Movies: Looking back, looking ahead.

I wasn’t always as on top of current movies as I am now. In fact, while I was in school, I managed to catch maybe one or two movies in theatres a year. And my Netflix queue moved at a glacial pace. I had Bug and The Reaping sitting on top of my DVD player from February until May, which basically means I outright bought both movies, which is not something I would have actually done if I’d known how blah both were. Not that my post-college Netflix queue is faring any better. I’ve been sitting on Good Night and Good Luck (for love of journalism), The Air I Breathe (for love of Sarah Michelle Gellar), and The Golden Compass (for love of the books) for a few weeks now. Worse, I have already watched GNAGL, I’ve just been too lazy to put it in the envelope and trade it in for Gothika (for love of…actually, I’d rather not explain that one). And then there’s my oddly spotty movie watching history. I’ve seen every Sleepaway Camp (including the unfinished fourth installment) but not one of the six Star Wars. I’ve seen ABC Family classics like See Jane Date, I Wanna Marry Ryan Banks, and Lovewrecked, but none of the Indiana Jones past or present. I’ve seen random-assed movies like Love Comes to the Executioner (which was cute) and I’m Reed Fish (which was terrible) but neither No Country For Old Men nor There Will Be Blood. So my personal movie canon is fairly hit or miss. Thus, when it comes to this summer’s big ol’ sequels, I’ve had to do a bit of homework before I dive in. Namely, I wanted to see Batman Begins and Hellboy. So what did I do? I turned to my trusty Tivo, and found that FX was airing both movies. It aired Batman Begins last week, and is airing Hellboy the night before Hellboy 2 comes out. Well played, FX, well played.

There are some interesting looking movies on the horizon, too. I saw the green-band trailer for Mirrors a while back and wasn’t overly impressed. I mean, I am oddly partial to schlocky J-horror-style movies (I loved One Missed Call, even if it was pretty much Ring-lite), but I just don’t love the Kief all that much. But yesterday, AICN linked to the red-band trailer, claiming it was much better, and you know what, it is. Count me in. Then, last night I saw Wanted (I’ll do a post on it later, along with Hancock, which I’m seeing tomorrow) and one of the trailers was for a new Shia LaBeouf (yes, him, again) movie Eagle Eye. The only trailer I can find online is the Shiacentric version, but the one coupled with Wanted highlighted Michelle Monaghan as the co-star. Monaghan was good on Boston Public’s third season and great in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, so even if you can’t stand Monsieur The Beef, the movie will probably be worth checking out for her and for the intriguing premise.