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Provoking curiosity is sometimes the best marketing strategy. If you’ve seen Transformers (and weren’t late), you’ve seen the preview for a movie that doesn’t reveal very much and doesn’t have a title (here’s the trailer for those who haven’t). All you see is a going away party for someone, explosions in the city, and the Statue of Liberty’s head being thrown for blocks. Godzilla almost seems too easy, since this trailer is thought of as a mystery, but I’m at a loss for anything else. Not knowing what it is makes me want to see it. Any ideas?

There are a lot of good movies coming out this summer. I’ve missed several that I wanted to see in theaters, so I guess DVD will have to do. Here are a few of the more well-known movies I want to see (new and old) in no particular order:

• Transformers—I cannot wait (here are a few trailers).
• American Gangster—based on a true story, and has Denzel Washington in it… his movies are usually good.
• I am Legend—this movie has potential to be good, but it’s borderline dumb.
• I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry—looks pretty funny to me.
• The Bourne Ultimatum—I’m really looking forward to this one.
• Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer—as a kid, I used to draw silver surfer like nobody’s business, which naturally means I have to see the movie.
• Evan Almighty—looks decent.
• Live Free or Die Hard—might be too predictable, with too many cliche’ lines, but I’ll watch it.
• Blood Diamond—based on real events related to conflict diamonds and looks really good.
• Apocalypto—it’s so far away from the idea of being good, it might be good.
• Hannibal Rising—I’ve seen all of the others.
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning—I have a feeling this won’t be good at all, but I’d like to find out for sure.
• Knocked Up—mostly for Amie, but I think it might be funny, too.
• Ratatoulie—I think Amie is pretty excited about this one as well, and the animation always impresses me.

If I don’t catch a movie at the theater (or somehow end up owning the DVD), I usually don’t watch it. For whatever reason, we rarely rent movies. Here’s what I thought (briefly) about some of the major hits I’ve seen so far this summer:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End: Really good, but you have to enjoy the plot. This one really played on the story more than anything else, and was somewhat confusing to follow. The others involved more “entertainment,” but it’s good in its own right. And it’s almost 3 hours long.
• Shrek 3: Exactly what I expected. It was good, but it’s a movie that I don’t really care about (I don’t think I’ve even seen the second one).
• Spiderman 3: I thought it was awesome. A lot of critics say there was too much going on, with too many villains, but I enjoyed it. I thought the sandman was great, and I loved the fact that venom was in it, too. It was arguably a little corny at times (Harry acting ridiculously happy and Peter Parker dancing to jazz music to, ya know, act “venomous”). I’ll buy it when it comes out on DVD for sure.
• Oceans Thirteen: I thought it was about as good as the second one (which was/is really good), but I liked the first one the most. Still, it goes by fast and it’s fun to watch. A fourth one would take it too far in my opinion.

It takes a lot for me to not like a movie, but it also (to some extent) takes a lot for me to love one. Lately I’ve come across a few very good movies. Without further ado, here they are:

1. Inside Man – “Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully and I never repeat myself.” It’s just good. I think Denzel Washington is among the best actors in the business.
2. The Guardian – This movie was probably good rather than great. It’s hard to imagine a job like that, though.
3. Lucky Number Slevin – A mistaken identity gone out of control. You’ll be suspicious, but you’ll probably be wrong. I loved it, but it does have a decent amount of violence. Just look past all that.
4. The Departed – I just watched this on Saturday night. It was excellent. It’s basically a battle from within the Boston Police Department. It boils down to who’s smart enough to fool who, and how long they can get away with it.

I could probably talk about movies forever, but I’ll quit here and end with a few I’m looking forward to:

• Spiderman 3 – I simply can’t wait.
• The Prestige – I thought this was different, so naturally I want to see it.
• Man of the Year – I’m not a big fan of Robin Williams, but it looks entertaining.
• TMNT – I’m a sucker for the Ninja Turtles. I can’t say it will be good, but the trailor looks decent.
• Transformers – I’m not completely clear on this one, but I’m in.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – Just because.