This summer while we get gently toasted in the searing heat, we can distract ourselves with the thought of eagerly-awaited sequels from Hollywood. There is Iron Man 2 where Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as industrialist-superhero Tony Stark with Gwyneth Paltrow giving him company as the super-efficient Pepper Potts.
The other sequel out this summer is Sex and the City 2 . Based on the highly-successful series, the story of Carrie and her friends would be carried ahead by Michael Patrick King with much designer accessorising, thanks to costumer Patricia Field. Apart from the cast of the series and movie reprising their roles, Miley Cyrus and Penelope Cruz will make an appearance.
Those who have been waiting breathlessly for another instalment of the jolly green ogre, Shrek, Princess Fiona, sidekick Donkey and Puss in Boots, the wait ends in May with Shrek Forever After .
There is also the action adventure How To Train Your Dragon . Directed by Peter Hastings, the film has an all star voice cast led by Gerard Butler. The trailers look promising but then one should never judge a film by its trailer.
This summer, like always, has a happy mix of action, comedy, drama and kiddy films.
In comedy, you have the Jennifer Aniston-Gerard Butler movie, The Bounty Hunter . The film directed by Andy Tennant who also helmed the magical Ever After , the strange Hitch and the despicable Fool's Gold has been in the news forever mainly with speculation about whether Aniston and Butler are seeing each other. The movie has a golden hue similar to Fool's Gold , and one can only hope it isn't as shallow.
The other Jennifer, la Lopez, returns to the screens in the rom com The Back Up Plan .
For all who grew up on and loved The Karate Kid , there is good news as Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith (Will Smith junior) team up for the remake that would be released this June.
Action fans can cheer at Ms. Bee Stung Lips, Angelina Jolie's turn as Evelyn Salt in the Philip Noyce directed Salt who directed Jolie many moons ago, 1999 to be precise, in The Bone Collector .
While Katherine Bigelow's The Hurt Locker which shut out James Cameron's Avatar opens today, another Oscar winner, Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island is opening at the end of the month. Scorsese's fourth collaboration with Leonardo Di Caprio, Shutter Island has been called a generic thriller. However, seeing what Scorsese did with the gangster genre in Good Fellas and more recently The Departed , we can expect some celluloid pyrotechnics.
Ridley Scott, yet another big time Oscar winner, teams up with Russell Crowe for Robin Hood . The film also stars Cate Blanchett and William Hurt and promises to be another exercise in gritty realism as Scott revisits the space and time of Kingdom of Heaven .
Young ‘uns can look forward to Alvin and the Chipmunks that would be released this month and there is also Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang directed by Susanna White from a story by Emma Thompson starring Ralph Fiennes and Maggie Smith.
Toy Story 3 and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse have June release dates for the U.S. but the IMDB (Internet Movie Database) is firmly silent on when the films would be released in India.
Later in the year, there would be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I in November and in December, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn will be released. Till then we could amuse ourselves with variegated fare from Hollywood, including the zombie fest George Romero's Survival of the Dead and the Paul Greengrass (he helmed the Bourne movies and United 93 ) thriller Green Zone which has Matt Damon flexing his biceps as a rogue CIA operative looking for weapons of mass destruction. Bring on the popcorn — caramel flavoured please!
