Top 8 summer 2010 movies to watch for.

So...

Even though summer has officially started as far as Hollywood is concerned, I decided to post some thoughts on the 8 movies I am looking forward to this season. Originally, I was going to do 10, but I couldn't actually find 10 movies to get excited about this year. In fact, the whole month of May looks like a waste to me, so let's start with June.

1. Marmaduke. This movie is based on the beloved comic strip, where a dog moves with his family to their new suburban neighborhood home and subsequently gets into all kinds of mischief and mayhem. Sounds generic, but the preview is hysterical and the title character, a lovable, goofy dog, is voiced by the perfectly cast Owen Wilson, who cracks me up just by talking. Opens June 4.



2. The A-Team. Based on the 80s TV show, this movie follows a group of wrongly imprisoned American soldiers who escape and become soldiers for hire for lost causes. The safe bet is that this movie will be trash, but I'm really hoping to be surprised. And the preview is growing on me, especially the dialogue which seems to actually get funnier each time I hear it. And with Liam Neeson starring maybe, just maybe, The A-Team might be a kick-ass popcorn flick in the vein of Charlie's Angels, but with dudes. Opens June 11.



3. Toy Story 3. Do I really need to explain what this one is about? I love the first two and, like Marmaduke, Toy Story is a movie I can take my nephew to. I'm in. Opens June 18.



4. Knight and Day. Yes, it's got Tom Cruise in it. Yes, it's got Cameron Diaz in it. But despite that the previews are starting to look more and more exciting with each new one the studio releases. The stunt work has strong wow potential and the chemisty between the two stars looks legit. I love a good spy movie, and this could be a light, yet serious romp in the vein of True Lies. Opens June 25.



5. Inception. The story's got something to do with people being hired to invade other people's dreams and steal secret information from them. Think dream spys. I'm actually on the fence about this one, but a growing curiosity factor and the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio is in it make it enough of a draw for me. The special effects in the previews look totally mind-blowing, but it also looks a lot like The Matrix, only with dreams instead of computers. I'm also wary of anything revolving around dreams themselves, because there really are no rules or jeapordy when nothing is real. If Chris Nolan can overcome this problem with some actual stakes for the characters during the dreams and find a convential storyline to hang the visual mayhem on then this may be a winner. Opens July 16.



6. The Sorcerer's Apprentice. This film barely made the list. On the surface this movie's plot about a centuries old magician and his new apprentice trying to save the world from the dark forces of evil sounds dumb. And also the movie kind of looks dumb, but it's from the people that made National Treasure so I'm willing to go out on a limb and get my hopes up. If you can get past Nic Cage's awful haircut, he's actually not too badly cast for this role as he looks like something of an outcast, rather than the tough guy action hero he is so often miscast as. The downside is the same people who made this movie and National Treasure also made National Treasure 2. Also, the guy playing the new apprentice seems like a poor man's Justin Long. We'll see... Opens July 16.



7. Dinner for Schmucks. The only live-action comedy I'm looking forward to this summer. Paul Rudd plays a smug jerk who invites a loser played by Steve Carrell to a dinner party where he and his friends try to top each other by bringing the biggest schmuck they can find to said party. Steve Carrell is hit or miss with his movies, but Paul Rudd has been on a hot streak lately and the two of them together, with their personalities, is enough to get me into the threater despite the shaky premise. Opens July 23.



8. Salt. The preview shows promise for a nail-bitting spy mystery and some intense action-adventure. Angelina Jolie plays the title role, in which she is a Government operative mistaken for a Russian spy en route to kill the US President. She looks perfect in what was a role originally meant for a guy and this could be a smart summer film in the vein of the first Mission Impossible, only (fingers crossed) less confusing. Opens July 23.