By Cheryl Eddy

THE WORLD IS an uncertain, cyanide-in-your-coffee kind of place. But one thing you can count on at this time of year is a big, juicy crop of gloriously overblown summer movies. And since nowadays "summer movies" actually start rolling off the presses in early May, the games have already begun. So we can cheat a little and leave the perfectly enjoyable X-Men 2: X-Men United out of the discussion, because you've no doubt seen that weeks-old picture by now, and if you haven't, this might not be the list for you. What follows is a highly biased, sight-unseen selection of 10 films worth taking note of this season. Note: opening dates are subject to change.

May 15 Remember back in 1999 when the world was foaming at the mouth in anticipation of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace? And then, before you could finish saying "midichlorians," everyone realized the other sci-fi movie they'd seen a few weeks earlier, the one with the slick shades, latex bodysuits, and killer special effects, was actually much, much cooler. The Matrix Reloaded signals Keanu "I Know Kung Fu!" Reeves's return to bullet-time form after a series of weirdly cuddly post-Matrix maneuvers (Sweet November, The Replacements, Hard Ball). Mindfuck masterminds the Wachowski brothers aim to break even more ground with their trilogy's middle film, said to end on a cliff-hanger to be resolved in The Matrix Revolutions (due later this year).

June 6 The next of many sequels on this list – hey, it's a sequel kind of summer – may be slim on cheeky yuks, but the fact that 2 Fast 2 Furious takes itself so deadly seriously is half the fun. Original Fast and the Furious figurehead Vin "I Won't Get Out of Bed for Less than $30 Million" Diesel is absent this go-round, but the 2001 flick's less-memorable costar, Paul Walker, is back burning rubber behind the wheel. A bigger budget, a Miami setting, and director John Singleton (Boyz in the Hood) are all in place to amplify the need, the need for speed.

June 13 Quickie curio From Justin to Kelly – better known as "that American Idol movie" – joins the long legacy of flicks created to shamelessly cash in on pop culture phenomena. Like, uh, Spice World. And The Garbage Pail Kids Movie. It's based on a reality show and set during spring break, à la The Real Cancun, but presumably with less body shots and more "spontaneous" singing and dancing.

June 20 San Francisco, already decimated by The Core, gets another helping of movie mayhem with The Hulk, which may or may not signal the pervasive return of the catchphrase "Don't make me angry ... you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Relative unknown Eric Bana (Black Hawk Down) assumes the Bruce Banner role, while the not-so-jolly green giant is played by a boatload of special effects. Though previews hint that the Hulk might be a wee bit obviously fake – more Shrek than Ferrigno – if anyone can bring gravitas to a C.G. character, and film one hell of a fight scene while he's at it, it's director Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

June 27 The motocross scene alone (glimpsed in the trailer) is reason enough to see Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, but if you need more enticement, consider the fact that Bernie Mac is playing Bosley this time around. (Nothing against Bill Murray, you understand, but Bernie Mac is God.) Also, the movie boasts the bikini-clad return of Demi Moore, Austin Powers-style celeb cameos, and at least one segment in which Diaz, Barrymore, and Liu go undercover as nuns. This is one action movie that will have it all, including, perhaps most important, a sense of humor.

July 2 On this crucial date, two fearsome females meet head-to-head in a battle for Independence Day supremacy. One (Kristanna Loken) costars with Arnold "I Too Won't Get Out of Bed for Less than $30 Million" Schwarzenegger as a killing machine sent from the future to off (who else?) John Connor in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. The other (Reese Witherspoon) paints D.C. pink in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde. On paper, the cyborg looks to have the edge, but you can't discount the cunning power of Elle Woods (or the fact that T3 lacks the guiding hand of James Cameron).

July 9 Like all of you, I erupted in derisive laugher upon hearing about the existence of a movie based on Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Starring Johnny Depp, of all people. But a credible director (The Ring's Gore Verbinski), an interesting cast (besides Depp, there's Geoffrey Rush, Bend It like Beckham's Keira Knightly, and The Lord of the Ring's Orlando Bloom), and the inherent coolness of swashbucklers (especially undead swashbucklers) may keep Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl afloat. (Note: the Eddie Murphy-starring Haunted Mansion, due this winter, inspires no such optimistic feelings.)

Aug. 8 Two words: Shaolin Soccer. Already a smash in Hong Kong, Stephen Chow's action comedy is destined to be the coolest movie of the summer.

Aug. 15 Two more words: Freddy and Jason. As in Krueger and Voorhees. The two powerhouses of '80s horror finally go claw to hockey mask in Freddy vs. Jason. Handicapping this battle isn't easy; if sequels were points, Jason'd be ahead (10) of Freddy (7), but the smart-mouthed pride of Elm Street was always far more clever – for instance, you never saw Jason casually munching a pizza dotted with miniature, screaming human heads. A supporting cast that includes Destiny's Child songbird Kelly Rowland may draw in the kids, but die-hard splatter fanatics have been waiting for this grudge match since 1984.

Summer plans