‘I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry’

This unique film has a rather uninspired trailer, but the film’s original premise is intriguing itself. Adam Sandler and Kevin James play two straight firefighters who act gay and are married in Las Vegas. The hilarious opening scene of the trailer has Chuck and Larry getting married in a cozy ceremony in Vegas. They concoct a plan to get married in order to receive domestic partnership benefits. When the couple’s marriage comes into question, they find a lawyer who will confirm and present their case. Their plan goes awry, and Chuck’s feelings for the lawyer conflict with their purported marriage. With scenes featuring friendly banter at their Brooklyn firehouse, a costume party and intimacy occurring between Chuck and the lawyer, the film looks funny. It’s sure to be a summer comedy event, and with a soundtrack for the trailer featuring Mika’s hit song, ‘Grace Kelly,’ it looks good to go.

Release date: July 20

-Andrew Kase, staff writer

‘The Simpsons Movie’

Finally the mystery has been solved. Ned Flanders reveals the true location of the Simpsons’ hometown of Springfield. ‘Look at that,’ Flanders says. ‘You can see the four states that border Springfield: Ohio, Nevada, Maine and Kentucky.’ Now that we know the secret that has been kept for 18 years, we can move on to the movie that has been nearly two decades in the making. I mean, really, what can possibly be better than seeing Bart skateboarding naked, Maggie threatening a crowd with a broken baby bottle, Homer taking a table saw to the face and Reverend Lovejoy saying, ‘Here’s the money shot?’ Oh I know … seeing all that on the big screen. The fate of the world depends on the Simpsons. I don’t really know how or why, but it will be awesome to figure out.

Release date: July 27

– Brian Tahmosh, feature editor

‘Spider-Man 3’

Sure to be a massive blockbuster hit at the box office, ‘Spider-Man 3’ seems poised to please the millions who will see it. The final trailer for the film is an epic three-minute-long glance at what appears to be an action-filled movie. There are fewer than three villains, a nighttime skyline battle in the air above New York and a black Spidey suit of revenge. The Spidey-Venom battle is sure to be awe-inspiring judging by the last scene of the trailer, in which Venom appears out of nowhere and snatches Spidey into the air. With the web of love, deceit, vengeance and action ‘3’ is weaving, moviegoers can only hope Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst will get together again for more installments.

Release date: May 4

‘Evan Almighty’

Steve Carell’s small role as Evan Baxter was one of the most hilarious parts of Jim Carrey’s 2003 hit ‘Bruce Almighty.’ So in order to milk as much cash as possible from the pockets of moviegoers, Universal Pictures had a brilliant idea: a spin-off. The premise is decent: God comes to Earth to tell Evan, who has recently been elected to Congress, to build an ark because a flood is coming. The problem is this movie just doesn’t look funny. The whole shaving only to have the facial hair grow back seconds later joke is an old one (see: ‘The Santa Clause’). Animals begin piling up in twos, Evan is fired from his job as congressman, he employs the help of his family to build the ark, blah, blah, blah. Carell’s humor is better than this. Reruns of ‘The Office’ and a repeat viewing of ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ seem like a better use of time.

Release date: June 22

– Heath D. Williams, asst. feature editor

‘Shrek the Third’

If the trailer is any indication, it looks like the third movie starring the world’s most lovable ogre could stink worse than the green giant’s swamp home. The first two Shrek films mixed classic fairy tales with a dose of modern cartoony wit. The result was a humorous and relatable film for all moviegoers. However, the third time around, the blockbuster franchise seems to pack too much into the new movie. Instead of introducing a couple of timeless characters from your favorite childhood fable, ‘Shrek the Third’ tries throwing all the colorful personalities at once. Slated to have a voice in the film are such folklore legends as Merlin, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Rumplestiltskin, Captain Hook and Lancelot. Sure, it’s nostalgic, but cramming all these individuals looks to turn this formerly amusing series into a two-hour-long gimmick.

Release date: May 18

– Matt Levin, design editor

Published on April 26, 2007 at 12:00 pm