Spring Arts - Film: This movie season, it's once upon a time time

What's that Frank Sinatra line? "Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you . . . ."

Well, fairy tales can also, apparently, materialize in movie-studio story conferences, because if the spring lineup of films is about anything, it is about witches and dwarfs, knights and ogres, magic spells, the supernatural, and the super-twee.

This weekend, the Grimms' wayward kidlings became crossbow-wielding action heroes in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. In a few weeks, James Franco becomes the Wizard of Oz, a couple of unknown teens try to re-create the otherworldly box office of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen in Beautiful Creatures, and the Jack and the Beanstalk yarn gets a retelling.

The coming months boast plenty of action and comedy, led by screen titans (Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis) and seriously funny funny people (Tina Fey, Melissa McCarthy, Paul Rudd, Robin Williams).

There's some kid- and family-friendly fare, sci-fi offerings, a psychothriller from Steven Soderbergh, and another poetry-infused cinematic contemplation from master filmmaker Terrence Malick.

Here are some of the more noteworthy entries coming to you between now and Hollywood's official summer launch, May 3's Iron Man 3.

- Steven Rea, Inquirer movie critic

Identity Thief (Feb. 8) T.C. Boyle has a great novel about identity theft, Talk Talk, that somebody should turn into a movie. This Jason Bateman/Melissa McCarthy comedy isn't it. He's a mild-mannered guy, and she's the perp who steals his credit cards and bank account, forcing him to do something with his life - like catch her.  R

Side Effects (Feb. 8) Steven Soderbergh says he's retiring with this tricky thriller that requires audiences to be in their seats from the very first minute, or else. Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law, and Catherine Zeta-Jones star. R

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III (Feb. 8) Roman Coppola directs his buddies Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray, and Charlie Sheen gets the title role, in a goofball romp about broken hearts and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Katheryn Winnick, Aubrey Plaza, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are the women, some of whom are armed with, yes, bows and arrows. R

A Good Day to Die Hard (Feb. 14) Bruce Willis, in his fifth turn as wisecracking action hero John McClane, heads for Moscow to help his son out of a jam that has to do with a band of uranium-thievin', nuke-happy Russian terrorists. R

Beautiful Creatures (Feb. 14) Warner Bros. goes looking for a Harry Potter franchise replacement, and bets on Richard LaGravenese's lavish adaptation of the YA fantasy novel by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, part of their Caster Chronicles series about a teenage witch (Alice Englert) and the sensitive Southerner (Alden Ehrenreich) who tumbles for her.  PG-13

Jack the Giant Slayer (March 1) Fee, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of Ewan McGregor . . . . An effects-driven retelling of the fable about a land of giants and a supernatural beanstalk. With buckets o' Brits. Directed by X-Man Bryan Singer. PG-13

Oz the Great and Powerful (March 8) "Are you the great man we've been looking for?" "I think I could be," says James Franco, the poet/filmmaker/novelist/doctoral candidate/Gucci Pour Homme model and now, the wizard of Oz, too. Sam Raimi directs this trippy take on the works of L. Frank Baum, with Michelle Williams as Glinda, and Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz as sister witches. PG

Dead Man Down (March 8) Shot in Philly last year (faking it for New York), this thriller has Colin Farrell as a criminal out for revenge, and out to impress the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Noomi Rapace. R

The Croods (March 22) A prehistoric family is forced to vacate their cave and find new digs in a strange world populated by bizarre beasts and a cute dude who appears to have invented Uggs. A DreamWorks Animation entry, and not exactly The Flintstones. PG

Admission (March 22) Upper Darby's Tina Fey is a Princeton University admissions officer who winds up visiting Paul Rudd at an alternative school where a college-bound kid turns out to be, possibly, biologically speaking, hers. A comedy in the high-stakes world of the Ivy League. PG-13

The Host (March 29) Twilight auteur Stephenie Meyer's sci-fi tale of aliens inhabiting human bodies stars Saoirse Ronan (weirdly already an action star, thanks to Hanna), Max Irons, and Diane Kruger. Andrew Niccol (Gattaca) directs. PG-13

The Place Beyond the Pines (March 29) Silver Linings Playbook best-actor Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper is a cop on the trail of a motorcycle-riding bank robber (Ryan Gosling) in this moody crime drama from Derek Cianfrance, director of the moody Ryan Gosling-Michelle Williams love story Blue Valentine. R

42 (April 12) The forever-in-development Jackie Robinson biopic makes it to the screen, with Chadwick Boseman as the history-making Hall of Famer and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers exec who defied Major League Baseball by signing the black athlete. PG-13

To the Wonder (April 19) Ben Affleck gets about as far from Argo as you can get in Terrence (The Tree of Life) Malick's meditation on love, betrayal, and scudding cloud formations. Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, and Javier Bardem join the party. R

Oblivion (April 19) Six decades after an intergalactic war devastates Earth, a lonely drone repairman (Tom Cruise) discovers Morgan Freeman wearing aviator glasses and smoking a cigar, and suddenly everything is thrown out of whack.  This film is not yet rated.

The Big Wedding (April 26) Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton are longtime exes compelled to pretend they're still husband and wife for the sake of their about-to-be-married kid, and for the sake of the contrivances of the screenplay, a remake of a French farce. Also starring Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Susan Sarandon, and Robin Williams - as the priest. PG-13

Iron Man 3 (May 3) Tony Stark, suffering from sleep deprivation and the prospect of facing a new evil mastermind - Ben Kingsley - puts on the superhero suit and rockets into action. Iron Man regulars Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, and Jon Favreau are joined by newbies Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall. And Robert Downey Jr., of course, is Mr. Heavy Metal. PG-13