Antici---pation: MOTHER OF TEARS, WALL-E, and PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

The Summer in movie theaters is usually a mixed bag for me. I love a lot of things that come out (this year there are far more than usual I'm looking forward to), but I ultimately enter the Fall season a bit underwhelmed and unsure of what I actually liked or disliked. That said, things are usually bookended pretty well. Last year, for example, GRINDHOUSE, ZODIAC, KNOCKED UP and BLACK SNAKE MOAN all came out between March and May, while THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM and SUPERBAD wrapped things up with a bit of a bang. This year there are a ton of flicks I'm looking forward to that come smack in the middle of the season...and I hope they don't disappoint.

1) MOTHER OF TEARS
Dario Argento's long-awaited follow-up/conclusion of the "Three Mothers" trilogy that he began with his classics SUSPIRIA and INFERNO. As a life-long fan of SUSPIRIA in particular, and as a fan of his daughter, Asia, this movie is something I absolutely cannot wait to see. Concerning a coven of witches hell-bent on destroying Rome, MOTHER OF TEARS promises to be quite a gory and disconcerting time from a true master.

2) WALL-E
Pixar has only made one film that was not very good (CARS), and even then, the animation was flawless, and, hey, it was still better than all the other dreck that gets bandied about as entertainment for children. The studio's upcoming film, WALL-E, is directed by Andrew Stanton, who shared directing duties on A BUG'S LIFE, and helmed the superb FINDING NEMO, and I'm sure it's going to be nothing but a good thing. Take a look at the very cute, sweet, funny and sad trailer, and you'll get a hint as to why I think this may be Pixar's best outing yet...

3) PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
I'm a huge Apatow fan, from his days as producer/curator of the criminally under-seen series FREAKS AND GEEKS and ANCHORMAN to his own films. This film is one that he produced, but that perennial Apatow player Seth Rogen wrote, as was last year's SUPERBAD, which I don't think I need to tell anyone pretty much rocked all the way through. I expect no less from PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, a stoner comedy that turns into an action-comedy when an extremely rare strain of weed leads a mobster to a stoner, who witnessed a murder, and his dealer. It's directed by David Gordon Green, of the superb ALL THE REAL GIRLS and last year's praised-but-unseen-by-myself-as-of-yet SNOW ANGELS. On top of that, the trailer features several of the funniest things I've seen on screen this year in its sparse two minutes.