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Chain Letter
Hey, man, don't delete that chain letter that just landed in your inbox. If you do, the sender is going to snatch you up, wrap you in chains (get it?) and torture you. To death!
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
There's reportedly a memorably clever bit of business involving a stray bullet casing in this British kidnapping thriller from first time filmmaker J. Blakeson. Eddie Marsan, the addled driving instructor in Happy-Go-Lucky, stars.
Get Low
Legend has it that there once was a secretly wealthy Tennessee hermit who decided to throw his own funeral so that he could hear the stories people had to tell about him. In this beautifully acted 1930s period piece from director Aaron Schneider, Robert Duvall is the hermit, Sissy Spacek his old flame, and Bill Murray the town's newly energized funeral director.
Life During Wartime
It's been 12 years since writer-director Todd Solondz' hilarious yet emotionally wrenching suburban black comedy, Happiness. In this sequel, the filmmaker catches up with the original characters, but has recast all the roles, as if to acknowledge that neither he nor his characters can possibly be the same people a decade later.
Mao's Last Dancer
From director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy), the true story of the Chinese-born ballet dancer, Li Cunxin, who was sent to dance with the Houston Ballet as part of a 1970s cultural exchange program. Li eventually married an American, sparking an international tussle between the two countries. Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan, and Chi Cao star.
Middle Man
In this fact-based drama, set in the late 1990s, Luke Wilson stars as a fixer of troubled businesses who meets two guys (Giovanni Ribisi and Gabriel Macht) who've figured out a way to transmit pornography over the Internet. Wilson helps them get organized and superrich, and then the real trouble begins. Costarring James Caan and directed by George Gallo.
The Other Guys
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg channel their inner Serpico in this comedy about two mediocre New York detectives who get a shot at the case of a lifetime. Co-starring Eva Mendes and Samuel L. Jackson and directed by Adam McKay (Anchorman).
Step Up 3D
Filmmaker Jon M. Chu, who received some surprisingly good reviews for his work on Step Up 2, returns to direct the third installment in the popular series about the underground dance scene in New York. This edition has been filmed in 3D, so expect to be kicked in the face by a hot dancer.
The Wildest Dream
In June 1924, English mountain climber George Mallory and his climbing partner, Andrew Irvine, vanished near the summit of Mount Everest. Mallory's body was found 75 years later by the American climber Conrad Anker, who joins first-time filmmaker Anthony Geffe to re-create Mallory's original climb. Narrated by Liam Neeson.
August 13
Down Terrace
Bill (Robert Hill) and his son Karl (co-writer Robin Hill, acting opposite his father) of Brighton, England, are gangsters, but not the real scary kind. Fresh out of prison, they want to relax but can't helping thinking there's a traitor in their midst in this black comedy from writer-director Ben Wheatley.
Eat Pray Love
Writer-director Ryan Murphy took time away from his hit TV show, Glee, to direct Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem in the film version of Elizabeth Gilbert's bestselling memoir about her worldwide search for enlightenment after a rough divorce. James Franco, Billy Crudup, and Richard Jenkins costar.
The Expendables
Action gods Sylvester Stone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Dolph Lundgren join forces to kick ass and blow things up in a film cowritten and directed by Sly himself.
Lebanon
Writer-director Samuel Maoz takes us inside a four-man Israeli Army tank as the soldiers move into a bombed-out Lebanese town in this war drama set in the early days of the 1980s war.
Mesrine: Killer Instinct
In what's sure to be one of the great roles of his career, Vincent Cassel (Eastern Promises) plays the legendary French gangster Jacques Mesrine, who both charmed and terrorized the nation in the 1970s. This is the first of a two-part epic from director Jean-Francois Richet.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The road to everlasting love isn't going to be easy for musician Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), who must vanquish his new girlfriend's seven exes, all of whom happen to have super powers. Directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead).
Tales from Earthsea
Taking over a project his father, Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away), long dreamed of making, first-time filmmaker Goro Miyazaki helms this anime adaptation of Ursula LeGuin's revered Earthsea fantasy novels.
White Wedding
On the road from Johannesburg to Cape Town for his wedding, a groom and his best man encounter all manner of oddities, including a pro-apartheid bar, and a hitchhiking goat, in this South African comedy hit directed by Jann Turner.
August 20
The Lottery Ticket
It takes luck to win a megamillions lottery ticket but it may take a miracle for Kevin (Bow Wow), a young Atlanta man, to keep his family, friends, and neighbors from getting their mitts on the ticket over a long 4th of July weekend. Ice Cube and Loretta Devine costar in director Erik White's debut comedy.
Nanny McPhee 2
When two spoiled city kids visit their country cousins on an English farm, it's a culture clash that only the ugly yet magical Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) can resolve. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Maggie Smith costar for director Susanna White in the second film of a projected trilogy.
Soul Kitchen
After the dramatic intensity of his acclaimed films Head On and The Edge of Heaven, Turkish-German director Fatih Akin lightens up with this comedy about a young Hamburg man's attempts to save his failing restaurant, win back his girl, and keep his parolee brother out of jail. Co-writer Adam Bousdoukos stars.
