All avid moviegoers understand that when the summer months roll around it's time to put on your movie going game face, because the studios are releasing their biggest and baddest films of the year. Summer 2008 was predicted to be an exceptional season for movies -- I would almost consider the season to be an onslaught of big movies. Summer has some monster films stacked up in the form of anticipated comebacks, Marvel adaptations, major action, Jack Black for kids and more. So far, we've survived the arrival of Sex and the City, Indiana Jones and Iron Man in May. We had some other theater fillers like The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, What Happens in Vegas, and Speed Racer (my prediction is that these will be some of the most popular renters when they hit DVD) and we have arrived at the gates of June willing and eager to take on the next round of mind-blowing cinema. It boggles the mind how the movie studios plan to make next summer bigger and better than this year, but I plan to leave that to the professionals and look forward to June. How will June stack up to the last month at the movies?

For starters, Kung Fu Panda had an amazing opening at the box office, bringing in over $60 million over the course of its first weekend in theaters. I think that people come out of the woodwork to see movies geared toward kids, especially when the adults present can find a bit of humor and solid entertainment for themselves. All the reviews I've read seem to point their thumbs upward for this film, so I'd say we've got our first June winner.

Today Edward Norton steps up to the plate with The Incredible Hulk. Initially this film received some pretty negative buzz. Why are they remaking this story? How is it really going to be that much better than the 2003 version? What is Ed Norton thinking? However, we should keep in mind that historically The Hulk is one of the most popular action superheroes ever. And, frankly, the movie is based on a Marvel comic, and I hear those fans are diehard. With Liv Tyler on board as well, I'm pretty confident there are boatloads of folks waiting to see the epic disasters the big beastly Hulk will create in Friday's release.

Now I'm ever-so-slightly self conscious of the fact that my most anticipated June movie is definitely, without question Universal Pictures' Wanted. Having worked PR for Universal Pictures for some time, I have seen all of their more recent films and I have to say, you can pretty much always count on Universal to deliver exactly what their trailers promise, for better or worse. For example, Sydney White looked terrible after watching the trailer, and sure enough, the movie was monotonous. The Kingdom seemed like quite a ride, and I realized halfway through the film that I was gripping my arm rests like the sides of roller coaster cart. It was super intense, just as I'd hoped. So, my trusty instincts tell me that the adrenaline raiser Wanted will be just as hard hitting as the trailer suggests. Plus, with that cast (Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman), there is a little something for everyone.

The remaining June flicks are also quite encouraging. I'm curious to see how Wall-E stacks up against Kung Fu Panda, and I know there are audiences out there for films like Get Smart and The Happening. All in all, I'd say May was an incredible kick-off to a summer of moviegoing that will pretty hard to beat. But June will offer a little bit of a different flavor, which is critical. As much as I'd love to have a new Sex and the City movie every month, something tells me the well would start to run a little dry sooner rather than later.

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