ahhh, may! the absolute start of happy days when it comes to movies... as the resident popcorn flick buff, i'm grossly (emphasize on the "gross") excited about watching some of the biggest hollywood offerings, namely (in order of release) :

Mission: Impossible III (May 3)

Poseidon (May 10)

The Da Vinci Code (May 18)

X-Men III: The Last Stand (May 26*)

Superman Returns (June 30*)

Pirates of the Carribean II: Dead Man's Chest (July 7*)

but for space's sake, i'll just zero in on two particular movies (very predictable):

1) M:i-3 -- ok, we're not going to blab about tom cruise although it's his movie... all the hullabaloo over the you-know-what since last year has fried my brain cells already. if this is going to be some sort of redemption for him, let it be. but he is NOT the reason why i'm gaga about this film... there are plenty of other reasons: lame excuse #1 this is directed by J.J. Abrams of "Lost" and "Alias" fame (he created and produced these 2)... i expect really great things from this man... action, plot twists, fun! if he can turn me from a regular "Lost" viewer to a mega-addict wacko "Lost" viewer, what else? lame excuse #2 Philip Seymour Hoffman stars in it. this is his first major foray into big budget films. again, expectations are high since his Best Actor win in "Capote" -- which i watched, loved and even read the entire screenplay! (i swear!) i bet he'll make a great villain. (rumor's ripe that he's gonna play the Penguin in the next Batman installment. *shakes head*) lame excuse #3 other stars like Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Maggie Q..... Michelle's really purty. i remember her from "Mr. & Mrs. Smith"... and Maggie, she's beautiful (Polish-Irish / Vietnamese) ... and Jonathan is kinda cute (non-Elvis-wise, ok?) sad that his "Match Point" costar Scarlett Johansson didn't sign on to the role currently played by Keri Russell. i do my research! lame excuse #4 the new MI3 theme by Kanye West. i'm intrigued 'coz i heard the tailend of the theme which was a totally sexy take. hearing Kanye's music (as i'm still on a lapse from "Gold Digger"), it's bound to be a smash. i wanna hear it! lame excuse #5 the locations, the effects, the surprises, and... all right, all right (can't help it)... tom cruise. he spent his money on this! =p

2) The Da Vinci Code -- would you mind if i rehash all the buzz i've generated for this movie (from my september post)? this topbills my favorite actor of all time, Tom Hanks, in a role i couldn't imagine he would play. i really thought Harrison Ford would be a nice choice, but anyways, director Ron Howard calls the shots... and what's with the crazy hair? but i'll brush aside all my misgivings and doubts he'd play the perfect Robert Langdon by simply watching... maybe he can pull it off! Audrey Tautou (from "Amelie") and Jean Reno (the quintessential Frenchman in most American movies) play Sophie and Bezu respectively... i have high hopes in both. but what gains most momentum to me in watching DVC would be my other favorite actors (Sir) Ian McKellen and Paul Bettany, playing my favorite characters (Sir) Leigh Teabing & Silas. when i found they'd do these roles, my anticipation rose and i couldn't have been more excited to watch! but honestly, i found their physiques quite different from the one in the book. (i always read the book -- if i own one -- weeks before its film version arrives, just to rediscover and therefore compare) leigh is described as someone fat and jovial (his sly humor made me love him), and i couldn't find them in ian (ha, ha... it's the dark side that counts... *oops, spoiled!*) ... nor the big ugly brute in paul's silas (i think otherwise)... but anyhoo, what's the fuss with all the controversy about banning / boycotting the movie just because it 'destroys Christian beliefs', promotes violence, sexuality (?!), defames the Catholic Church, Opus Dei, and so on? "The Da Vinci Code"'s a freaking work of fiction! i've read the book a second time and found nothing so scandalous about the revelations, clever as it was intricated in the novel. any learned person can distinguish the fact from fiction -- it's up to him, whether he takes Dan Brown's work as gospel truth or not. surely i won't (i don't know anyone who did), but it makes for good reading and conversation topic (promotes religious dialogue, as Brown suggests). somewhere on the back of my mind i think the whole "only human" thing's plausible...

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