Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/11545
9. GROWN UPS: JUNE 25. ADAM SANDLER, CHRIS ROCK, DAVID SPADE, KEVIN JAMES, ROB SCHNEIDER Grown Ups will win audiences over with its authenticity. It's a film about friends who get together and just have a good time—and the same can be said behind the camera, because the stars of the movie are all friends in real life. It's like that sequence in Blues Borthers where they the brothers go around town and get the band together. Sandler must have jumped into a van, picked up Chris Rock after a stand-up routine, then sung by picked up David Spade from a hair salon that specializes in 1980's hair-dos, then proceeded to pick up Kevin James from a "How to be Chris Farley" seminar, and after the whole gang hopped into the van, they stopped at a bus stop to pick up Rob Schneider. The story of the movie is not as relevant as the fact that this movie is going to be fun. 10. THE LAST AIRBENDER: JULY 2. WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN After a name-change due to confusion with "Avatar," "Airbender" is shaping up to be one of those films where the concept is solid and it all depends on execution. Lucky for us, M. Night Shyamalan is behind the wheel, so it at least guarantees to be something different. The film is based on the cartoon series of the same name. The basic premise, for those out-of-the-loop with the world of anime, is that there are "benders" who can control different elements—earth, wind, water and fire. The Fire Benders are trying to conquer the others, and the last of the airbenders are trying to stop them. It's like an adult version of "Captain Planet" sans the subtle environmental message. 11. PREDATORS: JULY 9. ADRIEN BRODY Another franchise is about to reboot and this one is looks good. Predators are those creatures, that many of us for years, feared lurked in the shadows. The film is about a group of humans who are used as prey for the Predators in a game of run or die. To add some legitimacy to the film as a courtesy to audiences that this will not just be a souless slasher, Adrien Brody is signed on as the protagonist. It is rare to find a good horror film among the blockbuster summer movies, but this film gives audiences a blockbuster feel but is still a true horror. 12. THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE: JULY 16. NICOLAS CAGE Although Nicolas Cage's hair looks incredibly awkward, this is one of those films that feels like a ride. It's your typical mid-summer Disney blockbuster but instead of finding the Magna Carta or some other historical artificat, Cage is training a young boy how to be a sorcerer--and then he'll teach the boy how to evade creditors. Disney is great at creating new worlds and continues to do so in this film as well. 24 LIVEMAGS.NET JUNE>>10