SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW: Tripping the lite fantastic
Summer movies never wait for Memorial Day. Not long after our snow melts, they burst through the screens with superheroes, animated animals and pint-size aliens.
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" arrives this weekend with all the slash marks and special effects of the typical summer popcorn movie.
It won't be alone.
Over the coming weeks, expect museum relics that come to life at night, magic rocks that make wishes come true. Expect intrigue, action, comedy, romance, family fare and even a few weighty dramas.
For Brandon Fibbs' review of "Wolverine," go here.
Here are some other highlights:
"Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" - Matthew McConaughey plays a philandering photographer who is visited by the spirits of his past trysts - all the way back to his first love (played by Jennifer Garner). Opens today.
"Star Trek" - J.J. Abrams' reworking of the space-faring adventure promises to boldly revive the franchise the way that Batman and James Bond did: by returning to the origins. Early buzz is good. Opens May 8.
"Love N' Dancing" - Sparks fly and hips shake when a married schoolteacher who thinks she can dance (Amy Smart) unexpectedly finds love with her deaf dancing instructor (Tom Malloy) who has retired from ballroom competition. Opens May 8.
"Management" - Steve Zahn plays an aimless motel manager who falls so deeply for a traveling corporate art saleswoman played by Jennifer Aniston that he follows her around the country after their fling in the motel's laundry room. Zahn said he thinks
"Management" is more like 1989's "Say Anything" than a typical modern romantic comedy. Opens May 15.
"Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" - Ben Stiller reprises his role as museum security guard Larry Daley, who faces off with exhibits that come to life at night. Opens May 22.
"The Brothers Bloom" - Con-artist siblings (Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo) attempt to swindle a reclusive heiress (Rachel Weisz), but one of the brothers falls for the eccentric woman during their around-the-world adventure. Opens May 29.
"Up" - Pixar's latest 3-D animated film follows an old balloon salesman, voiced by Ed Asner, who takes off on the adventure of a lifetime when he uses his helium-filled wares to lift his house into the sky. Up in the clouds, he discovers that he's accidentally brought along an annoying stowaway - an overly optimistic 8-year-old. Opens May 29.
"Land of the Lost" - Adapted from the campy '70s TV series, "Land of the Lost" features Will Ferrell as a scientist who leads his team (including Danny McBride) through a time warp and into an alternate dimension where dinosaurs (among other things) exist. Opens June 5.
"Whatever Works" - Woody Allen returned to New York to shoot this film, starring Larry David ("Seinfeld," "Curb Your Enthusiasm"). Opens June 19.
"Bruno" - "Bruno" is Sacha Baron Cohen's follow-up to "Borat," which in 2006 earned more than $128 million at the domestic box office. In "Bruno," Cohen again flings a character from his TV series "Da Ali G Show" into the real world, where director Larry Charles' cameras capture his interactions with seemingly unknowing citizens. Opens July 10.
"Funny People" - Adam Sandler stars as a stand-up comedian who finds out he has a terminal disease. Seth Rogen co-stars. Opens July 31.
"Imagine That" - Eddie Murphy discovers business secrets in his daughter's imaginary world. Vanessa Williams and Thomas Haden Church also star. Opens June 12.
"G-Force" - A crew of highly trained guinea pigs are espionage experts who aim to save the world in this 3-D romp that stars Bill Nighy, Will Arnett and the voices of Sam Rockwell, Tracy Morgan, Penelope Cruz and Nicolas Cage. Opens July 24.
"The Ugly Truth" - Katherine Heigl plays a romantically challenged morning-show producer who reluctantly agrees to follow the love advice of a chauvinistic shock jock (Gerard Butler) who was hired to boost her show's sagging ratings. Opens July 24.
"Adam" - Love is complicated in this Sundance discovery written and directed by Max Mayer about a schoolteacher (Rose Byrne from FX's "Damages") who forms an intimate connection with Adam, her autistic neighbor (Hugh Dancy). Opens July 29
"They Came From Upstairs" - When pint-size alien invaders with aspirations to destroy the planet take up residence in a family's vacation home, it's up to the kids to save the day. Kevin Nealon and Ashley Tisdale star. Opens July 31.
"When in Rome" - A cynical New Yorker (Kristen Bell) jets to Rome for her sister's wedding and is pursued by seven suitors after plucking change out of a fountain that supposedly ensures marriage to anyone who throws coins into it. Opens Aug. 7.
"Bandslam" - Disney Channel's Vanessa Hudgens and Alyson Michalka bring their musical skills to this high school comedy about the ultimate glory: winning the battle of the bands. Opens Aug. 14.
"The Time Traveler's Wife" - In this adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's 2003 best-selling novel, Rachel McAdams plays the title character: an artist whose husband (Eric Bana) has a genetic disorder that causes him to jump around time. Opens Aug. 14.
"Post Grad" - Alexis Bledel graduates from "Gilmore Girls" and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" in this mature comedy about a graduate who moves back home with her family while trying to find a job and the man of her dreams. Opens Aug. 14.
