June 13

Blue Car

Starring: Agnes Bruckner, David Strathairn, Margaret Colin and Regan Arnold.

Plot: Meg (Bruckner) is a gifted 18-year-old living with her mother and sister after her father abandons them. Her mother works overtime, leaving Meg at home to care for her emotionally troubled younger sister. Finding an outlet in writing poetry, she develops this talent with encouragement from her English teacher (Mr. Auster, played by Strathairn), leading up to her entering poetry contests and landing at the Nationals. But as her relationship with Mr. Auster grows deeper, secrets emerge, leaving Meg to deal with the realities of life.

Outlook: “”Blue Car”” looks to be one of the best films of the summer. The plot is interesting and it is refreshing to see a coming-of-age story that focuses on something beyond a superficial love story. What is most appealing about this film is that there appears to be many layers; the meaning isn’t simple. Overall, this film looks beautiful.

June 20

Starring: Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson.

Plot: Alex (Wilson) is an author who has accumulated a lot of gambling debts due to his writer’s block. To get the loan sharks off his back, he has to complete a novel in 30 days. He hires Emma (Hudson), a stenographer, to help him finish the manuscript. As Alex begins to dictate his novel to Emma, who is opinionated and charming, she starts challenging his ideas. With her input, the novel begins to take on a different turn, and soon life begins to imitate art.

Outlook: “”Alex and Emma”” is set to be the romantic comedy of the summer. The actors, especially Luke Wilson, are definitely crowd pleasers. At the end of the day, this definitely looks like a cute movie, atypical of the usual romantic comedies Hollywood churns out. With director Rob Reiner (director of such classics as “”When Harry Met Sally”” and “”The Princess Bride””) this film looks ready to entertain.

June 27

28 Days Later

Starring: Megan Burns, Bindu De Stoppani and Christopher Eccleston.

Plot: In this psychological thriller, a group of infected chimpanzees are set free and immediately attack their rescuers. The virus is transmitted through drops of blood and is destructive within seconds of contact. Within 28 days, the country is devastated, leaving only a handful of survivors to create a future.

Outlook: Every movie season needs its entertaining horror film, and “”28 Days Later”” is set to be the one that rules this summer. The story is inventive, unique and is sure to leave audiences with a little bit of fear. The filmmakers definitely play off humans’ fear of the unknown. Tension and suspense are the key elements of this film that is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Demi Moore and Bernie Mac.

Plot: The heroic trio are back in this sequel to the 2000 film. After a witness protection profile database is missing, a series of murders take place, leaving it up to the Angels to find out who’s committing these crimes. The prime suspect? Madison Lee (Moore), a former ally.

Outlook: If you enjoyed the first “”Charlie’s Angels,”” the second one will probably be just as pleasurable. The plot, however, seems to be uninspired. But on the other hand, the martial arts sequences as well as the different disguises the girls wear will surely be crowd-pleasing. And don’t forget — if you’re a “”Friends”” fan, be sure to look out for Matt LeBlanc’s role as Jason Gibbons

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson and Sally Field.

Plot: In this sequel of 2001’s “”Legally Blonde,”” Elle Woods (Witherspoon) is back, this time fighting injustice in Washington, D.C. As Elle is planning her wedding, she soon realizes that her dog’s parents are being used for animal testing at a cosmetics firm. Soon, she is trying to get an anti-animal testing bill passed through Congress.

Outlook: Just like the first “”Legally Blonde,”” this film is sure to be pleasing — but not much more than that. Not that this is bad in any way. If you’re looking for a movie to watch while you rest your brain from the harsh year of school, this is definitely the one to see.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken.

Plot: It’s been years since Terminator 2 took place, and it seems not much has changed. John Conner (Stahl) is a homeless hacker, but will soon face a new challenge: The rise of a new female Terminator, known as the Terminatrix or T-X (Loken) who has been sent to kill him. But he’s not alone. A new T 101 unit (Schwarzenegger) is sent to help John battle the T-X, but will it be enough?

Outlook: Ah-nold’s back and better than ever. “”T3″” has all the action you need for your summer experience and is sure to be as big and bad as the first two films. With a cast that is certain to fit perfectly into the roles they play, along with special effects and action sequences, how can you pass up the third installment in the “”Terminator”” series?

July 9

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush and Keira Knightley.

Plot: After Elizabeth Swann (Knightley), the governer’s daughter, is kidnapped by Capitan Barbossa (Rush), her childhood friend Will Turner (Bloom) teams up with pirate Jack Sparrow (Depp) to rescue her. Unknown to them, Barbossa and his team of pirates are cursed, doomed to live forever and turn into living skeletons on each moonlit night. In order to restore themselves back to their normal status, the pirates must use Elizabeth’s black pearl necklace and her blood.

Outlook: A movie based on a Disneyland ride? As hooky as the idea sounds, this movie actually looks to be fun. The visual effects are stunning and capture the essences of the ride. The cast is also extremely talented — an essential part of any good film. With the combination of the talented cast, along with backing of Jerry Bruckheimer, this film will be entertaining and, without doubt, a good time.

July 25

Masked & Anonymous

Starring: Bob Dylan, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Penelope Cruz and Jeff Bridges.

Plot: This movie, penned by Bob Dylan, tells the story of a benefit concert. Uncle Sweetheart (Goodman) is searching for a headliner for this concert, while Nina Veronica (Lange) is a TV producer hoping to turn this concert into a huge international hit. Eventually, Sweetheart gets “”iconic cult star”” Jack Fate released from prison, thus setting the stage for mayhem and drama.

Outlook: “”Masked and Anonymous”” seems to be one of the more interesting films of the summer. While critics have had mixed reactions to the film overall, no matter how bad it may be, it’s still worth a watch just to see how all of these actors work together. And, at the very least, Bob Dylan’s new songs should entice you enough to check out this movie.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

Starring: Angelina Jolie.

Plot: Lara Croft is back in this sequel to 2001’s “”Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.”” This time, she’s on a mission to save the legendary Pandora’s Box while searching for an infamous site known as the Cradle of Life. Jolie wanted to make this film, because she feels that “”there were many things about the first film that were unfinished to me.””

Outlook: With stunts such as jet skiing, horseback riding and various martial arts, the action sequences in this sequel are sure to be entertaining. Plus, video gamers will definitely want to check this out just to see how much better or worse it is than the first film. And, if they don’t like it, there’s always the appeal of Jolie in her skimpy outfits.

August 1

Gigli

Starring: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Al Pacino and Christopher Walken.

Plot: Gigli (Affleck) is a lowly hit-man who is assigned to kidnap a mentally challenged younger brother of a high profile lawyer. Abducting the brother from the mental institution and holding him hostage in the apartment, Gigli soon realizes that this task is harder than he thought. Ricki (Lopez) is then sent to assist Gigli and he develops feelings for her which begin to confuse him. He must decide whether he wants to remaining with his job or move on.

Outlook: Ah, the film where Ben and Jen fell in love. In other words, this film has “”train wreck”” written all over it. Die-hard fans of either Affleck or Lopez will probably check this out to try and spot the moment the pair “”fell”” for each other, while most others will wait for it to be shown on television. Test audiences hated the film the first few times around; time will tell what they think of it now.

Dirty Pretty Things

Starring: Audrey Tautou.

Plot: Audrey Tautou, best known for her role in “”Amelie,”” returns to the big screen. “”Dirty Pretty Things”” tells the story of an illiegal Nigerian immigrant who works as the night shift concierge at an upscale London hotel. After stumbling upon a strange murder, he teams up with a Turkish chambermaid (played by Tautou) and a Chinese prostitute in order to solve the mystery.

Outlook: This film should be one of the highlights of the summer movie season. Critics have already said that this film has many different parts to it — comedy, thriller, and a bit of social commentary. Tautou has already proven herself as an amazing actress and is sure to please in this role.

August 8

Shaolin Soccer

Starring: Stephen Chow, Lee Wai and Vicki Zhao Wei.

Plot: A kung fu student teams up with an ex-soccer player and his five brothers to teach them soccer, with a bit of a twist — in the form of shaolin kung fu, based on the arts of the Shaolin monks. The team enters a competition with a grand prize of one million dollars.

Outlook: Fans of soccer movies and martial arts movies are sure to get a kick out of this film. The movie takes your typical soccer game and turns it into an artistic display with kung fu moves that are breathtaking. The visual arrangement of this film is astounding. If you need to have one reason to see this film, see it for the artful choreography, because it is brilliant.

August 15

Uptown Girls

Starring: Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning.

Plot: Molly Gunn (Murphy) is your typical spoiled New York socialite. After her manager runs away with her fortune, she takes on the job of being a nanny for the rebellious 9-year-old Ray (Fanning). The moral of the story: Will Molly realize the meaning of humility while taking care of Ray?

Outlook: This is the chick flick of the summer. Murphy seems to be excellent for this character, because she’s comfortable with such light and humorous roles. It is sure to please the usual crowd of teenagers who are bound to rush and see this film.