Snappy summer

Hollywood is about to shower us with a treasure trove of movies, and it's about time.

After panning through nearly four months of the single worst creative drought of the past two decades, we stand to strike it rich with a variety of films that have something to offer beyond common-denominated plots, regurgitated dialogue and superficial special effects.

Even the sequels look sterling. Sequels? Yep. Many already appear to shine at least as brilliantly as their originals:

"The X-Files: I Want to Believe," "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," "The Incredible Hulk," and lest we forget the granddaddy of the group, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

Although "The Dark Knight" is Warner Bros.' sixth Caped Crusader adventure since 1989, it qualifies as the sequel to Chris Nolan's series reboot "Batman Begins." Besides, it's a far better title than "Batman Continues."

So, here are the movies scheduled for release through August. Keep in mind that dates are subject to change at the whim of often-whimsical studio executives.

If we're lucky, this summer season will render us some memorable movie moments we can truly treasure.

10 summer movies worth anticipating

1. "The Dark Knight" --Heath Ledger's Joker, a frightening, twisted nightmare version of Jack Nicholson's villain in 1988, already made Chris Nolan's sequel to "Batman Begins" gotta-see material. Following Ledger's apparent accidental drug overdose in January, this is the most anxiously awaited movie of the summer. Reportedly, Warner Bros. executives thought about editing a few of Ledger's scenes but wisely begged off. July 18.2. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" -- After a 19-year hiatus, can Harrison Ford, now 65, avoid "Raiders of the Lost AARP" jokes? Sure he can, if he's directed by Steven Spielberg and his movie is produced by George Lucas. The intrepid archaeologist returns in his fourth adventure, which premieres May 18 at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Cate Blanchett and Shia LaBeouf star. May 22.3. "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" -- The plot to this sequel to the 1998 "X-Files" movie (10 years have passed? Did we lose time?) is being kept secret. Good. Who wants the surprises spoiled anyway? FBI agents Mulder and Scully (David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) return to investigate more weirdness under the direction of TV series guru Chris Carter. Series regular Mitch Pileggi returns. July 25.4. "Mamma Mia!" -- Can a Broadway musical based on songs by ABBA translate to the silver screen? Can Meryl Streep warble a tune worthy of a Broadway show, even if it is based on songs by ABBA? Hey, Streep can do anything! She plays the mother of a bride-to-be (Amanda Seyfriend), who invites three men (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard) to her wedding, hoping to find out which one is her father. July 18.5. "Pineapple Express" -- Producer/writer Judd ("Knocked Up") Apatow teams with director David Gordon Green, a quirky and critically acclaimed indie filmmaker. I can't wait to see what this talent combination produces. The title refers to a new, potent brand of marijuana that a stoner (Seth Rogen) drops at the scene of a murder he witnesses. Pandemonium ensues. Aug. 8.6. "Iron Man" -- Marvel Comics' heavy-metal superhero suits up in his cinematic debut. Robert Downey Jr. stars as zillionaire industrialist Tony Stark, who fights villains despite his potentially fatal heart condition. What? Can't this guy afford a new ticker? May 2.7. "Sex and the City: The Movie" -- Those four sexually bold HBO pioneers (Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall) jump to the silver screen. It will be interesting to see how these women have fared since their racy exploits on the small screen. What's next for the quartet? Menopause? May 30.8. "The Happening" -- Will M. Night Shyamalan redeem himself for the creatively pillaged "The Village" and soggy "Lady in the Water"? He writes and directs a creepy tale of a family dealing with a mysterious threat. Let's hope it's not another rewarmed "Twilight Zone" plot. June 13.9. "Dark Matter" -- I'm interested in seeing this Chicago premiere of a controversial movie based on a 1991 shooting spree that killed five people at the University of Iowa. Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn star in Chen Shi-Zheng's look at how the American dream goes sour for a foreign student. At Facets Multimedia. May 16.10. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" -- This could be one of those rare sequels that puts its original to shame. When nasty mythical creatures try to take over the world, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his crack team of crack-ups go into action. Directed by "Pan's Labyrinth" creator Guillermo del Toro, so we know it's going to be visually stunning and imaginative. July 11.And here's the rest of themMAY 1"This American Life" -- Acclaimed radio and television host Ira Glass beams his popular program to area theaters live from New York's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. One night only.MAY 2"Last Year at Marienbad" -- Alain Resnais' influential 1961 French New Wave classic returns to the big screen."Made of Honor" -- Patrick Dempsey intends to wed his best pal Michelle Monaghan when she gets back from Scotland. But she returns with a Scottish fiance (not Sean Connery)!"Standard Operating Procedure" -- Errol Morris presents a documentary on the impact of those infamous photos taken by soldiers in the Abu Ghraib prison."Then She Found Me" -- Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt directs a drama of personal discovery about a school teacher (Hunt) who separates from her husband (Matthew Broderick) and connects with a radio talk show host (Bette Midler) who claims to be her birth mother. MAY 9"America the Beautiful" -- Chicago filmmaker Darryl Roberts spent two years making this doc examining the price young people pay to achieve physical perfection."Redbelt" -- David Mamet writes and directs a drama about a Jiu-jitsu teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who reluctantly becomes a prizefighter to pay off mounting debts."Son of Rambow" -- A media-deprived lad raised in a puritanical religious community sees a pirated copy of "Rambo" and becomes inspired to create a home action movie, starring himself and the local school bully."Speed Racer" -- The cult TV series gets the silver-screen treatment with Emile Hirsch starring as the titular hero, driven to win a grueling race called the Crucible."What Happens in Vegas" -- Two strangers (Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz) are surprised to wake up married and rich after a night of hard partying in Vegas. Each schemes to dump the other but stash the cash."The Witnesses" -- During the early 1980s, friends in France confront the emergence of the AIDS epidemic.MAY 11"Mommie Dearest" -- The 1981 cult clinker returns to the Music Box Theatre for Mother's Day."Placido Domingo Concert" -- One night only. See movie ads for theaters.MAY 16"Before the Rains" -- In 1930 India, an idealistic Indian man gets caught up in an illicit affair between his British boss and his Indian housemaid. A Merchant Ivory production. Need we say more?"Body of War" -- Phil Donahue (the Phil Donahue) and Ellen Spiro direct this doc about a young American who joined the Army to fight terrorists after Sept. 11 but winds up in Iraq where he's paralyzed by a bullet."The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" -- In this sequel, the Pevensie kids meet the rightful heir to the Narnia throne, Prince Caspian, in hiding from his murderous Uncle Miraz."How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer" -- Three generations of women in a Mexican-American family have their empty lives transformed into tempestuous ones filled with passion, lust and sizzling frolic!"Jellyfish" -- Three unrelated women in Tel Aviv have their separate, troubled lives affected by the arrival of a young girl coming out of the ocean. MAY 23"The Animation Show 4" -- A series of mostly rude and adult animated shorts at the Music Box Theatre, all picked by Mike Judge."Reprise" -- Fate treats two 20-year-old men differently when they send their first novels to be published. One enjoys instant fame, the other obscurity. The feature film debut of Norwegian director Joachim Trier."Roman De Gare" -- Claude Lelouch's romantic suspense tale concerns a popular crime novelist whose works might have actually been penned by a serial killer.MAY 30"The Fall" -- A strange tale of a man, suffering from a fall off a horse, who spins fascinating fantasies based on actual events in his broken life. Directed by Tarsem (just Tarsem) of "The Cell" fame."OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies" -- A secret agent must investigate a murder, quell a fundamentalist rebellion and secure peace in the Middle East. It's a comedy."The Strangers" --Three assailants terrorize a young couple (Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman) in an isolated vacation home. Unlike "Funny Games," which only had two assailants.JUNE 6"Bigger, Stronger, Faster" -- Christopher Bell directs a doc about American body images and how a sizable chunk of hunks actually use steroids."The Foot Fist Way" -- Shot in 19 days on a credit-card-financed micro-budget with a cast of newcomers. A comedy about a tae kwon do instructor who winds up fighting his hero, undefeated martial arts champ Chuck "The Truck" Wallace."Kung Fu Panda" -- A lazy panda bear named Po resolves to become a kung fu master to protect the Valley of Peace from a villainous leopard. A CGI comedy with voices by Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie and Lucy Liu."The Promotion" -- Seann William Scott and Chicago's own John C. Reilly star in a comedy about two assistant managers in a corporate grocery chain who vie for a big promotion. Not to be confused with 2006's "Employee of the Month.""You Don't Mess With the Zohan" -- Another comedy directed by the disastrously untalented Dennis Dugan. Adam Sandler stars as a Mossad agent who fakes his death and takes on the persona of a New York hairstylist. Co-starring Rob Schneider (expected) and Mariah Carey! JUNE 13"The Incredible Hulk" -- Apparently, Ang Lee's 2003 box-office flop "Hulk" wasn't a deterrent to a sequel based on the Marvel Comics anti-hero. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) must become the Hulk to fight the Abomination, genetically engineered by the Russians. Look for Robert Downey Jr.'s appearance as Tony Stark, the alter ego of Iron Man."Saving Grace" -- Julianne Moore stars in the dramatized true story of Barbara Daly, knifed to death by her own son in 1972 after she married the heir of the Bakelite plastics fortune."When Did You Last See Your Father?" -- An unflinching exploration of a father/son relationship, based on Blake Morrison's experience with his father's terminal illness.JUNE 20"Get Smart" -- Mel Brooks' classic 1960s TV spoof of James Bond ramps up for the silver screen with Steve Carell taking over Don Adams' role as Agent 86 and Anne Hathaway subbing for Barbara Feldon's Agent 99. As an agent of CONTROL, Smart takes on KAOS with help from Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson) and Agent 13 (Bill Murray)."Love Guru" -- Mike Myers' new comedy has been getting heat from Hindu groups for possible ridicule of their culture. The jury's out on that. Myers plays an American raised by gurus in India. He tries to help a hockey star reconcile with his wife so his team can win a Stanley Cup. Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake star."Mongol" -- A historical drama about the life and times of conqueror Genghis Khan. Nominated for the Foreign Film Oscar.JUNE 27"Brick Lane" -- Bangladeshi teenager Nazneen is forced into an arranged marriage to an older man in London's East End where she struggles to submit to him. An affair with a young man opens her eyes to other possibilities in life. Trouble ensues."Tell No One" -- Eight years after his wife was murdered and he was a suspect, a French doctor gets an e-mail showing her alive in real-time video. A critically acclaimed thriller starring Francois Cluzet and Kristin Scott Thomas."Wall·E" -- Pixar Animation presents a science-fiction comedy about a robot that stumbles upon the key to his planet's future. Co-starring a pet cockroach and a group of malfunctioning robots."Wanted" -- A loser gets drafted by assassins who mistakenly think he's inherited his killer dad's talents. Based on the graphic novel and directed by Russian "Night Watch" stylist Timur Bekmambetov in his first English-language Hollywood movie. James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie star.JULY 2"Hancock" -- Will Smith plays a sloppy superhero whose superpowers save the day but also leave great destruction in his wake. Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron star.JULY 4"Kit Kitteridge: An American Girl" -- The first motion picture based on the American Girl books and dolls features "Little Miss Sunshine" star Abigail Breslin as the titular heroine, whose keen intellect and reporting skills save her family's home during the Great Depression. Joan Cusack, Julia Ormond, Wallace Shawn and Chicago's Chris O'Donnell star.JULY 11"Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D" -- "Mummy" star Brendan Fraser leads the cast in this umpteenth remake of the classic Jules Verne story. Lots of special effects, a given considering the movie was directed by Eric Brevig, a special-effects specialist."Meet Dave" -- Eddie Murphy tries his waning talents at one more outrageous comedy. He plays Dave, who is really not human but an actual spaceship with a crew of humanoids inside him. Co-written by "Mystery Science Theater 3000" writer/actor Bill Corbett."Religulous" -- Comedian and TV show host Bill Maher tackles the thorny subject of modern-day religion in this doc directed by Larry Charles."The Wackness" -- In 1994, Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) spends his last summer before college selling dope throughout New York City, just as new mayor Rudy Giuliani implements his anti-fun initiatives against portable radios, graffiti and public drunkenness.JULY 18"Lou Reed's Berlin" -- Lou Reed's 2006 live concert performance based on his 1973 concept album "Berlin." The movie was shot over five nights at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn."Space Chimps" -- This animated comedy features the voices of Andy Samberg, Kristin Chenoweth, Jeff Daniels and Patrick Warburton. The grandson of America's first chimp in space is dispatched to stop the villainous leader of another planet.JULY 25"Brideshead Revisited" -- The eminent Emma Thompson joins Michael Gambon in another dramatic version of Evelyn Waugh's novel about Capt. Charles Ryder remembering his experiences at Brideshead Castle during World War II. "Henry Poole is Here" -- A man (Luke Wilson) tries to dodge bad medical news by uprooting his life and moving into a new home in a blue-collar neighborhood. It doesn't change his prognosis, but the people around him do change his life. George Lopez and Radha Mitchell star."The Longshots" -- A poor Illinois town rallies behind its local football team and its unusual quarterback: Jasmine Plummer (Keke Palmer). Based on a true story."Step Brothers" -- Those "Talladega Nights" stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly reteam with the same director in a zany story about two shiftless guys who become reluctant stepbrothers. When their antics cause their parents to become separated, they orchestrate an insane plan to keep them together. AUG. 1"American Teen" -- This Sundance hit doc follows five teenagers -- a jock, a popular girl, a heartthrob, an arty girl and a geek -- through their senior high school year in a small Indiana town. It's "The Breakfast Club" for real."Boy A" -- This drama centers on a 24-year-old ex-convict (Andrew Garfield) who gets out of confinement for having murdered a child while he was a child himself."Choke" -- A sex-addicted med-school dropout (Sam Rockwell) deliberately chokes in upscale restaurants to form parasitic relationships with the wealthy patrons who "save" him. Anjelica Huston plays his mommy."Midnight Meat Train" -- A photographer becomes obsessed with a serial killer who targets late-night train commuters. Adapted from Clive Barker's short story."The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" -- In another "Mummy" sequel, Rick (reprised by Brendan Fraser), his wife (Maria Bello) and son (Luke Ford) help him stop a 2,000-year-old resurrected mummy (action star Jet Li) from taking over the world."The Rocker" -- Twenty years after being kicked out of a rock band, "Fish" Fishman (Rainn Wilson) gets a shot at fame by joining his nephew's high school band."Swing Vote" -- A bizarre chain of events culminates in the presidential election boiling down to a single voter: Kevin Costner's apathetic, beer-guzzling loser. Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper star.AUG. 8"Fly Me to the Moon" -- A 3-D animated adventure in which three young flies set off on a mission to become the first insects on the moon."Hell Ride" -- Quentin Tarantino serves as the executive producer to this grind-house-wannabe thriller that's part spaghetti western, part biker movie. A tough biker (director Larry Bishop) wants revenge on a rival motorcycle gang."Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants II" -- Guys, hold on to your testosterone! The original Traveling Pants quartet (America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively and Alexis Bledel) returns just in time for college. Bledel better take an accelerated program: She's 27.AUG. 15"The International" -- Germany's Tom Tykwer directs a drama about an INTERPOL agent (Clive Owen) who discovers a major financial company is bankrolling international arms deals. With Naomi Watts."Mirrors" -- A shopping mall security guard (Kiefer Sutherland) notices that certain mirrors bring out strange behavior in shoppers. A remake of the 2003 Korean thriller "Into the Mirror.""Star Wars: The Clone Wars" -- Instead of giving us Episodes 7, 8 and 9 as he promised us 30 years ago, George Lucas grinds out an animated film about Anakin Skywalker thwarting Count Dooku and Palpatine from taking over the galaxy. (Hey, we already know the ending, George!)"Towelhead" -- A teen Arab-American girl (Summer Bishil) goes from her American mom (Maria Bello) to her abusive Lebanese father (Peter Macdissi) in a drama about severe culture clash."Tropic Thunder" -- Three actors (Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller) playing soldiers in a war movie suddenly have to pretend to be the real thing to survive. Did someone remake "The Three Amigos" or what?AUG. 22"Accidental Husband" -- A New York firefighter seeks revenge when his fiancee breaks off their engagement on the advice of a meddling radio romance doctor. Uma Thurman and Colin Firth star."Bangkok Dangerous" -- The Pang brothers remake their own 1999 action thriller now with Nicolas Cage as a hit man in Bangkok who befriends a local woman."Crossing Over" -- Intersecting stories show us why and how immigrants continue to flood into America, seeking the dream. Harrison Ford, Ashley Judd and Sean Penn star."Hamlet 2" -- When a high school teacher (Steve Coogan) has his student adaptation of "Erin Brockovich" tank, he stages an original sequel to one of the Bard's biggest hits to save his job."The House Bunny" -- When Playboy bunny Anna Faris gets kicked out of Hugh Hefner's mansion, she winds up at a sorority where she must help the members sign up a new pledge class or lose their house! Tom's son Colin Hanks co-stars. "Wild Child" -- A spoiled American princess (Emma Roberts) gets shipped off to an English boarding school where the British students don't tolerate her selfish behavior. Will she bust some stiff upper lips?AUG. 29"Babylon A.D." -- Vin Diesel stars as a mercenary hired to deliver a package -- a mysterious young woman with a secret -- from the ravages of post-apocalyptic Eastern Europe to the teeming megalopolis of New York City. Where's Snake Plissken when you need him?"College" -- Three high school seniors go nuts while visiting a college campus as prospective freshmen."Traitor" -- A straight-arrow FBI agent (Guy Pearce) investigates a suspicious former U.S. Special Operations officer (Don Cheadle). "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" -- Scarlett Johansson as a sexually adventuresome free spirit? What's not to like about this Woody Allen comedy in which Scarlett and Rebecca Hall visit Spain, meet a flamboyant artist (Javier Bardem) and his insane ex-wife (Penelope Cruz)? OPENING DATES TBA"The Children of Huang Shi" -- In 1930s China, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell and Chow Yun Fat rescue 60 orphaned children across treacherous terrain."Frozen River" -- A destitute mother of two teams up with a street-smart woman to smuggle illegal immigrants into the U.S.