Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Director: David Yates
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman
(Warner Bros.; US theatrical: 17 Jul 2009; 2008)

We’re getting close. The boy wizard and the gang at Hogwarts are only one more book (and, rumor has it, two more movies) away from completing J.K. Rowling’s celebrated publishing phenomenon, and while the original cast is aging gracefully, film fans are getting a little worried. You see, we were supposed to see this sixth movie in the unflappable franchise last November. Then Warner Bros. pulled the release, arguing that an impending actor’s strike (which has yet to happen, by the way) and the overwhelming success of The Dark Knight mandated the move. So while the seventh and eighth films are being prepared by the same individuals behind this one (director David Yates, series screenwriter Steve Kloves), we are finally going to see the storyline which supposedly ‘changes everything forever’. With the success of Order of the Phoenix, and audience anticipation at an all time high, we could be looking at one of 2009’s chart toppers.(source:popmatters.com)

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Director: Carlos Saldanha
Cast: Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck
(Fox; US theatrical: 3 Jul 2009; 2009)

Among film critics, there’s a certain 2D cartoon franchise that gets constantly ridiculed for going back to the direct to video well over and over again. Don Bluth’s Land Before Time holds some kind of record with 13 - that’s right 13! - VHS/DVD spin-off, though it looks as if Fox is preparing to do the same thing with this similarly themed CG series. As the joke often says, this third installment in the Ice Age franchise clearly exists to clear up all the questions raised in 2006’s The Meltdown, and with the addition of every kids favorite prehistoric predator, the cash coffers are guaranteed to be filled with babysitter substitute scratch. Wake us when Ice Age 7: Neanderthal Dance Party hits the big screen.(source:popmatters.com)

Public Enemies

Director: Michael Mann
Cast: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Stephen Dorff, Billy Crudup
(Universal Pictures; US theatrical: 3 Jul 2009; 2009)

Would be going period to take on the story of John Dillinger, and that he was bringing an amazing all star cast along including Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Billy Crudup, and recent Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, film fan tongues started wagging in anticipation. Then the trailer arrived and, for most, sealed the deal. Still, there is something a little disconcerting about seeing 1930s America viewed through the handheld shaky cam lens of a digital camera (Mann went full non-analog back in 2004 with Collateral). Many find it refreshing. Others will feel like they’re watching some time traveler’s high tech home movies. Still, with the group of actors he’s collected, and the lush look of his early century America, Mann may have found a way to have his technology and still produce something spectacular.(source:popmatters.com)

Land of the Lost

Director: Brad Silberling
Cast: Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride, Jorma Taccone
(Universal Pictures; US theatrical: 5 Jun 2009 (General release); 2009)

It seems like one of the more incongruous pairings this popcorn season—Will Ferrell and the psychedelic ‘60s kid vid imagination of Sid and Marty Krofft. While many would look at such a combination and say “makes sense”, the truth is that many a Star Trek scribe found their way onto the set of the Saturday Morning sci-fi series about a family lost in prehistoric times. They took the storylines seriously, even if the special effects occasionally let them down. Now Ferrell steps in and brings his standard mischievous irony with him. How that will mesh with the Land of the Lost faithful is yet to be seen. Surely those expecting a CG enhanced experience will not be disappointed, but one imagines that this is the kind of high concept moviemaking that gives the term “reimagining” a bad name.(source:popmatters.com)

the hangover

Director: Todd Phillips
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, Jeffrey Tambor
(Warner Bros.; US theatrical: 5 Jun 2009 (General release); 2009)

How can you tell when you have a sure-fire hit? When Tinsel Town plans on a sequel BEFORE your film hits theaters. That’s the case with this latest bro-mance comedy, a film by Old School‘s Todd Phillips which follows the madcap adventures of a group of guys who spend one of those clichéd nights in the City of Sin, only to wake up the next morning surrounded by all manner of liquor-induced trouble. With a cast that includes Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and surreal comic sensation Zach Galifianakis, the ads promise a bad taste ride through the ritual of men being men. There’s even a quick cameo by Mike Tyson (whose air drumming to Phil Collin’s “In the Air Tonight” remains a trailer treat). Here’s hoping that this film can tap into the still ample Apatow groove before that style of wit gets worn out and wasted.(source:popmatters.com)