Films this summer go a few places they haven't gone before
As expected every year at this time, a big chunk of the summer movie season serves up an unimaginative mix of sequels, prequels, remakes, juvenile comedies, TV adaptations, book adaptations and even a film based on an action figure.
Amazingly, though, this summer also includes some surprisingly serious, independent dramas, several documentaries, mature romantic comedies and a Chicago-shot gangster movie that might be as close to Oscar bait as the season gets.
So, prepare yourself for the Daily Herald's summer film preview. As usual, our disclaimer: Studio executives like to move release dates around at whim and will. So please check your Daily Herald movie ads to keep up.
May 4
"Stand Up 360" - Seven original films featuring stand-up comedians performing in New York venues will be released two weeks apart, starting May 4.
May 8
"The Limits of Control" - Jim Jarmusch creates his own strange version of a modern spaghetti western, complete with a man with no name (Isaache De Bankole) in the Spanish desert.
"Little Ashes" - In 1922 Madrid, a teenage Salvador Dali teams up with revolutionary poet Federico Garcia Lorca and will-be filmmaker Luis Bunuel.
"Next Day Air" - A weed-smoking courier (Donald Faison) accidentally delivers a package of cocaine to the wrong address. Boy, is he sorry.
"Star Trek" - How the young Kirk, Spock and McCoy (resembling escapees from a CW audition) first meet before deciding to spend the rest of their lives together on a starship, rather than get married, raise families or retire.
May 15
"Angels and Demons" - Ron Howard returns to direct Tom Hanks in the prequel to "The DaVinci Code." Not on the Vatican's favorite movies list.
"Every Little Step" - A documentary examining the history and impact of the Broadway musical "A Chorus Line."
"Jazz in the Diamond District" - After "Jazz" Morgan (Monique Cameron) loses her mother to cancer, she sets out to become a singing star.
"Management" - A breakthrough performance for Jennifer Aniston in a touching, intelligent and seemingly impossible romance between sad and unformed souls. Steve Zahn co-stars.
"Rudo Y Cursi" - Two Mexican brothers (Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal) let a shot at soccer stardom get between them.
May 21
"Terminator Salvation" - In a post-nuclear-holocaust world, John Connor (now played by Christian "Batman" Bale) continues to fight the evil machines of Skynet. Oh, oh. It's directed by McG, the guy who gave us the "Charlie's Angels" films.
May 22
"Adoration" - Atom Egoyan's drama concerns a student who re-imagines a news story about a terrorist as his own family history, with dire consequences.
"The Brothers Bloom" - Bumped from last year's schedule, Rian Johnson's romantic escapade involves two con men (Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo) giving a rich heiress (Rachel Weisz) a ride around the world.
"Dance Flick" - Those rascally Wayans brothers strike again with a grossly humorous sendup of dance movies such as "Step Up" and "Save the Last Dance."
"The Girlfriend Experience" - An expensive, Manhattan female escort deals with her clients and boyfriend just before the 2008 presidential election.
"Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" - Ben Stiller's security guard infiltrates the Washington, D.C., venue to rescue Jedediah and Octavius, accidentally shipped out of their New York museum.
"Summer Hours" - Three siblings argue about how to deal with their late mother's impressive collection of art pieces.
May 29
"Departures" - A downsized cellist gets a job preparing corpses for cremation.
"Drag Me to Hell" - A loan officer gets a horrific stimulus package from an old woman who curses her for turning down her loan extension.
"Easy Virtue" - Jessica Biel's willful American has trouble with her veddy British mother-in-law (Kristin Scott Thomas).
"Up" - An old man ties a zillion balloons to his house and flies off to South America - with a young stowaway. A Disney/Pixar animated feature with voices by Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer and the great Delroy Lindo.
June 5
"The Hangover" - Groomsmen awaken from alcohol stupors and can't find the missing groom right before the wedding. It's a comedy.
"Land of the Lost" - Will Ferrell meets dinosaurs. 'nuff said.
"My Life in Ruins" - "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star Nia Vardalos returns as a college professor who gets her groove back while working as a tour guide in Greece. The hunky bus driver has something to do with it.
"O'Horten" - An aging Norwegian train engineer grapples with his future on the night of his retirement. Or it could be an Irish retelling of a Dr. Seuss classic.
June 11
"Tetro" - Francis Ford Coppola directs Vincent Gallo in a drama about estranged brothers reuniting, with unhappy repercussions.
June 12
"Away We Go" - It could be a real sleeper by director Sam Mendes. A pregnant couple (Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski) roam America looking for the right place to call home.
"Imagine That" - Eddie Murphy loves his little daughter (Yara Shahidi), especially after she gives him good stock advice from her menagerie of imaginary advisers.
"Moon" - A corporate employee alone on the moon starts up a relationship with a robot named Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey). Release date tentative.
"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" - A remake of the 1974 crime drama about a man who hijacks a New York subway train. Starring John Travolta and Denzel Washington; directed by Tony Scott.
June 19
"The Proposal" - A Canadian corporate executive (Sandra Bullock) forces a subordinate (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her so she can stay in America. Amazingly, it's a comedy.
"Year One" - Jack Black, Oliver Platt and adorable Michael Cera as stone age cave guys? Directed by Chicago's own Harold Ramis? Save me a seat, I'm going for popcorn.
June 24
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" - Megan Fox's revealing top-wear may be the best special effects to be found in Michael Bay's sequel, bringing back an injured Shia LaBeouf as the only human who can stop Decepticon forces from taking Earth.
June 26
"Cheri" - Michelle Pfeiffer stars as an experienced Parisian courtesan who hooks up with a teenage lad (Rupert Friend) during the 1920s. Stephen Frears' drama sounds like a great hook for a reality TV show.
"Fireflies in the Garden" - A tragedy throws a dysfunctional family into a spiral of grudges and conflicts. Ryan Reynolds, Julia Roberts, Emily Watson and Willem Dafoe star.
"My Sister's Keeper" - A mother (Cameron Diaz) struggles to save her terminally ill daughter (Sofia Vassilieva).
"The Stoning of Soraya M." - A town's persecution of an innocent woman tests how people react in a storm of fear and violence. Based on a true story.
"Whatever Works" - Woody Allen directs - surprise! - a comedy, his first New York film in five years. In it, our president can't get a cab in New York City. If the rest of the movie is like that, well ...
July 1
"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" - Sequel to a modest animated comedy stolen by a prehistoric squirrel playing with his nut.
"Public Enemies" - Michael Mann's version of the violent John Dillinger story, starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Billy Crudup and Marion Cotillard.
July 10
"Bruno" - That wacky Sacha Baron Cohen returns in a guaranteed-to-be-offensive comedy about an Austrian fashion reporter who names his adopted black child O.J. and riles up huge numbers of people.
"The Hurt Locker" - Director Kathryn "Near Dark" Bigelow tells a story of U.S. soldiers surviving a tour of duty as members of a bomb squad. With Anthony Mackie, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes and Evangeline Lilly.
"I Love You, Beth Cooper" - A graduating senior's life is changed after he announces his love for popular girl Beth during his valedictorian address.
July 15
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" - Harry messes around with liquid memory to learn the origin of the evil Lord Voldemort. Some romance goes on, too.
July 17
"All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" - ...until Mandy (the ultra-hot Amber Heard) shows up at a party and the revelers start disappearing one by one.
"(500) Days of Summer" - A greeting card writer (the always interesting Joseph Gordon-Levitt) romances a woman (the always engaging Zooey Deschanel) in a time-jumbled story filled with split screens and animated chapter titles.
July 24
"G-Force" - An animated comedy about an elite squad of guinea pigs trained to be spies. Yes, they talk. And they sound like Bill Nighy, Sam Rockwell, Penelope Cruz, Nicolas Cage and Tracy Morgan.
"Orphan" - A movie that really exploits nerves about adopting a child from another country. An American couple (Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga) adopts an Eastern European girl who goes full-tilt Linda Blair on them.
"The Ugly Truth" - Sparks fly when romance spontaneously combusts between a radio shock jock (Gerard Butler) and a prissy morning news show producer (Katherine Heigl). If the movie's half as funny as the one-sheet movie poster, it's a keeper.
July 29
"Adam" - A man (Hugh Dancy) stricken with Asperger's falls into a relationship with his attractive neighbor (Rose Byrne).
July 31
"The Cove" - Environmentalists shot this documentary recording the systemic slaughter of dolphins in the waters outside of Japan.
"Funny People" - Adam Sandler gets serious as a comedian stricken with a terminal illness. Or maybe not.
"They Came From Upstairs" - A high school nerd (Carter Jenkins) repels an alien invasion while vacationing with his family in Maine.
Aug. 7
"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" - Move over Barbie! Action doll G.I. Joe (actually, a lot of G.I. Joes) sets out to stop a masked, villainous arms dealer named Cobra Commander (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Starring Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid and Sienna Miller.
"Julie & Julia" - A New York woman (Amy Adams) cooks up all 524 recipes in Julia Child's book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Meryl Streep plays Child.
Aug. 14
"Bandslam" - "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens learned to play guitar for her role as a member of a rock band out to win a contest.
"District 9" - A science-fiction thriller about space aliens quarantined in an isolated part of South Africa during the 1980s.
"The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" - A ruthless car dealership liquidator (Evanston's Jeremy Piven) meets his matches at a struggling car lot in California. Josh Brolin's daddy James stars, too!
"Paper Heart" - A quasi-documentary starring Charlyne Yi as herself, acting in a story with her real-life boyfriend (hot commodity Michael Cera) who also plays himself. Call it a real romance.
"A Perfect Getaway" - Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich greatly enjoy their romantic getaway. Then the sadistic psycho killers show up. Happens every time.
"Ponyo" - Famed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's colorful fantasy about a fish yearning to be human (yo, Ariel!) gets an Americanized twist with Miley Cyrus' kid sister speaking the fish's lines.
"Spread" - Two sexually active hustlers (Ashton Kutcher and Margarita Levieva) fall in love while trying to con each other. Special guest star Anne Heche as the wealthy cougar.
"Taking Woodstock" - Ang "Brokeback Mountain" Lee directs a comic remembrance of the great concert that he calls "America's last moment of innocence."
"The Time Traveler's Wife" - As if Chicago librarian Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana) doesn't have enough trouble keeping his marriage together, he has a gene that arbitrarily throws him back and forth in time. Does "Lost" need a good librarian?
Aug. 21
"Inglourious Basterds" - A twangy Brad Pitt leads Jewish soldiers in acts of retribution against the Third Reich, with help from German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger).
"Post Grad" - Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) moves back to her childhood home with Dad and Mom after her best friend steals her perfect post-college job and she has nothing on the burner, except a hot neighbor hunk.
"The September Issue" - R.J. Cutler's documentary chronicling the Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour's preparations for the all-important 2008 fall fashion issue.
Aug. 28
"The Boat That Rocked" - Rogue deejays captivate British radio listeners in the 1960s by playing the music that defined a generation and stood up to a government that swore by jazz. Jazz? Directed by Richard "Love Actually" Curtis.
"Final Destination: Death Trip" - A hair salon, a swimming pool and a racetrack are some of the new settings for awesomely ridiculous, supernatural killings as more kids try (unsuccessfully) to cheat Death!
"H2: Halloween 2" - Rob Zombie's sequel picks up at the exact moment his first remake stopped. Michael Myers torments Laurie Strode in fictional Haddenfield, just northwest of Elgin.
"Mesrine: A Film in Two Parts" - The true story of Jacques Mesrine, France's most notorious public enemy in the 1970s whose career included brazen bank robberies, breathtaking prison breaks and ingenious identity changes.
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