[B][CENTER]- MAY - [/CENTER][/B]
[B][U]Angels And Demons[/U][/B]
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgård
Director: Ron Howard
Release Date: [B]15th May 2009[/B]
The Da Vinci Code may have received mixed reviews but that hasn’t kept Ron Howard from hitting up the prequel too - Angels And Demons. The plot follows Robert Langdon (Hanks) as he tries to stop a secret society from destroying the Vatican. Avid readers say it’s a better novel than its more famous follow up. But now all the Da Vinci hype has well and truly died down, and anticipation for this seems to be just about zero, Angels And Demons presents one of the most unpredictable prospects of the summer.
[B][U]Terminator Salvation[/U][/B]
Starring: Christian Bale, Helena Bonham Carter, Sam Worthington
Director: Joseph “McG” McGinty Nichol
Release Date: [B]21st May 2009[/B]
It’s now post apocalyptic 2018, the world has been all but destroyed by Skynet and John Connor (Christian Bale) is leading the resistance. When he meets a stranger named Marcus, whose last memory is being on death row, Connor must decide if he has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. Interesting premise. Surely Bale wouldn’t agree to star if this didn’t have some serious character curves… Arnie is rumoured to be back in a small role, using a cgi head on a body double. Should we be worried it’s directed by McG (Charlie’s Angels)?
[B][U]Night At The Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian[/U][/B]
Starring: Ben Stiller, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Owen Wilson
Director: Shawn Levy
Release Date: [B]22nd May 2009[/B]
Night At The Museum was an unexpected box office smash back in Christmas 2006, so some sort of follow up was inevitable. This could have easily been a sloppy spin off with none of the original cast, but instead everyone from the original movie, even the likes of Ricky Gervais and Steve Coogan, have returned for the sequel. This time action shifts to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., where the old museum gems are being housed while their museum is closed for renovations. Expect lots of Ben Stiller being chased up corridors by historical figures.
[B][U]Pixar’s Up[/U][/B]
Starring: Christopher Plummer (voice)
Director: Pete Docter; Bob Petersen
Release Date: [B]29th May 2009[/B]
As much as film critics would love to pretend otherwise, cinemagoers were split on WALL-E. Of course it appealed to reviewers with its beautiful cinematography, mind blowing animation, political messages and elongated arty shots. But for the actual target audience, kids, it was half-on, half-off. Boredom was not uncommon. “Up” is another unconventional plot for an animated feature. From what we can assume, it’s a sweet story of an Old Man who wants to live out his dead wife’s life long dream to explore the mountains. He does this by befriending a young boy who is an exploration enthusiast. I can’t wait to see what Pixar have got ‘up’ their sleeves heh heh heh.
[B][CENTER]- JUNE -[/CENTER][/B]
[B][U]Land Of The Lost[/U][/B]
Starring: Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Anna Friel
Director: Brad Silberling
Release Date: [B]5th June 2009[/B]
[B][U]The Taking Of Pelham 123[/U][/B]
Starring: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro, James Gandolfini, and the great Luis Guzmán
Director: Tony Scott
Release Date: [B]12th June 2009[/B]
Tony Scott is back with a remake of a remake of a remake of a book adaptation of a… Well, basically, this film has been made once or twice - The original was a 70s crime thriller starring Walter Matthau, adapted from a book, and became a TV movie in 1998. It’s now in the hands of close-up-obsessed Tony Scott, and an all star cast. The movie follows a cynical New York cop (Washington) who witnesses a hijacking on the subway (by Travolta). Ransoms and police negotiation then follow. Rest assured, the story is an action packed thriller with some intense character moments. And where else could you see Walter Matthau recast as Denzel Washington?
[B][U]Year One[/U][/B]
Starring: Jack Black, Michael Cera, David Cross, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin to you and me)
Director: Harold Ramis
Release Date: [B]19th June 2009[/B]
With a cast line up like this I don’t know if summer comedy can get much better. Maybe resurrecting Graham Chapman for a Monty Python reunion could top it. In Year One, it’s the year, er, 1, and Jack Black and Juno’s Michael Cera are a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers. After being banished from their primitive village, they decide to set off on an epic journey through the ancient world. McLovin plays someone called ‘Isaac’. Vinnie Jones is in there too - I’m going to guess portraying some sort of brute with a club.
[B][U]Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen[/U][/B]
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox
Director: Michael Bay
Release Date: [B]26th June 2009[/B]
The return of the franchise that one particular car company loves. The fact that Michael Bay himself plotted out the story for this one during the writers’ strike is a cause for concern - Expect the usual ridiculously hot women with unlikely academic knowledge, and overweight African-Americans used for comic relief. While you would think Megatron and Starscream are getting the ‘revenge’ mentioned in the title, rumour has it that the ‘Fallen’ are actually a third set of robots, who the Decepticons and Autobots have to team up to destroy. We will see…
[B][CENTER]- JULY -[/CENTER][/B]
[B][U]Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs[/U][/B]
Starring: Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Dennis Leary
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Release Date: [B]1st July 2009[/B]
The success of the Ice Age series can really be put down to one saber-toothed squirrel and an acorn. He was the trailer for the first movie (do you even remember the other previews?) and is still the marketing force today for this series. It’s amusing to me the voice cast they have for the franchise - a lead actors were big for ten minutes when the first movie was cast around the year 2000, but now couldn’t get movie work for love or money - Ray Romano and Denis Leary. It’s their careers that are being preserved in ice. Stretching accomplished animated franchises into a trilogy can be disastrous (see Shrek), so let’s hope the cracks don’t start to show.
[B][U]Public Enemies[/U][/B]
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Channing Tatum
Director: Michael Mann
Release Date: [B]1st July 2009[/B]
All those who want Johnny Depp cast opposite Christian Bale as the Riddler in the next Batman movie probably don’t realise they’re going see the two go head to head in just a few months. And with Michael Mann at the helm this should be one of the best of the year. Depp is John Dillinger and Bale the man on his trail in this crime thriller set during the crime wave of the 1930s that subsequently gave birth to the FBI.
[B][U]Brüno[/U][/B]
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Alice Evans
Director: Dan Mazer
Release Date: [B]10th July 2009[/B]
After the absolute smash of Sacha Baron Cohen’s big screen adventure “Borat”, the British comedy gem is back with an even more in-your-face character “Bruno.” Bruno is a camp, over the top homosexual who claims to be an Austrian reporter and turns up in less “open minded” locations in which he is far from welcome; such as the conservative southern states of America, or soccer games. The character first appeared in TV series Da Ali G Show interviewing important figures from the fashion world, misleading them into agreeing to things they didn’t believe in, talking about parts of their show that don’t actually exist, and even changing their stance on certain issues to fit with the shows apparent “sponsors.” For example; Bruno managed to make a spokesman completely change his opinion on Paris Hilton during the interview by claiming that The Hilton Group were a key sponsor. Bruno is not just about camp jokes, it’s sharply observed and, like Borat, is a great tool for revealing what really goes on in some people’s minds.
[U][B]2012[/B][/U]
Starring: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover
Director: Roland Emmerich
Release Date: [B]10th July 2009 – UPDATE: Moved to 13th November[/B]
However the world does eventually end, you can be sure that Roland Emmerich will have covered it. 2012 is based on the metaphysical prediction that the planet will come to a close on the 21st of December 2012, in the same way that the world ended on the 1st January 2000, and in the same way that the world ended when the Proton Accelerator was turned on. John Cusack returns to big dumb summer action movies, because Con Air turned out so well for him (what do you mean you forgot he was even in it?)
[B][U]Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince[/U][/B]
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman
Director: David Yates
Release Date: [B]15th July 2009[/B]
Everybody loves Harry Potter. Well, maybe not everybody, but as Movie Moron reported recently, it has now become the biggest grossing movie franchise of all time, outdoing even Star Wars and Bond. The Half Blood Prince is likely to be anticipation personified, as it was originally due for release November 2008. Warner Brothers’ thin-on-the-ground summer 2009 line up was the reason for the delay, so there’s no cause for concern. The teaser trailer was a firecracker and this is a series that gets darker and more accomplished with every episode.
[B][U]G-Force[/U][/B]
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, Steve Buscemi, Bill Nighy
Director: Hoyt Yeatman
Release Date: [B]24th July 2009[/B]
With this cast, I completely presumed it was a live action movie; that is until I read the synopsis. ‘A team of highly trained Guinea Pigs are dispatched to take down an evil billionaire who wants to destroy the world with household appliances.’… This is Disney’s latest team up with Jerry Bruckheimer, and will indeed be an animated movie.
[B][CENTER]- AUGUST -[/CENTER][/B]
[B][U]G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra[/U][/B]
Starring: Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid, Sienna Miller, Christopher Eccleston
Director: Stephen Sommers
Release Date: [B]7th August 2009[/B]
All American G.I. Joe is now all international as a Nato-like elite military unit takes on a notorious arms dealer. The cast is dodgy, the director made Van Helsing, and the pictures so far look pretty stupid, but if you throw enough money at the screen it’s bound to have sufficient spectacle to be entertaining on some level. Likely to be the dumbest movie of the summer and have everyone shaking their heads at the wasted potential.
[B][U]Inglourious Basterds[/U][/B]
Starring: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mike Myers, Til Schweiger
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Release Date: [B]21st August 2009[/B]