When I go to the theater, I love to see the previews. I consider them an art unto themselves. It can’t be easy to tease an unfinished movie by pulling out the . . . → Read More: Summer Movie List 2 – Revenge of the Trailer]]> Back in April I wrote a list of the movies I want to see this year in the theater. So far I’ve seen all the ones I called as a must-see and missed all the others (which, so far, is just Speed Racer).

When I go to the theater, I love to see the previews. I consider them an art unto themselves. It can’t be easy to tease an unfinished movie by pulling out the enticing bits and telling you just enough to get you interested in the story without revealing the whole thing. Good editors can even make a bad movie look great. Conversely, great movies can be hidden behind a poor trailer. But a great movie with a great trailer makes you sit up and go, “wow!”

The problem with seeing all these previews is that they are essentially commercials. Commercials are made to make you want to purchase something you didn’t know you needed. They are there to separate you from your money. So for me, loving trailers is a two-edged sword.

Case in point: when we saw our double-feature, I saw trailers for movies I somehow hadn’t heard about before, and newer trailers for movies I was already somewhat interested in. Then I read Lee’s review of The Incredible Hulk. I thought I was set with my list for the summer, but now it seems I have some revision to do.

So here’s the new list, in order of release, with release date (and my thoughts, if I’ve seen it). Boldface indicates movies I will not miss in the theaters. Italics are the ones I’m going to whine about incessantly if I miss in the theater – the ones that it hurts me to not put in bold. The others I will be disappointed if I have to miss for one reason or another, but once I see them on video I’ll be okay:

1. Iron Man – May 2 (review)
   
2. Speed Racer – May 9 (judging by general reaction, glad I missed it)
3. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian – May 16 (review)
4. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – May 22 (review)
5. The Incredible Hulk – June 13 (This is so close to being in bold it’s not even funny)
6. Get Smart – June 20
7. Wall-E – June 27
8. Hancock – July 2
9. The Dark Knight – July 18
   
10. The X-Files: I want to believe – July 25
11. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emporer – August 1
12. Star Wars: The Clone Wars – August 15
    
13. City of Ember – October 10
14. Quantum of Solace (James Bond) – November 7

The astute among you (i.e., the ones who have nothing better to do but follow the minutiae of these posts) will notice that City of Ember was added to the list. Bill Murray and Tim Robbins in a sci-fi adventure movie. I love Bill Murray and Tim Robbins, and I love sci-fi adventure, but I would not be sold by that pairing. It’s on my list. That’s the power of a trailer.

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Hancock has also been upgraded to painfully close to a must-see (as has Hulk). When I saw the first trailer, it looked like a fun, but relatively light, superhero movie. This most recent trailer shows that it actually has a plot of redemption and seems well formed. (And they even surpassed the whale bit for funny. Jason Bateman is perfect for this movie.)

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/icJ-qNA5wpg" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

So many movies… so little time.

Here’s the list, in order of release, with release date. Boldface indicates movies I will not miss in the theaters – the others I will be disappointed if I have to miss for one reason or another: