Could the entire month of July pale in comparison to June? And by June I mean Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen which started the end of June by crushing box office competition despite poor reviews. I keep telling myself box office doesn't equal quality. But before Transformers it kind of did. Star Trek was still going strong, Up was justly racking up the dollars and who isn't happy with The Hangover? So let's see if we can get back on track in July, with people giving their money to movies that are worthy of it. Johnny Depp, Brüno, and Harry Potter, I'm counting on you.
July 1
Movie of the Week Public Enemies
The Stars: Johnny Depp, Marion Cotillard, Christian Bale
The Plot: Led by J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), the Feds put Melvin Purvis (Bale) in charge of trying to take down American's public enemy No. 1 gangster John Dillinger (Depp) during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.
The Buzz: Michael Mann knows a thing or two about shoot-outs and putting two big-name actors head to head (Heat's DeNiro and Pacino). So it seems like a natural fit for Mann to bring celebrity gangsters from the past to life.
The Others: Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: Ray Ramano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary
July 10
Movie of the Week Brüno
The Stars: Sacha Baron Cohen
The Plot: Flamboyant Austrian fashionista Brüno (Cohen) takes his show to America.
The Buzz: You've seen more of Brüno promoting the film than you've likely wanted to. And the film will surely be showing him wearing next to nothing. The whole point of this film is to laugh with shock value. Cohen balanced the line perfectly with Borat, but stupid is an easier sell on America than gay.
The Others: I Love You Beth Cooper: Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust
July 15
Movie of the Week Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince
The Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson
The Plot: Harry Potter (Radcliffe) begins his sixth year at Hogwarts and finds an old book that leads him to finding out more about Lord Voldemort's dark past.
The Buzz: Originally due out in the winter, did the delay hurt the buzzworthiness of this film? Time will tell. There's talk that this is the funniest Potter film to date, we'll see if that translates to success. Don't forget this isn't the second to last ... Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be broken up into two parts.
The Others: July 17 (500) Days of Summer: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel (limited release)
July 24
Movie of the Week G-Force
The Stars: voices of Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi
The Plot: A specially trained squad of guinea pigs is sent out by the government to stop an evil billionaire from taking over the world.
The Buzz: Can we call this one, "Movie of the Weak"? It looks like a way to make money, simply put. Kids will drag their parents. Maybe we'll get a laugh or two from Bill Nighy, Will Arnett and Zach Galifianakis, but based on the previews it's all about the talking animals.
The Others: Orphan: Isabelle Fuhrman, Peter Sarsgaard The Ugly Truth: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler
July 31
Movie of the Week Funny People
The Stars: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen
The Plot: When comedian George Simmons (Sandler) learns he has a terminal illness, he decides to take a young comedian under his wing to teach him the ropes.
The Buzz: Remeber the movie Punch Line? It just missed, but hopefully this dramedy about comedians will hit. Sandler does good work when he puts himself in the hands of quality directors. Plus we get a chance to see Eric Bana, fresh from being the bad guy in Star Trek, make us laugh. Hopefully.
The Others: Aliens in the Attic: Ashley Tisdale, Robert Hoffman