I live in Upstate New York and we only have 3 months of really warm, sunny weather that can be called summer--if we are lucky.  The remaining 9 months of the year it is snowing! Okay, so maybe that is a little over dramatic but the fact remains that we have more snow than sunshine where I live.  So, when summer does finally arrive I take full advantage of it.

One of my favorite summertime activities is to go to the movies.  Not a traditional movie theatre but our local drive-in movie theatre.  This is such an awesome place to visit because we get to watch 3 movies for the low price of $6 per adult and our kids are FREE!!  Plus we can sit outside, enjoying the wonderful warm summer nights, while watching the movie.

 Many film companies push to have their movies released during the summer months.  In fact some of the largest grossing movies were released during the summer months such as:

• Return of the Jedi (Summer 1983) grossed over $23 million
• Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom (Summer 1984) grossed over $25 million
• Lethal Weapon 3 (Summer 1992) grossed over $33 million
• Deep Impact (Summer 1998) grossed over $41 million
• The Mummy (Summer 1999) grossed over $43 million
• SpiderMan (Summer 2003) grossed over $114 million
• Shrek 2 (Summer 2004) grossed over $108 million
• Iron Man (Summer 2008) grossed over $98 million
• The Dark Knight (July 2008) grossed over $158 million

And the list goes on....

With the summer officially in full swing, there have been many big movies released and many more yet to come.  So what are these movies?  Please read on....

1.  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen-- This is the sequel to the 2007 release of the original Transformers.  The basic premise is that the decepticons return to get revenge against the autobots.  As a person who is massively in love with the original, I was first in line to see this one and although the entertainment factor is high, the story line falls short! 

2.   Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs -- This is the third installment in the Ice Age series and by far the best!  There were parts in this movie that made me laugh so hard, I was crying! This is a must see!!

3.   Star Trek -- In my opinion, this franchise has been done to death, however there are plenty of 'trekkies' out there who have flocked to see this film.  I have not--but was told that it is a prequel to every thing else.  It chronicles the story of a young Captain Kirk and how it all started.

4.   Bruno -- This is an acquired taste.  If you liked Borat, then it is my guess that you will enjoy this gem. 

5.   Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -- This is possibly the most anticpated summer film this year!  I know I can't wait for it  : )

6.   Land of the Lost -- C'mon it's Will Ferrell.  How bad could it really be??

7.   Public Enemies -- With a cast consisting of Christian Bale and Johnny Depp, it's definitely a movie that is pleasing to the eyes.  I suppose if you life ganster movies, then this is for you!

8.   Fast and Furious -- This is the fourth or fifth installment of this franchise and although it seems to have the same exact title as the first one, it doesn't--they dropped "THE" from the title.  SPOILER ALERT:  Dom's (Vin Disel) girlfriend Letty is murdered so he takes a job driving for the man who murdered her in an attempt to exact revenge. I am absolutely in LOVE with Vin Disel so I like anything that has him in it.  I will admit that the ending SUCKS!!!  A very disappointing end to a rather good action film.

9.   Up -- A far-fetched story about an old man who ties balloons to his house and flies to exotic places. This was highly promoted as a must-see film for kids but I can attest that it wasn't that great.  Most of the funny moments were shown in the trailer which didn't leave much for the actual movie.  And for being a children's movie, it had too many adult-related themes in my opinion.

10.   NIght at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian -- Unlike many sequels, this one offers the return of all the original characters and is set at Washington, DC's Smithsonian museum.  Unfortunately, I have not had a chance to see this movie yet but have heard that it is better than the original--which by the way, was awesome!

11.   Terminator Salvation -- This is the fourth terminator movie and it stars Christian Bale as John Connor.  Set in post apocolyptic 2018 he is leading the resistance against the machines.  I have not seen it and don't care to.

12.   Angels and Demons -- This is the prequel to The DaVinci Code. Tom Hanks' character Robert Langdon tries to stop a plot to destroy the Vatican.  I loved the first and can't wait to see this.