Today and tomorrow mark the midpoint of 2010 -- and thus the midpoint of our year in movies and TV. Join Movieline in both taking stock and looking ahead.
Has it been six months already? Where has the time gone! Rather than looking back -- which we'll get to throughout the next two days -- here's a chance to peak ahead at what wonderful pop culture nuggets await in the next six months. Open your Google calendar and follow along as Movieline brings you the 9 dates that will shape the rest of 2010.
· July 16: Inception opens
As if Inception didn't have enough pressure on it -- being Christopher Nolan's follow-up to The Dark Knight and all -- it also seems like the one chance Hollywood has at giving audiences a good time this summer. You've seen -- or not seen -- the trailers, character posters and tried to guess the third act twist. But by July 17th, you'll know for sure what the hell this one is all about.
· July 25: Season Four of Mad Men premieres
If the Inception marketing campaign doesn't satiate your need for cloak and dagger, say hello to the return of Mad Men! The de facto "best show on television" returns with a new season of Don Draperisms, sexual harassment and at least one new hairdo. Plan accordingly.
· Aug. 13: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World opens
The true litmus test for the "geeks shall inherit the earth" posit. Fans of the graphic novel, Michael Cera and/or Edgar Wright have gone gaga for Scott Pilgrim thus far. But will it be another Internet-created meme that fails at the box office (think: Hot Tub Time Machine) or one that actually succeeds (think: Superbad)?
· Aug. 24: The final season of Lost is released on DVD
All Some A few of your questions will finally be answered when the final season of Lost is released on DVD and Blu-ray thanks to the inclusion of a specially produced epilogue that will show what happened when Hurley and Ben ran the Island. Also, expect Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to break their "radio silence" around this time as well.
· Sept. 9: Toronto International Film Festival begins
This unofficial kick-off to Oscar season gets underway, and while the long, full list of participating films won't be fully announced until late August, here are four that hopefully will make an appearance: Never Let Me Go, Somewhere, David O. Russell's The Fighter and the Coen Brothers' True Grit remake. Because you can't have an Oscar season without the Coen Brothers.
· Oct. 1: David Fincher's The Social Network opens
If the simple, elegant and totally imageless teaser trailer didn't get you over-the-moon excited for David Fincher's latest film, maybe the reminder that Aaron Sorkin wrote the script will?
· Nov. 8: Conan O'Brien returns to television on TBS
The date that will go down in infamy as the official moment when Conan Leno'd George Lopez -- or, if you're feeling magnanimous, as the return of Conan O'Brien to late night television. By the time his new show premieres, an entire book will have been written about the Great Late Night Wars of 2010, so perhaps Coco will just go back to telling jokes and not being bitter about NBC. Fingers crossed, at least.
· Nov. 19: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part I opens
It's just a trailer, but: If Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows isn't the biggest movie of 2010, then Avatar got re-released. And for Warner Bros., it will be the gift that keeps on giving: Part II hits theaters in July 2011.
· Dec. 17: Tron Legacy opens
Speaking of Avatar...James Cameron's 3D opus was released on Dec. 18, 2009, and went on to gross a ka-billion dollars. Disney is probably hoping that Tron Legacy -- 3D, sequel, geek bait -- will gross a quarter of that if only because it would mean that Tron Legacy was still a ginormous hit.