The summer season can get big, loud and obnoxious. Considering it lasts four months and not every moviegoer wants that heavy dose of blockbuster, independent films and dramas can offer a nice alternative for the summer, even if the can’t-miss ones are usually out in November and December. Considering Oscar-nominated Best Picture “The Kids Are [...]

If superheroes are you cup of tea, you have four great options this summer (“Thor” was a solid start too), but even then you’d be hard-pressed to avoid the other big blockbusters this season has to offer. With three titan-sized sequels to some of the most profitable film series and some aspiring franchises-to-be, there’s a [...]

Comedy has not been one of the stronger genres thus far in 2011. Only “Just Go With It,” the Adam Sandler Valentine’s Day comedy, grossed more than $100 million domestically yet scored poorly with critics. Many of these films could reverse the trend, starting with two films in May: one a sequel to the highest-grossing [...]

After “Priest” comes out on May 13 (and you would not be wrong to argue that’s not really a horror film), 2011 will take a three-month break from horror films. Looks like fans of the genre will have to do some rental catch-up or stick to the classics for most of the summer. Starting Aug. [...]

No genre has been more successful in 2011 (and arguably the last couple of years too) than animation and family films. Of the top six highest-grossing films of 2011 so far (domestically), four have been animated films. You can bet that two or more of these movies are going to dominate box-office statistics, even amidst [...]

Summer is hot time for romance, so rather than clump these films in with all the straight-up comedies of the summer, I’ve given them their own special section, which I must say is rather considerate of me considering I won’t be seeing many of them. For this seasonal preview, I’ve decided it’s time to stop [...]

I’m not sure if the major movie studios are ready for the summer. I mean, yes, they’re ready for the upswing in box-office totals after a terribly slow 2011 so far, but are they truly ready? I’ve mentioned before here on MMR that Jon Favreau sometime last year called summer 2011 a “box-office bloodbath.” I don’t [...]