For summer 2009, the film community is cooking up lots of familiar ingredients: sequels, prequels, and nostalgic names from the past. Some of the big guns arrive with weapons fully loaded: Terminator Salvation, X-Men Origins, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and a little boy-toy named G.I. Joe. Eighteen-year-old Daniel Radcliffe maintains his youthful innocence as Harry Potter, while the Star Trek franchise gets a reboot with a cast of new stars. Dinos go wild in Land of the Lost and another Night at the Museum, and Tom Hanks races through more crypts and catacombs in Angels & Demons. Pixar is Up to more animated tricks, while the Ice Age gang hopes to send shivers of laughter to warm-weather viewers. Sacha Baron Cohen causes more mischief as Bruno, Johnny Deep wreaks havoc as John Dillinger in Public Enemies, Denzel Washington battles John Travolta in The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, and Quentin Tarantino fights World War II in Inglorious Basterds. And let’s not forget Meryl Streep as Julia Child, the summer’s most accomplished chef. Here’s hoping audiences come back for extra servings.

May Highlights
Matthew McConaughey plays a womanizer who receives the Scrooge treatment in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. The insensitive jerk’s behavior registers as particularly appalling at his little brother’s wedding rehearsal dinner. That night, he is haunted by a ghost who takes him through all his past girlfriends, including the one that got away (Jennifer Garner). The visit may change his ways, but will he be able to win back the girl? Mark Waters (Mean Girls) directs. (Warner Bros./New Line; May 1)

Veteran indie auteur Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers) returns with The Limits of Control, the tale of an enigmatic loner (Isaach De Bankolé) journeying across Spain on a mysterious mission. Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Gael Garcia Bernal, Hiam Abbass, John Hurt and Youki Kudoh are among the faces he encounters. (Focus; May 1)

How Hugh Jackman’s Logan mutated into the razor-clawed Wolverine is the subject of the latest installment of the X-Men saga, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Seeking revenge against Sabertooth (Liev Schreiber), who murdered his girlfriend, the mutant outcast agrees to a more lethal transformation. Ryan Reynolds and Dominic Monaghan (“Lost”) co-star for director Gavin Hood (Rendition, Tsotsi). (Fox; May 1)

The revival of Star Trek takes the weathered space adventurers back to their origins, exploring the childhoods and young bravado of the USS Enterprise’s crew. Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock join fellow crew members John Cho, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and Karl Urban under the direction of J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III, “Lost”). (Paramount; May 8)

The Illuminati, the secret society in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, unfold their latest scheme to menace the world in Angels & Demons. Tom Hanks returns as Robert Langdon, a religion expert who interprets the mysterious symbols left by the organization. He’s aided by Italian scientist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer). Ron Howard directs. (Columbia; May 15)

In Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, security guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) travels to Washington’s Smithsonian in order to rescue Old West cowboy Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and the Roman Octavius (Steve Coogan), who have been mistakenly shipped to the museum. Aided by historical figures including Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Albert Einstein (Eugene Levy) and Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest), the edu-tainment unfolds under the direction of Shawn Levy, who also helmed the first comedy blockbuster. (Fox; May 22)

Set in 2018, Terminator Salvation resurrects the action franchise with the help of high-energy director McG (Charlie’s Angels). Christian Bale plays John Connor, leader of the anti-robot rebels, who hesitantly accepts the help of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a man who remembers being a death-row prisoner but nothing else, not even whether he comes from the past or the future. (Warner Bros.; May 22)

The geniuses of Pixar return with Up, a tale of a balloon-levitated house piloted by a retired balloon salesman. His adventures are complicated by the presence of a nine-year-old Wilderness Explorer, who joins him on his journey to South America. Pete Docter of Monsters, Inc. helmed the 3D animated project. (Walt Disney; May 29)



Also in May
In the computer-animated Battle for Terra, a peaceful planet is disturbed by residents of Earth, who are oxygenating the atmosphere so they can flee their environmentally ravaged planet. Evan Rachel Wood and Justin Long voice Mala and Senn, two residents of the planet Terra who find themselves pulled into the struggle when Mala’s father is captured. (Roadside Attractions; May 1)

A Wink and a Smile documents a group of women who decided to enroll in a burlesque and striptease class as a challenge to themselves. Director Deirdre Timmons uses the group’s lessons to explore gender, sexuality, power and social norms. (First Run; May 1)

In Adoration, a high-school French teacher (Arsinée Khanjian) asks her class to translate a piece about a terrorist who puts a bomb in his pregnant girlfriend’s luggage. A troubled student (Devon Bostick) writes the story as if he were the baby born from the girlfriend’s womb. News spreads about the boy’s account, which he purports to be real, unraveling an interlocked history between his late parents, his teacher and his family. Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) wrote the screenplay and directs. (Sony Pictures Classics; May 8)

Julia Roberts and Willem Dafoe star in the family drama Fireflies in the Garden. In flashbacks after a character’s sudden death, family and friends reflect on the downward trajectory of their lives. Ryan Reynolds, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Watson and Hayden Panettiere (“Heroes”) round out the cast of Dennis Lee’s writing-directing debut. (Senator; May 8)

A biopic of Salvador Dalí at university age, Little Ashes stars Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattison as the Spanish artist. Director Paul Morrison’s drama explores the friendship between Dalí, Luis Buñuel (Matthew McNulty) and Federico García Lorca (Javier Beltrán), the trio that formed an intellectual avant-garde and pioneered the surrealist movement. (Regent; May 8)

A deadbeat employed by his mother mixes up an important delivery in Next Day Air. The courier delivers 10 kilos of cocaine to the wrong apartment, setting in motion some action-packed comedy. Donald Faison (“Scrubs”), Mos Def and Mike Epps head the cast. (Summit; May 8)

In Outrage, a woman’s vacation with her friends at her family’s old hunting lodge turns to terror when they encounter escapees from a military prison who are hiding there. Michael Madsen and Natasha Lyonne head the cast of Ace Cruz’s thriller. (Magnolia; May 8)

Two brothers, Rudo y Cursi, are chosen by a recruiter to play professional soccer, in a film written and directed by Carlos Cuarón. Starring Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna in their first re-teaming since Y Tu Mamá También, the whimsically narrated tale follows the brothers as they experience fame, fortune, and that one crucial moment that can change everything. (Sony Pictures Classics; May 8)

Three siblings deal with the unexpected death of their mother in Summer Hours, directed by Olivier Assayas (Clean, Les Destinées). A designer (Juliette Binoche), professor (Charles Berling) and international businessman (Jérémie Renier) must make the final step into adulthood as they settle their mother’s estate, which includes an extensive collection of museum-quality artwork. (IFC Films; May 8)

A madcap duo of widow-swindlers, The Brothers Bloom (Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo) take advantage of bereaved women who have lost their spouses, and help them lose their pocketbooks too. But the con men meet their match in a shrewd, eccentric heiress (Rachel Weisz). The global comedy-adventure was written and directed by Rian Johnson (Brick). (Summit; May 15)

Hitoshi Matsumoto directs the superhero send-up Big Man Japan, in which a middle-aged man transforms into a giant when monsters menace his city. (Magnolia; May 15)

After almost 40 years as a train engineer, Odd Horten’s retirement leads to a crisis of identity and an odd strain of adventurousness in O’Horten. Bent Hamer (Factotum, Kitchen Stories) directed the quirky Norwegian import. (Sony Pictures Classics; May 15)

The Wayans Brothers send up the recent spate of high school musicals with Dance Flick, bringing new meaning to the phrase “You got served.” Five, count ’em, five Wayanses wrote the script—Keenen Ivory, Shawn, Marlon, Craig and Damien Dante Wayans—and Damien Dante directs. (Paramount; May 22)

Based on the 1920s play by Noel Coward, Easy Virtue stars Jessica Biel as Larita, an American divorcée tainted by a claim of adultery. She escapes to France and meets and marries an upper-class man (Ben Barnes) without telling him about her past. Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth play the new in-laws, who suspect that Larita is a loose girl and try to break up the marriage. (Sony Pictures Classics; May 22)

Steven Soderbergh returns to his low-budget roots with The Girlfriend Experience. Taking place over a period of five days (and shot in just 16), the film follows a call girl, played by Sasha Grey, as she interacts with clients and her boyfriend and seeks to grow her business. (Magnolia; May 22)

The mortgage crisis serves as the backdrop for Sam Raimi’s horror film Drag Me to Hell. A bank officer (Alison Lohman) denies an old woman an extension on her home loan in order to satisfy her boss, embarrassing the destitute woman, who places a powerful curse on her. Justin Long and Dileep Rao co-star. (Universal; May 29)

A seniors-only hip-hop dance team (and we’re not talking about high-school seniors) brings down the house in Gotta Dance, a documentary by Dori Berinstein. From tryouts to the team’s basketball stadium performance at Nets games, Berinstein captures the drama and growth of the young at heart. (Independent; May)

A poor ostrich farmer in rural Iran suffers a string of misfortunes and decides to try his luck in the city in Iranian import The Song of Sparrows. The family man finds work giving rides on his motorbike, but with prosperity comes greed and alienation from his family, including a daughter whose expensive hearing aid forced his initial job search. Oscar nominee Majid Majidi (Children of Heaven, The Color of Paradise) directs. (Regent; May)

After moving to Chicago to escape her fractured marriage, Kate (Kelly Macdonald) finds kinship and romance with Frank (Michael Keaton). Both prefer to silently mull over their memories—until they begin to share details of their respective pasts. The Merry Gentlemen marks Keaton’s feature directing debut. (Samuel Goldwyn; May)




June Highlights
An expectant couple travels around the United States, looking for a place to settle and start a family, in Away We Go, a comedy directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) and written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. Maya Rudolph (“Saturday Night Live”) and John Krasinski (“The Office”) play the lead roles, with support from Jeff Daniels and Maggie Gyllenhaal. (Focus; June 5)

In The Hangover, a group of friends stage a wild bachelor party in Las Vegas and panic when the groom goes missing the next morning. What they do find is a tiger in the bathroom and a baby in the closet. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Jeffrey Tambor, Heather Graham and Justin Bartha head the cast in the new comedy from Old School director Todd Phillips. (Warner Bros.; June 5)

Inept scientist Will Ferrell accidentally sends his team back to the time of the dinosaurs in Land of the Lost, based on the classic kids’ TV series. Accompanied by a smart-aleck researcher (Anna Friel) and a backwoods survivalist (Danny McBride), Ferrell must escape advancing predators and return to the modern world with the help of a primate (Jorma Taccone). (Universal; June 5)

Eddie Murphy plays a divorced, neglectful father, too busy checking stock quotes on his BlackBerry to pay attention to his young daughter, in the family comedy Imagine That. He discovers that his daughter’s imaginary world, and her “magic” blankie, can provide information about mergers and business deals, forcing him to spend more time with her. Karey Kirkpatrick (The Spiderwick Chronicles) directs. (Paramount; June 12)

Speed underground, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 follows a New York City subway hijacking that puts dozens of passengers in jeopardy. Subway dispatcher Denzel Washington finds himself playing the role of hostage negotiator when John Travolta’s gang demands a $1 million ransom per passenger, with plans to execute them one by one until the demands are met. Tony Scott, who directed Washington in Déjà Vu, helms this remake of a 1974 thriller. (Columbia; June 12)

The team from Dangerous Liaisons returns to adapt a 1920s novel by Colette, Cheri. Michelle Pfeiffer stars as an aging courtesan who conducts an affair with a wealthy young lover (Rupert Friend). When circumstances force the man to wed another, the two must cope with their separation. Christopher Hampton wrote the screenplay and Stephen Frears directs. (Miramax; June 19)

Bringing the abuse of assistants to a whole new level, Sandra Bullock stars in The Proposal as a high-powered Canadian executive who engineers an engagement to her assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to avoid deportation. Reynolds counters with a visit to his Alaska-based family, forcing the two to rev their charade into high gear before they act on their wedding plans. (Walt Disney; June 19)

Woody Allen returns to Manhattan for his new, mystery-shrouded comedy, Whatever Works. Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley, Jr. head the cast. (Sony Pictures Classics; June 19)

Jack Black and Michael Cera star as unambitious hunter-gatherers living in primitive times in Year One. Directed by Harold Ramis (Analyze This) and co-produced by Judd Apatow, the comedy follows the duo after they are exiled from their community due to their freeloading ways. Oliver Platt, David Cross and Hank Azaria head the supporting cast. (Columbia; June 19)

A child is conceived in order to be a donor for her sister in My Sister’s Keeper, based on the bestseller by Jodi Picoult. As the girl grows older, she seeks emancipation from her family, deciding she no longer wants to be used for her body. Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook) directs Abigail Breslin, Cameron Diaz, Alex Baldwin, and Joan Cusack in the drama. (Warner Bros.; June 26)

The children’s toy turned action franchise rolls out a second installment in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, directed by Michael Bay. Shia LaBeouf reprises his role as Sam Witwicky, who is targeted after he uncovers privileged information, and must join forces with the Autobots to defeat the Decepticons. Megan Fox, Rainn Wilson, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro co-star. (Paramount & DreamWorks; June 24)

Also in June
In Downloading Nancy, Maria Bello (A History of Violence) stars a woman who leaves her husband of 15 years for a new relationship begun on the Internet. Rufus Sewell and Jason Patric co-star in director Johan Renck’s drama. (Strand; June 5)

A woman working as a housecleaner and painting in her spare time (Yolande Moreau) is discovered by an art critic (Ulrich Tukur) in Seraphine, a fictionalized account of a real painter’s odyssey. Directed by Martin Provost, the film won Best Picture and Best Actress awards at the recent César ceremony in France. (Music Box Films; June 5)

In Dead Snow, teenagers on a ski vacation are terrorized by zombies—not your run-of-the-mill zombies, but Nazi zombies! Tommy Wirkola directed this Norwegian horror-comedy import. (IFC; June 12)

A lone astronaut miner (Sam Rockwell) on a three-year mission experiences bizarre physical symptoms that lead to his near-collapse in Moon. While recovering, he encounters another version of himself from three years ago, who claims to be assigned to a three-year mission. Kevin Spacey voices the robot “Gerty,” the astronaut’s companion. Duncan Jones, the son of David Bowie, directed this Sundance 2009 entry. (Sony Pictures Classics; June 12)

Television pioneer Gertrude Berg is profiled in Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, the new documentary from Aviva Kempner (The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg). Berg was creator, head writer and star of the long-running radio show “The Goldbergs,” which became TV’s first character-driven sitcom in 1949. (International Film Circuit; June 16)

Food-politics celebrities Eric Scholosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) weigh in on the corporatization of the American food supply in Food, Inc. While the economies of scale have lowered food costs, they have also compromised quality, health and the environment, an issue Robert Kenner explores in the documentary he directed and produced. (Magnolia; June 19)

My Big Fat Greek Wedding star Nia Vardalos returns in My Life in Ruins, a comedy about a tour guide in Greece trying to get back her kefi (Greek for “mojo”). Richard Dreyfuss and Harland Williams co-star in the film from director Donald Petrie (Miss Congeniality). (Fox Searchlight; June 19)

$9.99 offers a low-budget glimpse of the mysteries of life in this stop-motion animated feature, an Israeli-Australian co-production directed by Tatia Rosenthal and featuring the voices of Anthony LaPaglia and Geoffrey Rush. (Regent; June 19)

French intrigue, comedy and sex take center stage in director Anne Fontaine’s The Girl from Monaco. A lawyer (Fabrice Luchini) defending a wealthy woman convicted of a crime of passion is presented with a bodyguard (Roschdy Zem) for the duration of the case. With little to do, the bodyguard helps the lawyer wrangle girls, until a TV weathergirl (Louise Bourgoin) with a history with the bodyguard catches the lawyer’s eye, complicating the arrangement. (Magnolia; June 26)

Elite soldiers defuse bombs in Iraq in the psychological action film The Hurt Locker. Based on writer Mark Boal’s real-life observations, the story follows a new loose-cannon commander as he leads his unit through hazardous urban warfare, inured to the death and chaos around him. Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break) directs. (Summit; June 26)

A man on the waiting list for a heart transplant finds joy in everyday life in Paris, a French-language drama by Cédric Klapisch (L’Auberge Espagnole). Romain Duris, Juliette Binoche and Fabrice Luchini head the cast. (IFC Films; June 26)

Witnesses to a mass shooting on a highway give conflicting accounts in Surveillance, a mystery thriller directed by Jennifer Lynch, daughter of David Lynch. Julia Ormond and Bill Pullman head the cast. (Magnolia; June 26)

A foster child (Grayson Boucher) finds success and community on the basketball court in Ball Don’t Lie. The neglected high-schooler’s prowess opens him up to love and respect after a life of extremely difficult circumstances in this drama by Brin Hill. (Night and Day Pictures; June)

The winner of the 2009 Foreign Language Film Oscar, Japan’s Departures follows a cellist who becomes a mortuary worker after his orchestra shuts down, and finds himself enjoying his work more than he could have imagined. (Regent; June)



July Highlights
In Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, a secret hole transports the animated characters to the realm of their giant predecessors. Mammoth couple Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah) are expecting a child, prompting Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) to steal dinosaur eggs in hopes of starting a family of his own. Meanwhile, saber-toothed cat Diego (Dennis Leary) has grown restless in his domestic role. When Sid gets lost in the dinosaur world, his fellow creatures band together to rescue him. (Fox; July 1)

The gangster picture eyes a comeback in Public Enemies, directed by Michael Mann (Miami Vice, Collateral). Just in time for the recession, the Depression-era picture stars Johnny Depp as notorious bank robber John Dillinger. Flanked by a band of famous criminals, including Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum), he must evade the FBI and its poster-ready enforcer, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale). Oscar winner Marion Cotillard and Billy Crudup co-star. (Universal; July 1)

Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) takes his Austrian fashionista character from “Da Ali G Show” to the big screen in Bruno. Using the same guerrilla filming tactics employed in Borat, Cohen infiltrates the fashion world, walking on runways, participating in protests, and prodding people to attack him and make a fool of themselves. (Universal; July 10)

Director Chris Columbus applies his sentimental touch and goes back to his Adventures in Babysitting roots with the teen romance I Love You, Beth Cooper. A high school valedictorian (Paul Rust) uses his graduation speech to proclaim his love for the girl of his dreams, Beth Cooper (Hayden Pannetiere). Remarkably, she responds to his declaration, and the two embark on a night of fun, driving around to different graduation parties and exploring their blossoming romance. (Fox; July 10)

A boy-meets-girl tale that unfolds over 500 days, quirky Sundance un-romance 500 Days of Summer stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel as budding couple Tom and Summer. They meet as co-workers and fall in love, except Tom believes that true love exists and Summer doesn’t. Marc Webb directs. (Fox Searchlight; July 17)

Based on the sixth fantasy book by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sees Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson return for their penultimate year at Hogwarts. The trio find themselves in a variety of romantic entanglements as Harry works with headmaster Dumbledore to find out more about the evil Voldemort’s past and weaknesses. David Yates, who boarded the franchise with the previous film, directs. (Warner Bros.; July 17)

The sordid world of high-stakes real estate is the backdrop of All Good Things. A detective investigating a missing-persons case tied to a real estate tycoon finds that his work might not only implicate the titan, but prompt another to take his life. The cast includes Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kirsten Dunst, Ryan Gosling and Frank Langella. Andrew Jarecki, who directed an Oscar-nominated documentary about a family of accused child abusers, Capturing the Friedmans, makes his feature debut. (Weinstein Co.; July 24)

Guinea pigs, the unlikely choice for a government secret program, star in producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s G-Force. The animated comedy adventure, viewable in 3D, follows the training and missions of the rodent spies, who just might find themselves in the position to save the world. Tracy Morgan, Penélope Cruz and Nicolas Cage voice the animal specialists. (Walt Disney; July 24)

Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler go head-to-head in the battle-of-the-sexes comedy The Ugly Truth. Heigl plays a morning-show producer who clashes with Butler’s rough, tactless TV personality, who has profited by spouting misogynistic statements on and off the air. As her initial horror wears off, she starts to discover that her Mr. Wrong is actually her Mr. Right. (Columbia; July 24)

Comedy force Judd Apatow returns to the director’s chair with his latest production, Funny People. After a famous comedian (Adam Sandler) experiences a brush with death, he decides to take in a young comic (Seth Rogen) as his employee and friend. The cast of comedians is rounded out by Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, and Apatow’s wife Leslie Mann and two children, Maude and Iris. (Universal; July 31)

Also in July
Two straight men make a pact to have sex on camera in Humpday, a comedy that earned a following at Sundance despite its dubious premise. Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair) and Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project) are the daring dudes in Lynn Shelton’s comedy. (Magnolia; July 10)

The outtakes of When We Were Kings, the documentary about the legendary title fight between Muhammad Ali and George Forman, have been cut into Soul Power, a doc that focuses on the music festival, Zaire ’74, that unfolded along with the fight. Featuring performances from James Brown, B.B. King and others, the verité film captures the unique experience of African-American performers returning to their roots and performing in Zaire. (Sony Pictures Classics; July 10)

The U.K. import In the Loop satirizes U.S.-British relations in the buildup to the Iraq War. James Gandolfini joins a solid cast of familiar Brit faces including Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee and Steve Coogan in director Armando Iannucci’s film. (IFC; July 17)

Strange events start to unfold after a couple adopts a young girl in Orphan, a horror thriller directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Vera Farmiga (The Departed) and Peter Sarsgaard lead the cast. (Warner Bros.; July 24)

In the well-received Sundance entry Adam, Hugh Dancy (Confessions of a Shopaholic) plays a New Yorker with Asperger Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism. Rose Byrne (“Damages”), Peter Gallagher and Amy Irving co-star for director Max Mayer. (Fox Searchlight; July 29)

It’s revenge, romance, and a high-school battle of the bands in Bandslam. New kid on the block Will Burton (Gaelen Connell) is enlisted by Charlotte Banks (Alyson Michalka) to start a band that can take down her smug ex-boyfriend’s at the school’s contest. What begins in revenge turns into a talented ensemble that just might have a chance at making it big—provided there are no disasters. Vanessa Hudgens and Lisa Kudrow round out the cast, in a feature directed by teen comedy-musical alum Todd Graff (Camp). (Summit; July 31)

The slaughter of thousands of dolphins in Japan is the subject of the hard-hitting documentary The Cove. Louie Psihoyos directed this Sundance Audience Award winner. (Roadside Attractions; July 31)

An Albanian immigrant, Lorna lives on the fringes of Belgian society. She agrees to take part in an arranged marriage, orchestrated by a mobster, in order to gain citizenship and a chance to start a business with her boyfriend. The mobster plans on killing her first husband in order to set her up with a second, but will Lorna allow it? Writer-directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (L’Enfant) pose this question in Lorna’s Silence. (Sony Pictures Classics; July 31)

Kids battle an alien invasion in They Came from Upstairs, a family sci-fi thriller from director John Schultz (The Honeymooners). Ashley Tisdale of High School Musical stars with Robert Hoffman, Doris Roberts, Kevin Nealon and Tim Meadows. (Fox; July 31)

Two sons, the product of an affair between a Jewish woman and a Nazi doctor who performed human experiments on prisoners, must deal with their feelings regarding their unsavory conception in Death in Love. The elder son (Josh Lucas) works at a scam model agency and is developing a healing relationship with his co-worker (Adam Brody), while the younger (Lukas Haas) still has not broken free of his mother (Jacqueline Bisset). Boaz Yakin (Uptown Girls, Remember the Titans) directs. (Screen Media; July)

A teen orphan wanders around the country for ten years in Jolene, starring newcomer Jessica Chastain. Based on the book by E.L. Doctorow, director Dan Ireland’s drama also features Dermot Mulroney, Rupert Friend, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Vartan and Denise Richards. (Screen Media; July)

Daryl Wein’s documentary Sex Positive focuses on Richard Berkowitz, a onetime gay hustler who became an advocate for safe sex in the 1980s. (Regent; July)



August Highlights
G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra marks the second film adaptation of Hasbro action figures. Directed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy), the movie follows an elite military squad which traipses the globe, trying to defeat a powerful arms dealer called Destro, in turn linked to a nefarious corporation known only as Cobra. Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller, Marlon Wayans and Joseph Gordon-Levitt head the cast. (Paramount; August 7)

A woman in crisis decides to cook her way through Julia Child’s cookbook, documenting her struggles and growth along the way, in Julie & Julia. Nora Ephron directs her adaptation of the bestselling book by Julie Powell, with Scott Rudin producing. Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, who appeared together in Doubt, play Julia and Julie. (Columbia; August 7)

A young boy (Jimmy Bennett) finds a magic rock that grants wishes in Shorts, directed by Robert Rodriguez (Sin City). His discovery electrifies his sleepy suburban town, and the boy finds himself pursued by greedy children and scheming adults. Kat Dennings and Leslie Mann play the boy’s sister and mother. (Warner Bros.; August 7)

Kristen Bell stars as a jaded New Yorker on vacation in When in Rome. An avowed romance hater, she decides to steal coins from a famed “fountain of love.” The act stirs the misguided affections of a motley band of suitors, including Danny DeVito, Jon Heder, Will Arnett and Dax Shepard. When she’s pursued by a reporter played by Josh Duhamel, she can’t help but wonder if he really likes her, of if it’s just some sort of revenge exacted by the magical fountain. Mark Steven Johnson (Ghost Rider, Daredevil) directs. (Walt Disney; August 7)

Jeremy Piven stars as a used-car salesman hired to save a dealership, all the while drinking and frequenting strip clubs, in The Goods: The Don Ready Story. Director Neal Brennan’s comedy also features Ving Rhames, James Brolin and Kathryn Hahn. (Paramount Vantage; August 14)

In Taking Woodstock, 1960s Greenwich Village resident Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) is roped into managing his family’s motel in the Catskills. Eager to bring some of the Village to the Catskills, he ends up helping the famed Woodstock Festival organizers, letting them take up residence at the motel. Ang Lee’s new film is based on the actual genesis of Woodstock, and co-stars Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber, Paul Dano, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Eugene Levy. (Focus; August 14)

Rachel McAdams is The Time Traveler’s Wife, who must find a way to cope with hubby Eric Bana’s involuntary journeys through the ages. Ron Livingston co-stars in the romantic sci-fi fantasy from Flightplan director Robert Schwentke. (Warner Bros./New Line; August 14)

Quentin Tarantino applies his signature stylistic violence to World War II in Inglourious Basterds, a remake of a 1978 B-movie. Brad Pitt stars as the leader of a Jewish-American squadron determined to kill as many Nazi leaders as possible, with the aid of undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger). Meanwhile, in Paris, Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), whose family was executed by the Nazis, prepares her own revenge scheme, and it’s only a matter of time before the two groups meet. (Weinstein Co.; August 21)

Rogue DJs broadcast to the U.K. from a pirate radio station in the North Sea in The Boat That Rocked, as ’60s-era tale starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, January Jones and Nick Frost. Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Notting Hill) wrote and directed the free-spirited comedy. (Universal; August 28)

Also in August
In the sci-fi world of District 9, aliens live in South Africa as refugees. Jason Cope and Sharlto Copley star. Neill Blonkamp, a 3D animator, wrote the screenplay and directs. (Screen Gems; August 14)

Two enterprising young men transform an empty mansion into a bordello in James B. Rogers’ comedy Pool Boys. Efren Ramirez (Napoleon Dynamite) and Matthew Lillard head the cast. (First Look; August 14)

In Post Grad, a recent college graduate is forced to move back into her childhood home with her eccentric family. Director Vicky Jenson’s comedy features Alexis Bledel (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), Zack Gilford (“Friday Night Lights”), Carol Burnett, Michael Keaton, Rodrigo Santoro and Jane Lynch. (Fox Searchlight; August 14)

Argentina’s Lucrecia Martel (The Holy Girl) directs The Headless Woman, the story of a bourgeois wife whose life disintegrates as she comes to believe she may have hit and killed someone while driving on a lonely dirt road. (Strand; August 19)

Davis Guggenheim, an Oscar winner for An Inconvenient Truth, profiles leading rock guitarists Jimmy Page, Jack White and The Edge in the documentary It Might Get Loud. Time to crank up your amps to 11. (Sony Pictures Classics; August 21)

Survivors of a horrific crash at a race track think they’ve cheated death, but they obviously haven’t seen the three previous films in the Final Destination series. David R. Elllis directs the 3D mayhem in Final Destination: Death Trip. (Warner Bros./New Line; August 28)

Relentless serial killer Michael Myers returns in Halloween 2, the second entry in the second round for the horror franchise, directed by Rob Zombie. (Weinstein Co.; August 28)

A trio of college buddies (Nicholas D’Agosto, Josh Gad, Bret Harrison) in need of a good time plan a trip to New Orleans in  Max’s Mardi Gras. With the debauchery of Bourbon Street to encourage them, the boys embark on the booze-filled party of their lives. (Screen Gems; August 28)

The life of famous French gangster Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel) is detailed in Mesrine, a two-part film. With the help of his companion Jeanne Schneider (Cécile de France), Mesrine eluded authorities for almost 20 years, escaping from prison and traveling around the world. The career criminal’s reckless and flamboyant style is brought to the screen by director Jean-François Richet (Assault on Precinct 13). (Senator; August)

Also This Summer
In the longstanding tradition of making Hitler funny, My Führer has the losing, depressed dictator prepare for an uplifting speech by enlisting the help of a Jewish acting coach (Ulrich Mühe), currently locked up in a concentration camp. Dani Levy (Go for Zucker) directs. (First Run; date TBA)

A German woman seeks protection from a Russian officer during the 1945 Red Army invasion of Berlin in the drama A Woman in Berlin. Nina Hoss and Evgeny Sidikhin star under the direction of Max Faerberboeck (Aimee & Jaguar). (Strand; date TBA)

All release dates are subject to change.