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Show LIFE&STYLE Cody Clark | DAILY HERALD h, summertime. Unlike in February or September, when moviestudios secretly hope that you aren’t really paying attention when you buya ticket, everyone’s trying hard to top éveryoneelse during May, June,July and (for the most part) August (which is sometimesa little too close to Septemberfor everyone’s best comfort). This year, summer means dueling Toms (Cruise, in “Mission:Impossible III” versus Hanksin “The Da Vinci Code”), talking cars (in Pixar’s “Cars”), superheroesaplenty (“X-Men: The Last Stand,” SECTION SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2006 LIFE & STYLE EDITOR Elyssa Andrus - 344-2553 - eandrus@heraldextra.com Hong Konghottie Maggie Q. There’s even a trio of heavy hitters to spell Cruise: Laurence Fishburneis Hunt's IMF boss, Ving Rhames returns as his mostreliable mission cohort, andPhillip Seymour Hoffman is Owen Davian, a sinister weaponsdealer and the big bad wolf of this particular extremeactionfairytale. David Fincher(“Panic Room”)and Joe Caranahan (“Nare”) both departed the film friend” and even Captain Zoomin “Zoom’s so) Captain Jack, Jack Black-and the lian thrills of “Snakes on a Plane.” And thet’'s the tip of the proverbial iceberg. To whet your appetite and bring you up to tional 30 (!!) films. Find thatlist on C5 Whereavailable each film’s MPAArating has beenincluded. Note: All release dates given are subject to revision. ' ' :( Didn't a wise philosopheroncesay that chair to Brett Ratner(ironically one of several potential directors booted from, heh, “Super- and spiritual twin of the original “Mission: Im- CanI get a bottle of rum at the concessions stand? Yo-ho-no way, mate. If you're hoping to enjoy the ultimate complementarybeverage possible” series — directed and overhauled the script with top “Alias” writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Um, didn't Jean Greydie at the end of the last X-Men movie? Shows how muchyou know about the Marvel Comics universe, where death tends to be about as permanent, to say nothing of emo- tionally and physicallyscarring,as a largish Grey and, hmm,Phoenix (played by Famke Rasa Tss “Felicity” and animals awaken from their winter’s nap to discover that a.tall, “thing” has ua cropped up right through the middle of their fae in “Over the DreamWorks Theoriginal “Pirates” was a surprise megablockbusterin 2003, but Disney didn’t take any chances with thisfirst of two planned sequels (the third movieis currently in production). Johnny Depppicks up where heleft offas dissolute, disreputable Captain Jack tants. Quite the opposite, in fact — the X-ros- sio) are on the job again as well. The story is said to involve Jack'sentangle- an anagram of team? DANIEL DAZA/Paramount Pictures Able kaa coke Mexican orphanage named Nacho(Jack Black, left) moonlights as a Lucha Libre wrestler to raise money for the orphansin “NachoLibre”, a comedy from the creators of “Napoleon Dynamite.” makelike anactual pirate and smuggleit into the theater your own naughty self Swann,andthe director (Gore Verbinski) and principal writers (Ted Elliott and Terry Ros- Man andLeech, to namejust a few first (or even second, third, fourth, etc.) rea- while you watch“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men's Chest” (July 7), then you'll have to Janssen), was apparently only mostly dead at the end of “X2: X-Men United. Frankly, even a “Star Trek” character would blushto be resurrected this casually, andit’s not as if “X-Men: The Last Stand” (May there is no I in team,but thereis an I in pie, and there’s an I in meat pie, and meatis son to catch the latest cinematic adventure of superspy Ethan Hunt. Tom Cruise is the big wheel in the summer’s biggest movie. Cruise likes to work with talented co- manReturns’). recently-canceled “Alias” — the conceptual ter has only gotten more crowded, pumped up by the addition of heroesandvillains aplenty: Beast, Psylocke, Angel, Juggernaut, Multiple Yes, and that philosopher was Shaun (albeit quoting the wisdom of “Mr.Sloan”), played in “Shaun of the Dead” by Simon Pegg. There’s no I in Shaun, either, but thereis an | in Simon, and Pegghas role in “Mission: Impossible tll” (May 5), which is about a bunchofspies who act as a— wait for it — team. : Oh, all right, Peggisn't going to be anyone’s alongside Storm (Halle Berry), Cyclops (James Marsden), Rogue (Anna Paquin) and, yup, Jean Grey. After directing the first two X-movies. BryanSinger departed the franchise to take over “SupermanReturns,”leaving the director's the ultimate replacement. J.J. Abrams, creator of ABC's “Lost” and, more importantly, the 26) will have any lack of superpowered mu- speed, we've asked (and answered) 25 burning questions to introduce the 25 biggest films of the summer. Readers withinsatiable appetites should be sure to peruse the attached article that covers (rather more succinctlv) an addi- ¥ in “X2” by Alan Cumming), vanished without so muchas an explanatory BAMF', but fan favorite Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) returns after agreeingtodirect it, but Cruise found pimple. The character knownboth as Jean “Superman Returns,” “My Super Ex-Girl- Daily s Herald The new film’s story is about how the development of a pharmaceutical “cure” for mutation triggers a showdownbetween Professor X's (Patrick Stewart) benevolent mutants and the rowdies led by Magneto (lan McKellen). The good guyswill be without the services of Nightcrawler(played Sparrow, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley return as lovers Will Turner and Elizabeth mentwith Davy Jones(Bill Nighy), he of the famed undersea locker. Also appearingfor the first time as a characteris Will's father and Jack's former shipmate, the deceased “Bootstrap”Bill Turner(Stellan Skarsgard). And a whopping production budgetbelieved tobe in the neighborhood of $200 million should mean See MOVIES, C2 |