Five Summer Movies That Appear To Be Actually Worth Your While

The sun's out but freak torrential storms hang thick in the air, and the mosquitoes are back; summer is once more upon us. But the end-of-year sweat-fest isn't all bad news — traditionally, the mercury rising is a solid excuse to retreat to the ostentatious comforts of the local cinema, where bored teens stuff cardboard boxes with cardboard popcorn and ice cream costs your firstborn... and, occasionally, the onscreen offerings actually look like they might be all right. So if you're headed to the big (screen) house this festive season, might we humbly recommend...

St Vincent

(roadshow, december 26)

In our eyes, Bill Murray can do no wrong, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t nice to see him back in the comedy saddle proper with St Vincent. After a number of years getting by on cameos and less outwardly wacky fare, Murray returns to a sense of comedic comfort in Theodore Melfi’s directorial debut feature, in which he plays alcohol-and-gambling-prone war-vet retiree Vincent MacKenna, who is conscripted by his new neighbour, Maggie (Melissa McCarthy), to watch over her 12-year-old son, Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher), because who better to guard an impressionable minor than a cantankerous dinosaur who has lived through active combat? Regardless, as the pair navigate their differences and help the other grow in their own way, the film bares its sweet side and makes itself one of the most ostensibly feelgood drawcards of the season.

Into The Woods

(disney, january 8)

Mega fairytale crossover musical Into The Woods holds a very special place in a lot of people's hearts and minds. To hear the title instantly evokes memories of shitty VHS recordings of the original 1987 Broadway production; of its knowing humour and dalliances with sex and violence; of its memorable lyrics, clever, multi-threaded plot; of being spellbound by Bernadette Peters’ iconic, award-winning performance as the Witch… all of which makes Disney’s Into The Woods, the 2014 all-star ensemble piece featuring Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, James Corden and (for some reason) Johnny Depp, something of a trepidation-worthy prospect.

Don’t misunderstand – we want it to be good. We have high hopes for it, and it has all the tools – story, heart, humour, imagination – to be a family favourite for years to come, especially after Disney took the knife to all the implied bestiality and adultery. But there’s just an inescapable sinking feeling about the whole thing, like we just signed over a healthy, productive cow for a sack of dubious beans and Johnny Depp.

Hot Tub Time Machine 2

(paramount, january 15)

Joining 22 Jump Street on the “self-aware sequels” train (as well as Horrible Bosses 2, on the “OK, you’re self-aware, but you’re still kind of a questionable idea” train), is the follow-up flick to 2010’s sleeper hit Hot Tub Time Machine, which ruminates eagerly in its trailer: “Don’t mess with a winning formula, huh?”

So, no messing with the formula – aside from shoehorning in Adam Scott as the son of John Cusack’s nowhere-to-be-seen character – and central trio Nick (Craig Robinson), Lou (Rob Corddry) and Jacob (Clark Duke) are back in some high jinks-heavy, temporally fluid waters after Lou gets shot and Nick and Jacob set out to right the damage in the past. Of course, none of it goes to plan, and the promise for more madcap mayhem is offered in spades, so if you're looking for something at which you don't have to think overly hard but still want to walk out feeling like you saw something sciencey, this might be your best bet.

Birdman, or the unexpected virtue of ignorance

(fox, january 15)

HOLY SHIT, THIS MOVIE IS GOING TO BE INCREDIBLE. FUCK HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2*.

[*OK, not really, but welcome back, Michael Keaton. After fading into relative obscurity following his career-defining/career-killing turn as the Caped Crusader in Tim Burton’s two Batman flicks (and despite Multiplicity’s best hopes), Keaton stands to make the kind of comeback that is quickly becoming the staple move among ‘80s stars deemed has-beens by the mid-‘90s, only to experience a renaissance of demand once they started sprouting grey hairs. And what better way to do that than by starring in a film about a faded superhero-movie star looking to reignite his career on the stage, dappling it with surrealist, existential window-dressing and giving it an A-list support cast (Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts)? Honestly, this looks to be one of the strongest prospects to hit cinemas in the next few months. We will be astounded if it proves otherwise.]

Inherent Vice

(roadshow, february 5)

Crime-comedy caper Inherent Vice is something of an unknown prospect – directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master), it is the first feature film to be based on a literary work by US author Thomas Pynchon, and stars Joaquin Phoenix as private investigator and (in the novel, at least) total pothead Larry “Doc” Sportello, who is called upon to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend. It’s a simple-enough case, but, as with all premises that have to float a ninety-plus-minute narrative, that’s not where it ends.

Doc finds himself pulled into a web of mystery involving everyone from his old LAPD rival, Detective Christian “Bigfoot” Bjornsen (Josh Brolin), to Eric Roberts’ real-estate mogul Mickey Wolfmann. There’s a degree of Serpico to the whole affair, if Serpico was baked all the time, but you trusted Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler, so trust Phoenix here.