Anticipating "Superman Returns," Tyler Perry news

Can we just declare a mulligan? Let's just pretend the blockbuster summer didn't kick off with duds but instead started with "Over the Hedge" (and for apparently everyone but me, "Da Vinci Code.") From there it can only get way better this weekend with "X-Men: The Last Stand."

But I think the flick that will really decide if this summer soars or falls will be "Superman Returns." If a director as good as Brian Singer ("Usual Suspects," "X1" and "X2") manages to screw this up, we're really in trouble.

Well, judging from the most extensive footage yet available in the international trailer, he hasn't. It all looks great. Brandon Routh (our hero) just seems to have a vacant look about him, and I'm still worried about Kate Bosworth (as much for her apparent bulimia as for her portrayal of Lois Lane). You can tell from this clip, though, that Kevin Spacey had a blast playing Lex Luthor, and has made him into what should be the most fun big-screen bad guy since Nicholson's Joker.

From what I've read, Singer used some kind of new-fangled contraption called a Genesis camera to film the whole thing. It all seems to have a shimmer to it, an otherworldly look that has me, at least, properly geeked up for this one.

But don't take my word for it. Watch the trailer and decide for yourself here.

Gabrielle in union with Perry


In big casting news for Tyler Perry's next adventure, Gabrielle Union has signed on to play the lead in his new flick, "Daddy's Little Girl."

It's apparently a reverse-Cinderella tale about a successful attorney (Union) who falls in love with a janitor who is a single father of three children, invoking the ire of her father. The story doesn't do anything for me, and from what I can gather Perry's Madea won't be making an appearance in this one. Shame that.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed both "Madea's Family Reunion" and "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," so I'm not gonna start hating before the evidence comes in. And Gabrielle Union is simply a stunningly beautiful woman, so here's hoping this all turns out great when it comes out next spring.

Wong Kar Wai in English

Speaking of beautiful people, director Wong Kar Wai knows quite a few of them, and has brought them all on board for his first English-language flick, "My Blueberry Nights." (Awful title, by the way.)

It is described as a romantic comedy starring Norah Jones (huh?) as a woman who travels across America looking for the true meaning of love. Sounds ominous, but in better news, she'll apparently encounter, along the way, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz and Jude Law. Not what the America I see daily looks like, but certainly some very pretty people.

I've only seen one of Wong Kar Wai's flicks, "2046," and I loved it. All filmed in a beautiful sepia sheen, it's about a man (Tony Leung) who wrestles with his memories and his past and present loves (including Maggie Cheung) in a struggle for closure. It's all very nonlinear and dreamlike, but a real feast for the senses.

It seems that with "Blueberry" he's going into "Amelie" territory, which should definitely be weird, could quite possibly be wonderful but almost certainly won't be boring.