MAY 13
• Two "SNL" stars break out in unexpected ways: Multitalented Kristin Wiig co-wrote and stars in "Bridesmaids," a raunchy but humane Judd Apatow production about a hapless single woman who fears she's losing her best friend to marriage. And Will Ferrell displays top-notch dramatic chops in "Everything Must Go," a seriocomic adaptation of a Raymond Carver story about a man living on his front lawn.
• In "Hesher," Joseph Gordon- Levitt plays a young boy's self-appointed guru, a character who's equal parts Nanny McPhee and Charlie Manson. Rainn Wilson and Natalie Portman co-star.
MAY 20
• The Disney treasure galleon was adrift in its third installment, but "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" charts a fresh course with lovely Penélope Cruz, villainous Ian McShane, 3-D and "Chicago" director Rob Marshall.
• In Jodie Foster's "The Beaver," Mel Gibson delivers a heartbreaking career-best performance as a suicidally depressed family man who learns to communicate through a hand puppet.
MAY 26
• "The Hangover Part II," with Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and a monkey in Thailand, can only be an improvement on the demoralizing but immensely popular original. At least the reliably hilarious Ken Jeong is along for the drunken, drug-addled ride.
• A more welcome return is "Kung Fu Panda 2," with Jack Black as the voice of the pudgy pugilist.
JUNE 3
• "X-Men: First Class" gives the superheroes a retro reboot with a Kennedy-era origins story starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as the youthful adversaries Professor X and Magneto.
• Brad Pitt and Sean Penn play another dysfunctional duo in Terrence Malick's long-awaited "The Tree of Life," an impressionistic family portrait that begins at the dawn of time.
• The Japanese samurai epic "13 Assassins" combines elegantly classical filmmaking, strong characters and rip-roaring action in a war film for the ages.
JUNE 10
• With Steven Spielberg producing and J.J. Abrams directing, the secrecy-shrouded small-town sci-fi thriller "Super 8" can hardly miss, though I have no clue what it's about.
• Foot races sub for car chases in Austria's "The Robber," a nail-biter about a real-life marathon champ turned professional criminal.
JUNE 17
• Jim Carrey fills his New York City penthouse with waddling pets in "Mr. Popper's Penguins," which looks cute for kids.
• D.C. Comics' "The Green Lantern," the man with the magical mood ring, feels like an afterthought in this superhero-saturated summer. Will Ryan Reynolds have the charisma to turn this second-tier character into a cultural phenomenon?
• The English schoolboy yarn "Submarine" should appeal to fans of Wes Anderson's quirky misfit comedies, especially "Rushmore."
JUNE 24
• "Cars 2" takes its characters on a globe-trotting grand prix/spy mission, which sounds dumb, but since it's Pixar we owe it the benefit of the doubt. Michael Caine lends his voice, alongside Owen Wilson and Helen Hunt.
JULY 1
• The comedy "Larry Crowne," starring and directed by Tom Hanks, is one of the only films this season unapologetically directed at grownups. He plays a laid-off warehouse worker who returns to school and falls for his teacher, Julia Roberts.
• The cars/robots smasharama "Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon" adds John Malkovich and Frances McDormand to the cast, which is intriguing.
JULY 8
• "Horrible Bosses" is a workplace murder comedy with three abused employees (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis) conspiring to bump off the supervisors who torment them (Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell and Kevin Spacey). I think we can all relate to that.
• Kevin James falls down a lot as the title character in "The Zookeeper." Talking animals help him hook up with Rosario Dawson. Isn't the first part of that sentence easier to believe than the second?
JULY 15
• "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2": Expecto climacticum.
JULY 22
• Chris Evans plays the 98-pound weakling turned World War II supersoldier in "Captain America: The First Avenger." Director Joe Johnson ("The Rocketeer") has a fine feel for period derring-do, and actors Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving can be counted on to lend the story some dramatic heft.
JULY 29
• Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford play Old West antagonists who must join forces against unearthly invaders in "Cowboys and Aliens." Previews look impressive for this rarity, a summer film that isn't based on a pre-sold premise.
• Divorced milquetoast Steve Carrell is mentored by babe magnet Ryan Gosling in "Crazy, Stupid Love." Julianne Moore plays Carrell's ex.
AUG. 5
• Medical experiments boost simian intelligence to uncontrollable levels in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." James Franco stars alongside the series' first crew of photorealistic computer-animated apes, which look more impressive than earlier generations of actors in monkey suits.
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