By David Onda

DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS
RELEASE DATE: JULY 23
DIRECTOR: JAY ROACH
CAST: STEVE CARELL, PAUL RUDD, LUCY PUNCH, ZACH GALIFIANAKIS
Based on the 1998 French film The Dinner Game, Schmucks reunites the comedic genius of Rudd and Carell. Rudd plays Tim, a rising executive who is invited to his boss’ monthly dinner party – a game in which each executive competes by bringing the biggest idiot he can find as his guest. Glenn Beck was unavailable, so Tim brings a good-hearted moron named Barry (Carell), a lovable loner who works for the IRS. The catch is that Tim must now choose between career advancement or the exploitation of his new friend’s buffoonery over grilled cheese and soup.

CATS & DOGS:
THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE
RELEASE DATE: JULY 30
DIRECTOR: BRAD PEYTON
CAST: (VOICES OF) BETTE MIDLER, RAY LIOTTA, NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, LESLIE MANN
When the nefarious Sphinx cat Kitty Galore (Midler) decides to dump her worthless pack of feline cohorts in a quest to take over the world, she leaves her former minions no choice but to team up with man’s best friend in order to stop her. But even the doggone alliance between pussies and pooches may not be enough to stop Galore, who has enlisted the help of rogue rodents and the former Persian cat boss, Mr. Tinkles (Sean Hayes), in her evil plot of world domination. Chris “I’m lucky to have a career after Batman” O’Donnell plays one of the film’s only human characters.

CHARLIE ST. CLOUD
RELEASE DATE: JULY 30
DIRECTOR: BURR STEERS
CAST: ZAC EFRON, KIM BASINGER, AMANDA CREW, CHRIS MASSOGLIA
I love it when a movie plot is so ridiculous on its own that I don’t have to use any creative juices thinking up ways to make fun of it. Charlie St. Cloud is based on a 2004 novel by Ben Sherwood about a kid named Charlie (Efron) who promises his little brother Sam that he’ll play baseball with him every day until college, just before a car accident claims Sam’s life. When Charlie meets a hottie named Tess (Crew), he is torn between pursuing love and keeping the promise to his dead brother, who visits Charlie in ghost form to remind him about the promise. Selfish.

DESPICABLE ME
RELEASE DATE: JULY 9
DIRECTOR: CHRIS RENAUD AND PIERRE COFFIN
CAST: (VOICES OF) STEVE CARELL, JASON SEGEL, KRISTEN WIIG, WILL ARNETT
I think DreamWorks films tend to lack the heart and character appeal that make Pixar films such timeless classics. However, they’ve been very quietly promoting this film for an entire year, so I feel like it deserves a chance just for the effort. In Despicable Me, Gru (Carrell), the world’s number two supervillain, hopes to steal the moon with his army of goggled corn men. But first, he must outsmart the number one supervillain, Vector (Segel), while juggling a trio of orphan girls who want Gru to be their daddy. Think of it as Spy vs. Spy meets Daddy Day Care.

INCEPTION
RELEASE DATE: JULY 16
DIRECTOR: CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
CAST: LEONARDO DICAPRIO, MARION COTILLARD, CILLIAN MURPHY, ELLEN PAGE
The brilliant director behind the rebirth of the Batman franchise wrote, produced and directed this film. DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a master thief who specializes in executing corporate espionage by infiltrating his targets’ minds Freddy Krueger-style (while they sleep) and swiping secrets from their dreams. Ready to trade in his life of crime for the straight-and-narrow, Cobb decides to take one last job – with a twist. Instead of stealing an idea, Cobb and his team have been tasked with implanting one. Unfortunately, the target is unlike any they’ve ever encountered. Inception truly proves that nothing is more powerful than imagination.

THE LAST AIRBENDER
RELEASE DATE: JULY 2
DIRECTOR: M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN
CAST: DEV PATEL, NOAH RINGER, NICOLA PELTZ, JACKSON RATHBONE
Based on the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender, this film originally carried the Avatar prefix before people started confusing it with James Cameron’s record-breaking blockbuster. It’s easy to tell the difference. Cameron’s is about a planet of blue aliens, while this one is about a world in which “benders” control water, earth, fire and air. One bender, Aaang (Ringer), must bring peace to the planet by balancing the four elements and the tribes that worship them. The biggest difference is that M. Night Shyamalan movies never end up being a huge disappointment in the end. Except when they do, which is usually.

PREDATORS
RELEASE DATE: JULY 9
DIRECTOR: NIMROD ANTAL
CAST: ADRIEN BRODY, ALICE BRAGA, DANNY TREJO, TOPHER GRACE
Robert Rodriguez (Grindhouse, Once Upon a Time in Mexico) produces this sequel and pseudo-reboot of the Predator series. The film plays out like Running Man, with Adrien Brody playing a mercenary who is abducted by Predators and dropped on a mysterious planet. There, he and other killers and convicts are hunted and used as training tools for new Super Predators. Brody and his band’s only hope of survival is the alien’s toughest meal, an old-timer named Noland (Laurence Fishburne) who has managed to survive the Predators’ cat-and-mouse game for years.

RAMONA AND BEEZUS
RELEASE DATE: JULY 23
DIRECTOR: ELIZABETH ALLEN
CAST: JOEY KING, SELENA GOMEZ, JOSH DUHAMEL, BRIDGET MOYNAHAN
Based on the beloved children’s book series by Beverly Cleary, R&B focuses mainly on Ramona (King), a mischievous third grader with unbridled enthusiasm and a thirst for adventure. Today, they’d just give her Ritalin for that. Not so enthusiastic now, are you, Ramona? Go sit in the corner and read your Goosebumps. Apparently, Ramona’s meddlesome ways get her mixed up in a battle to save her family home. And Beezus (Gomez) just watches. Thanks for nothing, Beezus.

SALT
RELEASE DATE: JULY 23
DIRECTOR: PHILLIP NOYCE
CAST: ANGELINA JOLIE, LIEV SCHREIBER, CHIWETEL EJIOFOR
Fun fact: This film was originally slated to star Tom Cruise, but was re-written for Jolie when he decided to ruin some other movie’s chance of box office success. Mrs. Pitt plays Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer accused of being a KGB sleeper agent plotting to kill the President of the United States. It’s up to Salt to do all the things we’ve seen Jason Bourne and Michael Weston (of Burn Notice, the best show you’re not watching) do to clear her name. The word on the street is, if Salt does well, this movie may be the first of a series.

THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE
RELEASE DATE: JULY 16
DIRECTOR: JON TURTELTAUB
CAST: NICOLAS CAGE, JAY BARUCHEL, TERESA PALMER, ALFRED MOLINA
Oh, Nicolas Cage, you’re like a cold sore on the mouth of a hot chick. You ruin everything. Sorcerer is a live-action retelling of the Mickey Mouse segment in Fantasia, which is a retelling of the 1890s symphonic poem by Paul Dukas, which is a retelling of the 1797 ballad by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The film follows a college student (Baruchel) who takes a crash-course in magic from a balding creep with no fashion sense (Cage). The student must use his newfound skills to fight the forces of darkness in modern-day Manhattan.