Tropic Thunder has the potential to be one of the funniest movies to premiere in Summer 2008. Or it could be one of the most angrily controversial movies in recent memory. Either way, it should be interesting to see the public’s reaction.

Starring and directed by the sometimes funny Ben Stiller, Tropic Thunder tells the story of a group of narcissistic actors (is there any other kind?) filming a new Vietnam War epic in the spirit of Apocalypse Now. One is a typical action star (Stiller), one is a comedic actor looking to establish himself as a serious actor (Jack Black), and one (here comes the controversy) is a white actor who is so serious about portraying a role written for an African-American actor, that he dyes his skin black (Robert Downey Jr.). The film crew eventually gets fed up with their high-maintenance cast that they dump them in the jungle to fend for themselves, all to the blissful obliviousness of the cast, who thinks the cameras are still rolling.

The idea of having a movie that stars a white guy in blackface is certainly raising some eyebrows, but Stiller insists that the movie is poking fun at pampered actors, not black people, as seen in this article in Entertainment Weekly. That may very well be the case, but is that what the audience will allow themselves to see? Given the mixed feelings I have about Ben Stiller movies, I’ll wait to RENT IT and find out.

Tropic Thunder is not yet rated and opens on August 15. (Official site)

Is it me or have there been about twenty superhero movies in the past two years? What does Hollywood think we are, a bunch of idiots? I mean, it’s not like we’re just going to watch any superhero movie they throw at us, right? Right????

Well, unfortunately Hollywood has us by the balls on this one. Fight as we may, we all know that superhero movies are box-office gold. Even when all the critics warn us that the movie is awful, we still seem to watch it in droves. Hell, even when we don’t particularly care for the superhero being portrayed, we still watch, if only just to see what all the hype is about.

Take this new Iron Man movie for example. It’s a guy in a metal suit with a jet-pack. I mean, I could think up a more creative superhero in my sleep. And I’m about as anxious for another superhero movie as I am for my next dentist appointment. And yet, I have no doubt that I am going to SEE IT in the theaters.

Why, you ask? Why don’t I just stick to my principles and boycott this thing? Well, because I know I’ll be entertained. Even if the dialogue is cheesy (which it certainly will be) and the story is formulaic (ditto), I know that it’ll still be action packed from beginning to end, which is more than I can say about most films.

Plus, I love Robert Downey Jr, and I think he’ll make a great superhero. The Iron Man character is somewhat of a poor man’s Batman, and Robert Downey Jr. fits the bill perfectly. He’s playful, irreverent, and suave in a kind of dorky way. And from watching this trailer, you can tell that they gave him the necessary creative freedoms.

Yeah, I guess I am a bit of an idiot, but I’m not going to miss a good flick just because I’ve got principles.

Iron Man is not yet rated and opens May 2. (Official Site)

One of my favorite things about writing on TrailerSpy is the opportunity to give more attention to small but deserving movies that might otherwise pass you by. Charlie Bartlett is one of those movies, and I hope it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle of the summer blockbusters.

In the dog days of summer, I long for a movie with three-dimensional characters, witty dialogue, and an intelligent story. From the trailer, it looks like Charlie Bartlett will more than fill the void left by spiders, pirates, and robots.

See it for Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, and Anton Yelchin holding his own in the title role. See it for all the small, smart movies that fade into the background. SEE IT so that studios will realize that we’re still aching for good movies.

Charlie Bartlett is rated R and opens on August 3. (official site)

I’ve always been pretty critical of Hollyweird, but I’m beginning to think that there may be some method to their madness. As you may have noticed over the past month or so, I’ve been rather annoyed by the slate of horrible movies that we’ve been bombarded with lately (Alpha Dog, Norbit, etc…). But it suddenly occurs to me that there might be a reason why Hollywood’s been slinging so much shit at us recently. Perhaps it’s because we’ve all been so busy catching up on all of the great Oscar-nominated films that we probably wouldn’t have been spending our money on new movies even if they weren’t complete crap.

Indeed, this is probably the exact reason why on the first weekend after the Oscars, we get two of the most interesting movies that have come out since, well, before the Oscar nominations. I just love that on the on the first week that I find myself craving some fresh, non oscar-related, blood, I find none other than Zodiac and Wild Hogs waiting for me to bite into.

Now, I understand that not everyone will agree with my including Wild Hogs in the same category as Zodiac, but let me explain my reasoning.

There was a time in the movie biz when successfully “packaging” a film meant simply putting together a huge Hollywood star with a huge Hollywood director. But more and more, it seems like a really good movie has to have three or four great actors all working side-by-side (this year’s best picture winner is a perfect example). I’m not sure how these movies are able to pull this off financially, but I don’t really care. I think it’s a wonderful trend, and I hope it continues.

Which brings me to Zodiac and Wild Hogs. To be honest, I would have seen Zodiac no matter who was starring in it, because I love David Fincher and I’d watch his home movies if he let me. But the fact that this film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo…hell, I’d sell my first born child to see that.

And as for Wild Hogs, I realize that the whole roadtrip thing has been done to death (as has the mid-life crisis thing), but I’m too focused on this odd collection of actors to really care. I mean, John Travolta, William H. Macy, Tim Allen and Martin Lawrence?? Are you serious? Normally, I would say that a studio should fire any casting director who makes decisions while under the influence of narcotics, but in this case, it’s so ridiculous that it works…perfectly. While the actors in Zodiac are the perfect collection for the seriousness and intensity of that movie, the collection of actors in Wild Hogs is absolutely perfect for the ridiculousness of a movie about four middle-aged guys who become bikers.

As you may have guessed, I’m going to say SEE IT for both Zodiac and Wild Hogs. I’m so happy we’ve finally got some good movies coming our way, and I think that these two films were the perfect choices to lead the pack. Good job, Hollywood. You’re not as dumb as I thought.

Zodiac (rated R) and Wild Hogs (rated PG-13) both open on March 2. (Official Sites: Zodiac, Wild Hogs)