Over the next four months, more than 100 movies are headed to local screens. If that doesn’t make your head spin, then you might want to audition for one of those superhero roles that studios stake their tent-pole ambitions on.
This doesn’t even count the 10 films opening today. Nor does it include the unique local offerings that make this state such a fine place for the movie lover. For that, consider the June-through-August, music-movie mashup Film on the Rocks (as in Red Rocks). The schedule is not set in stone yet, but the series will pair “Wayne’s World” with the School of Rock All-Stars tour of kids 8 to 18 on July 2. Before “The Artist” and Denver’s own Silent Film Festival, there was the annual Chautauqua Silent Film Series in Boulder (starts June 13). Don’t forget Telluride’s bookcase fests: Mountainfilm over Memorial Day weekend and the San Juan’s storied Tellluride Film Festival over Labor Day weekend.
Did we mention that there’s a lot?
In an effort to give you a head start, to help you keep the faith in movies yet unseen, we watched countless trailers, read interviews and parsed the credits in hopes of sending you to the smart sequel, the rousing family flick, the soulful indie.
Naturally, we want you to be entertained.
And, yes, we can be susceptible to the same mix of hype and hope you are. We, too, can succumb to seasonal anticipation disorder. (“OMG, this sounds epic.”) But we also like to act as sentries. “Put down that wallet,” I repeat: “put down that billfold.” Go for a bike ride along Cherry Creek, hike the foothills, catch the Rockies.
One last caveat: Release dates are subject to change.
“MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS”
Clearly the world’s in a heap of hurt if it requires the services of this gang of the caped, masked and bickering. Franchises unite as Thor, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk and Captain America are joined by the Black Widow and Hawkeye to fight Thor’s bitter bro, Loki. Will Samuel L. Jackson call upon his famous, furious cadence as mission maestro Nick Fury? Can the zeitgeist-gifted Joss Whedon — a comic book author in addition to the mind behind “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” — conjure superhero magic? The forecast is good. (May 4, PG-13)
“THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL”
Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy. We’d follow the cast of this romp just about anywhere. So we’re headed to a resort in Jaipur, India, where these Brits plan to retire. Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire”) plays the owner of an establishment, which is not-quite-ready for these mildly past-their-prime guests. (May 4, PG-13)
“DARK SHADOWS”
appear to have distilled the strangeness of TV’s 1966-71 gothic soap into an even kitchier brew. The year is 1972, and centuries after a curse that robbed him of everything, vampire Barnabus Collins (Depp) returns to his estate to find his descendants a mess of neuroses and the witch who cursed him still feeling scorned. Helena Bonham Carter — Burton’s other muse and mate — portrays the Collins’ family shrink. (May 11, PG-13)
“SOUND OF MY VOICE”
Brit Marling was one of Sundance 2011’s “it gals.” Last summer, the former investment banking analyst which she co-wrote. This latest indie — also a Sundance ’11 feature, also co-written by Marling — finds the actress portraying the leader of what appears to be a cult. Christopher Denham and Nicole Vicius are Peter and Lorna — documentarians and lovers — who infiltrate the group. As in any good undercover tale, their intentions become murkier, their loyalties muddied the deeper they wade in. (May 11, R )
“MEN IN BLACK 3”
Agents J and K are back — sort of. When Tommy Lee Jones’ K goes missing, Will Smith’s J is transported to 1969 to partner with the younger K (Josh Brolin). Director Barry Sonnenfeld’s sci-fi flick about a clandestine agency tasked with keeping aliens in check has always messed with the space-time continuum. Fear not, Jones is around here somewhere, but Brolin appears ready for some uncanny channeling of the laconic actor in this long-time-coming follow-up. (May 25, not yet rated)
“WHERE DO WE GO NOW?”
A village of Muslim and Christian women do everything in their power to stop their menfolk from killing one another — and indoctrinating their sons into irrational hatreds. With musical flights of fantasy, filmmaker/actress Nadine Labaki’s sophomore feature can be as playful as it is deadly serious. (May/June, PG-13)
“SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN”
Grimm takes on glam as the fairy-tale heroine and hunter — portrayed by Kristen Stewart and a very busy Chris Hemsworth — battle Charlize Theron’s vengeful monarch. If you can’t be fairest, most evil shall do. Best line from the trailer: “I will give this wretched world the queen it deserves.” Uh oh. (June 1, PG-13)
“MOONRISE KINGDOM”
Even when his plots have turned a little precious, Wes Anderson has always made flicks with flashes of genius acting and indelible characters. The maker of “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums” returns with a story about two 12-year-olds going on the lam for love in the summer of 1965 in Maine. The adults — played by Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton — are none too pleased. (June 1, PG-13)
“PROMETHEUS”
Director Ridley Scott has been careful to keep moviegoers in the shadows about the plot of this sci-fi tale, starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron. The trailers are pretty murky too. But this is the genre that proved Scott great (“Blade Runner”). And though it remains to be seen, “Prometheus” has often been referred to as a prequel to “Alien.” That’s more than enough to get us to the theater. (June 8, not yet rated)
“I WISH”
In 2005, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Nobody Knows” made palpable poetry out of the true story of four children abandoned by their mother in a Tokyo apartment. In “After Life,” he introduced a group of the recently departed allowed to take a single memory into eternity. Now the master of betwixt-and-between moments tells the story of a young child of divorce who imagines a bullet train that will reunite his family. (June 8, PG)
“ROCK OF AGES”
Almost a year to the day of its, Broadway’s head-banging, big-haired musical about a small-town lass, a big city lad and the dank clubs of L.A.’s Sunset Strip comes to multiplexes everywhere. And boy does it look like ridiculous fun. Tom Cruise letting his hair down? Alec Baldwin as a club owner? Paul Giamatti and Mary J. Blige? And they’re just the opening act. The real stars are tunes by Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Poison and Whitesnake. (June 15, not yet rated)
“BRAVE”
Sure, there was Dory swimming in “Finding Nemo” and Jesse yodeling in the “Toy Story” sequels, but in 26 years of wonder, Pixar had yet to shine a klieg light on a female hero — until now. Oh, Merida’s still a princess but with an independent streak as wide as a Scottish vale and aim as true at Katniss Everdeen’s. We could ask, “What took them so long?” But in the spirit of the tentpole season, we’re just glad she’s arrived. (June 22, not yet rated)
“MAGIC MIKE”
Channing Tatum revisits his stripper past, this time as mentor to a hungry young ‘un played by Alex Pettyfer. Steven Soderbergh directs this dramedy. High time, film turned its gaze to a different sort of pole dancer. (June 29, R)
“YOUR SISTER’S SISTER”
Writer-director Lynn Shelton has a sweetly libertine streak. If you saw her comedy “Humpday,” about two straight guy friends who dare themselves into quite the sexual dilemma, you know what we mean. When Iris offers dear friend Tom use of her father’s cabin to get his head and heart straight in her new film, she has no idea her lesbian sis is already at the remote abode licking her own wounds. Complications — expected and unexpected — ensue. Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt give lovely, bemused and wounded performances. (June/July, R)
“BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD”
When I told the nice film buyer from Britain sitting beside me at Sundance that Benh Zeitlin’s bewitchingly moving debut feature set in an isolated Louisiana bayou was my favorite movie at the fest, he whispered “Oh, that’s such a critic’s film.” I’m betting (praying even) he’s mistaken. This gorgeously wrought tale of 6-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) and father Wink (Dwight Henry) exerts the power of a modern-day, yet timeless, American myth. (June, PG-13)
“THE INTOUCHABLES”
This French import was inspired by the true story of a paralyzed aristocrat and the street-wise guy he hired as his aide. Francois Cluzet, France’s slightly handsomer answer to our Dustin Hoffman, plays the wheelchair-bound employer. Omar Sy made history as the first black man to win the best actor César for his turn as the ex-con caretaker. (June, R)
“THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN”
Back when her Broadway-bound musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” was all hope and possibility, not rancor and debacle, Julie Taymor told The Post the superhero comic had become part of our national folklore. We’ll know soon if this rebooted Spider-Man (starring Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, the love that came before Mary Jane) deserves that elevated praise. (July 3, not yet rated)
“THE DARK KNIGHT RISES”
Gotham City is calm. A crusader has tucked away his cape. Millionaire Bruce Wayne is as glum as ever. What could possibly go wrong in the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy and summer’s most eagerly awaited film? Maybe a new nemesis with a garbled way of talking yet a powerful gift for rousing mass resentment. The most chilling — and prescient? — scene in the trailer? Anne Hathaway’s character Selina Kyle (a.k.a. Catwoman) warning, “There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches. Because when it hits, you’re going to wonder how you thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us?” (July 20, PG-13)
“THE BOURNE LEGACY”
Jason Bourne’s gone, but the shadowy program that created him lives on. As might this remarkably solid action franchise, inspired by the clandestine world created by Robert Ludlum. This time, Jeremy Renner, who recently cut his block-buster action teeth in “Mission Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” is the agent with an even more lethal skill set and, it seems, none of predecessor Bourne’s ambivalence. (Aug. 3, not yet rated)
“SPARKLE”
This remake of the beloved B-flick from 1976 (which played at Park Hill’s Crest Theater) gained a sad measure of posthumous publicity with the death of Whitney Houston, who plays mother to three girls who have a shot at music’s big time. With lines like, “Was my life not enough of a cautionary tale for you?” the trailer may be one of the most tragically resonant ever. (Aug. 17, not yet rated)
Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.co
