Next up on her weekly Friday Flashback in Time Tour is the (pre)summer of 2006, which, if memory serves, beat a Fast & Furious pace to our seaside town. There’s double the Meryl along with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, who were Breaking Up and making up (if the tabloids are to be believed). The Devil was stylin’ and Cars were the most colorful form of transportation.

Pull up a comfy, preferably sandy chair and enjoy this trip back in movie time…

Originally Published in the Sun by the Sea, May/June 2006 edition

Meg the Movie Buff Goes to Hollywood

With beach weather arriving at a Fast and Furious pace, the cold, Harsh Times of winter are now a thing of the past. One more Click of the calendar, and summer will be here! Who needs the Lake House when beachfront property is waiting! Also waiting are a slew of pre-summer movies. Before you’re Waist Deep in hot sand, why not hop on one of the many (tram) Cars and head to your local movie theater?

Before taking that ride, please check your local listings as release dates have been known to change as often as the weather…

X-Men: The Last Stand (opens May 26^th) finds Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Halle Berry still standing as tension mounts between the mutants and the humans, threatening war (like War at the Shore Wrestling but with, you know, mutants).

Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn are suffering through The Break Up starting June 2^nd. Although broken up, neither wants to move out of their shared condo and attempts to get the other out backfire. These two would feel right at home among Fireworks on the Beach.

Gulf War Vet Christian Bale trudges through Harsh Times (opens June 2^nd) along with childhood pal Freddy Rodriguez as they plan their delusional futures on a dangerous joyride. Further proof that Spring Thunder in the Sand Motorcross is a much safer way to drive.

Peaceful Warriors (opens June 2^nd) are a gymnast (Scott Mechlowicz) and “Socrates” (Nick Nolte), who mentors the young man and introduces him to a whole new world of thinking. Sure he’s smart, but how is he at skeeball?

A Prairie Home Companion (opens June 9^th) tells the story of a popular radio show about to come to an end after a 30-year run, giving the audience a backstage look at its eclectic cast of characters (including Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, and Kevin Kline). Perhaps the thought of sand, as opposed to grass, would make unemployment a bit easier.

Cars pulls into theaters June 9^th. On his way to fame and fortune (a.k.a. a really big car race), Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) is detoured in Radiator Springs where, while performing community service, he encounters the locals (Paul Newman amongst them) and learns valuable life lessons. Perhaps the Nationals Car Show taught him a thing or two as well😊

On a much less animated note, The Omen (opens June 9^th) stars Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles as a government official and his wife who eerily conclude that their adopted son may be the devil (and the inspiration for many thrill rides).

Gael Garcia Bernal is The King (opens June 9^th) dishonorably discharged from the Navy and dealing with major abandonment issues thanks to his father (William Hurt), all but resulting in, well, the wrath of the See Movie Above…

At The Lake House (opens June 16^th), an unfulfilled architect (Keanu Reeves) and a lonely doctor (Sandra Bullock) exchange letters via a mystical postbox. Unfortunately for them, lakes do not inspire the same spiritual mysteries as the ocean.

In his attempt to save an orphanage from closing, a Mexican priest (Jack Black) moonlights as a lucha libre wrestler (complete with mask and tights) in Nacho Libre (opens June 16^th). Another worthy contender for War at the Shore Wrestling (or his own reality show).

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (opens June 16^th) stars Bow Wow and Lucas Black as a young street car racer who, as a way of dodging jail, heads to Japan to live with his uncle, only to get caught up in drift racing (illegal car racing). Next stop: Tokyo Underworld (clearly no beach under there).

With the Click (opens June 22^nd) of a recently purchased universal remote, a workaholic architect (Adam Sandler) finds he’s able to rewind or fast forward through his life experiences. Things get dicey, however, when the remote starts to make its own choices. Too bad he didn’t realize a trip to the shore would inspire an experience worth pausing for (no remote required).

Tyrese Gibson is an ex-con Waist Deep (opens June 23^rd) in trouble as he risks everything to save his kidnapped son. As suspenseful as the Skyscraper (with time spent behind a different kind of bars).

It’s a case of mistaken identity in Garfield’s A Tale of Two Kitties (opens June 23^rd) when Garfield finds himself ruling over a castle. Starring Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Not destined to become a classic, but pre-summer satisfying, nonetheless.

Superman Returns (starring Brandon Routh, opens June 30^th) to Metropolis after a long vacation only to find Lex Luther (Kevin Spacey) causing his usual amount of trouble and Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) no longer pining for him. A quick ride on the Screamin’ Swing might put things into perspective for him (while making him glad to be fighting the enemy on solid ground).

Based on Lauren Weisberger’s bestseller, The Devil Wears Prada (opens June 30^th) stars Meryl Streep as a New York City magazine editor and notorious boss to small-town girl Anne Hathaway, who questions whether the job is worth losing her sanity over. A more important question might be, does Prada make anything with an SPF 30?

 

The Break Up of winter has led to a variety of characters looking for some sun and fun. The Prairie Home Companion folks kick the grass off their dress shoes in exchange for sandy flip flops. Superman Returns to ride the waves, cape flying in the ocean breeze. The King wants to get in shape with a little beach aerobics while The Devil Wears Prada to a string of Boardwalk craft shows (hopelessly searching for a good shoe sale). Meanwhile Nacho Libre has removed his mask for fear of tan lines and The X-Men have taken The Last Stand in line for the waterparks. The Peaceful Warriors (as well as the local Realtors) of summer have declared a happy Omen is waiting for one and all by the sea…