Previewing Summer 09.

By David Hudson on 05/02/2009

[Updated through 5/5]

The first weekend in May, and summer begins. The Los Angeles Times' "Movie Sneaks" package is heavy on the video, with ad-like, two-plus-minute introductions the season's hopefuls; Manohla Dargis and AO Scott open the New York Times' "Summer Movies" special by issuing "urgent, eyes-only communiqués to Hollywood, fully confident that they will be carefully and thoughtfully ignored." Sample from "M.D.'s" memo to "Straight filmmakers": "Try this simple test: Every time you feel the need to mock or denigrate gay men or lesbians, replace that joke with an equally vicious dig about African-Americans or Jews. Doesn't sound so funny anymore, does it?" And from "A.O.S.'s" memo to "Anxious studio heads": "Did you notice the last election? People paid a lot of attention, took sides, argued back and forth. As they had, come to think of it, for much of the previous eight years. And yet so many of your 'serious' movies tiptoe around areas of real public concern, trying to be vaguely topical while strenuously working to avoid offending anybody. As a result, nobody bothers to go see them. So why not risk troubling the waters a little bit?"

Also in the NYT, "What Made Summer Memorable" gathers picks from Atom Egoyan, Michael Almereyda, Lynn Shelton, Carlos Cuarón and Catherine O'Hara. And Charles Taylor and Stephanie Zacharek look ahead to some of the highlights of the season's DVD releases.

The LAT's photo gallery: "Faces to Watch."

Collating these specials with guidance, too, from indieWIRE's and PopMatters's summer previews, here's how it breaks down.

May

"Shatner will forever be James T Kirk. There's something set in stone about that. That actually takes pressure off me. I'm going my own way. My name is not William Shatner." For the LAT, Geoff Boucher talks with Chris Pine. JJ Abrams's "Star Trek" opens this Friday; here's an earlier entry, and there'll be much more on this one in another entry going up in a few days.

LAT photo and blurb: Atom Egoyan's "Adoration." Opens Friday in NY and LA. Trailer.

Also opening Friday: Erick Zonca's "Julia" (ST VanAirsdale interviews Tilda Swinton for Movieline; trailer); Paul Morrison's "Little Ashes," with Javier Beltrán as Federico García Lorca, Robert Pattinson as Salvador Dalí and Matthew McNulty as Luis Buñuel (trailer); Benny Boom's crime comedy "Next Day Air" (trailer); Gary Hustwit's "Objectified" (see frieze; trailer); Kirby Dick's "Outrage" (earlier: Reviews from Tribeca; trailer); Carlos Cuarón's "Rudo y Cursi" (earlier: Reviews from Sundance; trailer).

Bent Hamer's "O'Horten" opens May 14. Earlier: Reviews from Cannes 08. Trailer.

"Olivier Assayas has made movies that have dealt with relationships among lovers, spouses, parents and children," writes Dennis Lim, introducing his interview. "But before 'Summer Hours,' his 12th fiction feature, a story of three siblings deciding what to do with the ancestral home and the heirlooms that are now in their possession, he had never tackled head-on the drama of the family, with its obscured histories and faded memories." May 15; trailer.

For the LAT, Glenn Whipp talks with Ron Howard about making "Angels & Demons": "'I could take more liberties, that's for sure,' Howard says. 'With "The Da Vinci Code," people were making documentaries about the book and writing scholarly analyses. That kind of familiarity was a little intimidating. Here, I felt more comfortable taking what was already a potentially strong movie story and making the movie I wanted to see." For the London Times, Kevin Maher follows the "trans-European media blitz." May 15; trailer.

Also opening May 15: Rian Johnson's "The Brothers Bloom" (earlier: the cinetrix; trailer); Anders Østergaard's "Burma VJ" (earlier: Bob Turnbull; trailer); Christian Petzold's "Jerichow" (earlier: Reviews from January; trailer); and Jennifer Aniston in "Management" (trailer).

"'Terminator Salvation' will arrive in theaters May 21 with new faces and a darker ethos than the earlier films in the series, but it is a companion piece to them, a pure sequel - or is that prequel?" asks Geoff Boucher, who then talks with the major players, among them, director McG, Christian Bale, for the LAT. In the NYT, Mekado Murphy introduces production designer Martin Laing's narrated presentation of several of the paintings he created in order to imagine a future decimated by all-out nuclear war. Trailer.

"Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" opens May 22. "The sequel moves out of New York's Museum of Natural History, the setting for the 2006 Ben Stiller blockbuster about a hapless night watchman who discovers that the exhibits come to life after dark," writes Rachel Abramowitz, who talks with Stiller, Amy Adams and director Shawn Levy for the LAT. "The Smithsonian Institution's 19 facilities allow for exponentially more museum mayhem." Trailer.

LAT photo and blurb: Stephan Elliott's "Easy Virtue." Bill Weber for Slant: "Busily scored with Jazz Age songs from [Noël] Coward and Cole Porter, 'Easy Virtue' flattens its creator's light gifts so gracelessly that it adds period arrangements of 'Car Wash' and 'Sex Bomb' for cheap shtick, the equivalent of drowning a modest sorbet in Kahlúa." May 22; trailer.

Also opening May 22: Damien Dante Wayans's spoof "Dance Flick" (trailer); Steven Soderbergh's "The Girlfriend Experience" (Ben Walters talks with Soderbergh for the Guardian; much more soon; trailer); Peter Hewitt's "The Maiden Heist," with Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, William H Macy and Marcia Gay Harden; Wendy Keys's portrait of the influential designer "Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight"; Bruce McDonald's "Pontypool" (earlier: Reviews from SXSW; trailer).

"In [Pete Docter's] latest Pixar animation production, 'Up,' opening May 29, 78-year-old Carl (voiced by Ed Asner) becomes pals with Russell, a bright-eyed, energetic 8-year-old wilderness scout," writes the LAT's Susan King. "It would seem an odd pairing, but Docter's relationship with his parents helped inspire the Carl character." Trailer.

Mark Olsen introduces an interview for the LAT: "Following his foray guiding the juggernaut 'Spider-Man' franchise through three outings, director Sam Raimi revisits his horror roots with 'Drag Me to Hell' (opening May 29), in which he fashions a wickedly funny, wildly scary, grossly whacked-out story reminiscent of the 'Evil Dead' films on which he made his reputation." Earlier: First reactions from SXSW; trailer.

Was Yojiro Takita's "Departures" truly the best Foreign Film of 2008? "As it turns out, it's a perfect Oscar choice," writes Eric D Snider for Cinematical, "a fine film that's gently funny and moving and not the least bit challenging or controversial. It tells its story with elegant simplicity and is aimed at neither the lowest common denominator nor the highbrow art-house crowd. Pleasantly in the middle is where it sits, and it's happy to be there." More from DVD Talk's Jason Bailey. May 29; trailer.

IndieWIRE has the trailer and synopsis for Jonathan Glatzer's "What Goes Up," a "film about a morally challenged New York reporter, Campbell Babbitt (Steve Coogan), who learns life lessons from a group of dysfunctional students (Hilary Duff, Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby) while covering the a story about a local hometown hero." May 29.

June

Nati Baratz's "Unmistaken Child" "follows the 4-year search for the reincarnation of Lama Konchog, a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001 at age 84," notes indieWIRE, where you'll also find the trailer. June 3.

Karen Durbin's "Five Scene-Stealers to Watch" in the NYT: John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph in "Away We Go" (June 5; trailer); Yolande Moreau in "Séraphine" (June 5; trailer); Zach Galifianakis in "The Hangover" (June 5; trailer); and Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker" (June 26; trailer; see Alison Willmore's review from SXSW; and earlier reviews from Venice and Toronto).

"'Land of the Lost' has a foot firmly in the fantastic," writes Geoff Boucher, "with its loopy characters and rollicking sensibility it aspires to join 'Night at the Museum,' 'Men in Black,' 'Ghostbusters' and even 'Galaxy Quest' as special-effects hits that aim to amuse as well as amaze." June 5; trailer.

Also opening June 5: Johan Renck's "Downloading Nancy" (earlier: Reviews from Sundance 08; trailer); Megumi Sasaki's "Herb & Dorothy," "the extraordinary story of Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means" (indieWIRE, who's got the trailer); Nia Vardalos's "My Life in Ruins" (trailer); and "The Proposal" (trailer), with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.

Again, early word on Francis Ford Coppola's "Tetro" has been quite good; it opens the Directors' Fortnight on May 14 before opening in selected theaters in the US on June 11.

"Like most of [Tony] Scott's movies, ['The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3'], which is set to open June 12, is a finely calibrated box-office machine with plenty of fireworks and star power," writes Randy Kennedy for the NYT. "But for anyone who has spent time past a turnstile, one of its chief attractions will also undoubtedly be how devoted it is to the look and feel of the subway and how well it pulls it off." And there's an accompanying audio slide show. Chris Lee talks with Scott, too, for the LAT. And the trailer.

Also opening June 12: Paul Devlin's "BLAST!" (indieWIRE has the synopsis and trailer); Tommy Wirkola's Nazi zombie flick "Dead Snow" (earlier: Reviews from Sundance; trailer); Robert Kenner's doc "Food, Inc" (trailer); Eddie Murphy's back in "Imagine That" (trailer); Duncan Jones's "Moon" (earlier: Reviews from Sundance; trailer); Daryl Wein's doc on Richard Berkowitz, "Sex Positive" (trailer).

"Directed by Harold Ramis, 'Year One' is a prehistoric comedy with an irreverent take on religious fundamentalism," writes Michael Ordoña, who talks with Ramis for the LAT. "In the film, which opens June 19, Jack Black and Michael Cera play exiled tribesmen (with very contemporary sensibilities) who wander through some of the Old Testament's greatest hits and encounter the likes of Hank Azaria, Paul Rudd and David Cross as Abraham, Cain and Abel, respectively." Trailer.

Also opening June 19: Tatia Rosenthal's "$9.99" (earlier: Reviews from New Directors / New Films; trailer); and Woody Allen's "Whatever Works" (earlier: Reviews from Tribeca).

"To hear co-writer Alex Kurtzman describe the new 'Transformers,' it sounds like a heartwarming coming-of-age tale," writes the LAT's Michael Ordoña. "Except for all the giant alien robots punching one another in the face." "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" opens June 26; trailer.

LAT photo and blurb: "Chéri." Trailer. While it doesn't open in the US until June 26, it opens in the UK on Friday. For Time Out London, Nina Caplan talks with screenwriter Christopher Hampton about adapting Colette's novel; Mick Brown interviews Michelle Pfeiffer for the Telegraph; Amy Raphael talks with director Stephen Frears for the London Times.

LAT photo and blurb: Nick Cassavetes's "My Sister's Keeper." June 26; trailer.

Dennis Lee's "Fireflies in the Garden," with Willem Dafoe, Ryan Reynolds, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss and Julia Roberts, was pretty much panned across the board when it premiered in Berlin in 2008. June 26; trailer.

July

"Billy Crudup gets asked the same two questions whenever he tells friends he's playing infamous FBI chief J Edgar Hoover in Michael Mann's gangster thriller 'Public Enemies,'" notes the LAT's Susan King. "The first question is always an excited 'Really?' says the 40-year-old Tony Award-winning actor. 'The second question is, "Did you put on a dress?"'" July 1; trailer.

"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" (trailer) opens July 3.

Also opening July 10: Larry Charles and Sacha Baron Cohen's "Brüno" (earlier: first reactions from SXSW; trailer); "I Love You, Beth Cooper" (trailer); and Jeffrey Levy-Hinte's followup of sorts to "When We Were Kings," "Soul Power," "culled from the hours of footage left out of its predecessor," notes Nick Schager at Slant, "and the results are unsurprisingly underwhelming." Trailer.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" will finally open on July 15, having been kicked over to this summer by Warner Bros from its original date in November. For the LAT, Geoff Boucher talks with Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson and notes: "It remains to be seen whether fans will hold a grudge against the film for the delay - many pledged to boycott it or at least skip the opening weekend to express their ire - but it's hard to imagine the popcorn juggernaut can be slowed, much less stopped."

Opening July 17: Jonathan Levine's slasher flick "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" (trailer) and "In the Loop" (earlier: Reviews from the UK and Sundance; trailer).

"Young man meets young woman. They court, fall for each other and eventually split up. Told as a postmortem patchwork of emotions and memories, '(500) Days of Summer' skips across the life of a fleeting relationship, with all of its disagreements, deep connections and trips to IKEA, lingering moments in private and enthusiasms shared in public. The film manages to be a romance even as it assays a relationship predestined to failure, perhaps being all the more romantic for chasing the effervescence of love in spite of the knowledge of its doom." For the LAT, Mark Olsen talks with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and director Marc Webb. July 17; trailer.

LAT photo and blurb: "The Answer Man," with Jeff Daniels. Formerly known as "Arlen Faber." July 24.

CGI guinea pigs make their debut in "G-Force" (trailer) on July 24, which also brings us "The Ugly Truth" (trailer), Jaume Collet-Serra's scary kid movie "Orphan" (trailer) and Andrew Jarecki's "All Good Things," with Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst and Frank Langella.

"Adam" opens on July 29. Trailer. Earlier: Reviews from Sundance.

"Despite [Judd] Apatow's ubiquity as a producer of sloth-celebrating movies like 'Superbad' and 'Pineapple Express' and a recent spate of comedies about emotionally stunted males ('Role Models,' 'I Love You, Man') that share his influence if not his input, 'Funny People' is only the third film that he has directed," notes Dave Itzkoff. "But moviegoers expecting a breezy romp in the style of his hit movies 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' and 'Knocked Up' had better hold onto their bongs." Lisa Rosen profiles Leslie Mann for the LAT. Opens July 31; here's the trailer.

Also opening July 31: Ole Christian Madsen's "Flame & Citron" (earlier: Reviews from Telluride; trailer); the Dardennes' "Lorna's Silence" (earlier: Reviews from Cannes 08; trailer); and Louie Psihoyos's "The Cove" (earlier: Reviews from Sundance and New Directors / New Films; trailer); and John Schultz's "They Came From Upstairs" (trailer).

August

Lisa Rosen in the LAT: "'It's insane that someone believed in us and gave us the money to do this,' Charlyne Yi says. The performer, best known for her role as the Seth Rogen character's stoner friend Jodi in 'Knocked Up,' is speaking of her new film, the romantic comedy 'Paper Heart,' opening Aug 7. Yi co-wrote the script and the music, served as one of the executive producers and made puppets. Adds Yi, 'This whole movie, we didn't know what we were doing.'" Earlier: Reviews from Sundance; trailer.

Also opening on August 7: Sophie Barthes's "Cold Souls" (earlier: Reviews from Sundance and New Directions / New Films); Stephen Sommers's "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra" (trailer); Neal Brennan's "The Goods: The Don Ready Story"; Nora Ephron's Julie and Julia," with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep (trailer); Robert Rodriguez's "Shorts" (trailer); Andy Griffith returns in "Play the Game" (trailer); and Mark Steven Johnson's "When in Rome," with Kristen Bell and Jon Heder.

Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo" (trailer) opens on August 14. Earlier: Reviews from Japan and Venice.

Also opening on August 14: Todd Graff's "Bandslam"; Neill Blomkamp's "District 9" (trailer); and David R Ellis's "Final Destination: Death Trip 3D"; Davis Guggenheim's guitar hero doc, "It Might Get Loud"; David Twohy's "A Perfect Getaway"; Vicky Jenson's "The Post Grad Survival Guide" (trailer); Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock" (trailer); and Robert Schwentke's "The Time Traveler's Wife," with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams.

You kind of know what "Inglourious Basterds" is about. But really - what's it about? The LAT's John Horn asks the director: "'Their mission is to psychologically beat the Germans by desecrating and butchering their bodies, taking their scalps, disemboweling them, and always leaving one soldier alive to tell the story,' Tarantino says, sipping an iced tea on the second-floor balcony of his Hollywood Hills home overlooking Universal Studios. It's akin, he says, to what the Apaches did to the US Cavalry: When you'd rather die than be captured, the enemy is winning the mind game." August 21; trailer.

Doug Pray's "Art & Copy" opens August 21, too. Earlier: Reviews from Sundance. Trailer.

And on August 28: Richard Curtis's "The Boat That Rocked" (it didn't quite, in the UK; but here's the trailer) and Rob Zombie's "H2: Halloween 2."

Update, 5/4: "With literally hundreds of films to choose from this summer, we humbly present this guide to the season's most exciting offerings." Stephen Saito does the honors for IFC.

Updates, 5/5:AV Club unveils its "Wildly Enthusiastic 2009 Summer Movie Preview, Part One: May - June."

And Stephen Saito's back, this time with a guide to movies that'll be appearing online this summer. Plus: A "Repertory Calendar for the Coasts."

[Photo: "Summer Hours," IFC Films, 2008]

Tags: Billy Crudup, Charlyne Yi, Chris Pine, Harold Ramis, Harry Potter, Judd Apatow, Marc Webb, Martin Laing, Olivier Assayas, Pixar, Quentin Tarantino, Ron Howard, Summer 2009, Summer Hours, Terminator Salvation, Tony Scott, Up