Beavers guide to summer movies

The summer rapidly approaches the northern hemisphere. Just as the shorts get shorter and the weekends get longer, so to do the movies get better. For cinema-philes everywhere the heat of the scorching sun means one thing; time to retreat to the cool-cave of the local movie house. The next four months are shaping up to have something for all tastes and desires. Here is a Beavers guide to the best the popcorn-peddling and wallet-lightening big screens will have to offer.

May - The summer heats up early with the likes of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Boasting huge numbers on its opening weekend, the clawed crusader has set a monster tone for the summer: monster crowds, monster dollars, and monster action. Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation is next up and they should easily draw huge audiences around the globe. With franchises that have gone on for 40 and 30 years respectively, these two heavy weights will battle for the May box office crown. Searching for something more cerebral? Try Angels and Demons, the sequel to The DaVinci Code promises to be filled with fantastical and convoluted conspiracy all the while stirring up religious controversy. What should be one of the most intriguing horror movies of 2009, Drag Me to Hell, is the work of epic director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, The Evil Dead.) Unfortunately Raimis efforts may come up short in the box office, as it faces off against some extremely stiff competition from the Trek and Terminator franchises. The first family film of the season debuts in late May, as Up tries to take all ages for a fantastical ride into another world. In stark contrast from the rest of the May films, Up should bring a sigh of relief to movie hungry families just waiting for a reason to "not" get a babysitter for a night out.

June - Early June brings us the first bona-fide epic comedy of the season, Land of the Lost. Will Farrell's adaptation of this campy 1970s television series looks to be hilarious with the potential of rekindling a guilty pleasure obsession many had with the original show. Year One, featuring Jack Black and Michael Cera, is on the bubble. Year One will either hit audiences with a laughter hammer, or miss the mark and run to your Netflix queue with lighting-esque speed. The End of June plays host to the highly anticipated sequel to the mega-hit Transformers. Transformers2: Revenge of the Fallen looks to be global in scope and will push the bounds of how much action the human body can withstand. Expect long lines and standing room only theaters when this hits theaters.

July - Halfway through summer and four blockbusters later, families finally get another choice. The third installment of the Ice Age franchise takes audiences into the world of dinosaurs. With most of the original cast voices back, expect this to be a hit like the rest, though I can't say why. Really, if I could I would, but I just can't figure this out. Harry Potter makes his way back into theater with the Half Blood Prince. Sure to finally take the unadjusted box-office gross title from the James Bond series, Harry Potter will draw muggles and wizards alike. Orphan will bring relief to those seeking a little macabre and twistedness in their summer time fun. Flying low on the radar, Orphan could be the sleeper hit of the summer, with a bizarre Omen-like child who seemingly destroys everything she touches..

August - The best for last is a cliché that is too often untrue. And then we have this August, what is shaping up to be one of the best months of the cinematic year. Blowing the roof off the summer movie season is G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra. What is sure to be the final epic action flick of the season, G.I.Joe looks like the best of what we expect from this genre. With deviant bad guys bent of global conquest, fans should expect big things from G.I.Joe. Families have one more reason to take the minivan to the theater. Goose on the Loose is a beloved children's book that makes its cinematic debut in mid August. Sure to bring in the whole clan, Goose won't contend with the other family flicks of the summer, but will bring a classy less in your face option for the movie addicted family unit. And then we have a tie for what should be the summers most gruesome and unflinching movie: Quentin Tarantinos Inglorious Bastereds and Rob Zombies Halloween 2. Both promise to feature buckets of blood and a deluge of cursing, yet they take two completely different approaches to their delivery. Halloween is a classic slasher film with a hulking bad guy who chops and stabs his way to the end credits. Bastereds is a "historical" piece about brutal Nazi's and revenge a plenty.