Upcoming: The Secret Life of Bees

I saw the teaser trailer today for The Secret Life of Bees and it dawned on me: The Oscar season is getting ready to start. Based on a book of the same name, Bees brings together Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Sophie Okonedo (four women who are no strangers to critical praise for dramatic work) in the moving tale of Lily Owens (Fanning) a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother.

To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen (Hudson), her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping, honey and the Black Madonna.

Upcoming: The Family That Preys

Tyler Perry has stepped up his game since the poorly received Meet the Browns. His upcoming movie, The Family That Preys (due Sept. 12), follows the families of two women: socialite Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates) and her friend Alice Pratt (Alfre Woodard).

If there's any truth in advertising, this movie should bring together all of the themes Perry has been toying with since he made his transition from stage to screen: faith, family, class and fidelity. And because his stock as a filmmaker has been on a steady rise since he brought us Diary of a Mad Black Woman, he was able to fill this latest movie with a string of serious actors - both black and white.

We've mentioned Woodard and Bates, both cast perfectly as powerful yet endearing matriarchs. Their co-stars are equally impressive and familiar: Sanaa Lathan (Love and Basketball, Something New), KaDee Strickland (American Gangster, Private Practice), Rockmond Dunbar (Soul Food), Taraji Henson (Hustle & Flow), Cole Hauser (K-Ville), Robin Givens (no introduction needed since Boomerang and Mike Tyson).

Check out the TRAILER. Lathan looks absolutely stunning and is playing up the kind of bad girl persona that she dabbled with in her guest appearances on Nip/Tuck.

Must See: Tropic Thunder

The critics are swooning over Ben Stiller's latest flick, Tropic Thunder, hailing it as an inventively clever "barrage of scathing hilarity." The star of the flick is Robert Downey Jr.

Check this out from Roger Ebert, who, by the way, gives the movie 4 1/2 stars:

"All but stealing the show, Robert Downey Jr. is not merely funny but also very good and sometimes even subtle as Kirk Lazarus, an Australian actor who has won five Oscars and has surgically dyed his skin to transform himself into a black man. So committed is he to this role that he remains in character at all times, seemingly convinced that he is actually black.

This exasperates his fellow actor Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), a rapper who was born black and blasts Lazarus for his delusions. Alpa Chino (say it out loud) is like many rappers and promotes his own merchandise, notably Booty Sweat, an energy drink that keeps him going in the jungle."

Tropic Thunder was Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with 84 percent of the reputable reviewers giving positive reviews. I'm checking this out this weekend.

Upcoming: The Longshots

The last time I saw Ice Cube in a serious dramatic role, the movie was Boyz N the Hood. Since then, the former rapper has appeared in a string of forgettable flicks playing a variation of the same character. In The Longshots, due out Aug. 22, he plays father-figure and coach to Keke Palmer (Akeelah and the Bee). Based on the trailer, it looks like both of these actors have done a lot of maturing since we've last seen them, and together, they'll give us a story that's worth something. The only wild car is the director: Fred Durst.

Upcoming: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Woody Allen and his muse (Scarlett Johansson) have taken their mojo to Spain. This time they bring along two of the hottest actors on the face of the earth: Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. And the early work about Vicky Cristina Barcelona is the movie, hitting theaters on Aug. 15, is smoking! David Denby of the New Yorker says it "has a natural, flowing vitality to it, a sun-drenched splendor that never falters."

Passable: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

It ain't as bad as they say (9 percent on RottenTomatoes! Really?!).

Yes, the dialogue is a bit banal.

Yes, Brendan Fraser doesn't do much real acting here.

Yes, Maria Bello seems out of place here (oh, Rachel Weisz, you could have made this sooo much better!).

Yes, the story is a bit trite.

Yes, there are waaaay better action adventure flicks in the cineplex and at the video store.

But the Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is still passable family entertainment. It stomps the second flick in the series into smithereens. And you won't be absolutely bored. You'll laugh, actually, at parts. You'll root for the good guys. You'll enjoy the action sequences, particularly the second, when the creatures that look like North Pole cousins to Wookies show up and do damage to the psycho general and his minions.

As I walked out of the theater, I asked myself: If the studio had saw fit to simply keep the story in the past, centered on Michelle Yeoh (above) and Jet Li's (below) characters, would it have been a thousand times better? Probably.

Half Blood Prince Trailer Out. Finally

In the sixth book of the Harry Potter series, Half Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling takes us into the heart of darkness, examines through the memories of Albus Dumbledore the creation of Tom Riddle into the world's darkest wizard.

The ailing headmaster, knowing his death is forthcoming, spends his last months with Harry showing the boy wizard all that he knows, because he believes Harry is the only wizard alive capable of defeating Lord Voldemort; the two are connected like no other two beings living.

Half Blood Prince was one of my favorite of the book series. In November, fans of the books and films will get David Yates' cinematic interpretation of the work. Based on the first trailer for the November release, it seems Yates understands the importance of this central thread to the mythology of Rowling's work.

Certainly, there are numerous important threads in this semi-final chapter of the seven-part series. We see none of the rest in the trailer. But we are pleased nonetheless.

The countdown begins!