At certain times of the day here in central VA, it already feels like it’s summertime (never mind that the rest of the time, there’s frost on the ground – seriously, today, the weather channel’s calling for a swing of almost fifty degrees!). For most of my lifetime, summer has brought with it the “event movie” season.

I tend not to go out to theaters very often. It’s franky too expensive, and kind of a pain in the ass. Still, being on the road so much, A Wednesday afternoon matinee where I’m damned near the only person in the theater is just what I need after a long, crappy day at the remote office. And, a rainy Saturday afternoon at the cinema as a good way to spend some sorta quality time with the boy, particularly if superheroes are involved.

Given those conditions, I’ll probably see at least a handful of the big releases coming out this summer; here are a few that I’m looking forward to, and if I don’t see them theatrically, I’ll certainly add them to the DVD collection in the fall.

In no particular order (though I’m pretty sure that, as I write this, they fall into chronological order of release), after the jump:

Iron Man: Robert Downey Jr. as billionaire playboy Tony Stark, blowing the crap out of everything in various sets of powered superhero armor. This is a no-brainer. I’ve already read the obligatory Peter David tie-in novel; the story is pretty close to the comic origin, and pretty faithful to the story otherwise. There’s also the rumors of Sam Jackson as Nick Fury, and crossovers with another summer Marvel film. Cool.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: The long-rumored fourth entry in the Indy saga. I don’t know much about it, other than the fact that the pictures leaking out look good – An Indiana Jones movie is always a good time, and the poster makes it look like there might be aliens…weird, but also cool.

The Incredible Hulk: The sequel/remake/reimagining of a film that only came out five years ago. Hmmm…Now, I’m one of the few who actually liked most of the Ang Lee Hulk film, but this one looks to be taking a less cerebral, more “Hulk Smash!” tack, with an entirely new cast of people I mostly like (though I liked the old cast a lot, too), and looks like it’s taking a bit more of its influence from the 70s TV show. And there’s talk of a crossover with Iron Man, finally creating the whole “shared universe” concept that’s been completely missing from comics movies, and giving me hope for an eventual kick-ass Avengers film once they get Thor, Captain America, and one or two others on celluloid.

Wall-E: The latest Pixar release about a cute little robot in the far future. Pixar always deserves consideration, even if I was a little let down by the last couple of films.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army: I loved the first Hellboy, for reasons I can’t quite articulate – it just had style, with tentacled demons, clockwork Nazis, and the two best “act from behind big prosthetics” performers in the business, Ron Perlman and Doug Jones. Andrew calls it “The Angry Guy” movie. I think this sequel, from the same production team, ought to be a lot of fun.

The Dark Knight: The follow-up to Batman Begins which was quite good. This one looks to continue the whole “dark and gritty” theme, and Heath Ledger’s performance, even without the pall of his untimely death, looks quite chilling. And it’s Batman without Schumacher – what else does one need, really?

The X-Files: I Want to Believe: Some may say it’s too late, but I don’t. The television show consumed almost a decade of my weekend evenings, and was one of the things Colleen and I bonded over during our courtship (I wonder what that says about our relationship?). Anyway, I’ve very little idea where they’re going story-wise, but I’ll always be ready for another adventure with Mulder and Scully. Now, if only they could find a way to get the Lone Gunmen back…

There are probably a few more that will catch my attention, but these are the films that interest me now; I’m sure I’ll end up giving a few a pass and wait for the DVD, but that’s more a function of time and resources than anything else.

What’s got your attention this summer?

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* ten dollars is roughly, rounded up, what a movie costs anymore in the Washington DC market, which sucks.