Along with “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “G.I. Joe” was one of my favorite cartoons.  The slogans “Yo Joe!” and “Knowing is half the battle,” became the popular catchphrases. G.I. (which is a nickname for the military) Joe is a highly trained Special Forces unit of the U.S. Government that must stop the terrorist organization, Cobra, from taking over the world.  G.I. Joe first started as a toy line in 1964 by Hasbro.  Each of the figures was 12-inches tall and used real fabric for clothes.  In 1982, Hasbro changed their motto of their toy line to “G.I. Joe: The Real American Hero.”  This is where the culture of G.I. Joe experienced a popular resurgence.  The action figures were re-launched as 3 ¾-inch sizes and it was coincided with the very popular Marvel Comic book series “G.I. Joe.”  At one time, it was Marvel’s biggest seller. A cartoon mini-series called “G.I. Joe” followed in 1983.  Its popularity allowed for three more mini-series’ and an eventual series in 1985.  What soon followed were more spin-off cartoons, video games and three animated movies (all direct-to-video). G.I. Joe:  Rise of Cobra will be the franchise’s first live-action film.  Since not hearing much from G.I. Joe for a while, I find it odd (like the Street Fighter movie earlier this year) they would come out with a live-action version now.  I’m sure it’s an attempt to recharge the name brand ala Transformers.

"Stop! Or my gun will shoot."

Channing Tatum (Fighting) stars as Conrad Hauser a.k.a. Duke, the leader of G.I. Joe.  Along with Wallace Weems a.k.a. Ripcord (Marlon Wayans, Requiem for a Dream), the film will chronicle their first introduction to the U.S. government force’s G.I. Joe program.  Feeling the pressure from a new terrorist group named Cobra, General Clayton Abernathy a.k.a. Hawk (Dennis Quaid, Vantage Point) must organize a team of the world’s best to battle the new threat. The film will also detail how the team came to be and their eventual fight with Cobra.

The film co-stars Rachel Nichols (not the ESPN reporter) as Scarlett, Ray Park as Snake Eyes, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Heavy Duty, Said Taghmaoui as Breaker and Karolina Kurkova as Cover Girl. Cobra will be headed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander, Christopher Eccleston as Destro, Sienna Miller as The Baroness, Lee Byung-hun as Storm Shadow and Arnold Vosloo as Zartan. Stephen Sommers directs, who has done The Mummy and Van Helsing.  Stuart Beattie (Australia) and David Elliot & Paul Lovett (Four Brothers) wrote the screenplay.

Symmetry obviously isn't Stephen Sommers' strong point.

I will definitely not be seeing this one.  G.I. Joe is easily past its prime and doing a live-action movie seems unnecessary, possibly even damaging the franchise.  The trailer is awful and the costumes uncreative.  Another problem I have is Channing Tatum as the lead. He’s not a particularly good actor and I wonder when studios will stop pushing for him to be a star.  Despite this, he has chance to change my opinion in the upcoming Public Enemies.  The only remotely interesting part of this film is seeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander.  He is a great underrated actor and I’d like to see how he turns out.  I’m sure the film will do modestly as a summer blockbuster, but I really want no part of it.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opens August 7^th.

Before Rachel Ray, Julia Child was the ultimate icon of cooking shows.  Many people knew her as an eccentric and animated TV show host that made great food, especially French cuisine.  Meryl Streep is another person who would be in Child’s popular arena, but for acting.  Since first making her film debut in Julia in 1977 (not about Child), she has racked up 15 Academy Award nominations and won two. (Supporting Actress, Kramer vs. Kramer; Actress, Sophie’s Choice)  Her last nomination was just last year for Doubt.  I’m going out on a limb here, but I think Streep will be nominated again. It won’t even matter if this movie sucks, Streep is shockingly amazing as Child and she should get her 16^th nomination overall.

"Can somebody top me off? I'm trying to get hammered here!"

Julie & Julia is not entirely a biopic about the cooking legend, but instead takes a different approach.  It focuses on Child, yes, but more specifically when she lived in Paris with her husband during the 1940s and 50s.  It also chronicles how she first got attached to cooking.  The other approach the movie takes is focusing on a character named Julie Powell during the present day.  Based on actual events, Powell decided to take a cookbook, written by Child, and baked all 524 recipes it featured in a year.  While cooking, she chronicled her experience on a blog called the “Julie/Julia Project.”  The blog became a hit and Powell landed a book deal to talk about her events.  She wrote “Julia and Julia:  365 Days, 524 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen” and it was published in 2005. This non-linear plot should be an interesting element, although a biopic about Child played by Streep does sound enticing.

Amy Adams (Junebug) co-stars, as Julie Powell, a cubicle employee who deals with insurance. She is envious of her friends because she can’t match the big-time success they are achieving in their careers.  Wanting to be their equal, she tells her husband Eric (Chris Messina, Ira and Abby) about writing a book.  Her idea is to bake every recipe from the Julia Child book, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and write a blog about it. Julia Child is living Paris with her husband Paul (Stanley Tucci, The Devil Wears Prada) while he’s working as a foreign diplomat and is later investigated for being a “so called” Communist during the McCarthy era. While bored in Paris, she decides to take cooking lessons at a French school.  She’s startlingly quick to learn and very skilled, often showing up the male cooks.  She later gets the inspiration to write a book, which is used by Julie. Julie and Julia’s lives are intertwined from different time eras and both hope to achieve goals to improve themselves.

"I hope none of you have seen 'Sweeney Todd.'"

Nora Ephron, who wrote and directed Julie & Julia, has done such work as Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail. She actually adapted two books for the movie, “My Life In France” by Alex Prud’homme and Julia Powell’s book, “Julie & Julia.”

This one looks to be quite enjoyable and seems to avoid the cliché of the romantic comedy.  It will probably appeal to more of the female audience, but it still looks good.  Plus, Streep’s performance will be worth it.

Julie & Julia opens August 7^th.

Since The 40-Year-Old-Virgin in 2005, Judd Apatow has been a breath of fresh air in the comedy world.  For almost five years now, Apatow has had a hand in either writing, producing and directing some of the biggest comedies to hit the screen.  Most of his movies have been box office gold, such as 40-Year-Old, Superbad, Knocked Up and Pineapple Express.  Of course, he has dropped some clunkers of late with Drillbit Taylor (producer) and Walk Hard (producer, writer). This year, he has produced Year One and will direct his third film, Funny People.

I tend to favor his directorial work because his comedies are so much better than the rest.  Yes, they’re funny, but they also have elements of drama and are relatable.  Funny People will focus on the themes of friendship and struggling with an impending disease.  It will also feature more drama than Apatow’s first two films, despite the title.  Adam Sandler will take another stab at drama having had success with this before, most notably with Punch-Drunk Love. Sandler, who could have easily made a quality career for himself after his critically acclaimed performance in Punch-Drunk, stuck with the brain-dead comedies and occasionally did drama, like Spanglish and Reign Over Me, the latter being particularly poor.  I would hope this performance will finally put him on a proper path.

Baking cookies can only be funny if you make them into vulgar shapes...like circles.

Sandler stars as George Simmons, an established and successful comedian/actor who has made a name for himself in the stand-up circuit. He gets the debilitating news that he’s suffering from a blood disorder and will die within a year. Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), a deli employee and comedian, who has grown up idolizing Simmons, befriends George when he hears of his condition.  They become close and George makes Ira his assistant and teaches him the ways of a good comedian.  Meanwhile, his ex-girlfriend, Laura (Leslie Mann), hears of his condition and re-establishes herself in his life as a friend. Just when George had lost all hope, he gets the startling news that he will make it.  While getting close with his ex, her husband Clarke (Eric Bana) becomes extremely jealous and causes friction between him and his wife.  Despite this setback, George has a new outlook on life and with the help of his friends, he tries to seek meaning and purpose within himself.

The movie also co-stars Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Aziz Ansari and RZA.  Funny People is written, directed and produced by Judd Apatow and after the wonderful Knocked Up, I think Funny People might match it, though I can’t say it will top it.

"I think if you just did, like, the 'whale wave' on stage, it'd totally kill."

Covering a whole array of issues like life, death, love and friendship, all wrapped up in a Judd Apatow bun, complete with his unique brand of humor could make this the comedy hit of the summer.

Funny People opens July 31^st.

How many times have we seen movies involving parents who have an evil kid either adopted or conceived?  The first one that comes to mind is the Roman Polanski classic, Rosemary’s Baby from 1968.  Although that movie mostly surrounds a pregnancy about a woman’s child who might be evil, it still has the same concept of an evil entity torturing a family.  Other examples of this would be The Omen from 1976 and the horrific Godsend in 2004.  Orphan follows these same patterns and really doesn’t seem to shed any new light plot wise.  However, I do enjoy both of the leading actors, Peters Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga.  I really enjoyed Sarsgaard in Salton Sea, Kinsey and Shattered Glass.  Farmiga was excellent in The Boy In The Stripped Pajamas and good in The Departed.  With these two actors, one would hope that this would be good, but I afraid the cliché concept will easily weigh it down.  The trailer actually makes is somewhat decent, but I’m sure dumber minds will prevail.

"Hello Evil, how are you today?"

Sarsgaard and Farmiga star as John and Kate (Plus 3) Coleman, a couple that just experienced losing a baby.  They decide to take the adoption route and go to an orphanage for their next child.  One of the sisters at the orphanage, Sister Abigail (CCH Pounder, Avatar), informs them that it’s a big decision to adopt older children.  They go for it anyway and have their sights set on 9-year-old Esther (Isabelle Furham, Hounddog).  Abigail says Esther is very mature for her age and can be easily attachable, despite having loner qualities.  The Coleman’s decide on Esther and bring her home.  The parents introduce her to their other children Max (Aryana Engineer, debut) and Daniel (Jimmy Bennett, Star Trek).  Esther is forced to handle the uneasiness of having siblings and being teased in school.  She begins to show evil characteristics like having violent behavior and inflicting physical harm on others.  The Coleman’s are extremely skeptical of her and they begin to research Esther’s past.  During this time, Esther begins a personal vendetta against the family.  John and Kate must find a way to stop Esther before she harms them or their other kids.

Jaume Collet-Serra directs Orphan and he has previously done the not-so-good House of Wax and Goal II: Living the Dream.  David Johnson and Alex Mace co-write the script and both make their debut with this movie.

The ever-dangerous "leer-of-death."

The trailer looks decent and the tagline has an intriguing hook: “You’ll Never Guess Her Secret.”  I’m actually kind of curious on what that “secret” is, but probably not enough to attract me to see it.

Orphan opens July 24^th.

I guess I’ve made my point enough with romantic comedies. I just don’t get why major studios continue to push for films that continuously get panned by critics.  Joining the romantic ranks of Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey, perhaps trapped forever in this dreck, is Katherine Heigl.  I thought she was terrific in Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up and was hoping she would follow it up with something just as good.  Instead she calls out Knocked Up as being “sexist” and then takes the romantic comedy bait by starring in 27 Dresses. I resent Ms. Heigl’s comments about Knocked Up.  She’s in a movie that was pretty much the comedy of 2007 and ruins her appearance in it by calling it sexist.  She claims that the women in the movie were portrayed in a negative, bitchy light and the men were much more positive. Actually no, how can the men in Knocked Up be portrayed as anything good when they are pothead losers who run a porn site?  You’re dead wrong, Katherine. Dead wrong! Now you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel with 27 Dresses and following it with The Ugly Truth. Congrats to you.  At least Gerald Butler can say he’s been in some good stuff.

"Has anyone ever told you you were sexy?"

Heigl plays Abby Richter, a producer who runs a morning TV show.  She doesn’t have the best dating skills and she is sickened when her station hires an obnoxious guest pundit, Mike Chadway (Gerald Butler, 300).  Chadway is known for his male driven show, “The Ugly Truth.”  On the show, he claims that he has great insight into women and makes crude insults about them.  Naturally, Abby hates him and would be willing to do anything to bring him down.  She is further sickened when the station’s ratings soar when he’s on the air.  When Mike realizes Abby is trying to date surgeon Colin (Eric Winter, “Days of Our Lives”), he gives her advice in the dating game.  Abby blows Mike off, but realizes he’s very convinced in what he says.  Mike and Abby strike a deal. If Mike’s male expertise doesn’t work for Abby, he will quit.  When she does go on dates with Colin, Mike acts like a spy to consult her on what she’s doing wrong, but as she begins to fall in love with Colin, Mike is quickly drawn to Abby.

The movie also co-stars Cheryl Hines (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) and Kevin Connolly (“Entourage”).  Robert Luketic directs The Ugly Truth and he’s previously done 21 and Monster-in-Law (another atrocious romantic comedy).  The screenplay was written by Nicole Eastman (debut) and Karen McCullah Lutz & Kristen Smith (The House Bunny).

"Did you just hit on me in the last caption, because I don't like that."

I’m sure this will do well in a hit-starved July, but I look forward to it taking on Apatow’s Funny People a week later. It’ll get crushed. That’s the ugly truth.

The Ugly Truth opens July 24^th.

Finding true love is a tricky situation and it gets the better of us.  It’s certainly a word that can be thrown around easily.  Some of us think we understand what love is the first time around and then, BOOM, you get burned. That’s why I use the word a lot more cautiously.  I also tend to think of the song “Love –>Building On Fire” by The Talking Heads.  “When my love/stands next to your love/I can’t define love/when it’s not love/it’s not love.” It pretty much means it takes two people to make love work and you can’t do it alone.  This is the same approach in the indie-type (500) Days of Summer.  Yes, this is a romantic comedy, but this one looks so much more intelligent and realistic than your usual crapfests like Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (yes, it’s my whipping boy for the year) or The Proposal.

Notice the slight diss as she scopes out other guys.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Lookout) stars as Tom, a hopeless romantic who first takes notice of Summer (Zooey Deschanel, The Happening) in an elevator after she comments on the band he’s listening to, The Smiths.  They both work together and starting from day one, Tom tries to win Summer’s love.  In a non-linear story, the movie chronicles Tom’s 500 days with Summer, hence the actually clever title.  The timeline features Tom and Summer getting together, being in a relationship and then breaking up.  Tom no doubt loves her, but Summer doesn’t believe in the word and doesn’t return the same feelings.    Tom must somehow find a way to show Summer what true love is before they’re reduced to the dreaded “just friends,” which happens to the best of us. Deschanel, who is part of the pop band She and Him, also provides a song for the soundtrack.

Marc Webb, who directed (500) Days of Summer, has mostly done music videos and this will be his debut film. The script is co-written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber and perhaps this will remove the stain on their names after being attached to The Pink Panther 2.

No matter what it is, if you have something funny to say, say it.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, who first worked together on Panic, have made a name for themselves with independent movies and 500 looks promising.  I’ve always liked Gordon-Levitt, especially in The Lookout.  Deschanel’s a good actress and I think she’ll be a great foil for Gordon-Levitt. This appears to be a good date movie, which seem to be harder and harder to find these days and I think it should do well, even with its independent roots..

(500) Days of Summer opens in limited release on July 17^th.

When the first Harry Potter book was released in 1997, I expressed zero interest in reading it.  I also had no interest in seeing the first adapted movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  I came to discover that most critics were raving about the film and its subsequent sequels.  Plus, all of them were doing exceptionally well at the box office. When the books were coinciding with the movie releases, Harry Potter had become one of the biggest pop culture phenomenons this decade.  The seventh and last book, Harry Potter and Deathly Hollows, was released in 2007 and the movie adaptations have almost caught up. The last film released was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 2007.  Finally, I decided to give the Potters a chance around last year.  I watched Sorcerer’s Stone to Phoenix and I enjoyed them all.  Now I can see why everyone has made a big deal about it.  My favorites were Prisoner of Azkaban and Phoenix.  I’m now looking forward to seeing the upcoming sequel Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth movie of the series.  Like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, this might be the biggest blockbuster release of the summer.

"Just because I'm the yokiest redhead since Carrot Top, doesn't mean I deserve a party."

Daniel Radcliffe reprises his role as Potter for the sixth time.  The two other main actors, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint will also return as Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively.  After a deadly encounter with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) in Phoenix, Harry is now in his sixth year of seven at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Lord Voldemort has now begun to stage a full-scale war on Hogwarts and Harry must find a method to stop him.  With the help of Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), the head of the school, they must find a weakness in Voldemort’s defenses.  Dumbledore also seeks the aid of an old friend and the new potion master at Hogwarts, Professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent). Slughorn may have vital information on Voldemort. During this time, Harry becomes attracted to his best friend Ron’s younger sister, Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright). Ron is also attracted to fellow student Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave), but he brings jealousy to Hermione, who also has a crush on him.  With the increasing threat from Voldemort, the romances between the students may jeopardize Hogwarts defenses against the dark wizard.

Other actors reprising their roles to Harry Potter are Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, Dame Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall and Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid. David Yates, who directed the last Potter film, Order of the Phoenix, will return for Half-Blood Prince. Also returning to adapt J.K. Rowling’s novel is screenwriter Steve Kloves.  Though he didn’t adapt the last movie, Order of the Phoenix, he has, however, written the scripts for the first four Potters.

"The." "Rapists." "Therapists."

This Potter looks very good and has the potential of being the best yet of the series.  I can’t wait to see this one and it should appeal to both kids and adults alike.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens July 15^th.

My standards for good comedy have been high and difficult to meet in 2009.  It must be intelligent and engaging. I want a comedy that not only makes me laugh, but at the same make me say, “Hey, that could actually happen to me.” One example so far in ’09 would be I Love You, Man, the best comedy I’ve seen so far. However, The Hangover and Funny People look promising and Bruno has the making of being the comedy of the year.  I have been harsh in criticzing comedies because most of them generally aren’t funny. Romantic comedies are the worst (Ghost of Girlfriends Past) and brain-dead comedies are awful (Step Brothers).  I Love You, Beth Cooper is a cross between both of these and it continues to prove my theory of why comedies are horrid.  This one just looks like a cross between Superbad (good) and The New Guy (awful), so you essentially get the same retread story about a nerd who wants to get the hottest chick in school.  The movie also takes place during one night at the party, which has been done countless times in teen comedies.

"Hair goes up. Towel comes down."

This one stars Hayden Panettiere (“Heroes”) as Beth Cooper, the stereotypical, ultra-popular, hot high school girl.  She is on the eve of her graduation and during the ceremony, she is shocked when one of her classmates, nerd valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust, Inglorious Basterds), announces that he loves her during his commencement speech. Denis also calls out her older military boyfriend, Kevin (Shawn Roberts, Diary of the Dead), by saying he’s a loser for hanging around his old high school. The Kevin character almost looks like a rip-off of Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) from American Pie, an actually good teen comedy. After the ceremony, Beth says she’s angry with Denis, but forgives him. Denis throws a graduation party and he invites her. Beth surprises him by agreeing to go and further shocks him by actually showing up. Also showing up is Kevin and his military boys who are ready to kick Denis’ ass. Denis must win the heart of Beth and have her break up with Kevin, before Kevin rings him out to dry.

"You're seriously trying to impress me with an iPhone app?"

Chris Columbus (not the explorer) directs I Love You, Beth Cooper and he actually did some funny comedies like Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire.  Larry Doyle wrote the novel the film is based on and adapted it into a screenplay. He’s also written a handful of “The Simpsons” episodes.

This looks decent, but it seems the same formulaic plot of teen comedies might bog it down.  I’m sure this will be a huge hit for younger audiences however, especially those who just graduated high school.

I Love You, Beth Cooper opens July 10^th.

I used to be a fan of the political hip-hop group Public Enemy, so when I first received word that there was a film titled Public Enemies, my initial reaction was one of befuddlement: Chuck D and Flavor Flav turned to acting?  But alas, that skepticism was met with greater delight when I learned that Michael Mann would be helming the picture and he would have some great actors in Johnny Depp and Christian Bale to help bring his story to life.  Mann has long been one of my favorite Directors, leading such enjoyable films as Heat and Collateral, among several others.  He is a veteran of the crime/action genre, so who better to bring the story of notorious gangster John Dillinger to the big screen?

"He's got a gat and ain't scared to use it."

To tell a bit about what the film will be based on, “PE” is set in the depression-era of the 1930′s (how apropos that America has been in a depression of sorts over the past year or two as well), Dillinger (Depp) and his crew have been doing what they do best, robbing from the rich (banks) and giving to the poor (kind of, depending on how the tale goes), in a manner that might make Robin Ghetto (that’s “Hood” to you) proud.  Dillinger was lauded by the public, since they hated the banks for the depression, and known for busting out of jails with greater ease than Jebediah from Out of Sight.  Bale (yeah, The Dark Knight and the just released Terminator: Salvation star), will play real-life federal agent Melvin Purvis who was the man obsessed with capturing the elusive Dillinger.  A cast that includes Billy Crudup (Almost Famous, Watchmen), Channing Tatum, and Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard bring heat to the film in a way few summer blockbusters can claim.  This will be a game of cat and mouse with Dillinger trying to stay a step ahead of Purvis the entire way.

"Why so serious?"

Some intrigue remains as to how well this film will do in the box office given a.) the current state of our economy and the types of films people are paying money to see (typically escapist) and b.) whether or not Bale will receive any public backlash from his outburst on the set of T4, which I wouldn’t think is likely to affect this film, but you never know.  On the flip side, Depp is among the most singularly popular actors working today, so odds of it blowing up (that’s slang for “doing well”) are in its favor.

"Oh, that's why!"

Early stills and the trailers look fabulous, so count me among those who are revved up for this one as it’s been a summer of slow starts in terms of quality films thus far for me.  This will only be Mann’s 8^th film in the last two decades, so expect quality to win out over quantity almost every time.  I always anticipate Mann’s movies (though his Miami Vice disappointed) and I am sure with the great attention to detail that both he and the lead actors are known for, we should be in for one hell of a fun ride.  This will be looting your box office funds come July 1st.

Aside from Pixar and DreamWorks Animation, Blue Sky Studios (a subsidiary of 20^th Century Fox) would probably be under the “rest of” category in terms of computer animation companies. Some of their highlights include Robots (2005), Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and of course Ice Age (2002) and its sequel Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006).  Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs will be the third of the series and Blue Sky’s fifth full-length animated feature.  I’ve never seen the first two Ice Age films because I have a personal bias toward Pixar, but they have always been intriguing to me.  They’ve just never been much of a priority for me to see.

Not the most timely of 'T2' jokes, you think?

The story once again focuses around a group of prehistoric animals that managed to return a baby human to his tribe (Ice Age) and survived a meltdown (Ice Age: The Meltdown).  This time around, they discover that a group of dinosaurs have survived extinction and are living underneath the ice in a tropical utopia.  They decide to explore the region, but soon get themselves in trouble with a T-rex. Sid (John Leguizamo, The Pest), a sloth, is captured by the T-rex and it’s up to Manny (Ray Romano, “Everybody Love Raymond”), a woolly mammoth, Diego (Denis Leary, “Rescue Me”), a saber-toothed tiger, Ellie (Queen Latifah, Chicago) a female mammoth and Scrat, a saber-toothed squirrel (director Chris Wedge, Robots) to rescue him.  They also meet Buck (Simon Pegg, Star Trek) a weasel, to help assist with the rescue.  During this time, Manny and Ellie are expecting their first mammoth calf and Scrat falls in love with his female counterpart, Scratte (Karen Disher, director of Daria).

The movie also co-stars Seann William Scott (Role Models) and Josn Peck (The Wackness) as Eddie and Crash, two twin opossums.  Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier co-direct Ice Age and Saldanha was also responsible for directing the prior installation of Ice Age.  Thurmeier was the supervising animator for the last one as well.  The screenplay was co-written by Michael Berg and Peter Ackerman who both had previously collaborated on the first Ice Age script.

So, where's all the ice?

Ice Age looks mildly amusing since it does draw you in with the cuteness of the characters, but how many Ice Age movies do we really need?  When I first heard of another sequel, my first reaction resulted in an eye-roll.  I’m assuming Fox wants to suck as much money from the series as it can, despite the last movie only getting mixed reviews.  Yes, Pixar is making a third Toy Story, but Ice Age would never have existed has it not been for Toy Story.  This should be a huge hit for kids and families, but let’s just after this the Ice Age franchise will go extinct before it wears itself too thin.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs opens July 1^st.