Summer movie preview
Sacha Baron Cohen as Bruno
By Mina Hochberg
From dying comedians to apocalyptic landscapes to secretly slaughtered dolphins, this year’s summer movies skew surprisingly dark. Still, there is plenty of blockbuster escapism to be had. There are the highly anticipated franchises (“Terminator Salvation,” “Harry Potter”), the promising comedies (“Bruno,” “Funny People”) and the good old-fashioned romantic comedies (“The Proposal,” “The Ugly Truth”).
‘Terminator Salvation’
Satisfy your fix of post-apocalyptic eye candy with the long-awaited third “Terminator” sequel. Christian Bale plays a grown-up John Connor who’s finally fulfilling his fate to take down Skynet and its militia of Terminators. (May 21)
‘Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian’
The motley historical crew is up to after-hours hijinx again, this time at the Smithsonian Institution. New additions include Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart and Christopher Guest as Ivan the Terrible. (May 22)
‘Up’
Pixar’s follow-up to “Wall-E” is about a geezer who ties a mass of balloons to his home and floats off to South America. His flight plans change when a young stowaway gets all up in his business. (May 29)
‘Land of the Lost’
The Sid and Marty Krofft television series is finally hitting the big screen. Will Ferrell stars as scientist Rick Marshall, who accidentally gets transported through time to a world filled with wacky creatures. (June 5)
‘Away We Go’
Following “Revolutionary Road,” Sam Mendes takes a noticeably lighthearted turn in “Away We Go.” In search of a new city to call home, a young couple with a baby on the way (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) visits their kooky friends around the country. (June 5)
‘The Hangover’
When three men take their pal to Vegas for a rowdy bachelor party, they wake up the next morning with groggy memories, a tiger in the bathroom and a mystery baby in the closet. And the groom is missing. (June 5)
‘The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3’
This remake of the 1974 classic stars John Travolta as a loco New Yorker who takes a subway train hostage and demands 1 million dollars. Doesn’t he know how annoying those police investigations can be during rush hour? (June 12)
‘Year One’
Set in the Stone Age, “Year One” is about a couple of hunter-gatherers who stink at both hunting and gathering. Banished from their clan for their utter uselessness, they wander off into the prehistoric wilderness. Stars Jack Black and Michael Cera. (June 19)
‘Whatever Works’
Two of New York City’s most famous neurotic Jews unite. Woody Allen directs Larry David as a New Yorker who gets entangled in a complicated love story in which the woman (Evan Rachel Wood) is, of course, less than half his age. (June 19)
‘The Proposal’
Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds? Smells like a romantic comedy. Bullock plays an aggressive book editor who forces her assistant (Reynolds) to marry her when she faces deportation to Canada. (June 19)
‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’
In this “Transformers” sequel, Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox are still on the run from the Decepticons. Bound to be as deafening as the first film, the movie treats us to a little more Transformers mythology. (June 24)
‘Fireflies in the Garden’
This long-delayed drama, based on a poem by Robert Frost, stars Julia Roberts as the matriarch of a troubled family. Also stars Ryan Reynolds and Willem Dafoe. (June 26)
‘My Sister’s Keeper’
After directing “The Notebook” five years ago, Nick Cassavetes returns with another tearjerker. Based on the Jodi Picoult novel, the story centers on a couple that struggles to keep their terminally ill daughter alive by turning her younger sister into a donor. (June 26)
‘The Hurt Locker’
This Iraq war film zeroes in on the work of an elite bomb-defusing unit dispatched on the streets of Baghdad. Written by journalist Mark Boal. (June 26)
‘Public Enemies’
Michael Mann directs this flick about John Dillinger, the notorious 1930s bank robber. If that’s not enough to grab your attention, maybe the good-looking cast will: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard and Billy Crudup. (July 1)
‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs’
The “Ice Age” movies keep on coming, and at the rate those glaciers melt, they’ll probably keep on coming. (July 1)
‘Bruno’
Borat is so 2006. This is the year of Bruno. Posing as his clueless, shallow fashionisto alter ego, Sacha Baron Cohen is up to his mockumentary pranks again. (July 10)
‘I Love You, Beth Cooper’
When a high school valedictorian professes his love for the most popular girl in school (she’s a cheerleader, naturally), his wishes are fulfilled in a night of revelry. Stars Hayden Panettiere. (July 10)
‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’
As Potterphiles know, this penultimate Harry Potter installment requires hankies as Lord Voldemort continues to wreak havoc at Hogwarts. Hormones manage to do some damage, too. (July 15)
‘(500) Days of Summer’
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a hopeless romantic who’s left going “huh?” after his girlfriend (Zooey Deschanel) dumps him. As he tries to figure out where things went wrong, he revisits the highs and lows of their relationship, in no particular order. (July 17)
‘The Ugly Truth’
When a morning show hires a male chauvinist shock jock (Gerard Butler) to boost ratings, a producer (Katherine Heigl) goes ballistic. When he bets his job that he can improve her dating life, she plays along. (July 24)
‘Funny People’
A comedian dying from a terminal illness? It may not sound like a Judd Apatow film, but it is. The dramedy stars Adam Sandler as the ill comedian, plus Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and other Apatow regulars. (July 31)
‘The Cove’
This depressing documentary about dolphin exploitation was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival this year. Led by a renowned dolphin trainer, a team of activists and divers uncovers the brutal dolphin slaughtering that takes place in a cove in Japan. (July 31)
‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra’
A special ops military team battles a mysterious crime organization that threatens the safety of the entire world. And yada yada. CGI eye candy guaranteed. (Aug. 7)
‘Julie & Julia’
Nora Ephron directs Amy Adams and Meryl Streep in a movie that juxtaposes the life of two cooking fiends in two vastly different decades: In the 1950s, Julia Childs, and years later, Julie Powell, a devout fan of Childs’ who vows to cook all 524 recipes in Childs’ “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” In one year. (Aug. 7)
‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’
This teary love story, adapted from the Audrey Niffenegger novel, stars Eric Bana as a man cursed with an unfortunate condition: He gets pinballed back and forth through the timeline of his life. Which can be hard on a wife (Rachel McAdams) who’s stuck living a linear life. (Aug. 14)
‘Taking Woodstock’
Elliot Tiber, credited with saving the Woodstock Festival when it was on the verge of being nixed, gets his due in Ang Lee’s latest film about the genesis of the festival. Comedy Central wunderkind Demetri Martin stars as Tiber. (Aug. 14)
‘Inglourious Basterds’
As the typo-riddled title indicates, Quentin Tarantino’s latest oeuvre isn’t your typical World War II film. A team of Jews known as “The Basterds” seeks revenge on the Nazis by infiltrating their ranks. Stars Brad Pitt and Diane Kruger. (Aug. 21)
