Summer Films

MICHAEL DWYERpreviews all the film openings from now until the end of August

THE GLOBAL economy may be in dire straits, but numerous forces remain intent on taking over our planet, if we’re to judge by some of the scenarios for movies opening over the next two months.

Like Christmas advertising promotions, the summer movie season begins earlier every year, this time in April with next Wednesday’s opening of X-Men Origins: Wolverine . That’s a prequel, and as ever, summer in our cinemas is synonymous with franchises and remakes.

They include another prequel in Star Trek , a new Dan Brown adaptation in Angels & Demons , sequels to Night at the Museum and Transformers , a third Ice Age, the fourth editions of Final Destination (in 3D) and The Terminato r, and the sixth Harry Potter picture. And we can expect remakes of Last House on the Left and The Taking of Pelham 123 .

The massive success of Mamma Mia! last summer proved the wisdom of counter-programming against the blockbusters and reminded the Hollywood studios that women go to the cinema. So this summer abounds with romantic comedies, many featuring women torn between two lovers to reassure nerds that they, too, can find true love.

Going by the many trailers I’ve seen already, nothing looks funnier than Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat follow-up, Bruno . And on paper, given all the talent it assembles, no summer release appears as alluring as Michael Mann’s gangster drama Public Enemies .

JULY 10

BRUNO

The full title of the irreverent comedy starring Sacha Baron Cohen as a gay Austrian fashion journalist is Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt .

FROZEN RIVER

Courtney Hunt's drama received Oscar nominations this year for best actress (Melissa Leo) and best original screenplay. Leo and Misty Upham play impoverished single mothers who smuggle illegal immigrants into the US.

35 SHOTS OF RUM

French director Claire Denis is on mellow form with her tender, low-key picture observing the relationships between disparate neighbours in a suburban Paris apartment building.

JULY 17

ADVENTURELAND

In Superbad director Greg Mottola's 1987-set serious comedy, family finance problems force a college graduate (Jesse Eisenberg) to take a lowly job at an amusement park.

COCO BEFORE CHANEL/COCO AVANT CHANEL

Anne Fontaine's film follows the early life of Coco Chanel (played by Amélie star Audrey Tautou).

DOGGING: A LOVE STORY

A young Englishman (Luke Treadaway) goes looking for love in "an outrageous comic tale".

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

Back to school at Hogwarts with the regular cast for the movie of the sixth and penultimate novel in JK Rowling's series.

JOHNNY MAD DOG

Set in an unnamed African country (it was shot in Liberia), Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire's contemporary war movie deals with child soldiers on a murderous rampage to overthrow the government.

WIDE OPEN SPACES

Ardal O'Hanlon and Ewan Bremner co-star as thirtysomething slackers working on a Famine theme park in a comedy shot on Kildare locations, written by Arthur Matthews ( Father Ted ) and directed by Tom Hall ( Bachelors Walk ).

JULY 24

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123

Tony Scott is at the helm for the remake of the cracking 1974 thriller which pits a New York subway dispatcher (Denzel Washington in the Walter Matthau role) against a train hijacker (John Travolta taking over from Robert Shaw).

JULY 31

BIRDWATCHERS/LA TERRA DEGLI UOMINI ROSSI

Director Marco Behis explores the plight of present-day Guarani Indians in an area of Brazil's Amazonian jungle.

G-FORCE

Jerry Bruckheimer's 3D production blends live action and animation as talking animal commandos prevent a billionaire megalomaniac (Bill Nighy) from taking over the world.

IMAGINE THAT

Eddie Murphy plays a financial executive whose career is going downhill until he enters his daughter's imaginary world and finds solutions to his problems.

LAND OF THE LOST

This spin-off from a 1970s TV comedy-adventure series stars Will Ferrell as a has-been scientist sent back to a prehistoric era with his assistant (Anna Friel) and a survivalist (Danny McBride).

PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE: PART ONE

Jean-François Richet's riveting French thriller is based on the autobiography of reckless gangster Jacques Mesrine, portrayed with chilling conviction by Vincent Cassel. Part two follows on August 14.

AUGUST 7

GI JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA

Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller, Dennis Quaid and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star in a hi-tech adventure of an elite military unit taking on the evil Cobra organisation led by a corrupt arms dealer (Christopher Eccleston).

THE PROPOSAL

Romantic comedy with Sandra Bullock as a publishing editor threatened with deportation to Canada and coercing her much out-upon assistant (Ryan Reynolds) into posing as her fiancé. Surely they won't fall in love?

THEY CAME FROM UPSTAIRS

Young Americans courageously defend their holiday home from aliens.

AUGUST 12

BANDSLAM

A teen introvert (Gaelan Connell) moves to a new school where he befriends another outsider ( High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens) and is recruited for a battle of the bands competition.

AUGUST 14

PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA

In the new fable from Japanese animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki ( Spirited Away ), a goldfish is drawn to the young boy who finds her. The voice cast includes Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon and Liam Neeson.

PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE: PART TWO

The concluding episode arrives two weeks after the first half.

SHORTS

Robert Rodriguez directs a fantasy set in a town of identical houses when a rainbow-coloured rock falls from the sky and grants wishes to anyone who uses it.

THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE

The movie of Audrey Niffenegger's best-seller features Rachel McAdams as the woman in love with a librarian (Eric Bana) whose rare gene anomaly causes him to live on a shifting timeline.

TULPAN

A prize winner at Cannes 2008, Sergei Dvortsevoy's critically acclaimed Kazakh coming-of-age comedy charts a young nomadic shepherd's eager attempts to woo a woman who rejects him because of his large ears.

THE UGLY TRUTH

Guess what happens when a TV reporter (Gerard Butler) tries to help his producer (Katherine Heigl) to find true love?

AUGUST 21

DANCE FLICK

Damon Wayans steps up to spoof the recent cycle of college dance-and-romance movies.

I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER

A geeky student (Paul Rust) publicly declares his love for a popular cheerleader (Hayden Panetierre). She unexpectedly responds.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Quentin Tarantino's wartime adventure set in Nazi-occupied France features Brad Pitt, Mike Myers, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, BJ Novak and Michael Fassbender.

AUGUST 28

BROKEN EMBRACES

Pedro Almodóvar reunites with his Volver star Penélope Cruz for a movie he says "touches on many genres", as a thriller and a "four-person love story" shot in film noir style.

FINAL DESTINATION: DEATH TRIP 3D

A teen's premonition of a multiple racing car crash apparently saves the lives of his friends. Or does it?

FUNNY PEOPLE

Judd Apatow's dark comedy stars Adam Sandler as a famous comedian who has a near-death experience. With Seth Rogen, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Leslie Mann.

A PERFECT GETAWAY

Milla Jovovich and Steve Zahn play a couple whose Hawaiian honeymoon is disrupted when they are stalked by killers.

PLEASE NOTE THAT CINEMA RELEASE DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE