So, I was just going through a list of upcoming movies (movie release dates change, all the time, and part of my job is just maintaining a great big list of titles and dates that shuffle around like tiddlywinks) and noticed that, in the second half of the year, we can look forward to movies entitled "$9.99," "District 9," "9" and "Nine." Coincidence? Reflective of the year 2009 (though I don't remember a bunch of 8 movies last year)? Evidence of a bizarre conspiracy? Or just strange? Anyway, in case you were about to mix these movies up (as I was) they are:

-- "$9.99" (opening July 17): A stop-motion animated film, inspired by the writings of Israeli author Etgar Keret and featuring the voices of Geoffrey Rush and Anthony LaPaglia.
-- "District 9" (opening August 14): A sci-fi drama set in South Africa, where extraterrestrials have become refugees.
-- "9" (opening, natch 9/9/09): An animated thriller set in a post-apocalyptic world, with Tim Burton among its producers and Elijah Wood and Christopher Plummer among its voice cast.
-- "Nine" (opening in December): A musical, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a film director struggling with his very complicated life. Based on the '80s Broadway musical, which was in turn inspired by Fellini's "8 1/2."

(The ladies, going sort of clockwise from the upper left, are Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Stacy Ferguson ("Fergie") and Penelope Cruz. Photo credit: David James, copyright 2009 The Weinstein Company)

Heading out soon. Back tomorrow . . . at around 9.