Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Warner Brothers
July 15 It was finished last year, but Warners delayed the sixth Harry Potter film because it didn't have a a big midsummer tentpole. Unfortunately, attenuating the franchise in this way -- the last book came out ages ago, and there's still two more movies to go -- risks losing track of the young fans who flocked to see the first four movies. On the plus side, the storylines are becoming darker and more mature alongside its stars. Here Daniel Radcliffe returns as Harry Potter, taken in hand personally by Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) to uncover the key to defeating Voldemort. The major new character is Jim Broadbent's Horace Slughorn, the peculiar new potions master. Fans know how it turns out, but for Snape's sake, don't tell the newbies!
They Came from Upstairs
20th Century Fox
July 31 The storyline sounds pretty straightforward -- a bunch of vacationing teens must protect their vacation home from invading aliens -- but the background is full of mixed messages. The cast includes teen stars like Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical) and Robert Hoffman (Step Up 2: The Streets) alongside the folks like Andy Richter, Kevin Nealon, Doris Roberts, Tim Meadows, and so on. The director, John Schultz, gave us the colossally misconceived Honeymooners four years ago, but the writers are Mark Burton (Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Madagascar) and Adam Goldberg (the promising but poorly received Fanboys). I dunno. Still, any movie that turns Doris Roberts into a video-game ninja fighter deserves some kind of credit.
The Time Traveler's Wife
New Line Cinema
August 14 A film version of the bestselling novel by Audrey Niffenegger, this could be the summer's Benjamin Button, or what Button could have been. The story follows the book: it's a romantic drama about a Chicago librarian (Eric Bana) who possesses a gene that causes him to involuntarily time travel, and the complications it creates for his life and relationships. Also stars Rachel McAdams, Stephen Tobolowsky, and the underutilized Ron Livingston. The director is Robert Schwentke (the cerebral and sophisticaled thriller Flightplan), and the writer is Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost, The Last Mimzy) -- suggesting this is meant to be a charming and intelligent film. Maybe because I'm still missing Journeyman, this sounds worth seeing to me.
