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Summer Times 2: Movies -- The fast and the funny
Thursday, July 27, 2006

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" has the wind at its sails and the top spot at the box office for the year.

Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley trumped the X-Men, Superman, the Over-the-Hedge gang and every character real or animated who trotted through the multiplex this year. It doesn't seem likely that "Pirates" will be dethroned easily, but summer is far from over.

Remember, Hollywood can be fickle, and dates are subject to change.

FRIDAY

"Miami Vice" -- No pastels, just Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell as Tubbs and Crockett in this big-screen version of the TV show. Gong Li turns up as the Chinese-Cuban wife of an arms and drug trafficker.

"Scoop" -- Woody Allen returns to London, with muse Scarlett Johansson in tow. In this slight comedy, Allen is a magician, and she's a visiting journalism student who falls for a British aristocrat (Hugh Jackman) who just might be a killer.

"The Ant Bully" -- When a 10-year-old boy, new in town and tormented by a neighborhood bully, takes out his frustration on the anthill in his yard, the residents retaliate. The ants shrink him down to their size and sentence him to live in their colony.

"John Tucker Must Die" -- When three popular girls from different cliques discover they've all been dating the school stud, they band together to exact revenge.

"Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man" -- Documentary about the Canadian singer-songwriter, told through footage shot at a tribute at the Sydney Opera House, interviews, and the subject's artwork, poetry and personal photos.

"Look Both Ways" -- The misadventures of a woman (Justine Clarke) who sees disaster everywhere are told with a mix of animation and live action.

AUG. 4

"Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" -- Will Ferrell does NASCAR. Also along for ride are Michael Clarke Duncan, John C. Reilly and Gary Cole.

"Barnyard" -- Farm animals are the focus of this CGI film with the voices of Kevin James, Sam Elliott, Danny Glover and others.

"The Night Listener" -- Psychological thriller, based on the Armistead Maupin novel, about a writer and popular late-night radio show host who develops an intense relationship with a young listener and his adopted mother. Robin Williams, Rory Culkin and Toni Collette star.

"The Descent" -- One year after a tragic accident, six girlfriends meet in a remote part of the Appalachians for their annual caving trip. A rock falls and blocks their route back to the surface, and, if that weren't enough, they run into monstrous humanoids in the dark.

"The Oh in Ohio" -- Sex comedy starring Parker Posey and Paul Rudd as Clevelanders who separate after a decade-long marriage and start looking for lust in all the wrong or right places.

AUG. 9

"World Trade Center" -- Oliver Stone tells the true story of the survival and rescue of two Port Authority policemen who became trapped in the rubble on 9/11. Cast includes Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

AUG. 11

"Accepted" -- Rejected by eight legitimate colleges, Bartleby "B" Gaines (Justin Long) and his pals create a fake school, which soon attracts other misfits.

"Step Up" -- A rebel foster teen, doing community service at an arts school, trades his janitorial duty for dancing to partner with a classically trained performer. Channing Tatum, Rachel Griffiths and Mario star.

"Zoom" -- Tim Allen is an out-of-shape former superhero who is called back into action to turn a ragtag group of kids into the next generation of superheroes. Cast includes Courteney Cox Arquette, Chevy Chase, Spencer Breslin and Rip Torn.

"The Heart of the Game" -- Documentary about a college tax professor who moonlights as a Seattle girls' basketball coach. Among his players is a tough, inner-city player whose off-court struggles threaten to stop her from becoming the first person in her family to get a college education.

"The King" -- Gael Garcia Bernal and William Hurt star in this charged story about a 21-year-old dreamer named Elvis Valderez who leaves the Navy and looks up the dad he never knew. The older man wants nothing to do with him, but that doesn't stop Elvis from befriending his newly discovered half-sister.

"The War Tapes" -- Tired of having the war filtered by filmmakers with agendas or limited access? This documentary, a winner at the Tribeca Film Festival, was shot by the soldiers themselves, notably a wisecracking carpenter, a Lebanese-American college student and a father seeking honor and redemption.

AUG. 18

"Snakes on a Plane" -- Samuel L. Jackson is an FBI agent escorting a witness on a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles when an assassin releases hundreds of deadly snakes. An entire Internet community has sprung up around this movie, and like a rattler in the desert, it's ready to strike the box office.

"Sisters in Law" -- And now for something completely different ... a documentary about a state prosecutor and court president helping women in their Cameroon village fight cases of abuse.

"Little Miss Sunshine" -- Quirky comedy and festival favorite about a dysfunctional family with a 7-year-old who wants to win the Little Miss Sunshine crown.

"The Illusionist" -- Edward Norton dabbles in the dark arts as an illusionist in this supernatural mystery also starring Paul Giamatti as Vienna's chief inspector, Rufus Sewell as Crown Prince Leopold and Jessica Biel as the woman who lights the fuse on an explosive romantic triangle.

AUG. 25

"Invincible" -- Mark Wahlberg plays Vince Papale, a bartender and substitute teacher who made the Philadelphia Eagles in 1976 as a special teams player at age 30 after answering an ad for an open tryout. Greg Kinnear is coach Dick Vermeil.

"Beerfest" -- From Broken Lizard, the troupe that brought us "Super Troopers" and "Club Dread," this comedy is about the secret Olympics of beer drinking.

"How to Eat Fried Worms" -- On his first day at a new school, an 11-year-old boy inadvertently challenges the school bully and agrees to a bet that he can eat 10 worms in one day. Based on Thomas Rockwell's book.

"Idlewild" -- OutKast members Andre Benjamin and Antwan Andre Patton, better known as Andre 3000 and Big Boi, appear in this musical set against the backdrop of a 1930s Southern speakeasy.

"DOA: Dead or Alive" -- Videogame adaptation with an ensemble that includes Jaime Pressly (Joy on "My Name Is Earl") and Eric Roberts, along with Aussie pop star Holly Valance.

"Gabrielle" -- Isabelle Huppert is a turn-of-the-century wife in an adaptation of a Joseph Conrad short story about a couple trapped in a marriage and strangled by society's rules.

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" -- New print, reportedly with naughty bits of new footage, of the 1975 comedy classic with John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle and the late Graham Chapman.

SEPT. 1

"The Wicker Man" -- Director Neil LaBute remakes the 1970s British thriller, with Nicolas Cage as a sheriff investigating the disappearance of a young girl on a remote island off the coast of Maine. He finds more than he bargained for, including evidence of pagan rituals.

"Crossover" -- Story of two basketball players, one who wants to study pre-med at UCLA and the other looking at earning a GED and winning an underground game.

"Boynton Beach Club" -- Dyan Cannon, Sally Kellerman, Brenda Vaccaro, Joseph Bologna and Len Cariou star in this Susan Seidelman comedy ("Desperately Seeking Susan") about life, death and dating again.

"Crank" -- Who needs a double shot of espresso when you get this kind of wake-up call? A hit man (Jason Statham) hears he's been poisoned in his sleep and has only an hour to live. Amy Smart plays his girlfriend.

DATES TBA

"Edmond" -- David Mamet directs a dark, picaresque tale of an Everyman (William H. Macy) who, after realizing his life is boring and meaningless, leaves it all behind to embark on his own quest for truth and fulfillment.

"Celestine Prophecy" -- James Redfield's best-selling novel is the basis for this spiritual adventure film chronicling the discovery of ancient scrolls in the rain forests of Peru.

First published on July 27, 2006 at 12:00 am
Post-Gazette movie editor Barbara Vancheri can be reached at bvancheri@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1632.