Top 5 Summer Films You Shouldn’t Miss

Leah Marin is a communications coordinator for Projection Screens.

Summer is a time of freedom; freedom from school, stress, and hopefully work (as many Americans take off for vacation).  And there is no better way to spend a lazy summer afternoon than by beating the heat in a lovely air-conditioned theater.  But with studios throwing everything they’ve got into making that gold-mine blockbuster that will revitalize their sales, it’s hard to sort through the hype and get to the heart of which movies are actually worth seeing.  So here are a few for summer 2010 that you can’t afford to miss.

1.Toy Story 3 (in theaters now) – In the third iteration of this family-friendly Pixar series, Andy is going off to college and Woody, Buzz, and pals are remanded to what is virtually a retirement home for toys (a children’s daycare – oh, the humanity!).  While there, they meet new toys, find love, and uncover a nefarious plot.  But the real question is: how will they get back to Andy?

2. Twilight: Eclipse (opens June 30) – I didn’t want to include this movie on the list, but you have to admit, the Twilight series has caught the attention of not only teenage girls, but people everywhere.  And it has to be said, the second movie showed a definite improvement over the first (starring Taylor Lautner’s new and improved abs). With that in mind, this could be the biggest movie of the summer and there is no better theater-going experience than one in which you get drawn in by the mood of the audience as everyone laughs, screams, and applauds together.Oh, almost forgot the synopsis.  Edward and Jacob fight over Bella.  Victoria raises an army of vampires to exact vengeance for the death of her beloved, who no one remembers because he died in the first movie.

3. The Last Airbender 3D (opens July 1) – M. Night Shyamalan’s triumphant return (based on Nickelodeon’s animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender) follows young Aang, the last of his kind, on a rebellious quest to defeat the fire nation through his rare control of the elements.  Since the audience won’t be holding out for Shyamalan’s patented twist at the end, it might turn out to be his most enjoyable film in years.

4. Inception (opens July 16) – Leonardo DiCaprio teams up with Christopher Nolan (director of The Dark Night) and the effervescent Ellen Page for this psychological thriller that literally gets inside your mind.  Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is a thief who has given up everything to become the best at what he does: stealing information from people’s minds during their vulnerable dream state.  But in order to get his life back, he’ll have to plant an idea instead.  With an excellent line-up of actors and some killer CGI, this film could offer enough eye candy and adrenaline to really entertain.

5. Eat Pray Love (opens August 13) – Based on the best-selling memoir, this film follows Liz Gilbert (a resplendent Julia Roberts) as a woman on a journey to rediscover herself through a year of international travel in which she will eat (in Italy), pray (in India), and love (in Bali), as the title suggests.  Is it too soon to dub this the feel-good movie of the year?

BONUS! Predators (opens July 9) – The latest in the Predator series offers a whole planet full of the razor-mouthed, laser-pointing, invisible, dreadlocked monsters chasing a group of dangerous killers (led by Adrian Brody?) who have been dropped in as game for the hunting.  Anyone who needs a little action and gore this summer should definitely get to the chopper and see this movie!