Movies to Watch Out For

I have a love/hate relationship with movies made from books. Some are wonderful like To Kill a Mockingbird and Gone With the Wind. But far too often they are dreadful travesties that make me hate Hollywood. And so it is that I feel conflicted about some movies that will be coming out this year. July 15th will bring us a remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp. I'm sure it will be good, or at least it will be visually amazing since Tim Burton directed. But will it be better than the original movie which I still can't watch because the oompah-loompas cause me nightmares? It was because of them that I was never able to read the book. August 12th is when Everything is Illuminated opens. I have not read the book. The movie stars Elijah Wood. I have high hopes for this one because of Wood. Bee Season opens on September 30th. This one scares me. I loved this book and actually hoped that it would be made into a movie because I wanted to see the mom's storage garage scene. But Richard Gere is playing the Cantor and while Gere is easy on the eyes, let's face it, the man can't act his way out of a paperbag. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire will be hitting the big screen in November (no opening date yet). Because of the previous three movies we already know what to expect. In December Memoirs of a Geisha makes it debut. Because of the timing of its release you know it will be marketed as a serious Oscar movie. I'm expecting it to be visually gorgeous, but will it be able to compare to the book? I'm worried something will be lost in the translation.