When the Museum of Natural History is closed for upgrades and renovations, the museum pieces are moved into federal storage at the famous Washington Museums. The centerpiece of the film will be bringing to life the Smithsonian Institution, which houses the world’s largest museum complex with more than 136 million items in its collections, ranging from the plane Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) flew on her non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic and Al Capone’s (Jon Bernthal) rap sheet and mug shot to Dorothy’s ruby slippers, Fonzie’s jacket from Happy Days, the still from M*A*S*H and Archie Bunker’s lounge chair from All in the Family. With a forwarded resume, Larry (Ben Stiller) becomes another caretaker at the Smithsonian, where Kahmunrah, an evil Pharaoh will come to life with the reestablishing of a tablet as a magical force in the museum bringing the old exhibits (Such as Theodore Roosevelt and Dexter) and new exhibits (like General Custer and Al Capone) back to life, and in conflict with each other. Larry enlists the help of Amelia Earheart, who he develops a romantic interest in, and together they try to put everything back in order.

Similar ideas abound for this sequel, but even naysayers might admit that a better cast has been assembled around Ben Stiller for his second Washington, D.C. adventure. (It’s pretty amazing that Stiller has three active franchises going, if you believe reports that Little Fockers is getting made). Here’s a first look at the film, and a glimpse at how much Stiller has aged over the past couple years. P.S. Is it just me, or does Amy Adams seem kind of annoying as Amelia Earhart? Granted, she’s probably way less irritating than Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt, who returns for the sequel (along with two handfuls of new faces), but pinched and snippy just aren’t her colors.

Rated PG for mild action and brief language.

Director: Shawn Levy
Stars: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Amy Adams
Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Release Date: 22 May 2009 (Indonesia & USA)
Genre: Action, Comedy

Industrious single mother Rose Lorkowski (Adams) starts an unusual business in order to send her son to a private school; alongside her unreliable sister (Blunt), the two women enter the world of biohazard removal and crime scene clean-ups.

The Sundance set wasn’t particularly wowed by director Christine Jeffs’s follow-up to Sylvia, though I think this is one of the more resonant films that screened at the 2008 festival. Jeffs is unafraid to explore the vagueness of certain family dynamics, and to rely on visuals in the places where too-much-exposition typically is used. There is, of course, much backstory to be discovered in the relationship between Adams and Blunt, and yes, Alan Arkin again inhabits the role of quirky old man … but are these bad things? Of course not. Think of Adams in Junebug form, and Blunt all Gothic and smeared eyeliner; get psyched for a solid supporting performance from Clifton Collins Jr., too.

Rated R for language, disturbing images, some sexuality and drug use.

Director: Christine Jeffs
Stars: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin
Studio: Overture Films
Release Date: 27 March 2009 (USA)
Genre: Comedy | Crime

It’s 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A charismatic priest, Father Flynn, is trying to upend the schools’ strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear and discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But when Sister James, a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt-inducing suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn which threatens to tear apart the community with irrevocable consequence.

John Patrick Shanley adapts and directs the film version of his Broadway play, which can boast of the fifth-longest run in history. Meanwhile, producer Scott Rudin, who divorced himself from The Reader after a bust-up with Harvey Weinstein, is still in good shape to vie for some best-picture awards, since the buzz temperature here is climbing as December draws near. Look for Streep to extend her lead in the number of total Best Actress nominations, for Hoffman to rack up another nod (one of possibly two if Synecdoche, New York lives up to its avant-garde promise), and for Adams to probably walk away with her first Oscar. Then there’s the presence of Viola Davis, who has turned more than one critic’s head with her performance as the mother of the student who may or may not have fallen under the influence of Hoffman’s Father Brendan Flynn.

Rated PG-13 for thematic material.