Summer movie preview: June

Summer movie season truly begins heating up in June. From the June 5 arrival of Will Ferrell’s Land of the Lost to Cameron Diaz’s Oscar-buzzing performance in My Sister’s Keeper, the month also stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds exploring The Proposal. Yes, June is jamming.

June 5

Land of the Lost

Will Ferrell leads the cast as a washed-up scientist who, in one successful experiment, transports himself, his assistant (Anna Friel) and a survivalist (played by Danny McBride) to the land before time.

Ferrell’s experiment lands the trio in a world of dinosaurs and creatures that exist only in nightmares. Land of the Lost is based loosely on the original television series created by Sid and Marty Krofft. The original series was considered a sci-fi marvel in its time.

Ferrell’s incarnation of the Land of the Lost will, of course, add his trademark humor to complement the special-effect-laden thrills.

Don’t miss our interview with star Anna Friel on June 3.

The Hangover

Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor head the cast of this “‘what happened last night” comedy.

Doug and his three best friends head to Las Vegas for a bachelor party that Doug will not soon forget. Doug’s buddies awake the following morning with an infant in their hotel room and Doug missing.

Oh, and there’s a giant tiger hanging in their hotel room.

From The Office’s Ed Helms, humor is expected, but Bradley Cooper manages to find comic depths we never knew the actor possessed, and director Todd Phillips’ direction has never been more comically adept.

With luck, the trio will find Doug and get him back to LA in time for his wedding. But, then again, that suspense is the driving force of The Hangover’s comic binge.

Away We Go

Academy Award-winner Sam Mendes directs another The Office star, John Kransinski, and SNL alum Maya Rudolph in a heartfelt film that follows expecting parents crossing America seeking the perfect home to raise their child.

Mendes last directed his wife, Kate Winslet, and Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road. Witnessing him in this smaller, indie film should be pure bliss.

Away We Go also stars Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney, Chris Messina, Catherine O’Hara and Paul Schneider.

Away We Go clip:

My Life in Ruins

Nia Vardalos, the mastermind behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding, again shows her Greek comic flair in the comedy My Life in Ruins.

Vardalos plays Georgia, a woman who has lost her kefi (Greek for “mojo”). Discouraged by her lack of direction in life, she works as a travel guide, leading a rag-tag group of tourists as she tries to show them the beauty of her native Greece while aspiring to land her dream job.

Opening tourists’ eyes to an exotic foreign land, she too begins to see things in new ways — finding her kefi — and possibly love — in the process.

Seraphine

A maid becomes a famous painter in the French biography of little-known artist Seraphine Louis. Belgian actress Yolande Moreau stars as the titular character as the film follows her life until her death in 1942.

Seraphine’s professional life begins as a shepherdess and housekeeper whose daily activities circle around cooking, cleaning and ironing. During her down time, she connects with nature; eventually, that passion lands on a canvas. Possessing only minimal materials, she crafted her art using oil from church candles, animal blood and dirt pulled from the ground. With these crude materials, Seraphine created art as never witnessed before.

June 12

Imagine That

Eddie Murphy stars in a family comedy about a businessman who finds success where he least expects it. Imagine That also stars Thomas Hayden Church and the delightful young talent, Yara Shahidi.

Murphy’s executive has more time for his clients than his 7-year-old daughter. When his confidence heads south, he discovers the answers to his professional drought right at home.

Murphy’s latest family film is from Nickelodeon Movies, so it’s sure to please the younger set.

The Taking of Pelham 123
Denzel Washington versus John Travolta: Sign us up!

In The Taking of Pelham 123, Travolta is a slightly disjointed fellow who takes over a subway train and paralyzes the New York City subway system. Washington is the man charged with resolving the issue.

Based on the 1974 film starring Walter Matthau, the 2009 Pelham is directed by Tony Scott — a man who knows a thing or two about creating terse thrillers.

Scott, of Top Gun fame and brother to Ridley Scott, is sure to set a lightning-fast pace as its two stars, Travolta and Washington, duel — with the fates of New York citizens hanging in the balance.

Food, Inc.

Food Inc. is filmmaker Robert Kenner’s passionate look at our nation’s food industry. As anyone who has read The Omnivore’s Dilemma knows, the business of food is not as glamorous as the final product appears on the Food Network or in a fast-food advertisement.

Up next…Sandra Bullock, Cameron Diaz, the Transformers and Michelle Pfeiffer return.