Spring Arts: Film Calendar

"Coffee and Cigarettes," the latest from Jim Jarmusch, features an ensemble of indie icons (Roberto Benigni, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Meg and Jack White) as characters contemplating all manner of psychosocial detritus while, well, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.

"Love Me if You Dare," from first-time director Yann Samuell, spins the fantastical tale of two children who overcome their outcast status by inventing a game called Dare.

21 -- "Shrek 2," the sequel to the 2001 hit animated comedy, finds the newlywed Shrek and Princess Fiona (voiced by Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz) making their first visit to her parents -- who don't yet know that their daughter has converted (into an ogre).

"The Clearing" stars Robert Redford and Helen Mirren as an affluent couple whose lives are shattered when he is kidnapped in broad daylight by one of his employees (Willem Dafoe, Hollywood's go-to baddie). The directorial debut of producer Pieter Jan Brugge.

28 -- "Soul Plane" is a comedy about a black-owned airline that, as the promotional materials put it, gives "fly" a whole new meaning. With Snoop Dogg, Method Man, D.L. Hughley and Mo'Nique, among many others.

"The Day After Tomorrow," directed by Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day," "Godzilla"), posits the global perfect storm of natural disasters: tornadoes in Los Angeles, snowstorms in India, hail in Tokyo and severe temperature swings in New York. Surely everyone in the movie will react with unruffled focus, resolve and quiet rationality.

"Raising Helen" features Kate Hudson as a young woman whose life is turned upside down when she takes custody of her late sister's three children. With John Corbett, Joan Cusack and Helen Mirren.

JUNE

TBD -- "Kaena" is an animated action-adventure about a brave teenage girl (voiced by Kirsten Dunst) who tries to save her community by searching outside their celestial home for the force of evil trying to destroy them. Also featuring the voices of Richard Harris and Anjelica Huston.

"The Story of the Weeping Camel" combines documentary and narrative fiction techniques to tell the story of a family of herders in the Gobi Desert who go to extraordinary measures to save the life of a newborn albino camel.

"Bang Rajan" depicts the legendary struggle of Bang Rajan, a small town in Thailand that in 1765 fended off hundreds of thousands of Burmese soldiers through the courage of ordinary men and women.

4 -- "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" brings back Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, who with his friends enters his third year at Hogwarts and confronts his darkest fears yet, in the form of a dangerous man (Gary Oldman) and some scary creatures called Dementors.

11 -- "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" stars Jude Law as the title character, an ace aviator and superhero who must save the world when its top scientists disappear. With Gwyneth Paltrow as intrepid reporter Polly Perkins and Angelina Jolie as the commander of an all-female amphibious squadron. What's not to love?

"The Chronicles of Riddick" stars Vin Diesel in an adaptation of the Noel Coward play . . . Oh, wait, that's a different entry . . . Here it is: Vin Diesel in a reprise of his "Pitch Black" role of Richard B. Riddick, the fugitive sci-fi action hero who must fight an apocalyptic battle to free himself from prison -- and save the world before Sky Captain does.

18 -- "The Terminal" stars Tom Hanks as a man fleeing his Eastern European country during World War II. When the country literally ceases to exist the moment he touches down in an American air terminal, he becomes a man without a country. Directed by Steven Spielberg, with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stanley Tucci.

"Garfield" is the long-unawaited live-action/animated adaptation of the hit comic strip series featuring the world's laziest cat. Possible redeeming feature: Bill Murray's voice in the title role.

25 -- "Dodgeball" stars Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn in a comedy about a group of misfits who try to save a local gym from being gentrified into a glittering fitness club.

"White Chicks," from the triple-threat writing- directing team of the Wayans Brothers, stars Marlon and Shawn as disgraced FBI agents who are assigned an undercover gig protecting the Wilton sisters, two hotel heiresses. Directed by Keenen Ivory. So far, not rated NC-17, but the year is young.

"The Notebook" stars Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling in Nick Cassavetes' adaptation of the best- selling Nicholas Sparks novel, about a young couple who meet in their teens and are reunited after World War II.

UNSCHEDULED SUMMER RELEASES

"The Stepford Wives" is an updated remake of the 1975 proto-feminist classic about a group of suburban wives whose attempts at independence are thwarted by an evil cabal of their husbands. With Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler, Faith Hill and Glenn Close.

"The Cookout" features Storm P as Todd Anderson, the No. 1 NBA draft pick whose day is thrown into chaos when he schedules a family cookout at the same time he's supposed to film an endorsement interview. With Queen Latifah, Ja Rule, Tim Meadows and Jenifer Lewis.

"Bright Young Things," British actor Stephen Fry's adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel "Vile Bodies," provides a comic glimpse of 1930s London through the exploits of a young novelist and his friends. Lots of yummy actors here, including Peter O'Toole, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Dan Aykroyd and Fry himself.