The summer movie season kicks off the first weekend in May, making this the perfect time to mark your calendar for the summer’s most promising offerings. To get the most out of the wonderful air-conditioned theaters, keep in mind that biggest doesn’t always mean best — many excellent independent features come out in the warmest months.

Whether they cost a gut-busting $200 million or mere$2 million, here are the 10 movies you need to see:

10. ‘Horrible Bosses’ (July 8)

In the same vein as ‘Office Space,’fed up middle-class drones conspire to wreak havoc on their employers in the most horrific way. Comic wonders Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day carry out the plans flanked by Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell and Kevin Spacey — all these actors could carry a great comedy on their own, making the prospect of them playing off one another extremely enticing.

9. ‘Bad Teacher’ (June 24)

A ruthlessly crude comedy that’s shamelessly similar to ‘Bad Santa,’ the film features Cameron Diaz as the world’s worst grade school teacher on a quest to win the heart of wealthy Justin Timberlake, all while being pursued by down-to-earth gym teacher Jason Segal. If all the great lines are not stuffed into the trailer, it could be the best comedy of the summer.

8. ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ (June 29)

The title says it all. Melding the talents of ‘Iron Man,’ director Jon Favreau, the current James Bond (Daniel Craig), the one and only Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard will attempt to treat audiences to a feast of top-notch action. The result will be an explosive Western that may reinsert the genre in the mainstream and establish it as venerable summer fare. 

7. ‘The Future’ (July 29)

Multitalented filmmaker Miranda July’s quirky, crude and brutally frank feature debut, ‘Me and You and Everyone We Know,’ was hailed as one of the best films of 2005. Her follow-up, ‘The Future,’ is thus one of the summer’s most promising independent features. Nominated for the prestigious Golden Beat at the Berlin Film Festival, July’s second work is a smorgasbord of quirky vignettes that supposedly combine to comprise a highly original work no film buff should miss out on.

6. ’30 Minutes or Less’ (August 12)

Based on a true story, this unconventional heist flick reunites director Ruben Fleischer with his’Zombieland’ star Jesse Eisenberg and features Danny McBride and Aziz Ansari. If it’s half as good as Fleisher’s first feature, ’30 Minutes or Less’ will be a must-see.

5. ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ (July 22)

Boasting an interesting historical backdrop and a character that has never been seen on the silver screen, ‘Captain America’ is the summer’s most intriguing superhero spectacle. Chris Evans plays the crusader in Joe Johnston’s $140 million thrill ride, the first of many that Marvel has planned for the American hero.

4. ‘Super 8’ (June 10)

Directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg, ‘Super 8’ spins a tale of a group of youngsters who capture a catastrophic and potentially extraterrestrial accident while making a short film with a Super 8 camera. The film, set in the late ’70s,allows Abrams (‘Star Trek’) to flex his sci-fi muscles while Spielberg contributes his talent in relaying timeless stories about curious kids. The film has a retro yet refined mystique about it, unique to typical summer action flicks. 

3. ‘Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ (July 15)

Though the’Harry Potter’ films reel in revenue, and generally positive ratings, they had the unfortunate luck of being compared to the similarly lavish ‘Lord of the Rings’ films, and thus seem significantly less impressive. The last ‘Harry Potter’ might not change all that, but it does stand a shot at redemption, building off the momentum generated by the glowing reviews for ‘Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1.’ It’s likely that no more than 10 films will incite more fanfare than this one.

2. ‘The Hangover: Part II’ (May 26)

The sequel to the biggest R-rated comedy of all time has a lot to live up to.The gang is back together again, only this time in Thailand. Stu (Ed Helms)is getting married this time,and the boys attempt to piece together the remnants of another indescribably irresponsible night while tracking down his fiancée’s younger brother.

1. ‘The Tree of Life’ (May 27)

Director Terrence Malick, whose career spans decades,will unleash ‘The Tree of Life,’ his fifth film in 38 years. Set simultaneously in rural 1950s Texas and modern urban America, the film stars Brad Pitt as the domineering Texas father and Sean Penn as his grown-up son. Be sure to catch it because you very well might be in your early 40s the next time another Malick film comes around.

smlittma@syr.edu

Published on April 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm