When my kids were little, one of our favorite books was "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" by Judi and Ron Barrett. I think I liked it probably more than the kids. Just the idea of having food raining down on you whenever you’re hungry is a pretty entertaining idea. Ok, my adult-self thinks it would get really messy, but my kid-self says bring it on!

The animated big screen version hits theaters Sept. 18, 2009, and features the voices of Anna Faris, Bruce Campbell, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, James Caan, Tracy Morgan, and Mr. T. Yes, Mr. T! It’s directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who’ve done some episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" and other TV shows and a few movies.

The official site doesn’t give a lot of clues about the story, other than the raining-food part, but it still looks cute as all get out. And of course, on the site you’ll find fun downloads and games, like 3D Food Fight, Stump the Monkey, and Sticker Studio. Here’s the trailer playing in theaters right now:

Whenever I think of Gerard Butler, I automatically think of him being all intense and toga-ish as King Leonidas in "300," but he can hold his own in a romantic movie, as evidenced in "P.S. I Love You" and "Nim’s Island."

He’s the perfect foil for Katherine Heigl in “The Ugly Truth,” a romantic comedy about a chauvinistic reporter who gets involved with a romantically challenged morning show producer.

Directed by Robert Luketic, the movie is rated R for sexual content and language, and hits theaters July 24, 2009. Check out the trailers here and here, and watch the latest TV spot below.

Remember that episode of "The Twilight Zone," where the couple gets off a train and ends up in a town devoid of human life and everything seems fake and it turns out they’re on an alien planet and are now the playthings of a little girl? "Planet 51" is sort of like that.

Ok, that might be stretching it a bit, but an astronaut plants a flag on a planet that turns out to be filled with aliens mowing their lawns and barbecuing in their backyards. It’s a mind-twister because the humans are the aliens, and the astronaut is the one trying to get back home.

"Planet 51" is an animated family movie directed by Jorge Blanco and featuring the voices of Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, and John Cleese. No rating yet, but I’m guessing PG. It hits theaters Nov. 20, 2009.

When I heard that Lindsay Lohan had an upcoming movie on ABC Family, something just didn’t click with that news. I mean, let’s face it. The girl hasn’t exactly been the stuff of family viewing in recent years. But who knows, maybe she’s doing a reboot and getting back on track.

Then again, since ABC Family started airing shows like "Secret Life of the American Teenager," maybe they’re more geared towards pregnancy stories. The IMDB Page for "Labor Pains" lists it as PG-13 for sexual content and language, and notes that it will be on DVD Aug. 4, 2009.  

"Labor Pains," will air on ABC Family on Sunday, July 19, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Lohan stars as Thea, an assistant at a publishing company who pretends to be pregnant so her boss won’t fire her. Her friend and co-worker, Lisa (Cheryl Hines), helps with the ruse, but as you might imagine, things don’t go as planned.

The movie also stars Janeane Garofalo, Chris Parnell, and Bonnie Sommerville. Watch the trailer and see more stills after the jump!

Read more

I love it when studios release movies on Wednesday, because it helps to break things up and gives us a chance to see lots of new movies in the same week!

In Theaters Today:

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (PG). Released in regular and 3D formats, this third movie in the franchise finds Scrat still on the hunt for that elusive acorn (and possibly finding love with a female sabre-toothed squirrel); Manny and Ellie expecting a baby; Diego pondering his place in the world; and Sid wishing for a family of his own. Rated PG for some mild rude humor and peril. [Trailer] [Poster] [Official Site]

Public Enemies (R). Directed by Michael Mann, this gangster movie tells the story of charismatic John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), whose bank raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) and his fledgling FBI, including agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale). Rated R for gangster violence and some language. [Trailer] [6 Clips] [Images] [Official Site]

Images: © Universal Pictures

Movie: The Hangover * Official Site	In Theaters: June 5, 2009
Runtime: 100 minutes	Directed by: Todd Phillips
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, sexual content including nudity, and some drug material	Gecko Rating:

Sometimes a movie comes along that you think will be crude and stupid, and it turns out to be smart and funny. That’s "The Hangover." At first glance, it’s a crude buddy movie with lots of sex and drugs. Ok, it’s all that, but look a little further and you’ve got a smart, funny film with great writing and real characters, not movie cliches.

Basically, the story is about a Las Vegas bachelor blow-out that goes horribly, horribly wrong. Two days before his wedding, Doug (Justin Bartha) and three pals (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis) head for Vegas for one last bash they’ll never forget.

Read more

With all the bad news in the world, I think we can all use a little Charlie Brown right about now. "Peanuts: 1960s Collection" is coming to DVD, and it has lots of favorites from the 1960s, including "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "Charlie Brown’s All-Stars," "It’s the Great Pumpkin," "You’re in Love," "He’s Your Dog," and "It Was a Short Summer."

Charles Schultz knew exactly how to get to the heart of things with his simple characters with complex problems, whether it was Lucy’s quest to get Schroeder’s attention or Charlie Brown’s to kick that football.

This re-mastered set hits DVD July 7, 2009. Here’s a sneak peak:

Image: Amazon.com

It’s been a while since I’ve seen “An American Werewolf in London,” but I’ll have to revisit it, because a remake is in the works.

Released in 1981, the funky-cult-comedy John Landis film starred David Naughton and Griffin Dunne as two American backpackers hiking in the Yorkshire moors attacked by a mysterious animal that turns out to be a werewolf. Naughton ends up terrorizing London, and Dunne’s re-animated corpse offers ways Naughton can off himself to break the curse. It’s loads of fun! (It really is.)

Dimension Films has picked up the rights and hopes to keep the fun elements of the original but kick it up for modern moviegoers.

No writer or director has signed yet, but Dimension is making quite the little name for itself; it’s releasing Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II” in August, and also developing a remake of “Hellraiser.”

Image: Amazon.com; Source: Bloody-Disgusting.com

Movie: The Brothers Bloom * Trailer * 2-minute clip * Official Site	In Theaters: May 29, 2009
Runtime: 113 minutes	Directed by: Rian Johnson
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, some sensuality and brief strong language	Gecko Rating:

“The Brothers Bloom” is a funny little movie, the sort of movie you might watch at an arthouse or indie theater, then walk away going, “Yeah, that was an interesting movie with great acting.”

It stars Mark Ruffalo as Stephen, and Adrien Brody as his younger brother Bloom. These two brothers have been con artists since they were kids, with Stephen orchestrating intricate stories for each swindle and Bloom playing the main character.

They work on their own except for the mysterious and silent Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), a Japanese woman who showed up one day and has a penchant for blowing things up. She feels that once you’ve used something, you might as well blow it up.

Read more

The sudden death of Michael Jackson has left filmmakers scrambling to tweak or delete any scenes involving the pop star. Such was the case with "Bruno," where a Jackson-related sketch ended up getting cut just hours before the Los Angeles premiere.

After much discussion, Universal Pictures removed a scene from the movie where Bruno, the flamboyant Austrian journalist played by Sacha Baron Cohen, interviews an unsuspecting Latoya Jackson about several topics, including her brother.

The sketch included jokes about Jackson’s high-pitched voice and his trademark white glove.

I mean, basically, the movie is really over-the-top anyway, so had Jackson not died, the scene probably wouldn’t have been that outrageous. But I’m glad they took it out, because that would have been in really poor taste.

Any thoughts on this? Should filmmakers cut inappropriate Michael Jackson scenes from upcoming movies?

Image Credits: © Universal Studios; Bauer-Griffin