The Joker's face. Tony Stark's suit. Maxwell Smart trapped in a phone booth.

Hello, summer.

The summer-movie season starts today (or Thursday, if you went to an early screening of Iron Man). But our senses have been battered for some time with ads, stories, magazine covers and trailers. Lots of trailers. Big noise. This is summer, after all, when action and outrageous comedy are seen as sure ticket-sellers.

Still, as consumers you must be asking how much money do you want to spend on movies between now and August? Not only for tickets, either. You have to think about the price of gas — because we have to think about the price of gas before doing almost anything. And movie popcorn may be the one thing that costs more per ounce than gasoline.

So are the dazzling visual effects in the Speed
Racer trailers reason enough to sit through an entire movie? Is Wanted worth the trip just because it has Angelina Jolie back doing action — or does the trailer hint just a bit too much at Jolie as aging dominatrix?

Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Just don't know. The X-Files: I Want to Believe? I was iffy about the TV series. Same deal with the Sex and the City movie.

Not that I'm staying home. When the gardening tools are put away and the sun has gone down, I expect to be spending a good bit of time in the cool darkness of movie theaters.

While I get to see a fair number of movies for free, I usually have a separate list of movies that I'll attend even if I miss the critics' preview. I paid to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall and expect to do so for Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. I would have done likewise for Iron Man, if something had kept me from the preview on Tuesday — and Iron Man was good enough to make me marginally more optimistic about the new Incredible Hulk.

So here's my list of summer movies that have grabbed me, sight unseen:

1. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL - (Opens locally on May 22) It's Harrison Ford, directed by Steven Spielberg, in one of the great action franchises. It's up-and-comer Shia LaBeouf, who already has a fantasy-action rep thanks to 'Transformers.' I have already gone back and watched the first three movies again just to get ready for this one. But there is a risk. Ford will be 66 in July - an age that startles at least one 19-year-old I know.

2. THE DARK KNIGHT - (July 18)Heath Ledger's untimely death has cast a pall over this production. But if we can separate the artist from the art - remembering the chill that came when Ledger's Joker was first seen in trailers - then the movie is a grabber. its immediate predecessor, 'Batman Begins,' was a nice revitalization of the Batman franchise, and I'm ready for more.

3. GET SMART - (June 20) All right, so the trailer shows a recycling of a LOT of bits from the TV series. Still, if anyone was made to play Maxwell Smart, it's Steve Carell. And after the misfires of 'Dan in Real Life' and 'Evan Almighty,' this should put him back in a very funny place. Maybe not as funny as a really good episode of 'The Office,' but still good enough to get me in a theater.

4. KUNG FU PANDA - (June 6) The title alone would make me think about seeing this animated tale of animals and, well, kung fu. Jack Black's presence seals the deal.

5. HANCOCK - (July 2) Will Smith is box-office dynamite these days; he drove the downbeat 'I Am Legend' to a $256 million payday. And the Fourth of July weekend has done well for him at times - although the Smith/holiday combo doesn't guarantee I'll be in line. (I passed on 'The Wild Wild West,' and later viewing mad me more than comfortable with that decision.) But Smith as a superhero who is bitter and misunderstood? Absolutely.

6. HAMLET 2 - I'm a fan of Steve Coogan, thanks to his turns in '24 Hour Party People' and as the wildly unsuccessful talk-show host Alan Partridge in a string of 'Office'-like British comedy series (If you haven't seen them, go get the DVDs now.) So I'm ready for him in the comedy ensemble of 'Tropic Thunder'. And I'm even more intrigued by the idea of Coogan as a teacher who wants to inspire his students with - based on the 'Hamlet 2' trailer - some inventively bizarre results.

7. STEP BROTHERS - (July 25) Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly together again - as a couple of losers brought under one roof when Ferrell's mom marries Reilly's dad. Ferrell and Reilly have done funny work apart (Reilly's 'Walk Hard' should have been a hit). But since I still grin every time I hear one of their 'Talladga Nights' clips on local radio, I'm ready for their reuniting.

8. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS - (Aug. 8). Stoners (Seth Rogen and James Franco) get into trouble in this comedy from the Judd Apatow factory. I can't say that it will be this summer's 'Superbad' or 'Knocked Up,' but I'm ready to find out.

9. TROPIC THUNDER - (Aug. 15). this is shaping up as a big year for Robert Downey Jr. He has 'Iron Man.' He will have 'The Soloist,' playing journalist Steve Lopez opposite Jamie Foxx as former Clevelander Nathaniel Ayers. And in between, he has this movie, a comedy about the making of a war movie gone wrong. With Jack Black, Nick Nolte, Ben Stiller, Jay Baruchel, Bill Hader.

10. YOUN@HEART - (May 9). It's a documentary about a senior citizens group that performs songs you might not expect - but which take on a new tone with these singers. The Ramones' 'I Wanna Be Sedated,' for one. Or Talking Heads' 'Road to Nowhere.' You can already find some of their music on YouTube. (Don't miss the Bee Gees' 'Stayin' Alive,' and Coldplay's 'Fix You.') But the documentary gives us a closer look at the singers and their preparation for songs.