Humor District

2010 has drawn to a close and many of us are still optimistic about our lists of resolutions. This is because a new year brings with it new possibilities and new hope. This year we will finally be able to shed those unwanted pounds. This year we will find true love. This year we will poop out diamonds and suddenly become irresistible to the opposite sex. Well, most of those resolutions will be abandoned by the end of the week, but one thing that can be said is 2011 should be a great year for movies, especially comic book movies. Even if you are perfect already and don’t have any changes to make in this coming year, you should still be looking forward to the rest of 2011 simply because of these movies.

Thor

We have already seen the trailer for Thor, and it looks amazing. Marvel has had some success with their superhero franchises, most notably with Iron Man and Spider-Man, and it definitely looks like Thor will add to that success. With big names such as Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins involved with Thor, it is very easy to be optimistic. Add the fact that Chris Hemsworth looks every inch the petulant but heroic God of Thunder and we should have an exciting movie on our hands.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: The First Avenger has been somewhat overshadowed by Thor, but it is Captain America who has more pressure to succeed. The reason for this is simple, all these Marvel movies are leading up to an Avengers movie that will feature many Marvel superheroes. As the title of his movie suggests, Captain America is an integral part of the Avengers team. I see no need to worry about the success of Captain America though, seeing Chris Evans battle Nazis as a patriotic super soldier should entertain every red, white, and blue blooded American.

Your Highness

Simply put, Your Highness looks like it will be the funniest movie of 2011. Danny McBride and James Franco form a great comedy duo, as shown briefly in Pineapple Express. It will also help that David Gordon Green, the director of Pineapple Express, will also be directing Your Highness. Sure, this is a crude type of humor, finding comedy in masturbation jokes and foul language. That doesn’t make it less funny, and we will get to see Natalie Portman in a thong. It’s pretty much been decided that whatever movie she is in will become one of the most anticipated movies for that year.

The Hangover 2

In the running for comedy of the year will be The Hangover 2. Movies about guys getting drunk and doing ridiculous things relatively consequence free that we could never get away with in real life are always entertaining. What will make this movie great is the same thing that made the first one hilarious; the cameos. It is rumored that Ken Jeong and Mike Tyson will have repeat appearances, and Liam Neeson and Bill Clinton will be showing up to party as well. While there is controversy about Mel Gibson being dropped from the movie, I think Slick Willy will be plenty entertaining to make up for it.

Super 8

I’m not sure what I can say about Super 8 other than it is being directed by J. J. Abrams and it is about Area 51 in 1979. Those are about the only details of this movie that anyone knows at this point. Despite the lack of information, I dare you to watch this trailer and not agree that it is going to be awesome.

Green Lantern

I will admit that I am biased about Green Lantern. I am automatically assuming that Green Lantern will be awesome for several reason. First, I love comic books and Green Lantern is one of my favorite superheroes. Second, Ryan Reynolds is my man crush. With those two things combined, I can’t imagine anything resulting except for greatness. I am also pretty sure everyone else will enjoy Green Lantern because it is a movie about an intergalactic space cop hunting down alien criminals AKA the best idea anyone has ever had, ever.

Sucker Punch

Zack Snyder has gained a reputation for visually appealing and entertaining movies, and rightly so. Sucker Punch will add to that list of movies. The trailer has shown it will be stunning visually, and considering that it is basically Alice in Wonderland meets foxy boxing I don’t think the entertainment value will be anything to worry about. Any movie about a bunch of attractive and crazy girls trying to bust out of an asylum by fighting dragons, flying planes, and doing backflips in skimpy outfits will be pretty popular.

The Green Hornet

The biggest question about The Green Hornet is how believable Seth Rogen will be as a superhero. The part that people have to understand is that Seth Rogen won’t really be the superhero in the “guy who kicks a lot of ass” sense. Those ass kicking duties will be handled by Jay Chou as Kato, who will deliver many side flip kicks to the top of criminals’ heads. Seth Rogen is just the guy who funds the operation, has his heart in the right place, and will occasionally crack a joke or a bad guy’s skull. If people can accept this, than The Green Hornet will be a very entertaining action comedy. Plus it has the Black Beauty, one of the most awesome cars to ever be invented.

Personally, I think the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been sliding since The Curse of the Black Pearl. One of the few things I found really enjoyable about the third installment was the casting choice of Keith Richards as Johnny Depp/Captain Jack Sparrow’s father. It takes a certain kind of man to spawn such an eccentric character as Captain Jack Sparrow, and Keith Richards is exactly that kind of man. For those of you who are unaware, Keith Richards is a legendary guitarist for The Rolling Stones. He is also quite legendary for his drug use, ranging from marijuana to heroin. This drug use probably got him the role as Captain Jack Sparrow’s father. He certainly looks like a dirty ass pirate who has never seen a decent meal in his life. The probable brain damage his drug use has caused also helps when portraying the father of a character as crazy as Sparrow. All in all, he was the perfect choice.

Now there are rumors that Disney is doing an about face and giving old Keith Richards the boot. It seems that the execs don’t want a known drug user to be involved with two of their family oriented movies, one is their limit. If they let him into the next movie they would obviously be sending the wrong message. Drudge Report says that this has to do with the release of Keith Richards’ new book, in which he explains how to do drugs safely. Disney does not want a book about doing drugs to be in any way connected to their movie, so they consider doing the thing that will bring the most attention on themselves and Keith Richards by abruptly cutting ties with him.

What really makes this interesting is the recent backlash about the cutting of Mel Gibson from The Hangover 2. Apparently there was some sort of cast uprising against Mel Gibson having a cameo in the movie because Mel sometimes has issues, loud drunken issues, with people of Jewish faith, women, and African Americans. On the other hand, they were fine with Mike Tyson, a convicted rapist, having a cameo. People called them hypocrites and looked past the fact that Mike Tyson has a very funny voice. How will people respond to Disney giving Keith Richards the boot after he has already been in a previous installment for the franchise? Will they rise up in anger? Lounge around in apathy? Nothing has been announced for sure about whether Richards will stay on the cast or not, but I will be curious to see what Disney does after word of this spreads.