It's officially the second half of the 2008 movie year. Here are the Top 10 Family Films I'm looking forward to seeing over the next 6-months (not counting "Hancock" and "Kit Kittredge", which I'll be seeing and reviewing this week):

10) "Igor" - Sept. 19. John Cusack voices Igor, a monster trying to win a contest. 9) "The Express" - October 10. The true story of former college football star Ernie Davis. 8) "Bolt" - Novemeber 26. John Travolta does the voice of Bolt, a dog who acts in a TV show who thinks he's a real crime fighter. 7) "The Tale of Despereaux" - December 19. Matthew Perry voices the lead character, a mouse. The movie is based on the award-winning children's book. 6) "Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D" - October 24th. It's a LCJ tradition. 5) "Journey to the Center of the Earth" - July 11. Based on the classic book. See the 3-D version if you can. 4) "Space Chimps" - July 18. How can this not be funny? 3) "The Dark Knight" - July 18. The latest Batman film looks like it'll be great. Keep the younger kids home. 2) "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" - October 3. George Lopez does the lead voice. Could be hilarious or could be a bomb. And...1) "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" - November 7. Everybody's back for the sequel. Should be this year's big holiday movie.

Others to keep an eye out for: "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" - August 15; "Fly Me to the Moon" - August 22; "High School Musical 3" - October 24; "Opus: The Last Christmas" - December 19; "Bedtime Stories" - December 25.

"Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D" was the original title for the upcoming Sci-Fi, family adventure movie (an update of the 1959 classic). But New Line has mysteriously dropped the "3-D" from the title.

Why would they have done that? Well, not every theater screening the film will be able to show it in the 3-D format (including all Drive-In's). And also I think a lot of people might think "Journey" isn't a quality movie because it's in 3-D (remember "Spy Kids 3-D" and "The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D"?

New Line can't afford to scare movie goers away who might think "3-D" = BOMB!

It would be great if the movie was good...and the 3-D effects were amazing. We'll soon find out. I'm going to see the 3-D version and let you know.

"Meet Dave" is a comedy starring Eddie Murphy which opens on July 11th. That's the same day that "Journey to the Center of the Earth" comes out. "Journey" is rated PG and was expected to dominate with family audiences that weekend.

But now comes word that "Meet Dave" has gotten a "PG" rating. This is a bit surprising since the original trailer, which I've seen several times,  didn't make "Meet Dave" look like a family film. However, in a preview I saw on Nickelodean the other night, the Dave character is dealing with a school-aged kid. This kid wasn't even in the first trailer. That one made the film seem like a romantic comedy.

I wonder if the studio (Fox) decided to change the film at the last minute because it didn't do well in early screenings. Family comedies are the way to go in the summertime, especially if they're funny. We'll find out on July 11th if it's worthwhile to "Meet Dave."

It's the middle of June and good time for my annual "Best and Worst So Far" lists. I've got 5 Best and 1 Worst. I'll start with The Best:

At #5, "Honeydripper." I had the chance to meet and talk with director John Sayles the night the movie premiered in our area. "Honeydripper" is about a nightclub owner, played by Danny Glover, who needs to come up with a plan to attract more business and save the club. It's out on DVD June 24. See it then if you missed it in the theater.

#4 is "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!" Everyone is familiar with the story, but the folks at Blue Sky Studios did a great job bringing the classic tale of Horton the Elephant and the little speck he discovers to life on the big screen. It's still in theaters.

At #3, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Harrison Ford reprises his role as Indy for the 4th time. Karen Allen returns from the first film ("Raiders of the Lost Ark") and Shia LaBeouf and Cate Blanchett are nice new additions to the series. Good, exciting fun. Still in theaters.

#2 is "Kung Fu Panda." Jack Black stars in this hilarious animated film about a Panda who dreams of becoming a Kung Fu warrior, and then gets his chance. See it, now!

And my favorite film of the year, so far, is "Be Kind Rewind." Jack Black and Mos Def star as friends who are forced to make their own versions of classic movies in order to save a video store. Danny Glover also stars. If you missed it when it was out, and unfortunately most people did, "Be Kind Rewind" comes out on video this Tuesday - June 17. I predict it will become a cult classic.

Here's some interesting Top 5 Trivia: Two Danny Glover films. Two Jack Black films. Two Seth Rogan films. And Two animated films.

However, there's only 1 Worst film of the year so far: "College Road Trip." It comes out on DVD in July. Do not rent it.  

There are three brand new trailers showing before "Kung Fu Panda". In case they didn't have them at your theater, or you haven't seen the movie yet, here's what they are:

First, the highly-anticipated "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa". I knew the studio would unveil this trailer before "KFP", since, of course, it's also a Dreamworks Animation project. Funny trailer. The movie comes out November 7th. "I like to move it, move it!"

Dreamworks and Nickelodean's first film of 2009 is "Hotel For Dogs". It stars Emma Roberts. Lisa Judrow, Don Cheadle and a bunch of kid actors I don't know. I actually had seen an early trailer from the studio that I was asked to review and it wasn't as good as the one they unveiled the other night. I'm glad they fixed a few things. "Hotel For Dogs" opens in January.

The final trailer debut isn't really a trailer at all, but a "teaser." Here are a few clues: It's a sequel to a live-action comedy that came out in 2006. It stars Steve Martin and the title contains a color. You guessed it - The Pink Panther 2". It comes out February 13, 2009.

I'm sure all these new trailers are now available on line, but it's more fun seeing them in the theater.

"Move it!"

There will be lots of kicking in theaters around the country this weekend...hopefull only on the screens. Both of the big new films - "Kung Fu Panda" and "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" star characters who use martial arts.

Which of these movies will kick the competition's butt? Here's my prediction:

#1) "Kung Fu Panda" - $46.9M  #2) "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" - $36.3M 

DreamWorks Animation's highest (non-"Shrek") opening weekend film is "Shark Tale" (2004) - $47.2M. "Kung Fu Panda" has a shot! 

I didn't see/review "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" when it came out in theaters in December but I finally watched it on DVD the other night and I was a little disappointed. Plenty of stars, including Nicholas Cage, Ed Harris. Hellen Mirren and Jon Voight but the story is pretty goofy.

This time (this is a sequel to the original "National Treasure") Cage's character is out to both find the lost City of Gold (which Indiana Jones just did in "Crystal Skull") and prove that his great grandfather didn't plan the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

There are a few good scenes but overall "Book of Secrets" is corny and very unbelieveable. I haven't seen the original "National Treasure" but after this one I'm not gonna bother. And a scene at the end of "Book of Secrets" leads you to believe that there will be a third.

I think they're trying to make this series into a modern day "Indiana Jones" but it's not working. 

One of my favorite award shows of the year - The Golden Trailer Awards (or the Movie Preview Awards as they are now called) - were held a few weeks ago but they finally showed them on TV (on the My TV Network for the first time) Monday night. The show was hosted by Sinbad, and he and the other presenters were very funny. This may be the funniest of all the awards shows. The used to hold it in New York City and I was hoping to go one of these years. But now they've moved to L.A.

Here are the big winners:

Best Action: "The Dark Knight"

Best Animation/Family: "Enchanted"

Best Comedy: "Tropic Thunder"

Summer 2008 Blockbuster: "Ironman" 

Best Thriller: "Vantage Point"

Best Horror: "I Am Legend"

2008 Trailer of the Year: "The Dark Knight"

Next year will be the 10th Annual. If you've never seen the show make sure to keep an eye out for it. And, if you like trailers, there are some great weekly trailer shows on both the Reelz Channel and HDNet. 

There will be less than 400 Drive-In movie theaters in operation this summer around the US. I went to one of them the other night to see "Indiana Jones-4". Our family goes to the Drive-In's at least twice a year, but this was the first time we'd ever gone in May.

As usual we played outside before the movie began, visited the snack bar (and had some of the best mozerella sticks I've ever had), got to wear comfortable clothes and take-off my sneakers for the movie... all the great things about Drive-Ins.

This is the 75th Anniversary of Drive-In's. The first was opened May 22nd, 1933 in Camden. N.J.

These theaters really need your support. If you've never been to a Drive-In this is your year to go. There are some great Drive-In movies coming-out soon, including "Kung Fu Panda" and "Wall-E." Please consider taking your family to a Drive-In this summer. And please, instead of bringing in your own food, buy food at the concession stand because that's how the owners make enough money to stay in business.

I've been telling you for awhile about the new Regal theater that was opening in my area. Well, it finally opened the other night and, of course, I was there. Here's what it's got: 13 screens, stadium seating, digital projection in all theaters, rocking seats, and posters everywhere.

They're still working out the bugs. They had a tough time dealing with the lines of people waiting to get into the 7:00 showing of "Narnia." Also, the ticket and concession areas are kinda small, so those lines were long as well. It was a little crazy, but it was opening night.

They'll be showing all the summer blockbusters and some of the smaller films as well. It'll be interesting to see where the most people go for the big movies, because if the lines are going to be too long at the new theater, film fans may go to the older theaters instead.