Snow White and the Huntsman
Charlize Theron is the wicked queen and Kristen Stewart the virgin princess; the huntsman charged with killing Snow White is Chris Hemsworth, a.k.a. Thor of The Avengers. How about seven other Marvel-comics characters playing the dwarfs? The Incredible Hulk as Grumpy? (6/1)
Prometheus
Yeah, but what happened before the monster got on the spaceship? Prometheus seems less a prequel to the 1979 Alien than a predecessor, involving a star map that may help locate the origins of humankind. Ridley Scott returns to the helm with a stellar cast: Noomi Rapace as a proto-Ripley, Charlize Theron as a corporate type with a secret agenda and Michael Fassbender as an android striving to be human. (6/8)
Dark Horse
In Todd Solondz's kinda-comedy, 35-year-old Abe (Jordan Gelber) is a seriously--and hilariously--arrested adolescent, a pain to his parents (Mia Farrow and Christopher Walken) and a possible mate for depressive Miranda (Selma Blair). Existing both in the real world of suburban New York and the dream world of Abe's longings, Dark Horse is Solondz's most endearing film, his gentlest triumph. (6/8)
Lola Versus
Who would be dumb enough to dump a girl who looks like Greta Gerwig? Ditched days before her wedding, Gerwig's Lola seeks help from a best friend (co-writer Zoe Lister-Jones) who recommends new boyfriends--lots of them--as the cure. (6/8)
Rock of Ages
Tom Cruise goes full '80s rock star: cockiness, bare chest, feathers. Of course he does his own vocals. With Alec Baldwin as a club owner and Catherine Zeta-Jones representing the Moral Majority. (6/15)
Your Sister's Sister
Here's a movie with so much indie cred, it could sweep the Gotham Film Awards sight unseen. Lynn Shelton, who directed the mumblecore comedy Humpday, is behind the camera; in front is Mark Duplass, who starred in Humpday and, with his brother Jay, directed Baghead, Cyrus and Jeff, Who Lives at Home. Duplass, Emily Blunt and Rachel Getting Married's Rosemarie DeWitt are the tangled trio in this observational drama. (6/15)
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Seth Grahame-Smith's mashup novel (he also wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) is American history as horror fantasy: young Lincoln pursues the creatures who killed his mother. Timur Bekmanbetov, who directed the zippy-bloody Wanted, brings the book to the screen. (6/22)
Brave
Pixar's first female-centered feature is a tale of a princess-archer on a quest to save her kingdom. After the disappointment of last summer's Cars 2, John Lasseter's gang must be hoping that the reception to Brave will be "Brava!" (6/22)
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Doesn't the sadness in Steve Carell's smile seem to anticipate his own private doomsday? In this comedy, the rest of the world gets that end-of-days feeling as an asteroid hurtles toward Earth. Keira Knightley is Carell's last-chance love in the directorial debut of Lorene Scafaria, who wrote the sweet teen comedy Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. (6/22)
To Rome with Love