Top Summer Movie Picks

With summer break about to start, it’s time to hit the theaters for carefree movie fun.

San Andreas – May 29

There have been movies about hurricanes. There have been movies about fires. There has even been a movie about tornadoes spewing out certain, deadly, sharp-toothed sea creatures. So I suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised with San Andreas. The film follows the story of rescue-helicopter pilot Ray, played by the Rock (Dwayne Johnson), who travels from Los Angeles to San Francisco with his estranged wife Emma (Carla Gugino) to rescue their daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario) from the wreckage of a 9.0 earthquake. Pretty tough, huh? Oh, and the entire San Andreas fault also “goes off,” hence the name of the movie. As the tagline of the film says: “everything falls apart.” Literally.

Jurassic World – June 12

Welcome to Jurassic World, the 4th installment of the Jurassic Park series. Set 22 years after the trouble at the first Jurassic Park, the island is now a functioning dinosaur-themed tourist attraction. But with declining attendance, the scientists of the island cook up a genetically modified hybrid to ignite people’s interest again. Of course, all goes wrong when the GM-dinO escapes and terrorizes the rest of the island. Featuring Chris Pratt, Judy Greer, and many more top draws, this Jurassic classic it worth roaring about.

Inside Out – June 19

It’s an animated Disney film, so of course I’m putting in on the list. This time, instead of huggable robots or queens with ice powers, we meet Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) and her personified emotions: Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and her most important emotion, Joy (Amy Poehler). When Riley and her family move from the Midwest to San Francisco, she and her emotions try to adjust to her new life. However, Joy and Sadness accidentally get lost in a different part of Riley’s mind, leaving Fear, Anger, and Disgust to help Riley cope with the change. And as you can imagine, with Joy not there to help Riley make some happy memories, things get a little tricky.

Ant-Man – July 17

Another Marvel release. So who is it this time? Ant-Man. Yes, Ant-Man. (I would’ve liked to see a Black Widow movie, but I’ll take what I can get.) The story this time is that an ex-thief named Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) who must help mentor Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) guard his newest technology, which decreases a user in size and increases their strength, a secret. But when that technology is stolen, Scott has to become something a little more than a hero to help save the world – which is funny, considering how he’s the size of an insect once he puts on his hero costume.

Pixels – July 24

So you know that satellite we sent into space years ago, containing videos and pieces of human culture and such? Well, according to Pixels, extraterrestrial life found that satellite. Unfortunately, the message is misunderstood. So when aliens attack Earth in the form of classic video games like Dojo Quest and Donkey Kong, former 1980s video game champion Sam Brenner, played by Adam Sandler, is called upon by childhood friend and current president William Cooper, to lead a team of retro gamers to battle… wait, is that Pac-Man?

Southpaw – July 24

Meet Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), a successful boxer with a great home and a great wife and daughter. When he leaves his career, on his wife’s insistence, to spend more time with his daughter, a fight during his retirement goes horribly wrong and results in his wife’s death. Now with his daughter in child protection services due to his violent behavior, the only way Billy can get her back is to return to his old world of boxing. With a little help, of course.

Honorable Mentions: Ted 2 (June 26), Terminator Genesis (July 3), Minions (July 10), Mr. Holmes (July 17), Fantastic Four (August 7).