Summer Movie Preview

With "The Da Vinci Code" and "Over the Hedge" in theaters this weekend, the summer movie season is officially underway.

Wondering whether "Code" is worth cracking? Curious to know which movies are coming when? Or do you just want to share your predictions for the season's biggest hits and misses? washingtonpost.com Movies Editor Jen Chaney is eager to discuss it all.

Chaney was online Friday, May 19, at 1 p.m. ET .

Cracking 'The Da Vinci Code' (Going Gurus Blog, May 18)

A transcript follows.

____________________

Jen Chaney: Hi, everyone. I just raced in from a screening, so forgive me if I type as though I'm out of breath.

Eager to talk "Da Vinci Code," or "MI: III," or (blech) "Poseidon," or any other summer movie issues you may have. Let's start it up.

_______________________

Christiansburg, Va.: Don't care what you think, REALLY don't care what Stephen Hunter thinks about anything. Where is Desson Howe -- the only decent reviewer you have on hand.

Jen Chaney: Well, we're all getting started off on the right foot, aren't we?

Desson Thomson (formerly Howe) still reviews for the Post and does an online discussion roughly every other Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET. He also wrote a particularly insightful review of "Over the Hedge," which you can read

here

.

But since you're already joining us, why not ask me a question? I'm a nice gal, I swear.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Why don't you let us see the movie for ourselves given that we all have our own beliefs and values. It's not like we all worship together or listen to the same sources for information.

Jen Chaney: I assume you're talking "Da Vinci Code" here. No one is stopping you from seeing the movie and making your own judgment calls, are they?

I think there's naturally an interest in reading early reviews of this film, particularly because of all the controversy swirling around it. And because the film screened for critics so late in the game, more attention has been paid to what some of the critics -- particularly those at Cannes -- had to say. Still, it's possible to read those opinions and still go into the film with an open mind. That's what I try to do anyway.

_______________________

Upcoming Meryl Streep movie: I'm excited about the upcoming "The Devil Wore Prada." What's the advance buzz?

Thanks.

Jen Chaney: I haven't heard much in the way of buzz about this one yet, but I suspect Meryl Streep will make it at least somewhat interesting. I have not read the book yet, but I may try to do so before I see it.

What do folks think about the "reading the book before seeing the movie" thing, by the way? Is it always a good idea or not?

I'm of the opinion that it isn't necessarily the best way to go. For a movie like "Da Vinci," I certainly felt compelled to have read it because it's such a massively popular novel and the book vs. movie comparison is such an important part of assessing the film. But other times, I think I'm better off not knowing the book and just trying to assess the movie on its own terms. How do you all feel?

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: What do you think the biggest bomb of the summer will be? Or has "Poseidon" already grabbed that distinction?

Jen Chaney: "Poseidon" is certainly the early favorite to hold that title. It cost about $160 million to make and only earned $26 million its opening weekend. That's dismal indeed.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: The summer pix I'm most excited about are the Pirates sequel and "Little Miss Sunshine." What are you hearing about either or both?

Jen Chaney: Haven't heard much about about the "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequel, although I'm not personally very excited about it. I liked the first one primarily because of Johnny Depp's performance, and I'm not sure if that shtick can carry two more movies. But we'll see. (Open mind, Jen, open mind.)

As for "Little Miss Sunshine," I have heard good things based on Sundance buzz and really look forward to seeing it. The trailer looks quite promising. The little girl who plays the lead is priceless. And Steve Carell as a comically suicidal guy intrigues me, too.

_______________________

Reading Books Before Seeing the Movie: When I was a kid, my parents made me read the book before I saw the movie (assuming of course there was a book first). They figured that if I really wanted to see the movie that I would take the time to read the book. They were usually right.

Jen Chaney: That's a good point, and a good way to ensure that a child makes time for reading.

But did you ever feel like it ruined the movie for you?

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: Now that I have Netflix, I'm enjoying lots of movies I missed in the theaters. But I can't find the original Washington Post reviews. They are not included in the reviews at Netflix, and when I click on a Post review at imdb.com, I get an error message. Would love to see the Post reviews made available through those sites!

Jen Chaney: Have you looked through our movie review database ? You can find old reviews there, though I think they only date back to 2000.

I'm curious to know which reviews are giving you error messages. That's obviously not good.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Wow .. that was a lot of hostility. I enjoy all the reviewers at the Washington Post. ALL of them! Sometimes I disagree and other times I agree but all the reviews are and have been interesting reads.

Jen Chaney: Thanks, Arlington, for licking my wounds. (Actually, I wasn't that wounded, but I appreciate that nonetheless.)

I think it makes things more interesting when different Post reviewers disagree with each other, or when readers disagree with what the Post critic said. Some of the best conversations about movies I've had with my friends occur when one of us violently hates a movie and one of us loves it. That dialogue is almost as fun as seeing the movies themselves.

_______________________

Richmond, Va.: Hi Jen, what do you contribute the recent slump at the box office to? Do you think it may be that celebrities are overexposed and have a "I'm better than you" attitude?

Jen Chaney: The spring box office actually was up a little bit over last year, though that's not saying much since last year was so bad.

I think the slump is attributable to a bunch of different factors, not just one. Celebrity fatigue could be part of it, though I still think the biggest difference is the prevalence of home theaters and DVDs. I can't tell you how many times someone has told me they don't go to the theaters anymore because they figure they'll just wait for something on DVD. The window between theatrical release and home video is something like three or four months now, which often feels like less. So the sense of urgency to rush to the box office doesn't exist in quite the same way.

And of course, there are other issues, too: The commercials that are shown before movies, the cost of movie tickets, yadda, yadda, yadda.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: What screening did you just run in from? And how was it?

Jen Chaney: I just came from seeing "Cars," the new Pixar movie that comes out in June.

I wasn't sure if I would like it because I'm not that into racing or cars in general, but it was great. The Pixar people are geniuses. No one out there does animation at the consistently high level they do.

_______________________

SOAP?: Please tell us that Snakes on a Plane won't be burned out by all the pre-release hype! I'm looking forward to something mindless and fun, but if all the best bits get on the Internet next month, what's the point of paying the $8 when it hits the theaters?

Jen Chaney: I have the same concern, actually. I haven't dug deeply into the Internet stuff for just that reason: I don't want to read too many spoilers. (Although I already know Sam Jackson's "Get these bleeping snakes off this mother-bleeping plane" line, which sets a new gold standard in movie quotes.)

The thing about a movie like this is that it should surprise you with its silly campiness. But there has been so much buzz about it already that now there are EXPECTATIONS. And I'm not sure that's a good thing for this sort of flick.

We'll see. (Open mind, open mind...)

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: I won't see MI:3 because of the Crusise factor, had no interest in seeing Poseidon since I know what happens, and now I hear The Da Vinci Code stinks. What's the buzz on X-Men 3? When can I finally see a decent big-screen summer blockbuster?

Jen Chaney: I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I heard the "X-Men" movie is not so hot either. I haven't seen it yet, but I heard that from a trusted source who has.

I respect your feelings about the Cruise boycott, but "M: I III" is actually pretty great. The bummer about trying to "send a message" to Cruise is that you end up sending the same message to all the other people who worked on the movie, like JJ Abrams and Philip Seymour Hoffman (who, as always, was fabulous). And really, doesn't JJ Abrams deserve your pity? That dude is seriously hurting for money.

_______________________

Maryland: Hollywood is remaking "The Omen" along with re-doing "Revenge of The Nerds." Too bad writers, producers, etc., can't consistently come up with ORIGINAL ideas for movies eh?

Jen Chaney: I had not heard that about "Revenge of the Nerds." That's hilarious ... and completely and utterly unnecessary. I'll just say this: There was, is and will always be one Booger, and his name is Curtis Armstrong.

I think there are original scripts out there, but summer is not necessarily the best time to find them. This season is harvest time for remakes, adaptations, sequels, etc. But there are a few films that are original. "Cars," which I mentioned earlier, is one. And a number of the comedies coming this summer -- "The Break-Up," "Nacho Libre," "Click" -- are original concepts as well.

So there are some new ideas. It just sometimes feels like there aren't very many.

_______________________

Cabin John: Did you see Ian McKellan on the Today Show this morning? (When Matt Lauer asked whether the movie should have had a disclaimer at the beginning, just to be polite, McKellan said something like, "You know, I've read the Bible -- IT should have a disclaimer that it is fiction!") The only one with the right attitude to the film -- they shoulda had him play all the parts!

Jen Chaney: I missed Sir Ian, but that's a great comment. As I said in my blog post yesterday, he was the only actor who seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself.

A sense of fun was a major ingredient missing from "Da Vinci," that's for sure.

_______________________

Falls Church, Va.: Are there any movies on the horizon that have the potential to be a "sleeper" hit this summer?

The only blockbuster that I am actually looking forward to is Pirates of the Caribbean (although I do have a small amount of hope for XMen 3) and I will probably see DaVinci Code -- but I'm not expecting much.

Jen Chaney: One potential sleeper hit is this movie "You, Me and Dupree." Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon are in it -- it's about a slacker who moves in with his best friend and his brand new wife and refuses to leave. Strikes me as having that "Wedding Crashers" vibe. I also like the fact that Anthony and Joe Russo are involved, as they directed some episodes of "Arrested Development" (oh, how I miss that show).

Last year's big sleeper was "March of the Penguins," a documentary. Not sure if another doc can follow in those footsteps, but the movie "The Heart of the Game" is certainly a worthy contender. It's about a girl's basketball team in Seattle; a great sports movie and just a great little movie period.

_______________________

Lady in the Water: Wow, first poster sure is charming! I like you just fine. I don't get why someone would come here just to be rude. Doubt they would say it to your face. Anyway, one of my good friends has a big part in the upcoming M. Night Shyamalan move, The Lady in the Water (or is it Lake?). Any advance buzz on it? I'm so excited for her and can't wait to see it, even if it's a stinker!

Jen Chaney: Because rudeness is fun. It makes the world go round, my friend.

Wow, how exciting for your friend. Haven't heard much about "Lady in the Water," because, as usual, there is a lot of secrecy around an M. Night Shyamalan project. I'm optimistic even though his last couple of movies let me down. I think he is very talented, but he has never quite hit it out of the park the way he did with "Sixth Sense." And all the secrecy stuff has got to go. I took my dad with me to see a preview screening of "The Village," and they actually had to take his name down because they were maintaining a list of everyone in the theater, I guess in case the movie showed up on the Internet. Yeah, like my dad was going to go out and sell pirated copies in downtown D.C.

_______________________

Wishing I Wasn't At Work: I've noticed that "summer" seems to start earlier and earlier these days, in terms of movies: MI:3 came out last week, Da Vinci this and X3 next -- and it's not even June. Why are movies coming out so early in the season? Is the attempt to get people interested in movies again for the summer? Or cash in before they travel? What's the deal? Thanks.

Jen Chaney: The summer season really starts at the beginning of May now, which is weird for those of who grew up not even thinking summer movies until Memorial Day at the earliest.

I think it's happening because there's so much jockeying to pick a good release date. Some of these huge movies stake their claim on a day way in advance, leaving other blockbuster-hopefuls no choice but to go with an earlier option. I think "M: I III" would have had a much heftier opening weekend if it had opened over Memorial Day. But I believe they didn't want to compete against "X-Men." Or Tom Cruise just wanted to be first out of the gate, which is possible, too.

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: Today, the imdb.com links on older movies did work. However, there were no Washington Post review links for Capote and Brokeback Mountain. I also tried to find them on your movie review database (thanks for the tip!), and got "no such title."

Jen Chaney: Thanks for this info, Alexandria. I know those reviews are in our database so I'll look into this and make sure we get that fixed.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: I am sort of hoping that if Da Vinci Code tanks, Akiva Goldsman will be blamed, and begin a sad downward spiral into oblivion.

It still upsets me that the screenwriter of "Batman and Robin" AND "Lost In Space" won an Oscar. It's just not right.

Jen Chaney: Dang, harsh words for Akiva Goldsman. Funny, but harsh nonetheless.

You know, it's too bad that few people saw "Cinderella Man" last summer. That was another Goldsman-Ron Howard project, and I thought it was great. It might be the best movie Ron Howard has ever done.

_______________________

Book first? My 2 Cents -- Wash., D.C.: I've read the book before the movie, and some after the movie. My philosophy is just that you compare the book to other books and the movie to other movies. Sure, there's some comparison/contrasting between the two media that must be done, but I find most folks are disappointed by the movie because it "wasn't as good as the book," but might've otherwise been a very well made film.

Jen Chaney: That's true, it's important to separate the two media. Even if you have read the book, you should evaluate the film on its own merits. That's hard to do, though, especially if the book meant a lot to you.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Is the gorgeous and brilliant John Cusack ever going to grace the silver screen again? Especially with something I actually want to see? (Vs. Ice Harvest or Must Love Dogs, I'd rather see him in a sequel to Grosse Pointe Blank, which he's talked about doing.)

Jen Chaney: I actually had the pleasure of interviewing John Cusack last year. I asked him about a "Grosse Point Blank" sequel and he definitely wants to do it. He said they were having trouble finding a studio willing to back it, though.

He does movies like "Must Love Dogs" so he can pursue other projects that he really wants to do. But I guess it's hard to automatically get the financing to do that. Which is crazy to me. The guy's Lloyd Dobler, for God's sake. Studio execs should bow to him and just hand over their wallets.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: What's the word on Superman Returns? Is there any thing to read into the fact that it's not being shown at Cannes? The trailer looks amazing.

Jen Chaney: I wouldn't read anything into that. It's likely that it may not be completely finished yet, or at least not ready to be screened in a setting like Cannes.

I think there's a lot of optimism about it, since Bryan Singer of "X-Men" fame is directing. The key is Brandon Routh, who plays Superman. No one has seen him in much of anything and he's got to carry this whole movie on flimsy red cape. I think the mystery may work in the movie's favor, as long as it delivers.

_______________________

Books vs. Movies: I learned that for the most part it is easier to treat movies made from books, and the books that started it all as two separate entities. That allowed me to fully enjoy Gone with the Wind, Bridget Jones' Diary, Pippi Longstocking, and a host of other movies.

I acutally find that when movies try to stick to the book that it doesn't work as well. The first Harry Potter movie wasn't terribly enjoyable -- it stayed too close to the original text, whereas the third and the fourth movies were really entertaining -- they definitely allowed for some artistic license.

Jen Chaney: I totally agree, particularly about the "Harry Potter" films. I actually didn't read the book before seeing the most recent one, and I enjoyed it most of all. I'm sure the fact that I didn't know what was going to happen helped. I think I would have liked it anyway, though. You didn't get the sense that the director was trying to do a paint-by-numbers version of the book, which is what Chris Columbus did with the first two, not to mention the movie version of "Rent." But that's a whole other story.

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: I thought MI3 was predictable and entertaining, but like War of the Worlds, focused too much on Cruise. What's your opinion?

Jen Chaney: I actually did not think this "Mission" focused too much on Cruise. I felt like the other supporting players -- Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Laurence Fishburne and Simon Pegg -- got a chance to shine, too. Clearly Ethan Hunt is the central character, so you have to expect some focus on him. But it didn't come across as "The Tom Cruise Show" to me, which was my concern before I saw it.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: For the poster asking about movie reviews -- you can always try Rotten Tomatoes too.

Jen Chaney: No question. I go there all the time. Thanks for the suggestion.

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: MI-3: When did the Impossible Mission Force stop becoming a secretive elite unit and join the CIA? Next thing you know Ethan Hunt will be testifying before a Senate committee (MI-4, George Lucas directs).

What next blow-em-up movie can I look forward to?

Jen Chaney: Yes, that's all we need for that franchise: Long, dull meetings between members of a governmental body.

As far as the next blow-em-up ... maybe "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift." Although that's more about speed than explosions, I would think. Hmmm ... I don't know this for a fact, but I bet some stuff blows up in "Miami Vice." It's just a hunch.

Is it lame that I look forward to seeing that? I'm curious to see how Michael Mann updates his series. It won't be as good without the Jan Hammer theme song. But then, most things aren't as good without Jan Hammer.

_______________________

Jen Chaney: Kids, this has been fun, but I must fly (not with Superman, unfortunately). I'll be doing a segment on WTWP (that's the Washington Post radio station) in about 25 minutes-ish, so feel free to listen if you feel you just haven't gotten enough of me during this chat.

Despite the "Da Vinci" debacle, do your best to see something good at the movies this summer. There are decent films out there, you just have to know where to look.

Happy weekend, and see you next time.

_______________________

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.