Apparently, this summer is when we’re going to feel the effect of the writers’ strike that took place from November 2007 to February of last year. Big-budget Hollywood scripts generally take a year and a half to go from the writing phase to the movie’s release. Yet we have a multitude of box office-busting flicks ahead of us, including but not limited to ‘Up,’ ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ and ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.’ Whether this means some writers broke the strike and worked (highly unlikely), they had a couple scripts stockpiled (likelier) or they threw the words CRASH, EXPLOSION and TRANSFORM on a piece of paper the day after the strike ended and yelled action (likeliest), the fact is that we have movies!
Now, we may have quantity, but we must wait and see about quality. I’d bet my roommate’s life that ‘Up’ (May 29) will be yet another hit in the still short but growing line of Pixar greats. As for Harry Potter round six (July 15) . . . I’m getting sick of Steve Kloves and gang mutilating my beloved books. I’ll pass on ‘Transformers: ROTF’ (June 24), I like explosions as much as the next girl, but one roughly every seven seconds in a movie is a bit too much. Ditto for ‘Terminator Salvation’ (May 21). Judd Apatow’s next movie, ‘Funny People,’ comes out on July 31st. The trailer implies a darker turn for the writer/producer/director, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. ‘Bruno,’ Sacha Baron Cohen’s upcoming release (July 10), could potentially be as awfully hilarious as ‘Borat’ turned out to be. We’ve also got ‘Public Enemies’ on July 1, which is guaranteed to generate a good chunk of change based its cast alone ‘-‘- Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Not to mention ‘G.I. Joe’ (August 7), ‘Inglourious Basterds’ (August 21), ‘Angels and Demons’ (May 15), ‘The Taking of Pelham 123’ (June 12), and ‘Year One’ (June 19).
So, try not to mourn the loss of your weekly MUSE section for four whole months too badly. There are plenty of movies to see and not to mention the sunshine to be basked in! Instead of returning next semester as your film editor, I’ve chosen to gallivant around London. However, I can guarantee you a MUSE staff and will continue to help with all your entertainment wants and needs. They’ll treat you right. Have a wonderful summer, peace and love.
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