Here are some of the movies releasing in theaters in June 2008, listed alphabetically. Click on the IMDB links, below, for more information. My most anticipated from this list, based on trailers, is Kung Fu Panda (image above), though Get Smart (video at bottom) is a close second.

1. Get Smart.
   Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp. Steve Carell (40 Year Old Virgin) reprises the TV role of the kooky, klutzy Maxwell Smart, agent 86. This will either a fantastic tribute to a funny show or a big bust. But Carell’s understated comic genius suggests the former. And his resemblance to Don Adams (who played Smart in the TV show) is uncanny enough that it’ll entice fans of the show like myself.
2. Kung Fu Panda.
   Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, Michael Clarke Duncan. The marketing on this animation has been piled on thick, but it looks like a great deal of fun. After being sorely disappointed by what should have been a fun movie (Speed Racer), I’m really looking forward to this.
3. Mongol [limited].
   An account of one of history’s most successful conquerors - and former slave - Genghis Khan.
4. The Happening.
   Mark Wahlberg, John Leguizamo, Zooey Deschanel. It’s the next flick from unusual horrormaster M. Night Shyamalan. This time, it’s some natural disaster, and the entire planet is in trouble.
5. The Incredible Hulk.
   Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Robert Downey Jr., Lou Ferrigno. Really? Isn’t one Incredible Hulk movie per decade enough? Who thought it was a good idea to remake this only five years after the last flop? Despite my great fondness for the cast, the trailers suggest that CGI isn’t that impressive - Hulk and Abomination look like CGI craeations. I like Lou Ferrigno’s Hulk from the old TV series simply because he looks human.
6. The Love Guru.
   Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Romany Malco, Verne Troyer, Justin Timberlake, Ben Kingsley, Jessica Simpson. Another crazy comedy from Mike Myers about a really white-skinned looking guru from India. The movie is said to be offending Hindus everywhere. But hey, it’s Mike Myers playing a white guy raised by Indian gurus, who returns to the U.S. to solve everyone’s love problems. Unfortunately, it looks extremely over-acted and way boring, thanks to a rehash of a lot of old Austin Powers’ style gags.
7. The Promotion [limited].
   Seann William Scott, John C. Reilly, Fred Armisen, Jenna Fischer. I’ve yet to see Seann William Scott in anything that’s truly worth seeing, unless you have time to waste. But you might know John C. Reilly from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Talledega Nights and others. The man has some talent, and Scott might be a good counterpoint in this movie about two grocery store managers fighting for a promotion.
8. Wall-E.
   Fred Willard, Kathy Najimy, John Ratzenberger, Sigourney Weaver. Animated flick about a trash-compactor robot.
9. Wanted.
   Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Terence Stamp. A wild-ride thriller about an assassin clan who can defy the laws of phsyics. Based
   on a comic strip.
10. You Don’t Mess With the Zohan.
    Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rob Schneider, Kevin Nealon, Robert Smigel. Adam Sandler’s movies are always hit or miss. It’s really hard to tell from the trailers, but I’m leaning towards “miss” with this one. However, I’m a Sandler fan and I’ll still be seeing this one, hoping it’s at least fun.

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Iron Man (imdb) captures your attention from the first moments of the movie and doesn’t let you go even as the credits are rolling. It is the perfect storm of theatrical releases: a great story line, incredible acting and cool special effects (oh and don’t forget the soundtrack).

The movie jumps right into action with fun dialog and surprising action all to the tune of “Back in Black” by ACDC. The dialog continues through out the film - with Downey Jr having some of the best movie lines in a long time - and the action never seems to slow down.

For Robert Downey Jr. fans, he does not disappoint for a moment. He is charming, witty, and probably in the best physical condition of his life. He manages to fully develop his character with the help of a great script.

The shining star of the supporting cast - which all seemed to be fairly flat characters, making Downey Jr. stand out even farther - is Shaun Toub, who plays Yinsen. It is with his help that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is able to step up and become the man he is supposed to be.

Speaking of the script, the story line is exciting during the slow times and heart racing during the action. It pulls you along for a wonderful ride that leaves you panting “more!” There is no doubt that a second Iron Man can’t be far away. (2010, to be accurate.)

There are a few questionable scenes at the very beginning (suggested sexual situation), but other than that it would be a fun night out for the whole family. The explosions and special effects might make the kids jump a little, but they will likely be fine in the end.

Over all, Iron Man is a feel good, heart-pounding, action packed movie that you will want to watch time and again.

P.S. One word: SHIELD

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Indiana Jones helped define the movies of a generation and found his way into the hearts of many of the teens and children from that generation. The newest installment of the series, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, opened last Thursday with big fan fare. Since it was graduation night for many of the schools in the area, we thought it would be the perfect time to slip into an early showing without a lineup.

We were wrong.

The line began twenty minutes before the theater even opened – unusual for any movie at four in the afternoon. There were kids of all ages who had their parents in tow, and there were just as many parents who had their kids in tow.

The new installment starts out in typical Indy style – action, bad guys and escape. Unlike past movies, it seemed a bit forced (and ridiculous at times) and the special effects were not so special.

The first hour and a half is filled with slow, painful dialogue that doesn’t add very much to the movie. The plot twists are not that inventive, and you can see some of them coming from a mile away. This was the first movie I have been to in a long time with people freely going in and out of the theater. No one was afraid of missing anything important (or impressive).

I would have been completely disappointed if it were not for the last thirty minutes of the movie. This showed the Indy that I grew up loving. The last part is fast paced, offers great action, and even with the usual predictability of some situations, it still kept the attention of the entire audience (no more moving around).

I do NOT recommend taking younger children (under 10) to see this movie. There are a couple of grisly scenes that made many of the kids in the audience crawl into their parent’s lap. The sad thing is that if the producer and director had left out those couple of scenes and had taken out the two curse words, then the movie would have been more suited for the whole family to enjoy.

All and all, I would say that if you have to go see it then be sure to get some snacks before it starts. You will need them to help you get through the first part of the movie. If you can wait, then this is definitely one I would save my money on and rent the DVD when it comes out.

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The spirit of C.S. Lewis lives on in the newest installment of the Narnia series. Although the movie Prince Caspian does not adhere strictly to the story line of the C.S. Lewis novel by the same name, the storyline still leaves the viewer with the same values and ideals that Lewis crafted in the print version. The places that the movie got away from the story line in the print version only seemed to help push the movie the story along.

As a die-hard fan of the print series (I’ve read all seven of the Narnia books several times and own two copies of the print series and also one of the audio sets. I’ve seen all the versions of the books – play, cartoon, and even the BBC television series) and I was still enthralled for the full 210 minutes of the movie (and even sat through the credits hoping for a peek at the next film).

The movie shows more violence than the book shows, but even that violence is not graphic. If anything, it was inspiring. The story grabs hold of you from the beginning and doesn’t let go even after the credits roll.

There are some marked differences between the book and the movie.

1. The horn wasn’t blown until battle began in the book.
2. The children and the dwarf they are traveling with all see Aslan before they do battle in the book (and before they meet Caspian).
3. There is no raid on the castle in the book – the children don’t even meet up with Caspian until the end of the story.
4. There was no rivalry between Peter and Caspian in the book.
5. The movie skips “the Romp.”
6. Susan and Caspian do not ever come in contact except during the farewell – and then only briefly – so there was no love interest in the book.

And that is just the beginning of the differences. Even with the changes, the heart of the story still shines through. It is definitely one to see on the big screen, and I would even take older children (7 and up) to see this film.

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Jimmy Stewart, one of cinema’s greatest stars and my all-time favorite actor, was born today, May 20th, in 1908 as James Maitland Stewart, in the state of Pennsylvania. He passed away on July 2nd, 1997, of cardiac arrest, making today the 100th anniversary of his birth.

It’s said that his favorite movie that he was in was Harvey, about an invisible, six-foot tall “pooka” (usually a horse spirit) resembling a rabbit, who is befriended by a quiet, naive man (Stewart), much to his detriment. While I enjoyed Harvey, my fave Jimmy Stewart movies are It’s a Wonderful Life and various Hitchcock films including Vertigo, Rear Window, and The Man Who Knew Too Much.

If you want to catch some Jimmy, TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is showing 24 hours of his movies.

Image credit: The image above is a preliminary design for a USPS 2007 commemorative stamp. According to USPS rules, there must be a line through the denomination if the image is reduced in size. (The actual denomination of the stamp, when released, was $0.41.)

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If you’ve been waiting for this second movie in The Chronicles of Narnia series, you might be disappointed with Prince Caspian. Well, I suppose it depends on what you’re waiting for. If you’re looking forwards to lots of battles in a long movie, with no development of characters, then you’ll have a great time. If you’re looking for a visual feast, you’ll probably enjoy it too - the graphics are mostly as impressive as with the first movie, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and the visuals are gorgeous.

But if you’re looking for a movie that adheres to the beloved classic Narnia books by C.S. Lewis, or any actual story and characters that you can care about, you’ll probably be highly disappointed. And because of all the battles and violence, if you’re taking your kids, you’ll probably think you’ve made a mistake. Even Aslan the lion and Tilda Swinton as the White Witch only appear onscreen for a tiny slice of time. Or if you’re going to see it because of the handsome, young Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian (at right), you might be surprised to find he’s not charismatic on screen at all.

Now I’ll admit I haven’t read the books, so I can’t compare them with the movies. For years, I looked for a full collection of the seven novels and could never find them all. Somewhere I have a tattered second-hand copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and was waiting to find the rest before reading. (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is actually considered book #1 by some people, but it’s #2 in the series.) What I do know, if I’m not mistaken, is that the second movie is actually based on the fourth book, thanks to some technical problems with the animation for the original second movie. However, that might be Internet misinformation.

In case you’re interested, here are the Narnia titles in order of appearance, as per the collected package shown at Harper Collins:

1. The Magician’s Nephew.
2. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
3. The Horse and His Boy.
4. Prince Caspian.
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
6. The Silver Chair.
7. The Last Battle.

Given that 1300 years have passed between movies #1 and #2, I say we missed out on something - something called The Horse and His Boy, which doesn’t have much of a ring to it as far as being a movie title. (Maybe that’s why there’s no movie based on it?)

Can’t say I understand why this approach was taken, and why director Andrew Adamson ignored character development throughout 99% of Prince Caspian. I’m hoping he redeems himself with movie #3, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (book #5) - which comes out in 2010 - and gives us something as wonderful as movie #1, which he also directed.

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It’s utterly unbelievable that the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix) actually spent $160 Million on the biggest piece of crap released in movie theaters this year to date: Speed Racer. They certainly didn’t spend that money on the actors’ abilities to act, nor on a good script, and certainly not the epilepsy-inducing, gaudy, bright, horrible, confusing graphics. (I can’t think of enough adjectives.)

I knew going in to the theater that Speed Racer wouldn’t have much of a plot. (One person likened it to being as seemingly appealing as the live-action Flintstones movie of a few years ago - which John Goodman was also in. Hint, hint?) But you’d think that the guys who made The Matrix - which had incredible CGI work - would have at least produced a crappy movie with great graphics.

If there was any shred of good acting, it was from Matthew Fox as the mysterious Racer X character, a force for justice. But when you’re matched against wretched dialog and awful acting, it’s a dog’s breakfast covering any good bits.

This is a terrible movie, with no redeeming qualities, and it makes me wonder exactly what they spent $160M on. I’d go back to the graphics company and demand a refund, boys.

So save your money, maybe get your hands on the old anime TV series if you have some unexplained need to watch Speed Racer. Of course, if you have kids, it might be difficult to explain to them that you might vomit if you had to watch this piece of crap. Just get them the toys - the TV commercials are already appearing, and some fast food restaurant is bound to offer some soon as well.

The Wachowski Brothers should be put into a corner of a room and made to write, “I will not make crappy remakes of mediocre TV shows again” - say about 1,000 times with a small piece of chalk.

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