON WALL STREET (May 10)
Why It Could Be Cool:
It’s ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 meets WALL STREET!
Why It Probably Won’t Be:
It’s ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 meets WALL STREET!
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JAVA HEAT (May 10)
Why It Could Be Cool:
It’s the caveman version of HEAT!
Why It Probably Won’t Be:
Mickey Rourke may actually be an Al Pacino, but Kellan Lutz is no Robert De Niro. I mean, maybe he is. I’ve only seen him in ARENA. He did not come off too brightly there. Also, his name is Kellan Lutz.
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CODY THE ROBOSAPIEN (May 28)
Why It Could Be Cool: “From the producer of SPIDER-MAN, X-MEN, and IRON MAN…”
Why It Probably Won’t Be: …And the director of SOUL SURFER!
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SINBAD THE FIFTH VOYAGE (May 31)
Why It Could Be Cool:
Pseudo-stop-motion-animated skeletons!
Why It Probably Won’t Be:
Skeletons aside, this looks impressively bad. Like ten dollars worth of stolen garbage. I bet you Sinbad doesn’t even do his MacDonald’s milkshake routine!
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AFTER EARTH (May 31)
Why It Could Be Cool: Will Smith! A clone of Will Smith! Space! Volcanoes! Monkeys!
Why It Probably Won’t Be: M. Night Shyamalan.
But that also means it could be as funny as THE HAPPENING. At this point, Shammy is probably done for as a serious director. But as a director of hilariously-solemn unintentional-comedies, he’s got a better shot than most.
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AXE GIANT: THE WRATH OF PAUL BUNYAN (On DVD June 18)
Why It Could Be Cool: Well, it’s a horror movie about the legendary giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan. Ain’t a thing I can say I’ve ever seen before, and brother, I’ve seen plenty. Also, while there are no signs from the trailer or the official site, there’s still a better-than-average chance of a cameo from Babe The Blue Ox.
Why It Probably Won’t Be: Actually, I have no reason to expect it won’t be amazing.
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HAMMER OF THE GODS (July 5)
Why It Could Be Cool: It’s a movie about Vikings!
Why It Probably Won’t Be: Vikings that say “Kiss my axe.”
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R.I.P.D. (July 31)
Why It Could Be Cool: I’ll never not have hope for a movie that has Jeff Bridges and James Hong in it, and unlike most of the huge movies this summer, this one seems to have a sense of humor about itself.
Why It Probably Won’t Be: It’s trying way, way hard to be both GHOSTBUSTERS and MEN IN BLACK at the same time. See if you can spot the big, gaping difference.
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THE FROZEN GROUND (August)
(No trailer yet.)
Why It Could Be Cool: Cage versus Cusack. Hate to paraphrase myself so quickly, but: It’s like HEAT for weirdos.
Why It Probably Won’t Be: This comes to us from 50 Cent’s production company, Cheetah Vision, and yes, 50 Cent co-stars in the film. 50 Cent’s movies are becoming an obsession of mine — not because they’re particularly awful, but because they aren’t particularly good, despite often tremendous casts. Also, NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT THEM. He’s so famous yet his movies are so under-the-radar. But that’s a much longer conversation. THE FROZEN GROUND is based on a true story. John Cusack plays Robert Hansen, the notorious serial killer, and Nicolas Cage plays the Alaskan cop who hunts him down. It’s no secret that Cage, once (and still) a tremendously gifted and unconventional actor, took a severe detour into mostly silly movies. It’s less commented-upon that John Cusack has kind of done the same thing. There’s an outside chance that a movie teaming the two of them could end up being great, but even if it doesn’t, it can still be colossally entertaining.
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DON JON (October 18)
Why It Could Be Cool: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of the smartest actors around and this is the first movie he wrote and directed. He seems to have brought his old accent from LOOPER along, and that was surely a fine movie. Scarlett Johannsson, who is also great, is his co-star, and she looks particularly phenomenal in this trailer.
Why It Probably Won’t Be: Well it still could be. There’s a ton of major talent involved. But I have to admit, and you probably should also, that if it were anyone other than Joseph Gordon-Levitt making this movie, there’d be plenty of cause for agita. It’s hard to escape the suspicion that JGL came up with this movie back when Jersey Shore was hot. It’s tough not to notice that Scarlett is using one of her SNL accents. It impossible not to consider that porn addiction is pretty difficult to make charming on film. And on top of all that, Tony Danza.
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THE BUTLER (October 18)
Why It Could Be Cool: There are a lot of good actors in this movie.
Why It Probably Won’t Be: Watch the trailer. Listen to and look at all the shit those good actors are made to do, say, and wear. Listen to that music. Have you done all three? Great! Now your incontinence is cured!
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GALLOWWALKER(S) (release date unknown, may actually have already been out for two years)
Why It Could Be Cool:
It’s exactly BLADE, but then also a Western!
Why It Probably Won’t Be:
I mean let’s be reasonable with our expectations here.
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