Get Inside

Why you should not: When she's not on, Heckerling makes movies like A Night at the Roxbury, Look Who's Talking Too and European Vacation.

Directed by: Michael Mayer (A Home at the End of the World)

Written by: Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner, based on the novel by Mary O'Hara

What it's about: A young girl tames a wild horse in a heartbreaking attempt to win her father's love.

Why you should see it: Girls, horses, summer, love, magic.

Why you should not: If Mayer's treatment of Flicka is anything like his Home at the End of the World, we're in for a sapfest of personal triumph set to music.

John Tucker Must Die Starring: Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives), Brittany Snow (The Pacifier) and Ashanti (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Directed by: Betty Thomas (The Brady Bunch Movie)

Written by: Jeff Lowell

What it's about: When a trio of hotties discover they're dating the same cad (Metcalfe), they plot to bring about his ruination (but not, despite the title, his demise).

Why you should see it: By July 28, the effects of global warming will have cooked our brains into pink paste. Perfect time for a teen comedy.

Why you should not: This is movie No. 9,432 to attempt to convince us that an obvious beauty is a plain Jane for the first 30 minutes; the idea could be losing a spot of freshness.

Miami Vice Starring: Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx and Gong Li

Written and directed by: Michael Mann (Ali, The Insider)

What it's about: Gee, lessee. Crockett and Tubbs. Drug dealers. Speed boats. Guns. Flashy suits. Bad accents. Expensive cars. Hot chicks. That about covers it.

Why you should see it: See above.

Why you should not: See above. And no Jan Hammer theme song. Rip. Off.

August 4

The Ant Bully Starring: The voices of Zach Tyler, Julia Roberts, Paul Giamatti and Nicolas Cage

Written and directed by: John A. Davis (Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius), based on the novel by John Nickel

What it's about: When a little boy (Tyler) takes out his frustrations on the ant hills in his yard, the bugs fight back.

Why you should see it: If you ignore the creepy undertones (to ants, a stomping kid isn't a bully, he's Osama bin Laden), the story has promise; Cage and Giamatti are A-list voice talent.

Why you should not: Boy, that creepy undertone seems hard to ignore. If all ants have souls and celebrity voices, that means this kid really is a mass murderer.

Fearless Starring: Jet Li, Nakamura Shidou and Betty Sun

Directed by: Ronny Yu (Freddy vs. Jason)

Written by: There doesn't seem to be a credited screenwriter. But Yuen Woo-ping is the fight choreographer, which is what matters most.

What it's about: Jet Li kicks some ass. Then a tragedy happens and he doesn't want to kick any more ass, so he goes into seclusion, where he learns the true way of the warrior. The claim is that this will be Li's last martial-arts epic.

Why you should see it: Sigh. If you know your Hong Kong films, you'd have no doubt that Jet Li and Ronny Yu and Yuen Woo-ping teaming up can only be awesome.

Why you should not: Steer clear if action isn't your thing.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Sacha Baron Cohen

Directed by: Adam McKay (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)

Written by: Will Ferrell and Adam McKay

What it's about: NASCAR champeen Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) finds his title being usurped by a French rival played by Ali G., a'ight?

Why you should see it: Anchorman had some brilliant moments.

Why you should not: Anchorman had some brilliant moments only if you were really, really high.

August 11

Accepted Starring: Justin Long (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story), Adam Herschman and Jonah Hill

Directed by: First-timer Steve Pink

Written by: Bill Collage, Adam Cooper and Mark Perez

What it's about: A slack senior (Long) finds out that he has failed to get into college. So, of course, he and his similarly unmotivated pals fool their parents by inventing their own fraud of a university, which suddenly becomes crowded with similar rejects. Hey, it couldn't be any more worthless than your liberal arts degree, right?

Why you should see it: If a fake frat was funny (as it was in Old School), an entire fake university has to be a knee-slapper, right?

Why you should not: Of course not. Old School was only funny because it had Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn in it. No similar heavyweights present here.

Step Up Starring: Channing Tatum (Coach Carter), Rachel Griffiths and Heavy D

Directed by: Anne Fletcher

Written by: Duane Adler and Melissa Rosenberg