Summer movies inevitably are about blockbusters. This season, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," "Terminator Salvation" and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" have the makings of becoming gargantuan hits.
Then there is so-called counterprogramming -- kinder, gentler films, often with female leads, designed to draw women to movies in the summer. Watch for "My Sister's Keeper" starring Cameron Diaz, "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock, "Cheri" with Michelle Pfeiffer, "The Time Traveler's Wife" with Rachel McAdams and "Julie & Julia" co-starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.
Cineastes can take heart at a directorial lineup that boasts Woody Allen ("Whatever Works"), Sam Mendes ("Away We Go"), Jim Jarmusch ("The Limits of Control") and Ang Lee ("Taking Woodstock").
Here are 10 movies of special interest:
"Angels & Demons"
Friday
Under the headline "It's a Thriller Not a Crusade," Ron Howard defended "Angels & Demons" against charges that it is anti-Catholic propaganda. But as a producer with a financial stake in the movie as well as its director, Howard must have secretly chortled at the fuss. After all, the controversy over "The Da Vinci Code" helped propel its box office into the stratosphere -- more than $758 million globally. Like "Da Vinci," "Angels" is based on a best-selling novel by Dan Brown. Tom Hanks returns as religious academic Robert Langdon, who finds himself investigating an ancient secret brotherhood called the Illuminati, sworn enemies of the Roman Catholic Church.
"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3"
June 19
Computer-generated special effects weren't around when "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" was made the first time, in 1974. Still, it told a convincingly chilling story of subterranean hell when four armed hijackers take over a New York subway and hold passengers hostage. Let's hope that, in the remake, director Tony Scott doesn't drown the human drama in CGI. Denzel Washington plays the role originated by Walter Matthau of a New York transit dispatcher called in to outsmart the bad guys.
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
June 24
With Michael Bay at the helm of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," there is one thing you can count on: It will be LOUD. Bay, director of "Armageddon" and "The Rock," is not known for his subtlety. His latest is a sequel to the 2007 surprise hit "Transformers," in which a heretofore unremarkable teen named Sam becomes enmeshed in a battle between two extraterrestrial clans. Shia LaBeouf is back as Sam in this sequel.
"Whatever Works"
June 26
Woody Allen is back shooting in his beloved New York after four movies in a row set in Europe. In "Whatever Works," the role that sounds as if he wrote it for himself -- an old guy named Boris smitten with a young woman -- is played by Larry David. Boris is an eccentric from Greenwich Village who becomes entangled with a sweet Southerner (Evan Rachel Wood).
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
July 17
Harry Potter fans were not happy when the sixth installment of the movie franchise was moved from a fall 2008 release to this summer. But good things come to those who wait, and the latest chapter in Harry's adventures is almost upon us. A practically grown-up Daniel Radcliffe appears again as Harry. This time he is suspicious that dangers lurk within Hogwarts' doors.
"Funny People"
July 31
It's hard to see a movie lately without first getting a preview of "Funny People." Whether its ubiquity means the studio is especially proud of this film or thinks it needs an extra boost won't be known until opening day. What can be said is that it brings together two major comedy talents: Judd Apatow, writer-director of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up," and Adam Sandler. Their success indicates that they're perfectly in tune with the minds of adolescent boys. The question is: Are these audiences interested in seeing Sandler as a dying middle-aged man?
"Julie & Julia"
Aug. 7
When Nora Ephron wrote her novel "Heartburn" -- a thinly veiled account of her then-husband Carl Bernstein's philandering -- she made the main character a food writer and included recipes at the end of each chapter. So nobody could have cooked up a better choice to direct "Julie & Julia," which tells dual stories of Julia Child's rise to become a food eminence and of an amateur cook named Julie Powell who sets out to prepare all of Child's 524 recipes in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." The movie is based on Powell's book about her experience and on Child's memoir. Meryl Streep plays Child, and Amy Adams is Powell. The actresses have no scenes together, since one story is set in 1950s Paris and the other in 2002 Queens.
"The Time Traveler's Wife"
Aug. 14
Hollywood has made some memorable time-travel romances. "Portrait of Jennie" and "Somewhere in Time" immediately come to mind. Only time will tell if "The Time Traveler's Wife" is in their league. Fans of the 2003 best-selling novel on which it is based are sure to pay close attention to this adaptation. Already there are rumors that key characters have been excised. Eric Bana stars as a Chicago librarian with a weird genetic disorder that causes him to unwillingly travel through time, and Rachel McAdams is the wife who puts up with his long absences.
"Taking Woodstock"
Aug. 14
Director Ang Lee tells a little-known, true story of Elliot Tiber, an employee at a motel in the Catskills who inadvertently made possible the emblematic music festival Woodstock. James Schamus, Lee's frequent collaborator, wrote the screenplay based on Tiber's memoir, which includes his coming out as a gay man while helping to plan the festival. Tiber is played by standup comic Demetri Martin, the "youth correspondent" on "The Daily Show." This is his first starring role.
"Inglourious Basterds"
Aug. 21
Everything about this World War II drama is slightly askew, like its spelling of "inglorious" and "bastard." Quentin Tarantino wrote as well as directed this saga of Jewish American soldiers dispatched to perform targeted acts of retribution on German troops occupying France. Brad Pitt plays the leader of the Jewish squad.
(E-mail Ruthe Stein at pinkletters(at)sfchronicle.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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