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I'm hoping high for Hot Fuzz.

Gaiman said Stardust supposedly scored so well in test screenings it was pushed from a fall release to summer. Which is why the trailer looks all Big Summer Blockbustery, when we all know it shouldn't.

Peter O'Toole! How awesome is that?

The Ocean's Fantastic Pirates?

I'm eagerly anticipating, and cautiously optimistic about the Simpsons movie.

I second the motion for Hot Fuzz. If it's half as good as Shaun of the Dead, it'll still be better than any other typical summer movie.

I've been putting off Shaun of the Dead because I haven't seen a zombie movie since the 1990s. Do I need to be up on the genre to appreciate it, or does it work on its own?

Though knowledge of the Romero oeuvre will help you catch the references, SotD most definitely works on its own.

I hug and kiss "Shaun of the Dead". It works on its own brilliantly.

Transformers?

Daniel,

Shaun of the Dead is worth your time, but you don't need to see any other recent zombie films to appreciate it (it's not a Scary Movie type parody), and you also don't need to see it to appreciate Hot Fuzz -- which is a humorous homage to buddy cop movies. Having seen both movies on big screens recently, I will say that Shaun is the better film -- these guys understand horror movie mechanics much better than they understand cop movie mechanics -- but Hot Fuzz still has plenty of fun moments. As always, the trailers give most of them away.

Your mention of Stardust reminded me that Bob Zemeckis' film of Gaiman's version of Beowulf is supposed to be coming out sometime this year. I have no idea if it is any good, but you might want to keep an eye out for it. I believe there's a Jolie in it, if that helps.

At the moment I'm looking forward to Knocked Up, the new Judd Apatow flick. And Steve Carell's due in Evan Almighty sometime soon. But I don't know if you're in the mood for comedies.

Evan Almighty looks like it will be one of the worst movies of all time, but it will still do at least $100M in business.

SotD isn't a direct parody, so go for it.
Though you should also see Romero's last, which -- despite bad casting and pacing probs -- was also really funny.

For hamfisted zombie poli-commentary, Joe Dante's Homecoming is the movie you'll most wish were better.

You know what's awesome? Slither. Man alive, that's an overlooked gem.

The Zemeckis Beowulf is all motion-capture (a la Monster House and that creepy Zemeckis Xmas movie w/Hanks). So there's only digital Jolie.

I saw Hot Fuzz a few weeks ago (here in Australia). It's terrific -- I had a huge smile on my face for pretty much the last 45 minutes because I was enjoying it so much, and when it was over I wanted to watch it all over again. Enjoy.

I forgot Knocked Up. The trailer was great.

The last zombie movie I saw was probably the original Day of the Dead 20 years ago. Was Land of the Dead the last Romero you're referring to? I've been meaning to see 28 Days Later too. Is that relevant?

Slither? Really? That's the one that stars Capt. Tightpants, right?

Is there any way Transformers isn't going to be massively headache inducing?

The Simpsons seems like a wait for DVD movie to me. I haven't even watched the show in years.

Speaking of genre parodies, has everyone here seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang? That's one of my favorite comedies of recent years.

Oh, and of course The Ten.

Knocked Up got a gushing review from Variety.

Slither, really. If you loved goopy '80s horror flicks (From Beyond is an obvious visual inspiration), it's fantastic. Smart, funny. (It also very deftly switches character POV, if you care about that sort of thing). Fillion's best bits are in the DVD outtakes, though.

28 Days has its fans (and a forthcoming sequel). I wasn't really impressed. And I prefer my zombies slow (hated the Dawn remake - the writer of which went on to direct Slither, go figure).

Slither was a highly underrated take on the zombie film.

I had given up on The Simpsons, but switched on a newish episode at 7:30 (a takeoff on "The Sound of Music"), and it was surprisingly good. It's a different (and more meta-) show than it used to be, but it's funnier than Family Guy.

DR, I'd've thunk you'd totally be into the Nancy Drew movie in June. And there's the July Harry Potter movie, what with Emma Watson newly legal in the UK. And what about "Underdog," starring Peter Dinklage? (Well, Jim Belushi's in that last one, so never mind.)

I saw a trailer for 'SuperBad' and it looked pretty good. A teen movie for adults starring Michael Cera basically as George Michael Bluth.

'Shaun' is just unspeakably good and I shit my pants everytime I see the trailer for 'Hot Fuzz.'

Just got back from seeing Stardust. LOVED it. Better than the reviews. Wonderful film. Truly a worthy successor to the Princess Bride, if not quite up to that exalted level (definitely not as quotable).

Not as funny as Hot Fuzz, tho. That was just pure genius.