3rd Quarter Preview: July, August, September

By tonight, I'll be out of the country for roughly 12 days, meaning that July will be well underway by the time I get back. And seeing as there are several high profile releases that will arrive while I'm gone or shortly after I return, I thought it might be best to put out the list of the...

14 Films to Watch out For: July-September

But first, I need to make amends from my previous installment, where I left off one of my most anticipated films of the last quarter (though it won't reach most cities until July...):

- Moon: A return to less action driven, more character centered sci-fi tales like "2001", "Moon" opens in the future circa 2030.

Astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is part of the Hydrogen mining plant on the Moon, which sends individual astronauts in 3-year long shifts. With only two weeks left in his contract, Sam suddenly finds a body...but why does it look so much like him? Early reviews have been nothing short of stellar, with positive notice going to Rockwell's one-man show, along with Clint Mansell's haunting score. This is one trip to the Moon you won't want to miss.

Anticipation Level: 10/10

And now back to the main list:

14. The Invention of Lying (September 25th, Wide): Outside of the Apatow brotherhood, comedy has been struggling recently ("Year One", anybody?). So, who else to save the day, but some of the best comedic talent in Hollywood, along with *gasp* a unique concept. Set in a parallel future where no one has ever lied, one man (Ricky Gervais) "invents" it, and begins using it for his own personal gain. Rounding out the cast are Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, Christopher Guest, Jennifer Garner, Jeffrey Tambor, and Patrick Stewart as the narrator. With Gervais directing and co-writing, this could be the surprise comedy of the fall. The only thing missing? A trailer...

Anticipation: 6/10

13. Julie and Julia (August 7th, Wide): What happens when you combine two real life stories, a rising, twice Oscar-nominated mega star, and a two time Oscar winner enjoying newfound box office appeal? Hopefully comedy magic.

Based on two stories separated by decades, the films cuts between Julia Child's rise to fame in France and modern day writer Julie Powell, who decides to try and complete every recipe in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" over the course of a year. It will be interesting to see Amy Adams and Meryl Streep sharing the screen (sort of) again in a totally different movie, following the dark drama "Doubt". Will it earn Ms. Streep another Oscar nomination? Hard to say, but the film does look like fun.

Anticipation: 6/10

12. The Boat that Rocked (August 28th, Limited): Another real life story, this one from "Love Actually" director Richard Curtis. It's the 1960's, and British radio stations only allow two hours of rock n'roll on the airwaves per day. What to do?

The answer: set up a radio station on a ship in the North Sea and play rock music 24/7, going against any and all British radio regulations. Featuring a stellar British cast (plus Phillip Seymour Hoffman) led by Bill Nighy, this one has potential to be one of the year's indie surprises.

Anticipation: 6.5/10

11. Taking Woodstock(August 14th, Limited): Ang Lee directing a comedy? There have been stranger ideas. Here, Mr. Lee sets out to tell the mostly true story of how a young man (Demetri Martin) managed to turn his backyard into a generation defining concert. Featuring Emile Hirsch, Imelda Staunton as Martin's hilariously tough mother, and Liev Schreiber as a drag queen (the mere sight of him in the trailer is hilarious in its own right).

Despite a good trailer, reviews from Cannes were mixed. However, Cannes is notoriously famous for its extra snarky critics (even "No Country for Old Men" got lukewarm reviews there), so there's a solid chance that "Taking Woodstock" is quite good, even though it might not be great.

Anticipation: 6.5/10

10. Ponyo (August 14th, Limited): Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki returns with his first feature since "Howl's Moving Castle" (2005). It's said to be a loose adaptation of The Little Mermaid: a small sea creature is sent to somehow save an increasingly out of balance world. In the process, the creature befriends a human boy.

The animation in the trailer is gorgeous, and the American voice cast is filled with brilliance (Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson, Betty White, Lilly Tomlin). The only thing that worries me is that Miyazaki's films sometimes become a bit cold, rendering them easier to admire, but difficult to enjoy. Regardless, this and "9" are the only real threats to Pixar winning another animated film Oscar.

Anticipation: 7/10

9. Adam (July 29th, Limited): Fox Searchlight has been on something of a winning streak, both critically and comercially. It started in 2006 with "Little Miss Sunshine", continued in 2007 with "Juno" and "Sunshine" (which was good, but which no one saw), and hit its peak in 2008 when "Slumdog Millionaire" captured audiences and critics alike, racking up tons of awards, including 8 Oscars this past February.

So what's their latest release that could prove to be gold? That would be Max Mayer's "Adam", a charming story about a man with Asperger's syndrome (Hugh Dancy) who falls in love for the first time with his new neighbor Beth (lovely Rose Byrne). Early reviews have been good, and the trailer promises a movie that is both funny and touching.

Anticipation: 7/10

8. 9 (September 9th, Wide): An animated film not made by Pixar, Dreamworks, or the Japanese that actually looks...good? That would seem to be the case with "9", produced by Tim Burton and directed by proclaimed visionary Shane Acker.

Set in the future, mankind has been overrun by its own machines, and it's up to 9 little rag-doll type creatures to save us. The animation is great, the voice cast stellar, and the tone suitable dark (though will it be too dark for the younger set?). With fascinating and creepy robot adversaries, and combat that isn't scared of become truly violent, "9" looks like "The Nightmare Before Christmas" meets "Alien". And that's a good thing...right?

Anticipation: 7.5/10

7. Bruno (July 10th, Wide): Not satisfied with the amount of outrageousness in recent comedies? Then "Bruno" is here to help. The follow-up to the 2006 smash "Borat", "Bruno" follows another one of Sacha Baron Cohen's twisted, socially inept creations. This time it's a gay Austrian fashionista, who is trying to take his show to America.

No one stays in character better than Baron Cohen, which is remarkable considering the situations he gets himself into: crashing Milan fashion week, pretending to have an adopted African baby, trying to seduce Ron Paul, etc... Rumors have it that "Bruno" may actually top "Borat" in insanity, resultingin what could be the funniest (yet also most disturbing) movie of the year.

Ancitipation: 7.5/10

6. The Hurt Locker (sometime in July...): If the past two years have shown us anything, it's that audiences aren't flocking to movies about the war in Iraq. So what makes Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" worth looking at?

Well, nail-biting trailer aside, there's the considerable buzz. Early reviews have thrown heaps of praise, claiming that it's the best film that Bigelow has ever made. The film apparently tries to focus its story more on soldiers in Iraq (specifically, bomb defusers) instead of setting up situations by which a character can spout pro/anti war propaganda. By keeping the story grounded in the troops themselves, Bigelow may have given us the first truly great movie about the Iraq war.

Anticipation: 8/10

5. District 9 (August 14th, Wide): Originality. We don't see it much in Hollywood these days. And this is why Neil Blonkamp's "District 9" is such an eye-catcher. Instead of telling a story about aliens and humans fighting, "District 9" does something truly marvelous: the aliens accidentally landed on earth, have been cornered by human forces, and are now forced to live in massive slums as refugees and mankind tries to figure out how their technology and weapons work.

Meanwhile, humans talk about the refugees in terms that are eerily close to racial statements:"they don't belong here", "there's been more violence since they got here", "the government is wasting so much money protecting them", etc... Though it is possible that there could be some big explosions later in the story, it's nice to see a sci-fi movie that appears to really focus on story, and exploring issues, albeit in a fanciful setup.

Anticipation: 8.5/10

4. Inglourious Basterds (August 21st, Wide): Quentin Tarantino and World War II aren't two things that go hand in hand. And that's all the more reason to see "Inglourious Basterds", Tarantino's 100% fiction tale about a group of Jewish American soldiers (led by Brad Pitt's Lt. Aldo Rain) who go behind enemy lines to terrorize Nazi forces and ultimately kill the Fuhrer.

Helping them is a double agent (Diane Kruger) and helping them indirectly is Melanie Laurent's character, a Jewish theater owner hosting a premiere for the Furhrer, where she plans to kill him. The trailer promises total insanity, mixing violence with Tarantino's superb dialogue and off-the-wall characters. And who doesn't want to surrender to a little insanity now and then. And then there's Christopher Waltz as the villain, the self proclaimed "Jew Hunter". Waltz won the best actor prize at Cannes, and could be a breakout star when the film opens.

Anticipation: 8.5/10

3. 500 Days of Summer (July 17th, Limited): Another promising entry from Fox Searchlight, this one focusing on an even more unconventional love story. In fact, it's barely a love story at all. Opening with a breakup between Tom (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel), the film then retraces their 500 day relationship.

The trailer provided plenty of laughs and charm, and Deschanel and Levitt appear to have great chemistry together. But don't be fooled. As the trailer informs us: "You should be warned, this is not a love story".

Anticipation: 9/10

2. Public Enemies (July 1st, Wide): Michael Mann has been in a bit of a slump. His past two features (Collateral and Miami Vice) were "okay" and "appalling" respectively. Gone was the director who gave us great films like "Last of the Mohicans", "Heat", and "The Insider". Hopefully this will be Mann's return to form.

The (mostly) true story of John Dillenger, features Johnny Depp as Dillenger, Christian Bale and Det. Purvis, and Marion Cotillard as Dillenger's squeeze, Billie Frenchette. The interesting camera work (it was shot in HD digital video, before being remastered as film...or something like that) and lighting, something that hasn't been done much before, is certainly an aspect to watch out for. It will also be interesting to see Depp in a role that doesn't require any over-the-top traits, unlike other recent work (Sweeney Todd, Pirates of the Caribbean), as well as seeing him interact with his two talented co-stars.

Anticipation: 9.5/10

1. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (July 15th, Wide): After that infuriating delay last fall, the sixth installment of the mega franchise is finally upon us, and it looks pretty damn marvelous. Though the film is rated PG and reportedly will include a lot of "lighter" moments, there's only so much that can be put in the Half Blood Prince, considering that it has one of THE darkest and most heartbreaking moments in the entire series.

The visuals in the trailer certainly promise plenty of darkness (could this be the first Potter film to garner a cinematography nod?),, and with David Yates back at the helm (who made, in my opinion, the best Potter film with the underappreciated "Order of the Phoenix"), there's plenty of potential. Half Blood Prince was always my least favorite book in the series, so here's hoping that Yates and crew work their magic and bring out the best parts of the story.

Anticipation: 10/10

Well that's all for now. 14 (technically 15) excuses to go to the movies this summer.