Upcoming films folks on my friends list will probably want to check out

[thatcrazycajun]

Besides the incredibly awesome Monsters Vs. Aliens, in theaters now (you should spring for the 3D version if you can; it's totally worth it, and Roger Ebert can bite me!) plus the upcoming reboot of Star Trek launching in theaters next month and the live-action film of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are this fall (both previously mentioned here), there are a few other movies you might be interested in that are coming out in the months ahead:

• Battle for Terra (5/1, LionsGate) Another all-CGI 3D film, about human survivors of Earth's destruction in an aging space-ark going all conquistador on a bunch of peaceable aliens who happen to have a nice habitable planet lying around. Luke Wilson and Evan Rachel Wood voice the unlikely allies—one human, one Terrian—who must convince their respective peoples not to go to war for it. James Garner and Dennis Quaid also provide voices.
• Astro Boy (October; no date given, Summit/Imagi). Yes, that Astro Boy, from the classic Japanese anime TV series, given a CGI upgrade for the 21st century. The voice cast includes Nathan Lane, Donald Sutherland, Bill Nighy and Nicolas Cage as Dr. Tenma (?!?). Purist fans of the original may not care for it, but I've only heard of it and not seen it, so I can't judge. I saw a trailer for the movie tonight before MvA, and I for one am so there.
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (9/18, Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia) A thoroughly silly film based on Judi and Ron Barrett's children's book about a nerdy inventor (is that redundant?) who comes up with a way to make it literally rain solid food. Still another 3D CGI cartoon, with voices including Andy Samberg, James Caan, Bruce Campbell and Mr. T. This was another one I saw the trailer for at the theater tonight, and it looks like pure, scientifically preposterous fun.
• Up (5/29, Disney/Pixar) The latest surefire tentpole summer hit from the folks who gave you Cars, Finding Nemo and the Toy Story series. A cranky old coot hooks up hundreds of helium balloons to his house in a bid to outdo the guy who floated up to cruising altitude in a lawn chair, taking a terrified Boy Scout with him into places neither of them ever expected...and may not survive leaving. Again, all CGI and in 3D, which more and more studios are seeing as the future of theater-film profits.
• Terminator Salvation (5/21, Warner Bros./Halcyon) The fourth installment in the James Cameron-created franchise that seems as nigh-indestructible as its cyborg namesakes...and the first without a certain Republican Governor of California involved. Hard to believe it's been a full quarter-century now since we first started having to worry about our computers and machines deciding to kill us all and take over the world. Christian Bale (of Batman Begins/The Dark Knight fame) becomes the third actor to take on the role of future human resistance leader John Connor (fourth, if you count Thomas Dekker in Fox's still-alive-for-now TV series).

Ohhh, yeah, it's shaping up to be another good summer for SF/fantasy movie fans...but parents of school-age children may curse the studios for the excess of expensive trips to the multiplex their kids will hound them for.

Comments

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Up sounds moderately interesting. The rest...probably not.

Far more interested in Sugar, which has gotten all sorts of good reviews. (And it's about baseball, which means it can't be all bad. :-) And Adventureland, which is about the little amusement park on Lawn Guy Land that we went to when we couldn't get away for a full day, way down in New Jersey, to Great Adventure. The timing is also about right (a few years late) in terms of the characters' being my age at the time it's set, as well. So, you know, home field advantage and all that. Reviews are mixed, but good enough that I'll give it a (tilt-a-)whirl.

[ericavdg.livejournal.com]

There's a 3D Astro Boy outside one of the entrances to the Kyoto, Japan, train station. No idea why.

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

I am now going completely insane - not your fault - because I recall seeing a preview for the Sendak film in a theater someplace, but I can't recall seeing any movies in the theater at all in the past year. I rarely go because my back hurts when I sit for long periods of time. So, what movie did I see? Who was I with? Don't answer - I don't expect you to know. But I do expect myself to know, and I don't have a clue.

[wolfette]

another 3D animated that I saw trailers for on Saturday was "G -Force" - where "G" stands for Gerbils or Guinea Pigs working for the US government - oh and a computer mole who has a way with worms :-)

☈

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Occasionally I used to hear some weather announcer or other using the jargonish abbreviation "T-storms"... and I would think "with a chance of lemon and sugar".