User blog:Ceauntay/Summer movie preview: Check out these sizzlers

Like the weather and gas prices, 2011 has been a real stinker where movies and their box office takes are concerned. The year-to-date returns are many fathoms below where they were in 2010 at this time.

Not until the pre-summer hauls for "Fast Five" and "Thor" had there been much hard proof that tickets were still being torn with any fervor.

Or even at all.

But take heart, Warner/Sony/Fox/etc. stockholders: the nosedive is likely over as the following barrage of high-end escapism hits the 'plex screens of America.

Can you say "Harry Potter," "Transformers," "X-Men," "Cars," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Planet of the Apes" and a half-dozen other sure-fire franchise brand names?

Following are thumbnail previews of the titles most likely to see marquee space hereabouts between next weekend and Labor Day.

Be advised that release dates are firmer around the season's start than near its August end, when studios frequently reshuffle openings to atone for the sins or the blessings of what came before.

Still comin' at ya

Or, the 3-D craze you thought was petering out is alive and well and dominating the summer blockbuster inventory: • Sonic X: The Final Stand (5/13): The fifth installment for the world's fastest hedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog, as he must save the world from his evil nemesis. He will have to find a secret passage way that can stop anyone who kept using the Chaos Emeralds to take over the world.

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (5/20): The fourth time doesn't need to be the charm, since the third one already was. Whatever, Cap'n Jack's back, and so is a mystery femme (Penelope Cruz) from his past. New to the scurvy fun: "Chicago" director Rob Marshall.

• The Lion of Judah (5/20): The first faith-based animated 3-D film, we're assured. It's also the first for an actor old enough to have been working at the time of the first 3-D craze of the early '50s, 94-year-old Ernest Borgnine, performing lead vocal duties.

• Kung Fu Panda 2 (5/26): The panda with the Bruce Lee moves and the voice of Jack (as in Black) is back, this time with something really scary in the voice of Gary (as in Oldman), cast as the foreboding Lord Shen the Peacock.

• True Jackson VP: The Movie (5/26): True Jackson hits the big screen for the first time as she and her friend goes on their vacation to Egypt.

• Green Lantern (6/17): We've been seeing green in a spate of recent superhero epics, from the Incredible Hulk to the Green Goblin. Get ready for more of envy's favorite hue as Ryan Reynolds dons tights and mask to head up the intergalactic Green Lantern Corps.

• Cars 2 (6/24): "Cars" was that rare Pixar outing to muster only so-so reviews. A new make and model is rarin' to go, nonetheless, as Lightning (Owen Wilson) heads overseas to compete in the Grand Prix. Michael Caine is the new voice in town, as one Finn McMissile.

• Transformers: Dark of the Moon (7/11): The noisiest summer franchise of the century is back for thirds, as Sam remains the reluctant human ally of Optimus Prime. Dig that crazy supporting cast, sporting both ISU and IWU theater alums (John Malkovich, Kevin Dunn)!

• Jane Hoop Elementary: The Final Rush Part 2 (7/8): The second part of the first-sequel-to-a-sequel in movie franchise history, is taking the young superheroes into the final journey to to search for Catwoman's secret hidout that can detroy her dangerous Final Rush, before Danny is off to a final showdown.

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (7/15): The second part of the first sequel-to-a-sequel in movie franchise history, not to mention the much-needed closure to the entire ball o' wax, as Harry maneuvers into his final standoff with Lord Voldemort.

• Captain America: The First Avenger (7/22): Chris Evans switches tights, from "The Fantastic Four's" resident fire-starter, Johnny Storm, to super-G.I. Steve Rogers, scourge of the Nazis. Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L. Jackson and Hayley Atwell co-star.

• The Smurfs (7/29): The original Blue Man Group heads to the Big Green Apple, where they discover a live-action universe populated the with likes of Neil Patrick Harris and Hank Azaria. Smurf sounds are courtesy Jonathan Winters, Anton Yelchin, Katy Perry and Alan Cumming.

• Final Destination 5 (8/12): Death takes no holiday -- again -- for this latest body-count spectacular in the franchise that guarantees to shake a leg, right out of the screen and into your lap.

• Conan the Barbarian (8/19): Hard to believe, but Arnold Schwarzenegger's original is 30 years old -- so why not a remake? Filling Arnold's Hyborian Age furs is current "Game of Thrones" hunk Jason Momoa; also bearing up under the barbarianism are Rachel Nichols and Stephen Lang.

• Fright Night (8/19): A redo of the 1985 sleeper that starred Roddy McDowall as an aging horror star who helps a couple teens fight their new neighbor: a vampire. David Tennant gets the McDowall role and Colin Farrell is the bloodsucker next door. Anton Yelchin is one of the teens.

• Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (8/19): A new generation of mini-spies is hatched, via espionage-prone parents Jessica Alba and Joel McHale, whose twins come to the rescue. Series creator Robert Rodriguez directs; original Spy Dad Antonio Banderas and Spy Kids Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara are on hand, too.

Sans spectacle(s)

Or, yes, Virginia, there ARE big-budget thrill rides that don't feel the need to jump from the screen into your popcorn bag:

• X-Men: First Class (6/3): A look at the start of the X-Men saga, before the mutants had revealed themselves to the world. It's also before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr became Prof. X and arch-nemesis Magneto, and were just a couple young dudes discovering their amazing powers.

• Super 8 (6/10): With Steven Spielberg as producer and J.J. Abrams as writer-director, big things are expected of this tale about some friends who uncover terrifying truths while shooting their own home movie, circa 1979. Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning star.

• Cowboys & Aliens (7/29): Shades of "Wild, Wild West," featuring a big fat alien invasion on the frontier, with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford teaming up under the direction of "Iron Man's" Jon Favreau. Like "Super 8," Steven Spielberg had a producing hand in this, too.

• Rise of the Planet of the Apes (8/5): Not a sequel to Tim Burton's ill-advised remake; instead, we're told, it's a reworking of 1972's third series sequel, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes," starring James Franco, Freida Pinto star and "Avatar"-style digital apes.

• Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (8/26): The first made-for-TV flick to be remade as a big-screen item -- this one the 1973 ABC Movie of the Week about a house overrun with nasty little pint-size demon critters. Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce star.

Men will be boys, and worse

Or, there's no such thing as mature, responsible, sophisticated behavior in a summer comedy:

• The Hangover Part II (5/26): In which there's yet another debauched bachelor party for pretty much the same set of characters (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, Zach Galifianakis) as they regroup -- this time for one very wild night in Bangkok, site of Stu's (Helms') nuptials.

• Bad Teacher (6/24): Shades of "Bad Santa," here's his scholastic counterpart -- a foul-mouthed, booze-swilling, weed-toking teacher (Cameron Diaz) making a play for a handsome colleague (Justin Timberlake) while fending off the advances of the crude gym teacher (Jason Segel).

• Horrible Bosses (7/8): Employees, don't try this at work, or, for that matter, at home. At the movies: OK. Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day are the disgruntled peons; Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell and Jennifer Aniston are the supervisors targeted for assassination.

• Crazy, Stupid, Love. (7/29): Steve Carell plays a straight-laced family guy who discovers his wife is cheating on him and wants a divorce. Net result: He's back on the dating scene for the first time in decades and winds up the protégé of a 30-something player (Ryan Gosling).

• The Change-Up (8/5): And still more Jason Bateman (see above) and Ryan Reynolds (see further above), as, respectively, a sedate family man and swinging single who, following some drunken revelry, find they've switched bodies. Yep, that old saw again.

• 30 Minutes or Less (8/12): Jesse Eisenberg stars as a small-town pizza delivery dude who falls into the clutches of a pair of would-be criminal masterminds (Danny McBride, Nick Swardson). They kidnap him and his pies, and force him to rob a bank, or else.

• Our Idiot Brother (8/26): That poster child for "Men will be boys" comedies, Paul Rudd, is back, this time as the titular loser, a simpleton organic farmer watched over by his three sisters (Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer) after he's dumped by his girlfriend.

Just kidding

Or, you might want to investigate sitting these ones out in the lobby, moms and dads and assorted guardians:

• Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer (6/10): The kids' book series transitions to the big screen, with Jordana Beatty as the third-grader out to have the best summer of her short life. Enabling her are her fun-seeking Aunt Opal (Heather Graham) and kid bro Stink (Parris Mosteller).

• Mr. Popper's Penguins (6/17): The classic 1938 book moves to the 21st century as a vehicle for Jim Carrey, playing the house painter and would-be Arctic explorer who amasses a collection of the little fellas in tuxedos. Carla Gugino co-stars.

• Zookeeper (7/8): Kevin James as a kindly zoo caretaker who decides if he's going to find a woman, he needs to find a more conducive job. His caged wards panic and reveal their biggest secret: they can talk! Like Cher, Nick Nolte, Adam Sandler and Sylvester Stallone, yet!

• Monte Carlo (7/1): Or "The Princess and the Pauper," as an ordinary teen trades places with her regal look-alike in Monte Carlo. They're both played by Selena Gomez.

• Winnie the Pooh (7/15): The summer's only animated offering done the old-school and somehow far-more-human way -- drawn by flesh-and-blood hands, just like Disney's last Winnie outing more than 35 years ago.

Seriously?

Yeah, we know: they've got to be joking -- adult behavior in warm-weather cinema?

• Beginners (6/3): Ewan McGregor plays a man who meets a woman (Melanie Laurent) just months after the death of his father (Christopher Plummer), who came out of the closet at age 75. Flashbacks recall the evolving terms of their endearment.

• Larry Crowne (7/1): Tom Hanks' first directorial outing since "That Thing You Do!" is a comedy-drama about a downsized corporate worker (Hanks himself) who falls for his married teacher (Julia Roberts) in the thick of a public speaking course being taken to reinvent himself.

• The Help (8/12): An actual mature drama -- we swear -- set in Mississippi during the 1960s, and depicting the unlikely friendship that develops between a white society girl (Emma Stone) and a black housekeeper (Viola Davis). From the best-selling novel.

• The Debt (8/31): Set in two different time periods, 1966 and 1997, a drama about two retired secret agents (Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson) who receive shocking news about a former colleague (Ciaran Hinds), all tied to a mission 30 years ago. Sam Worthington co-stars.