Catch Up on Summer’s Movies So Far
Robots, smoke, and explosions, oh my!
It’s nearly the July 4th holiday! Yes, summer is in full swing–and you may not have noticed that a ton of blockbusters have already hit theaters, with even more to come. In anticipation of some much-appreciated time off, here’s a movie guide to help you spend a few hours in air-conditioned bliss:
Today, June 29: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (official site), 3rd in the series. Shia LaBeouf and a girl who isn’t Megan Fox run around with lots of CGI-robots and loud explosions.
Friday, July 1: Larry Crowne (official site), with American treasures Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. The cute “grown-ups” romantic drama for people who don’t want to watch robots.
Friday, July 8: Horrible Bosses (official site). The star power of Jason Bateman, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell, and Colin Farrell’s horrific combover makes this one look like a winner.
These movies have already been released–better hurry up if you still want to catch them on the big screen. Click to go to the trailers.
Thor, Bridesmaids, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Hangover 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, X-Men: First Class, Super 8, Green Lantern, Cars 2, and Bad Teacher.
It’s a lot to keep up with, but may you find a comfy seat at your favorite theater and make it through. (Or you could just spend more time outside and Netflix everything in the fall.)
Cowboys & Aliens: The Book
Before it was the most anticipated summer movie of 2011 (watch the just-released trailer here), Cowboys & Aliens was a hit graphic novel. We’ll be re-issuing the book in its entirety on March 22, but until then, check out the page spreads below, then pre-order a copy:
Book images © 2006 Platinum Studios, Inc.
No Country for PVC Men
Thanks to the prolific tweeter @ebertchicago for alerting us to the mashup masterpiece that is Cormac McCarthy’s Toy Story 3 by Ruben Bolling.
Read the whole comic here.
Digital Fold-Ins
One of the highlights of my weekend at King Con Brooklyn was meeting legendary comics artist Al Jaffee. I’m a second generation Mad Magazine fan, having grown up reading both the issues contemporary to my childhood, as well as stacks of hundreds of my dad’s back issues from the 60s and 70s. So meeting the man responsible for those incredible back page fold-ins was a treat. Jaffee was the consummate gentleman–still vibrant and engaged at the age of 88–talking enthusiastically about the dozens of illustrations he’s working on for his upcoming illustrated biography.
After I mentioned my star-struck encounter, a colleague pointed me to a fantastic New York Times interactive archive of some of Jaffee’s
Photo by Oiseau
greatest hits, which reminded me of those childhood hours spent trying to guess what would appear after the fold-in. It’s almost as fun to predict what each fold-in will become when you’re using a mouse and monitor rather than the original paper version, and there’s the added bonus of getting a quick refresher in world history through Jaffee’s incisive and often thought-provoking comic commentary. Some of my favorites are the October 1972 version featuring hot-tubbing politicos that end up in a toilet (where their bullshit is better-suited), a sobering commentary on the deadly alternatives for unemployed young men in July 1968, and a psychedelic butterfly that morphs into an image of disco-age Elvis from September 1978, commenting on our tendency to exploit celebrities even after they’re dead. I’m sure you’ll find some favorites of your own in the addictive slide-show.
