Tantalizing movie releases loom as summer approaches

In this intense drama, Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf play bootleggers forced to deal with a violent New York mobster (Guy Pearce) encroaching on their sordid business. “Lawless” endured a long and oft-delayed production process due to financial complications. However, the cast remains strong, and we look forward to seeing this gritty look at prohibition. Gary Oldman with a Tommy gun? Count us in! The Wild West got a little wilder. 

Looper (Sept. 28)

Remember the phrase “sleeping with the fishes”? Well apparently, in the future, the East River just doesn’t cut it. Mobsters send their victims back in time to be executed. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays the executioner, and Bruce Willis plays the man from the future. The kicker: Willis is Levitt’s future self. Time travel has a long and sometimes ugly history in cinema. For every “Back to the Future” (1985) and “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” (1989), there has been at least one “Black Knight” (2001). Not just anyone can hit 88 miles per hour, after all. Luckily, “Looper,” with its near-contemporary setting and gritty action sequences, should deliver.