Summer Film Previews

Hero (Ying xiong)
STARRING: Jet Li, Daming Chen, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung
DIRECTOR: Zhang Yimou (Shanghai Triad)
WRITERS: Feng Li, Bin Wang, Yimou Zhang
PREMISE: Prior to China's Imperial history, a brilliant warrior tells a threatened king of his prowess.
OUTLOOK: Its budget ($17 million) probably equals the catering costs on a Scooby-Doo movie, but this is China's most expensive film yet, and it was a big hit in its homeland. A flashback-heavy narrative should provoke intrigue while Jet Li's martial-arts gifts wow the action enthusiasts.

Open Water
STARRING: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis
WRITER-DIRECTOR: Chris Kentis (1997's Grind, not to be confused with the recent skateboarding flick of the same name)
PREMISE: A vacationing couple goes on a scuba-diving trip and is accidentally left at sea, surrounded by sharks. Based on a true story.
OUTLOOK: The filmmakers used real sharks. Real. No one's gonna be bitching about how fake they look like they did with all the Jaws movies. Audiences jaded by megabudget, computer-generated stuff who want a good water-based scare are gonna eat it up like Jaws at a beach party.

Sleepover
STARRING: Alexa Vega, Mika Boorem, Kalli Flynn Childress
DIRECTOR: Joe Nussbaum
WRITER: Elisa Bell (Vegas Vacation)
PREMISE: Barely teens compete against popular high school girls in an all-night scavenger hunt.
OUTLOOK: The director of the silly George Lucas in Love wriggles his way into a feature-directing deal, proving that anything is possible in America. Smells like Lean Girls.