The Last Airbender -- It's Avatar: The Last Airbender to those of us not afraid to parade our love for the very good animated TV series this live action movie out July 2 is based on. It's a lot of hoo-haw about a kid destined to help save the world from evil. And yes, we know director M. Night Shyamalan has delivered some real turkeys (like the stunningly bad The Happening, to name one). But he's got good source material, and his strong visual style and innate eye for vivid images should translate well to this family film. Oh, and Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire is the villain. That got your interest, didn't it?



Shrek Forever After -- The Shrek movies have always been too relentlessly jokey for our tastes; it's the Fozzie Bear of animated movies, always trying desperately hard to be funny. But Antonio Banderas has been gold as Puss N Boots (with his own spin-off in the works) and non-celebrity Walt Dohrn did such a great job with the temp track for the final installment (out May 21), he was given the plum role of the villain Rumpelstiltskin. It's a true Cinderella story for the writer, director, story artist, multi-hyphenate Dohrn. Plus, the movie will be painless and good for a laugh or two, and the kids will love it. They always do.




The Karate Kid -- Yeah, we know, Jaden Smith strolled into the plum role of kid-turned–martial arts expert Dre Parker thanks to producers-parents Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. But Jackie Chan is perfect casting as mentor Mr. Han in this relaunch due out June 11. Plus, Jaden was very good in The Pursuit of Happyness. On the other hand, we have two questions: Why isn't Chan's character called Mr. Miyagi? And why did they choose Harald Zwart to helm the first of what could be a lucrative franchise? Was it Agent Cody Banks? The Pink Panther 2? Here's hoping Zwart steps it up as much as Jaden should.




Toy Story 3 -- Another sequel to Toy Story? We shuddered at the thought since Pixar had always been so careful about avoiding unnecessary sequels that dim the pleasure of the original. And Toy Story 2 was such a delight; why pray for lightning to strike a third time? But now that we've seen multiple trailers for Toy Story 3 (out June 18), and each one is brimming with clever moments and glimpses of a great story, it looks like they've done it again. We might have worked up some idea about Woody and Buzz being more than just friends, but sometimes pals are just pals. Of course, putting Ken back into the closet so he can date Barbie, well, that's another thing altogether...




The Sorcerer's Apprentice -- Nicolas Cage is an odd duck, and we can't help rooting for him when this flick is released July 16. Any guy who gets suckered into selling his comic-book collection before he can get married (dude, any woman who asks you to do that is automatically not someone you want to marry) has our summer film-geek sympathy. Plus, the director is Jon Turteltaub, who somehow made National Treasure a fun ride. And then there's dorky Jay Baruchel as the titular apprentice. Later, you can explain to the kids what the original Mickey Mouse short was about.