Sci-Fi / Fantasy Films - March 2008

March 6 (Santa Monica) After his love is snatched from a dream by a powerful and evil Djinn, a man named Imad (Persian-American writer/director Sean Solimon) must overcome the three great vices of man -- fear, greed, and lust -- in order to save her. This indie is Soliman's first film, and from the trailers looks fairly accomplished.

(March 7) The special effects are clearly the star of this outsized blockbuster spectacular -- the biggest name on the cast list is narrator Omar Sharif, and the on-screen actors are fated to be shouldered aside by monstrous mammoths, ponderous pyramids, and snarling saber-tooth cats. The ads trumpet it's from the makers of Independence Day -- neglecting to mention that the culprits in question, largely writer/director Roland Emmerich, are also responsible for a string of less successful plotless, starless effectsfests. Still this time Emmerich is putting his money shots in open sunlight (it was always nighttime and raining in Godzilla), so perhaps lessons have been learned. A good popcorn movie for sure.

(March 14) A virus strikes the British Isles, forcing the infected population to be quarantined; but when the virus resurfaces decades later, scientists must journey to the quarantined land to retrieve a cure. A punk postapocalyptic Mad Max/Escape From New York nightmare in the form of an action thriller, Doomsday is written and directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent, Dog Soldiers) and stars Rhona Mitra (The Number 23), Malcolm McDowell, and Bob Hoskins, with minor sci-fi names further down the cast list (Alexander Siddig, Sean Pertwee). Marshall says his inspiration was a vision of "a futuristic action warrior fighting a knight in armor," only with lots of blood and brutal violence.

(March 14) And at the opposite end of the spectrum, another Dr. Seuss adaptation -- and everyone is hoping desperately that Horton isn't an abomination along the lines of Grinch and Cat in the Hat. Digitally animated this time, Horton predictably features the voices of Hollywood's wackiest A-list stars, Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell, plus aspirants to that title like Seth Rogen, Dane Cook, and Amy Poehler -- plus a few veterans like Carol Burnett to lend sagacity. My hopes for a brilliant success that respects Seuss's original frankly are not high: the writers' previous credits are College Road Trip, The Santa Clause 2, and Bubble Boy, and the directors are first-timers. Cross your fingers.

(March 28) Writer/director Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 3, 4, and (gulp) 5) grinds out yet another low-brow episode of Blockbuster Movies' Funniest Home Videos, cobbling together random scenes from hit films and inviting the audience to point and laugh, without ever actually managing to create new humor from parody or satire. Superhero Movie will have funny moments only because the superhero genre is self-parodying (a pastiche of clips from movies like Fantastic Four would accomplish the same thing) and because it has the compulsory cameo by Leslie Nielsen -- which only sadly reminds us, once again, how genuinely funny Airplane! and Police Squad! were. Includes a cameo by gossipmonger Perez Hilton for some reason.