At this time of year, the bulk of the news coming out of Hollywood has to do with the Academy Awards – who is expected to win them, what food will be served, what goodie bags the stars will go home with, etc. But, lest we forget, films are still coming down the pipeline fast and furious. Let’s take a look at some of the flicks that will keep us occupied through spring. Movies are compiled by the Associated Press. Some films open in limited release. Release dates, provided by Internet Movie Database, are subject to change.
– Danielle Hatch/Journal Star
IRON MAN 2 (May 7): At the end of his first blockbuster about the guy in the gadget-laden metal suit, Robert Downey Jr.’s billionaire genius Tony Stark proclaims to the world, “I am Iron Man.”
So much for secret identities.
In the sequel, “we see what the ramifications of that announcement from the first film were,” said Jon Favreau, director of the “Iron Man” films. “He already had his hands full just being Tony Stark, but now he’s Iron Man, as well. What are the effects of that level of fame and expectation?”
This time, Tony faces bad guy Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), who has his own arsenal of high-tech weapons.
Favreau likes having a hero and villain played by actors who have bounced back from tough personal times, Downey with substance abuse, Rourke with self-destructive anger issues.
“What attracted me to both of them must have had something, on some level, to do with how difficult their journeys had been,” Favreau said. “It somehow shines through the performances that they give. It’s hard to find somebody young that carries that experience in their face and their eyes.”
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (March 5): Johnny Depp is the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s take on the Lewis Carroll adventures of a girl who goes through the looking glass.
THE BOUNTY HUNTER (March 19): Jennifer Aniston is a bail-jumping reporter pursued by her bounty-hunter ex-hubby (Gerard Butler).
CLASH OF THE TITANS (April 2): Ancient Greek hero Perseus (Sam Worthington) takes on Hades, lord of the underworld. With Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes.
DATE NIGHT (April 9): A weekly night out turns into a wild ride for a suburban couple (Steve Carell and Tina Fey) whose romance has become routine.
DEATH AT A FUNERAL (April 16): Crazy things happen at a family patriarch’s funeral. With Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Danny Glover.
FURRY VENGEANCE (April 2): Animals fight back against the housing developer (Brendan Fraser) whose project in the Oregon wilderness threatens their habitat.
GREEN ZONE (March 12): Matt Damon goes searching for weapons of mass destruction in a thriller set in Iraq as the war there heats up in 2003.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (March 26): The world of the Vikings gets a makeover in this animated story of a misfit teen and his dragon.
I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS (April 30): A con man (Jim Carrey) finds his soul mate (Ewan McGregor) while doing prison time.
KICK-ASS (April 16): A youth with no superpowers decides to don a costume to fight crime as a superhero. With Nicolas Cage.
KILLERS (June 4): An ex-assassin (Ashton Kutcher) and his wife (Katherine Heigl) go on the run after he’s targeted for a hit in this action comedy.
LETTERS TO JULIET (May 7): An old letter to the doomed heroine of “Romeo and Juliet” sparks romance for two women (Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave).
THE LOSERS (April 23): A Special Forces team seeks revenge after its members are betrayed and presumed dead on a mission. With Zoe Saldana, Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
MACGRUBER (April 23): The “Saturday Night Live” bit about a hapless special-ops man (Will Forte) gets big-screen treatment. With Val Kilmer, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen Wiig.
MARMADUKE (June 4): Owen Wilson provides the voice of the Great Dane in a family comedy based on the canine comic strip.
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (April 30): Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley) is back to terrorize people in their dreams in an update of the 1980s slasher franchise.
REMEMBER ME (March 12): A newfound romance between two youths (“Twilight” star Robert Pattinson and “Lost” co-star Emilie de Ravin) is threatened as they both try to cope with family tragedies. With Pierce Brosnan.
REPO MEN (March 19): In a future where mechanical organs are repossessed for lack of payment, a former repo man (Jude Law) becomes the prey of his old partner (Forest Whitaker).
SEASON OF THE WITCH (March): A medieval knight (Nicolas Cage) is assigned to escort a peasant girl the church suspects of bringing on the Black Plague by witchcraft.
SEX AND THE CITY 2 (May 28): Sarah Jessica Parker and her Manhattan mates return for more fashionable urban romantic angst.
TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO? (April 2): Filmmaker Perry co-stars with Janet Jackson, Malik Yoba and other cast mates for this relationship sequel.
Read the original article from Journal Star.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services