"Knocked Up" (June 1)
Trying to find a handful of quality summer movie sleepers this year that aren’t sequels or have less than a $150 million budget is like attempting to write a paragraph without using the letter “a.” Tough but not impossible, so let’s give it a shot.
Glowing reviews have already started to come in for Judd Apatow’s “Knocked Up,” starring “Grey’s Anatomy's” Katherine Heigl and Apatow’s steady go-to funny guy, Seth Rogan (“The 40 Year Old Virgin”).

After a drunken night of partying, the two hook up and she soon realizes she’s pregnant. Since neither are even close to ready to become parents, the ramifications are rude, crude and often hysterical.

While their dilemma sets the scene for plenty of laughs, co-stars Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann (Apatow’s wife) play a couple who try to guide Heigl and Rogan by their own example of child-rearing. At times, these two manage to upstage the parents-to-be in eye-watering chuckles.

It’s another cinematic triumph for Apatow, who’s quickly becoming the driving force behind the best comedies of this generation.

"Underdog" (Aug. 3)
On the crime-fighting front, we have Bruce Willis coming back in “Live Free or Die Hard,” but could veteran terrorist-thwarter Willis even come close to the do-good efforts of canine crusader “Underdog”?
Best remembered as a adorable cartoon of the 1960s with super-nerd Wally Cox as the lead voice, this Underdog has gotten a Disney reincarnation — transforming it from animation to live action that, if done right, smells like a fun family romp and, quite possibly, the beginning of a huge-kiddie franchise (Hey, if it worked for “Garfield”...). Or, as the studios are calling doggie-based sequels these days, “puppies.”

"Lucky You" (May 4)
There’s every reason to think that “Lucky You” is going to be a huge disappointment.
It was filmed about four years ago, has been stuck on the shelf at Warner Bros. since then and has had more scheduled release dates over that time than Paris Hilton has traffic violations. The trailer has been redone a handful of times as well — in each version trying to entice a different demographic audience.

But it does have Curtis Hanson behind the wheel, so there’s hope.

Hanson has directed an eclectic range of films, from Meryl Streep running rapids in “The River Wild,” to Russell Crowe busting heads in “L.A. Confidential” to Eminem busting a move in “8 Mile.” And in his most recent, “In Her Shoes” — which some wrote off as nothing more than a failed chick flick — he summoned the best performance of Cameron Diaz’s career.

So let's give a look-see to “Lucky You” — starring Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore and Robert Duvall about a poker tournament in Vegas — before making any snap judgments. The early trailers indicated a hard-nosed drama about gambling while the most recent one turned it into a romantic comedy, with Bana and Barrymore making goo-goo eyes at one another. Let’s see which way it turns out.

"Nancy Drew" (June 15)
“Nancy Drew” will tell us how good Emma Roberts looks in a pair of genes.
Roberts, of course, is Julia’s niece and on the cusp of coming into her own. The 16-year-old has had some small roles up until this point, yet hit it fairly big on the Nickelodeon TV series “Unfabulous,” so the legion of teen girls who’ll see her here should be well acquainted.

The film is based on the hugely popular mystery novels, and now Nancy has moved into a new town where she’s not only trying to get hip with her schoolmates but, at the same time, figure out what’s the deal with the spooky house.

In a summer full of teen fare, “Nancy Drew” could gather a healthy niche crowd of 11- to 15-year-old girls.

"Across the Universe" (tentative date: Sept. 28)
Currently, Revolution Studios chieftan Joe Roth and director Julie Taymor are fighting over who gets final cut of her film “Across the Universe.”
The movie is a musical set in the 1960s that deals with anti-war protests, civil rights, losing one’s mind, and, oh yeah, it’s all accompanied by Beatles music. The images look extremely trippy and, at first sight, it feels like a mix of Stanley Kubrick’s classic “Full Metal Jacket” and Baz Luhrman’s mystical “Moulin Rouge.” And Bono has a small role in it too.

Roth, who’s helmed such cinematic epics as “America’s Sweethearts” and “Christmas With the Kranks” is trying to recut the film without Taymor’s permission. Her films include “Titus” and “Frida,” which earned six Oscar nominations, including one for lead actress Selma Hayak.

I’m no Orson Welles and nothing personal against Roth, who did a fine job of running Disney for a number of years, but it seems like Taymor’s vision might be the most clear in what defines a great film.

"The Ex" (May 11)
Zach Braff has made his career as a free-spirited doc on NBC’s “Scrubs” but he’s quietly accumulating a nice little movie resume as well.
He directed and starred in “Garden State” to critical acclaim three years ago, played the lead in last year’s “The Last Kiss” with “O.C.” hottie Rachel Bilson, and is being talked about to re-create the Chevy Chase role in the “Fletch” series in the near future.

For now, though, he’s Amanda Peet’s husband in the adult comedy “The Ex.” Braff must go to work full time for his father-in-law when Peet becomes pregnant, and one of his co-workers is Jason Bateman, who knew Peet as a child and still has feelings for her.

Bateman, who was spectacularly funny in every episode of the underappreciated Fox series “Arrested Development,” seems a perfect comic foil to Braff. There is little doubt that these TV stars (Peet is coming off a turn in NBC’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”) could do much worse than stepping up to the bigscreen with this promising-looking comedy.

"The Evening" (June 15)
Finally, Hungarian Oscar-nominated cinematographer Lajos Koltai directs his first English-language film with “Evening.” That fact alone wouldn’t be all that much to recommend the film, but check out the cast: Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Claire Danes, Patrick Wilson (“Little Children”) and Toni Collette. Now, that’s a starting lineup.
The plot involves a dying woman and her daughters’ reconciliation with those cold, hard facts. With “The Devil Wears Prada,” Streep earned her 14th Oscar nomination last summer and according to imdb.com, she has a staggering 10 films slated for release between now and the end of next year.

None have Roman numerals after the title or deal with the world destruction. We’ll leave those films up to Maguire, Willis and Depp.

To whet my movie appetite this summer, Meryl’s name on a poster is more than enough for me.

I have my doubts about Underdog, I grew up watching the cartoon.

I want to see "Knocked Up." The previews look good.

I want to see "Knocked Up." The previews look good.
Ditto!