Summer Movie Must-see Movie List

As promised, I'm going to give you my current must-see movie list for the summer of 2008. Keep in mind this list is only my opinion of movies that have announced a release date, and I've heard of them. My research relies mostly on previews and internet buzz. I don't doubt that I've missed some movies that will be good, and that I'll probably see, but I'm only human and I'm only going to hit the blockbusters. Fairly picture heavy posts, as I've tried to include a movie poster for each movie on the list of must-see. The honorable mentions do NOT get a poster (sorry). Here they are (in order of release date)....

May 22nd - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Clearly, this is a must-see movie. I loved two of the original trilogy (Raiders and Last Crusade...Temple of Doom was okay). And Indiana Jones is simply one of the coolest characters ever.

June 13th - M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening
Generally, I don't go see movies, or avoid movies because of a director (Uwe Boll being one to avoid at all costs); however, M. Night Shyamalan is an exception. I've liked all his movies (Signs and Sixth Sense a lot, The Village well enough, and the concepts of Unbreakable and Lady in the Water), and the previews really make me interested in this one. Certainly should be worth price of admission.

June 27th - Disney/Pixar's WALL-E
Similar to a director standpoint, I'm not big on specific producing companies, but Disney/Pixar's track record speaks volumes. Now, I may not get around to catching this on the big screen, but I'm certainly going to try...and definitely pick it up to rent immediately.

July 11th - Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The original Hellboy was a bit of a guilty pleasure. I'm pretty sure I liked it more than was necessary. It was simply a fun movie to watch. Good action and a wise-cracking demon, what's not to love. The previews promise more of the same from this one.

July 18th - The Dark Knight
Another one of the most anticipated movies of this summer. The Batman Begins franchise reboot was an awesome film, and with the same creative team returning, this promises more of the same. The previews look excellent, and Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker promises to be phenomenal.

August 15th - Star Wars: The Clone Wars (cartoon)
Star Wars returns to the big screen with an all-new adventure in CGI cartoon. Current reports on a stand-alone story will be released in theaters prior to episodic content on TV. All-in-all the series is supposed to tell the story about what happened between Episodes II and III. I'm not complaining about more Star Wars.

Honorable mentions (not necessarily big screen, but rentals for sure):

5/16 - Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - the first CoN film was childish, but enjoyable. The previews appear to up the action, which would be very welcome.

7/25 - The X-Files - I really enjoyed the TV series, especially when it wasn't dealing with conspiracies, but with really strange creatures/happenings. This film claims to return to that type of plot.

8/1 - The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - The original Mummy was excellent, and it was all downhill from there. A new "mummy" and change in locale might be what this franchise needs. Just bring back fun and wise-cracking, and I'm in.

There are others coming out that I'll rent and are worth keeping an eye on, but these crack the list as must-see. What are yours? Anyone? I mean really, I want to know...it'll be fun.

Later