I hear the “Grease” singalong is an absolute blast that reminds everyone about the power of cinema as a communal experience. Lyrics and animations swirl about the screen to help make the film interactive. I’m in.

For children’s films, “Despicable Me” looks intriguing, though I fear that’s based solely on the initial, mysterious marketing campaign. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” looks like it may be a decent refreshment, but the “Cats & Dogs” sequel just feels old. For the nostalgic set, children’s lit character Ramona Quimby pops up in “Ramona and Beezus.”

As far as action spectacles go, I don’t hold much hope for “Predators.” It looks like a remake of “Predator.” Oh, right, it’s set on another planet… that looks just like the jungle from the first film. “The Last Airbender” may have some spunk left in it; let’s hope so for M. Night Shyamalan’s career’s sake. And “Salt,” like so many films this month, looks tired.

Can anything rise to the standard set this summer by “Toy Story 3?”

“Inception” has been building buzz for quite some time, being as it is writer/director Christopher Nolan’s followup to “The Dark Knight.” But very early whisperings make it out to be a masterpiece in its own right. One can only hope.

July 1

• The Last Airbender

July 8

• Grease Sing-A-Long

July 9

• Despicable Me
• Predators
• The Kids Are All Right [limited]

July 14

• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

July 16

• Inception

July 23

• Ramona and Beezus
• Salt
• Countdown to Zero [NYC, Washington, D.C.]

July 30

• Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
• Charlie St. Cloud
• Dinner for Schmucks
• Get Low [limited]
• Twelve [limited]

August 6

• Middle Men
• The Other Guys
• Step Up 3-D
• Flipped [limited]
• Mao’s Last Dancer [limited]

Day One

“Star Trek 4” and the Q&A with Leonard Nimoy were the most fun I had all weekend. The film may be predictable, but the cast’s energy and the plot’s science-fiction silliness are a blast. Everyone achieved what they set out to do with this installment of the “Trek” series, which CHUD’s Devin Faraci, who was also in attendance, claims to be the “Star Trekkiest” of them all. Mr Nimoy himself was a pleasure; touching on his acting history and the emphasis on story and character above all else when making a film. He did not have kind words for “Avatar” or his work on the television show “Fringe.” Unafraid of touching on politics, Mr. Nimoy was loose and easygoing. At 79 years old, he’s ready to retire from acting and focus on his photography exhibit, art, and family. The L. A. Times has some video recapping the night.

Day Two

This was the first time I’d seen “Insomnia” and it is a tightly-wound thriller with a very good, very creepy performance by Robin Williams. I would even go so far as to say it surpasses “The Dark Knight” in quality, as sacrilegious as that may seem for so many. With a repeat viewing after such a long break between original theatrical screenings and now, I must say Heath Ledger is still an acting tornado, yet the film is much too long and dour. Director Christopher Nolan was on hand and much like his films, he was quite reserved and focused more on the technical aspect of filmmaking.

“I’m not a huge fan of 3-D.”

Mr. Nolan claims it is “a misnomer to call it 3-D versus 2-D. The whole point of cinematic imagery is it’s three-dimensional. … You know, 95% of our depth cues come from occlusion, resolution, color and so forth, so the idea of calling a 2-D movie a ’2-D movie’ is a little misleading.”

He also, like many other, including Roger Ebert, complains about screen brightness, or lack thereof. “The truth of it is when you watch a film in here, you’re looking at 16 foot-lamberts, When you watch through any of the conventional 3-D processes you’re giving up three foot-lamberts. A massive difference. You’re not that aware of it because once you’re ‘in that world,’ your eye compensates, but having struggled for years to get theaters get up to the proper brightness, we’re not sticking polarized filters in everything.”

“It’s all based on all the visual-effects technology,” he explains, “that we’re currently most engaged in with match moving, so forth, and rendering 2-D imagery into a 3-D space. … On a technical level, it’s fascinating, but on an experiential level, I find the dimness of the image extremely alienating.”

Day Three

The last night featured the science-fiction classic “Alien” and “Blade Runner” and their director, Ridley Scott. Talking a mile a minute, it was very easy for Mr. Scott to go off on a tangent; the host had to ask the same question more than once.

He is starting to work on two “Alien” prequels, with the original film ending the trilogy. The new films were inspired by a short scene from the original featuring the Nostromo crew discovering the “space jockey,” a petrified giant alien being that had obviously been a victim of the titular aliens many years ago. The prequels will focus on the history of the “space jockey,” who Mr. Scott now claims was wearing a spacesuit.

“No one ever asked that question: What’s the story there? I was always surprised that people didn’t ask that one. Now we’re going to answer that question. To me, a prequel is interesting, much more interesting than a sequel. They never asked me to do the sequels.”

Talking to MTV, Mr. Scott mentioned H. R. Giger’s role on the prequels: “Yeah, he’s still around. Once I get more serious and get going, and the big wheels start turning, we’ll certainly talk. And maybe we’ll come up with something completely different.”

In an interview with Screen Daily, the director revealed that he has plans to redesign the aliens, and show how they became the majestic killing machines we know and love.

“The film will be really tough, really nasty. It’s the dark side of the moon. We are talking about gods and engineers. Engineers of space. And were the aliens designed as a form of biological warfare? Or biology that would actually go in and clean up a planet? It will take place in the years before that, when they first come across this thing on a planet called Zeta Reticuli.”

“Yeah, the thing about “Alien vs Predator” is, I know it’s commerce, but what a pity… I think, therefore, I have to design – or redesign – earlier versions of what these elements are that led to the thing you finally see in Alien, which is the thing that catapults out of the egg, the face-hugger. I don’t want to repeat it. The alien in a sense, as a shape, is worn out.”

Also of interest is the Los Angeles Times‘ fanboy column, Hero Complex, will be hosting a film series this weekend at the Egyptian Theater megaplex. It will screen “Star Trek 4,” “Insomnia,” “The Dark Knight,” “Alien,” and “Blade Runner,” with each night featuring a Q&A with their respective directors: Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Nolan, and Ridley Scott.

Tonight’s news update features a lot of old and current news that sort of summarizes the statuses of a bunch of eagerly-awaited projects. Hope you like it and please let me know any suggestions for improvements, feature requests, or news tips you might have.

Writer/director Duncan Jones came out with an excellent science fiction picture last year entitled “Moon.” He planned to follow it up with “Mute.” Set in the same universe as his first film (“Moon’s” Sam Rockwell would have even made a cameo appearance), “Mute” follows a mute bartender as he searches for his missing girlfriend and ends up clashing with a near-future Berlin’s gangsters. Like all great SF, the story would have focused more on the human characters and themes than on the futuristic technology and/or action setpieces. The budget was set to be $25 million, five times greater than “Moon’s” and it would have been greatly inspired visually by “Blade Runner,” as evidenced by this gorgeous  concept art. Unfortunately, the film is now “mired in financing difficulties.”

Thankfully, Mr. Jones still has work; “Source Code” is about a soldier (Jake Gyllenhaal) stuck by the U.S. government inside the body of a commuter on a train that was attacked by terrorists. Vera Farmiga is a communications officer that controls Mr. Gyllenhaal as he travels through time, forced to relive the experience over and over again until he can find the one responsible for the attack. Michelle Monaghan plays the love interest to the person Mr. Gyllenhaal inhabits. The script, by Ben Ripley, had some rewrites done by Billy Ray.

Meanwhile, Mel Gibson’s latest epic, violent period piece will focus on the Vikings and have dialogue in Old Norse and Old English. The screenplay is by William Monahan and it will star Leonardo DiCaprio. In an interesting interview with the Los Angeles Times, it’s said this may be Mr. Gibson’s last film.

Posters and Images

• “Buried“
• “Splice“
• “Survival of the Dead“

Trailers and Clips

• “The Adjustment Bureau“
• “Buried“
• “Get Him to the Greek“
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus“
• “Inception“
• “Scott Pilgrim vs the World“
• “Tucker and Dale vs Evil“

And then there’s “True Blood,” the sexiest, bloodiest soap opera on television. You’re either a fan or you’re not. For those of us with taste, here is the new trailer for season three:

Book Adaptations of the Week

Martin Scorsese wants to direct the children’s book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick, while the wonderful Shane Black is looking to write and direct a “Doc Savage” feature film. Speaking of pulp adventure tales, the non-Pixar “John Carter of Mars,” based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs books and directed by Pixar-director Andrew Stanton, is now in production. It stars Taylor Kitsch as a Confederate soldier in the American Civil War who mysteriously teleports to Mars and gets caught up in the ongoing war between alien races. Lynn Collins will play the princess I presume. Bryan Cranston plays a Civil War colonel. James Purefoy is “Kantos Kan, the captain of the Xavarian, the kingdom of Helium’s grand warship.” Mark Strong is “Matai Shang, the ruler of the Thems.” Thomas Haden Church is “Tal Hajus, an ambitious and vicious Thark warrior who is biding his time to be a ruler.” The film also stars Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Polly Walker, and Dominic West.

Comic Book Adaptations of the Week

“Iron Man 2″ is still in theaters and the Marvel movie universe is already expanding. Following the first “Iron Man” film and “The Incredible Hulk,” “Thor” will feature Chris Hemsworth as the titular character alongside Jaimie Alexander, Colm Feore, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, and Stellan Skarsgard. Kenneth Branagh is directing the film for a May 20, 2011, release date. Only a couple months later, July 22, 2011, to be exact, “Captain America: The First Avenger” will debut in theaters. Directed by Joe Johnston, the film stars Chris Evans as the Cap himself, Steve Rogers; Hayley Atwell as his WWII-era love interest, Peggy Carter; Sebastien Stan as his sidekick, Bucky Barnes; and Hugo Weaving as his nemesis, Johann Schmidt (The Red Skull). Fans of the comics will be delighted to know both The Invaders and The Howling Commandos make an appearance in the film. Then it all comes together with “The Avengers.” The big news is that Joss Whedon is not only writing and directing the big team-up movie, but might also be making some changes to the “Captain America” script as well.

Sequels of the Week

Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the writers behind the comedy “Zombieland,” are taking a crack at the “G.I. Joe 2” script. The much-maligned first “Joe” film was a breath of pure, little-boy fresh air and it’s a shame very few people recognize or appreciate it. Deadline reports that Megan Fox was dropped from “Transformers 3,” probably due to her badmouthing of director Michael Bay while promoting “Jennifer’s Body.” But both People and Hit Fix say it’s the other way around: Ms. Fox wanted out. And just as quickly as her departure was announced, a replacement was chosen: Victoria’s Secret-model Rosie Huntington-Whitely. It’s a shame so many people badmouth Ms. Fox. Every argument I’ve ever heard against her is that she is a “talentless skank.” Why? Because she’s pretty? Because she speaks her mind? The misogyny of fandom is astounding at times. Though she’s never really been given much of a role worth acting, she did admirably in “Jennifer’s Body” and I look forward to her future work.

The fourth Disney “Pirates” movie will be called “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and is partly based on the 1988 book by Tim Powers, “On Stranger Tides.” Directed by Rob Marshall, the film will be in 3D and begins shooting in Hawaii, Great Britain, and Los Angeles this month for a May 20, 2011, release. Johnny Depp will return as Captain Jack Sparrow, though Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley will not make any appearances. Rather, Depp will be joined by Ian McShane as Blackbeard and Penélope Cruz as Blackbeard’s daughter, who will be an equal and a foil to Sparrow (and probably a love interest as well). Also joining the cast are Astrid Bergès-Frisbey as a mermaid named Syrena and Stephen Graham as the pirate Scram.

Remakes of the Week

Joe Wright, who directed Keira Knightley in “Pride & Prejudice,” has cast his leading lady in a remake of “My Fair Lady,” itself a musical of the stage play “Pygmalion.” Meanwhile, Ethan and Joel Coen are reuniting with a few actors that have worked with them before: Jeff Bridges will star as Rooster Cogburn in a remake of the John Wayne-classic “True Grit.” His character and a lawman (Matt Damon) help a young girl (Hailee Steinfeld) track her father’s killer (Josh Brolin) into hostile Indian territory. Barry Pepper will play the outlaw “Lucky Ned.” In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, the brothers claim their film will hew more closely to the book, which takes the young girl’s perspective and has more humor and violence. Sounds exactly like a Coen movie.

Robert E. Howard’s “Conan” is returning to the big screen. Marcus Nispel is directing a reportedly awful script Sean Hood tried to fix before production began in Bulgaria. The barbarian himself will be played by Jason Momoa. His father was going to be Mickey Rourke, but talks fell apart and the role now belongs to the great Ron Perlman. Stephen Lang plays the villain, Khalar Singh; Rachel Nichols is Tamara, Conan’s love interest; and Said Taghmaoui is a thief who is saved by Conan. Meanwhile, some pictures have leaked from the set and the DTV quality of it all is heartbreaking.

Final Words

“I wouldn’t have had to spend all that time trying to communicate thoughtfully and honestly with someone who just wanted a pat on the head, and, more importantly, I wouldn’t have had to read that godawful piece of [junk].”—Josh Olson, screenwriter of “A History of Violence”

And then there’s the Beast itself: “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.” I loved the first “Twilight’s” absurdity. I am not the person that film was made for, yet I was able to enjoy it as a comedy. The second film was abominably interminable, yet I’d rather watch it a hundred times over “Sex and the City 2;” “New Moon” was better-made than that film, believe it or not. And here we are with the penultimate entry—unless the studio plans on splitting the final story in two, à la “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”—and I really don’t care. I will end up seeing it out of curiosity, but I just can’t find myself to be as full of rage as other critics have been over this franchise. Besides, I’m a “True Blood” fan all the way.

June 4

• Get Him to the Greek
• Killers
• Marmaduke
• Splice
• Ondine [limited]
• Finding Bliss [LA/NY]

June 11

• The A-Team
• The Karate Kid
• Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work [limited]

June 18

• Jonah Hex
• Toy Story 3
• Cyrus [limited]
• I Am Love [limited]

June 25

• Grown Ups
• Knight and Day

June 30

• The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

July 2

• The Last Airbender
• Twelve

March 5

• Alice in Wonderland
• Brooklyn’s Finest
• The Secret of Kells [NYC]

March 12

• Green Zone
• Our Family Wedding
• Remember Me
• She’s Out of My League
• Mother [LA/NYC]

March 19

• The Bounty Hunter
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid
• Repo Men
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [limited]
• IMAX: Hubble 3D [limited]
• The Runaways [limited]

March 26

• Hot Tub Time Machine
• How to Train Your Dragon
• Chloe [limited]
• Greenberg [limited]

March 31

• The Last Song

April 2

• Clash of the Titans
• Furry Vengeance
• Why Did I Get Married Too?
• Leaves of Grass [limited]

Anyway, moving on into February, the LACMA Film Program is featuring a Clint Eastwood series. They’ll be showing many of his films, almost all of them classics.

If you have some political fire in your belly, the Aero Theatre has a double feature of “Inherit the Wind” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” just for you. And keep your eyes open for Alfred Hitchcock and Audrey Hepburn double features. Me? I really want to see “Donkey Skin.”

Dan O’Bannon, who passed away less than a year ago, is getting a tribute at the New Beverly Cinema with “Lifeforce” and “Return of the Living Dead.” The hardly-ever-seen “Killer of Sheep” plays the 10th through the 13th, followed by a week of Jason Reitman guest programming and many other films. Their midnight screenings are always a blast, one of them being “Videodrome.” Long live the new flesh!

Finally, Cinefamily is back to their regular programming, so be sure to check out their calendar.

To kick off the second half of February, Martin Scorsese rolls out the big guns. “Shutter Island” is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, the writer of “Mystic River” and “Gone, Baby, Gone,” but focuses much more on the terror and psychology of horror. It’s nice to see Mr. Scorsese playing in this sandbox.

“Harry Potter and the Olympians”—I mean…uh…ya. Awkward.

Another George Romero film has been remade and Kevin Smith will once again attempt to connect with the mainstream. At least February is a little more exciting than last month. And don’t forget there are plenty of wonderful films being screened in revival houses, so keep an eye on your local cinema. Here’s what’s coming for the month of February.

February 5

• Dear John
• From Paris with Love
• Frozen [limited]

February 12

• My Name Is Khan
• Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
• Valentine’s Day
• The Wolfman

February 19

• The Ghost Writer
• Shutter Island

February 26

• The Crazies
• Cop Out
• The Yellow Handkerchief [LA/NYC]
• A Prophet [NYC]

March 5

• Alice in Wonderland
• Brooklyn’s Finest

It’s interesting to note that most of the movies on this list would be better categorized under “action,” but I’m far too lazy to plan another list. And since they all deal with advanced technology or unheard-of science, I’m tossing them in here with the big boys.

Superb

I may in later years look back and sigh on my naïveté, but I found “Moon” and “District 9” to be absolutely refreshing entries in the science fiction realm. Perhaps they are not deserving of the “superb” label, but it’s been so long since an actual SF film has been science fiction, rather than fantasy or action, so forgive me. The ideas explored were done so in new and intriguing ways, though not necessarily as in-depth as some may like. Sam Rockwell was given an actor’s chance to shine in “Moon” and he took it and ran. And what’s to say about “District 9′s” completely unknown star, Sharlto Copley, except, “wow?” I admit, “District 9″ devolves into an action race against time by the end, in very gruesome detail I might add, but by that time you’ve been sucked in by the characters and the world they inhabit. The real stars though are the father and son aliens who work alongside Mr. Copley’s racist character to ensure a brighter tomorrow.

Great

None.

Good

“Knowing” is the action-thriller kid-brother to “The Fountain.” I ate up all the cheese and theological soufflé it threw at me, while “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” is, simply put, a boy’s movie. Growing up on Saturday-morning cartoons and Power Rangers, I could not help my pulse from quickening at the sight of live-action cartoons carving mayhem and destruction with an unabashed glee. “Joe” has neither brains nor morals. It’s emotionally stunted and goofy and it is glorious.

The plot and character motivations (what little there are) in “Avatar” are problems and it’s a shame to see the original story concept thrown out the window for such a juvenile simplification. Even the patented James Cameron banter is missing. But the visual artistry and attention to detail overwhelm common sense, and what should be as bad as a pre-teen’s goofy notebook sketches brought to life is elevated to a great night at the movies. My only real concern with “Avatar” is how much it “pays homage” to over a century’s worth of science fiction material. The currently-filming “John Carter of Mars” is based on a series of books over ninety years old and has been in and out of production for it seems just as long. Will that film be met with hostility in 2012 by the general public, outraged that it steals so blatantly from Mr. Cameron’s “masterpiece?” Considering the talent involved in that film, it would be a shame.

The “Star Trek” franchise had grown tired and no one was up in arms over a reboot of the movie series. With J. J. Abrams at the helm, it seems to be in good hands now. And while the film is a product of several unrelated screenplays stitched together—and boy does it show!—the terrific cast assembled absolutely shines.

Average

“2012” is dumb. It knows it is dumb. Many can be quoted as calling it the culmination of every disaster movie and every CGI painting that has come before. God, help me, I found it riveting.

Poor

“Terminator Salvation” is decent but unneeded. It had some of the strangest editing in certain spots and the plot does not feel original, having been groupthought into extinction. I’ve waited all these years for this storyline? But since it is made competently and kept my attention, this third sequel to the once fresh and exciting series is not entirely trash-worthy. Anton Yelchin gives the standout performance, over time even resembling the future version of Kyle Reese. If there is to be another sequel (and it looks grim now that the franchise is up for auction), Christian Bale’s bland John Connor needs to be on the sidelines to let Mr. Yelchin’s and Moon Bloodgood’s characters stand out.

Trash

None.

Missed

Bruce Willis sporting a hair piece and tons of makeup to play a robot of himself trying to figure out why humans are dying in their avatar robot bodies? “Surrogates” sure sounds dumb. Yes, please!

Writer/director Richard Kelly aimed high on “The Box,” that much I know. I only wish I could have seen the messy results on the big screen.

That said, making this list has been helpful in figuring out what my tastes are. I used to make goals each year to see every movie that comes out, of which I fail miserably. But now I realize: what’s the point? There is so much useless junk out there and every time I see one of those I’m missing out on a real gem. I’m also starting to see that I have far more respect for those films that aim high and fail than those that cruise by and somehow end up quite good.

For those just tuning in, I’ve decided to group my best of ’09 list by genre, just so I can get my bearings. I failed to write reviews for so many films this past year that it’s hard to make a complete master list right off the bat. Today we’re focusing on fantasy, a rather short list this year, and then each day following I will work my way through science fiction, horror, comedy, and lastly drama.

Superb

I had given up on Terry Gilliam until I experienced “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” I thought he had grown tired like Tim Burton and Steven Spielberg. All his films are dense, confusing, and absurd, and many people find them indecipherable garbage. Yet the ambition and creativity here is striking and while it may not stick all the right landings, it transfixed me from beginning to end and long after. The ideas Mr. Gilliam plays around with and those crazy visuals only he excels at wrap so tightly around a plot that seems as old as time and yet so refreshing. Even major setbacks such as the death of Heath Ledger are sources of innovation and it’s almost as if Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell were always meant to play Imaginarium-manifestations of Mr. Ledger’s character. This is pure, compelling cinema and it’s hard to deny the balls this film has, regardless of any technical deficiencies.

Great

None.

Good

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” sure knows its stuff visually. The scenes featuring the Weasley’s staircase and the “Lord of the Rings”-style Gandalf-gesticulations and Gollum-creatures are both grand in their own ways. And while the romantic escapades are enjoyable, the character development that really matters (Draco Malfoy) is completely nonexistent. He runs to the bathroom morally struggling and I feel like I’ve hardly met the guy. Fortunately this entry in the series is less SparkNotes and more like an actual movie (unlike the previous film) and the series seems to be in capable hands now that director David Yates has found firmer footing (probably thanks to the return of screenwriter Steve Kloves).

Average

None.

Poor

None.

Trash

“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” is just as bad as its predecessor. But while the first film didn’t know it was retarded, thus making it a brilliant comedy much like “The Happening,” “New Moon” detects a faint whiff of its own stench and gives a winking nod every once in a while. Too bad it’s boring, half-assed, and just plain silly.

Missed

I have a feeling I would have liked Paul Weitz’ “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant,” or at least respected it. It seems to have a great cast, a faint sense of danger, and a possibly nice twist on the current teen fantasy fad.