|
|
Title:
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Stars:
Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel
Studio:
DreamWorks SKG
Plot:
Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky prisoner, after the young hero learns the truth about the ancient origins of the Transformers. Joining the mission to protect humankind is Optimus Prime, who forms an alliance with international armies for a second epic battle.
Buzz:
Nearly two years to the day after the original Transformers was released, it's interesting to note how the personalities involved here have changed. Shia LaBeouf has gone from an up-and-comer to full-fledged star, with attendant backlash and ego bursts; Megan Fox one upped her co-star by becoming a more credible Hollywood bad boy; Michael Bay is still as huffy as producer Don Murphy is angry, though they both do an admirable job of bringing movies news, insights, misdirections, and angry rants to the TF universe. What do we really know about the project? Highlights: A boosted budget (a reported $200 million, which excludes marketing and all that) allowed the creation of some 40 Autobots and Decepticons, who will receive more screen time; LaBeouf will likely channel Mutt Williams a bit, given the ancient-world tie-ins here (hint: Egyptology reveals the origins of TF life?!); rabid worldwide fanbase + four-barrel marketing attack + IMAX footage = biggest film of the year? KIT with TF2 via cheat sheets and spoiler logs. P.S. When is the last time a coloring book spoiled a plot?
|
|
Title:
The Proposal
Stars:
Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds
Studio:
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Plot:
A publishing executive (Bullock) forces her assistant (Reynolds) to marry her so she can avoid deportation back to Canada.
Buzz:
Step Up director Anne Fletcher is making strides in her career, and she's looking to spotlight "Sandy's" physical-comedy skills here, which will most likely pale in comparison to Ryan Reynolds's innate ability to make annoying behavior somehow charming. Thing is: Both Reynolds and Bullock's respective partners are exponentially hotterthan this on-screen pairing, but we sense that 2009 is turning into the Year of the Cougar.
|
|
Title:
The Hangover
Stars:
Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha
Studio:
Warner Bros. Pictures
Plot:
In Las Vegas, three groomsmen lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures, forcing them to retrace their steps in order to find him before the church bells ring.
Buzz:
Hmm, did Ashton and Cameron's success in Vegas influence director Todd Phillips to finally pick his first project since the woefully misguided School for Scoundrels remake? Whatever the case, Phillips and Warner Bros. are keeping it low budget here, with a B-list cast (at best) that should keep this comedy in the black.
|
|
Title:
Up
Stars:
Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger
Studio:
Buena Vista Pictures
Plot:
By tying thousands of balloon to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn't alone on his journey, sinceRussell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.
Buzz:
Pixar takes to the skies again, this time with buddy-story specialists Pete Docter and Bob Peterson bringing the charm to us in 3D (in "select" theaters, anyway). These days, I support anything that strips away my senses of irony and sarcasm, and Up's teaser trailer (located above) is wonderfully restorative. At Comic-Con last year, Docter described how the movie was influenced by an unreachable range of Venezuelan mountains, and a septuagenarian 's wish to fulfill the dreams he made with his now-departed wife when he was a younger man. I got misty. Plus, Docter went on to say that his movie will have some easter eggs for upcoming Pixar projects. More news as Pixar/Disney leaks it.
|
|
Title:
My Sister's Keeper
Stars:
Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin
Studio:
New Line Cinema
Plot:
Anna Fitzgerald (Breslin) looks to earn medical emancipation from her parents (Diaz and Patric) who until now have relied on their youngest child to help their leukemia-stricken daughter Kate (Vassilieva) remain alive.
Buzz:
Nick Cassavetes wants to bum you out. Again. Following up Alpha Dog with this adaptation of Jodi Picoult's novel, a story that is almost as depressing as Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, is destined to make your heart (and Abigail Breslin's kidneys) break. I'm like: Why is this being released in the middle of sunny summer, when it feels predestined to fit into the fall/winter film schedule?
|
|
Title:
Year One
Stars:
Jack Black, Michael Cera, Olivia Wilde
Studio:
Columbia Pictures
Plot:
When a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers (Black and Cera) are banished from their primitive village, they set off on an epic journey through their ancient world.
Buzz:
The Superbad set will be stoked for a 2/3 cast reunion here, while those of us who actually came of age in the late 1970s/early 1980s will note the reemergence of Year One writer-director Harold Ramis, who has a Meatballs remake and Ghostbusters 3 in development. We imagine at least one of these projects will be filming by this summer, and since news of a third Ghostbusters adventure immediately earned more press than this time-traveling comedy, here's a link to a dirt-spreading article on the project, which has direct ties to the production of The Year One.
|
|
Title:
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
Stars:
Denzel Washington, John Travolta
Studio:
Columbia Pictures
Plot:
Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garbe (Washington) into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime (Travolta).
Buzz:
It's Deja-Vu all over again as Scott and Denzel reunite for this remake of a remake. I can't help but wonder if the hijackers in this version will still ask for one meeee-lee-ion dollars or if today's New Yorkers would seriously sit in a subway car with these goons for an hour (even if one of 'em looked like an aging Tony Manero). Somehow, I don't think so.
|
|
Title:
Star Trek
Stars:
Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg
Studio:
Paramount Pictures
Plot:
The origin story of Captain James T. Kirk, Spock and the crew of the USS Enterprise before they had boldly gone where no man had gone before.
Buzz:
One look (okay maybe two) at the trailer and it's safe to say this isn't your grandfather's Star Trek. With a Spock vs. Kirk fist fight, steamy sex scenes, Shaun of the Dead cracking jokes and is that Harold from Harold and Kumar (!?), this doesn't even come close to being your older brother's TNG. Early reports call it "phenomenal". So, perhaps handing this tired franchise over to the young Mr. Abrams may have been just what it needed to live long and ...
|
|
Title:
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Stars:
Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Amy Adams
Studio:
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Plot:
Security guard Larry Daley (Stiller) infiltrates the Smithsonian Institute in order to rescue Jedediah (Wilson) and Octavius (Coogan), who have been shipped to the museum by mistake.
Buzz:
Similar ideas abound for this sequel, but even naysayers might admit that a better cast has been assembled around Ben Stiller for his second Washington, D.C. adventure. (It's pretty amazing that Stiller has three active franchises going, if you believe reports thatLittle Fockers is getting made). Here's a first look at the film, and a glimpse at how much Stiller has aged over the past couple years. P.S. Is it just me, or does Amy Adams seem kind of annoying as Amelia Earhart? Granted, she's probably way less irritating than Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt, who returns for the sequel (along with two handfuls of new faces), but pinched and snippy just aren't her colors.
|
|
Title:
Away We Go
Stars:
John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney
Studio:
Focus Features
Plot:
A couple (Rudolph and Krasinski) who is expecting their first child travel around the U.S. in order to find a perfect place to start their family.
Buzz:
Four words I never thought I'd use in the same sentence: Sam Mendes summer comedy. With a screenplay by the marvelous husband-and-wife duo Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, I feel like Mendes will make the shift away from heavyweight dramas with his love for important themes intact. May his process make Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski actual-real movie stars, too. Why am I already seeing Eggers and Vida on awards podiums, spreading the 826 Valencia gospel?
