Sun screen

WHEN HARRY MET LLOYD: DUMB AND DUMBERER
‘Prequel’ to the Farrelly brothers classic, this sees Jim Carrey back doing what he does best – being utterly stupid for the amusement of deeply retarded popcorn-munching audiences. Expect extreme idiocy. Released June 13

BASIC
Already a massive number one hit Stateside, Basic reunites Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta under the auspices of John ‘Die Hard’ Mc Tiernan for a military thriller which sees Travolta mounting an investigation into the disappearance of a Sergeant and his unit, only to discover conflicting accounts of events. Expect Rashomon with green berets. Released June 20

2 FAST 2 FURIOUS
Sequel to the high-octane Fast and the Furious: this time, they couldn’t get Vin Diesel, but doubtless there are more than enough fast cars and loose women to compensate. Expect lots of vroom vroom. Released June 20

CHARLIE’S ANGELS 2; FULL THROTTLE
Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu (pictured) are reunited as the ass-kicking, crime-fighting heroines on the trail of former angel-turned-evil Demi Moore. As McG is once again directing, expect MTV grade eye-candy. Released July 4

LEGALLY BLONDE 2; RED, WHITE & BLONDE
Sequel to the unexpectedly gigantic Legally Blonde, with the ultra-bankable (pay-cheque = $20 million a movie and counting) Reese Witherspoon as the improbable Harvard Law graduate. This time out our fluffy heroine Elle is dismayed to discover that due to animal testing, her beloved pet pooch’s parents will be unable to attend its forthcoming doggie nuptuals. Hence, Elle sets off for Washington DC armed with her legal savvy and fashion sense determined to push a bill on the matter through Congress. Expect a lot of pink. – Released July 25

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
Based on the Disney theme-park ride (It’s synergy, people!), a bunch of pirates are cursed to float around between life and death, but they can be set free, if only they can cough up enough pieces of eight. Cue the kidnapping of an official’s daughter (Keira Knightly) and a rescue mission involving Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom without the pointy ears. Expect gangplanks and swashbuckling adventure. Released August 8

AMERICAN PIE 3: AMERICAN WEDDING
While some of the franchise’s more familiar faces (Nadia, Heather, etc) have been written out of this third installment of the teen comedy, Stiffler (Seann William Scott) and Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) have returned to battle it out for the affections of Michelle’s (Alyson Hannigan) little sister, and to organise a debauched batchelor party before Michelle and Jim’s (Jason Biggs) wedding. Expect assless pants, strippers and Eugene Levy. Released August 15

VERONICA GUERIN
Not the first dramatisation of the Sunday Indo crime correspondent’s extraordinary life and death, but the most eagerly-awaited, 2000’s When The Sky Falls having done little justice to its subject. This time, with Joel Schumacher at the helm and Cate Blanchett heading up an impressive cast, expect that the quality control should be hugely improved. Released July 11

THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN
Adapting Alan Moore’s cult comic for the big screen was always going to be tricky. After all, this variation on the Justice League is set in Victorian England, and is drawn from literary characters including Allan Quartermain (Sean Connery), Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (Jason Flemying), Tom Sawyer (Shane West) and Dorian Grey (Stuart Townsend). This was always destined to be a hard-sell then, but this $100 million production has been further complicated by delays, cast changes and bust-ups between director Stephen Norrington and Connery. Expect the year’s most unusual blockbuster, if nothing else. Released August 15

HULK
This big-screen adaptation of Stan Lee’s timeless creation is the summer’s most hotly anticipated flick. Not surprising given that the movie’s director is Ang Lee, and the writer is James Schamus. Add to this a superb cast including Nick Nolte, Jennifer Connelly and Eric ‘Chopper’ Bana and its a bit of a sure thing. Expect this year’s Spiderman. Released July 18

LARA CROFT: TOMBRAIDER 2 – THE CRADLE OF LIFE
Angelina Jolie returns as the buxom cyber-chick. This time out, a journey to a sunken underworld reveals the mythical Pandora’s Box, but Lara must battle nefarious villians Chen and Reiss to prevent the device been used as a doomsday weapon. Expect an improvement on the first movie. Well, the only way is up, surely? Released August 22

TERMINATOR 3; RISE OF THE MACHINES
It had to happen, even if James Cameron wouldn’t do it. Everybody’s favourite talking Austrian oak (Schwarzenegger - pictured) returns to the role that made him a household name, and this time out, he’s a schizophrenic Terminator battling against the even more wooden talents of model Kristanna Loken as an all-conquering Terminatrix, while Nick Stahl (In The Bedroom) does the honours as John Connor. Expect great special effects, not so great acting. Released August 1