<*>The Happening""</*>
Hits Theaters June 13
The latest from director M. Night Shyamalan, ""The Happening"" is a science fiction thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel.
High school science teacher Elliot Moore (Wahlberg) and estranged wife Alma (Deschanel) encounter strange behavior among those around them. They soon discover that a bizarre ""happening"" is wreaking havoc on the general public of major U.S. cities through three chilling stages: loss of speech, physical disorientation and, ultimately, death.
This is Shyamalan's first R-rated feature film, and with the promise of swarms of people haphazardly flying out of buildings, let's hope Shyamalan can regain thriller credibility with ""The Happening"" after the disasters that were ""Lady in the Water"" and ""The Village.""
- Katie Foran-McHale
<*>""The Incredible Hulk""</*>
Hits Theaters June 13
On June 13, thousands of Marvel comic fans will find an immense amount of gratification in yet another production of ""The Incredible Hulk,"" this time starring Edward Norton.
Although many fans probably saw Ang Lee's version of ""The Hulk"" in 2003, this version promises to be bigger and better. This time, Hulk will face an actual enemy, The Abomination (Tim Roth), and the early buzz promises audiences all the action they expect without much waiting.
With the tagline, ""Get ready to unleash the beast,"" fans and action movie lovers alike will be thrilled to watch Bruce Banner come to terms with his alter-ego and use his strength to save lives. But in the end, there's only one thing audiences will flock to see: ""HULK SMASH!""
- Brittany Jordt
<*>""The Love Guru""</*>
Hits Theaters June 20
After spending the last five years ramming the ""Shrek"" franchise down our throats, Mike Myers is finally showing his actual face again in ""The Love Guru,"" though little indicates Myers' new project will be comedic gold.
""The Love Guru"" revolves around Pitka (Myers), a Canadian raised in India who hopes to become the world's greatest love guru. Opportunity knocks when Myers is summoned by the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Jessica Alba) to fix the love life of the Leafs' star player.
While the plot sounds like a bad Mad Lib, one assumes the laughs will still be there. Unfortunately, the trailers indicate all the jokes will be about Hindu stereotypes, Verne Troyer's height and the disturbing image of Myers' head superimposed onto a preteen. Perhaps there's some genius behind ""The Love Guru,"" but it looks more likely to be the work of a man who is out of ideas.
- Todd Stevens
<*>""Get Smart""</*>
Hits Theaters June 20
Steve Carell is Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway is Agent 99 in this 2008 remake of the '60s hit television spy spoof comedy series.
In the film, the U.S. spy agency CONTROL is attacked, forcing the bumbling Smart to get a promotion to fight the evil agency, KAOS. Alongside is his more competent assistant (Hathaway) and veteran detective Agent 23 (Dwayne ""The Rock"" Johnson).
Carell, who is the current king of deadpan comedy, seems the perfect choice for the old Don Adams character, and it's safe to say his performance will be the top reason to see the movie. Plus, now that ""The Rock"" has officially changed his screen name to just Dwayne Johnson, perhaps we'll see a performance slightly more worthy than the one he gave in ""The Game Plan."" Alan Arkin and Ken Davitian of ""Borat"" also star in the film, which is set to release June 20.
- Ali Rothschild
<*>""Mamma Mia!""</*>
Hits Theaters July 18
From the look of the trailers, the film version of the Broadway musical and homage to popular ABBA songs will be 100 percent pure camp. However, with the talents of Meryl Streep and Colin Firth, director Phyllida Lloyd might be able to piggyback on recent successful movie musicals like ""Sweeney Todd"" and last summer's ""Hairspray.""
The synopsis: 18-year-old bride-to-be Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) doesn't know who her father is. Her solution is to invite three of her mother's (Streep) past boyfriends to her wedding to figure out which one is the real deal. Simple enough, and set on a Greek isle with '70s dance costumes and hits like ""Dancing Queen"" and ""Mamma Mia,"" it just might work.
- Ali Rothschild
</*>""The Dark Knight""</*>
Hits Theaters July 18
In 2005, director Christopher Nolan reinvigorated a superhero that had been on the skids with the film ""Batman Begins."" Using the Frank Miller graphic novel ""Batman Year One"" as a template, Nolan moved away from the comic noir of Tim Burton's classic Batman series. As a result, Gotham became a little darker, Batman a little more sinister and the whole series a lot more serious. The aptly titled ""Dark Knight"" is the most important and unique film this summer, combining blockbuster hype with an artistic atmosphere.
Advertisement for the film began as early as 2006 with a well-formulated viral marketing campaign that mobilized fans to go out and campaign for district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) and dress up like the Joker's goons. Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne to help restore Gotham from criminal chaos as he combats the psychopathic Joker, played chillingly by the late Heath Ledger.
- Anthony Cephali
