Top 5 movies we can’t wait to see this summer

This summer’s bevy of great movies is no different from recent years past. There are some obvious stand-outs, and we’re sure there will be a couple quiet movies that erupt into box office smashes. But these five movies are the ones we’re most looking forward to seeing.

5. Predators
This is a fresh take on a series that started out great and then tanked. We’re confident Producer Robert Rodriguez, director of “Sin City” and “From Dusk ‘Til Dawn” will bring this series back with a vengeance. A strong cast includes Lawrence Fishburne, Adrien Brody and Topher Grace. Well, maybe not Topher Grace, but Fishburne and Brody have acting chops galore. It also brings in a horror director Nimród Antal, who brought us “Vacancy,” an excellent thriller. Let the hunt begin.

4. Jonah Hex
This is the kind of movie that could slip by a lot of people. But this movie, about a bounty hunter in the old west, has a solid cast in Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Aidan Quinn, Megan Fox and Will Arnett, who makes a turn from comedy to this dark comic book movie. There’s no footage available yet, but we’re confident enough to place it at #4.

3. Inception
You had me at Christopher Nolan and Leonardo DiCaprio. In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a single idea within one’s mind can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset. This is a movie that seems to have both a cunning script and a visual paradise of action and dream worlds.

2. Toy Story 3
I know this seems like a cheeky pick, but these movies are really outstanding. They are wonderful symbols of our youth, growth into adulthood and a reflective, sentimental look at toys. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return as Woody the cowboy and spaceman Buzz Lightyear in a new adventure that brings back all our favorites — Mr. Potato Head, Rex the dinosaur, Hamm the piggy bank and more.

1. Iron Man 2
The first Iron Man was fantastic fun. It rewrote the arch of Iron Man, which rattled some nerds’ pocket protectors, but the rest of us enjoyed it immensely. Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark/Iron Man, along with Gwyneth Paltrow and newcomers Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, and Scarlett Johansson bring in the next chapter of the Iron Man films. This will easily be the biggest movie of the season, and for good reason. Director John Favreau has given nothing but respect to fans while creating his own vision of Iron Man.