ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Starring: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mia Wasikowska
Director: Tim Burton
Release Date: March 4, 2010
After two decades of working together, you'd think Johnny Depp and Tim Burton would be sick of each other. But just take a look at some select titles from their filmography: Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). If there's one thing you can predict about the two-decade Depp-Burton collaboration, it's that it's going to be unpredictable. Their spin on the beloved Lewis Carroll fantasy, with Depp playing the Mad Hatter and newcomer Wasikowska as the 19-year-old who falls down the rabbit hole again to end the Red Queen's (Bonham Carter) reign of terror, should continue that streak.
CLASH OF THE TITANS
Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson
Director: Louis Leterrier
Release Date: March 26, 2010
This story of the Greek myth–about Perseus, the mortal son of the Greek god Zeus, battling Medusa, the Kraken monster, and other minions of the underworld in his quest to save the Princess Andromeda–first unfurled on worldwide screens in 1981 with LA Law star Harry Hamlin in the lead. But fantasy film buffs will forever define the original for its at-the-time groundbreaking, now-quaint stop-motion visual effects, courtesy of industry maverick Ray Harryhausen. This year's retelling has newly minted star Sam Worthington (Avatar) and 30 years' worth of technological innovation behind it–whether it will retain the original's charm is what will be worth checking out.
DATE NIGHT
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey
Director: Shawn Levy
Release Date: April 10, 2010
Carrell and Fey play a couple who steal a reservation at an upscale restaurant to rejuvenate their blah domestic life…and end up with a nightmarish case of mistaken identity. Personally, I find the concept's action elements a tad superfluous–I'd pay to watch these two comics read a phonebook–but the idea of plunking their Everyman-Everywoman charms in the middle of Tom Cruise territory is admittedly intriguing. James Franco, Kristen Wiig, Mila Kunis, and Mark Wahlberg join the festivities.
