Sizzling summer

Admit it: There are times when you just want to scream.

Friends and family are getting on your nerves, school and/or work feels deadly boring, your bank account is nearly empty, the rent is due and your car is making some sort of strange noise.

This is why they invented summer movies.

Take the top three summer films of 2003: “Finding Nemo,” “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.” They didn’t make a total of $870 million by the time Labor Day rolled around by depending on subtitles, exploring middle-age angst or unfolding plots slower than a Jamie Moyer changeup.

No, they flat hauled ass. They blew things up. They took us on journeys to exotic locations and introduced us to unforgettable characters.

And yet they invited us each to, if not actually think, then at least to feel.

The coming summer movie season is just beginning (blockbusters “Van Helsing” and “Troy” are already in the theaters), and it’s likely to be no different. Filled with sequels and remakes, exercises in action and suspense, comic foils and superheroes, summer 2004 has every excuse for escapism ever imagined.

So forget the rent. Forget the car. They can wait.

Summer movies beckon.

Don’t scream. Just siiiiiiiiigggggggghhhhhhh with relief.

Following is a list of the major releases through August. As always, the lineup may change as studios adjust for best box-office results (check your weekly calendar).

May 28

The Day After Tomorrow:

Global warming not real? To Roland Emmerich (“Independence Day”) it is, which is why he gives us a scientist (Dennis Quaid) trying to inform the world that the worst is coming while at the same time trying to save his son (Jake Gyllenhall) and wife (Sela Ward). What to look for: a tidal wave wiping out New York City.

Raising Helen: Party girl Helen (Kate Hudson) is appointed as stepmother to her dead sister’s three children, which forces her to choose between family love and living large. What to look for: the sadly underused Joan Cusack, who plays Helen’s uptight sister.

Soul Plane: What happens when “Airplane!” meets “Barbershop”? Easy answer there: this comedy about a guy suing an airline company and getting a settlement big enough to start his own hip-hop-theme airline. What to look for: Snoop Dogg as a pilot afraid of heights.

June 4

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) returns for his third year at Hogwarts, and this time he faces an escaped inmate from the Wizard prison of Azkaban (Gary Oldman) and the fearsome prison guards called Dementors. What to look for: a different kind of Harry film thanks to Mexican Director Alfonso Cuaron (“Y Tu Mama Tambien”).

Mindhunters: Stuck on an island, seven FBI trainees begin to suspect that one of them is a serial killer. Think “Survivor” meets “Ten Little Indians.” What to look for: One online critic calls the first five minutes “a mini-movie unto itself, a real nail-biter that catches the audience by surprise.”

June 11

The Chronicles of Riddick: Five years after he survived mechanical monsters in “Pitch Black,” the ex-convict Riddick (Vin Diesel) takes on nothing less than a galactic war. What to look for: Riddick killing a prison guard with a teacup.

Garfield: Odie the clueless pooch is kidnapped, and Garfield tries to summon the energy to rescue him. What to listen for: Bill Murray as Garfield’s voice.

The Stepford Wives: This second adaptation of Ira Levin’s novel (Kathryn Ross starred in the 1975 original) features Nicole Kidman as an ex-TV executive who finds herself living in a town built to fulfill male fantasies. What to look for: Jon Lovitz does a nude scene?

June 16

Around the World in 80 Days: Another remake, this one has British actor Steve Coogan (“24 Hour Party People”) playing Phileas Fogg, the inventor who bets members of his London club that he can traverse the globe in just 80 days. What to look for: Jackie Chan kicking butt as Fogg’s assistant.

June 18

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story: To save their gym from the wrecking ball, a group of losers enters a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament. What to look for: Ben Stiller (“Zoolander”) teaming up with Vince Vaughn (“Old School”).

The Terminal: Tom Hanks plays an immigrant from a small Eastern European country who gets stranded in a New York City airport terminal when war wipes his country from the map. What to look for: Catherine Zeta-Jones as the flight attendant all men dream of.

Darkness: An ancient evil threatens a family that has just moved into an old country house. What to look for: Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwww, the walls bleed!

June 23

White Chicks: To keep their job, two FBI agents (Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans) disguise themselves as . . . well, Paris Hilton clones. What to look for: Some of the worst makeup jobs in the history of film.

June 25

The Notebook: Another Nicholas Sparks melodrama, this one involving two couples — the elders (James Garner, Gena Rowlands) reading a notebook that unveils the love story of a pair of youngsters (Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams). What to look for: The setting, Charleston, S.C.

Two Brothers: Tiger cubs are split at birth, raised among humans, then released to fend for themselves — and even maybe fight each other. What to look for: the tigers as cute balls of fur.

June 30

Spiderman 2: Still conflicted about his double life as college student/cub photographer and crime-fighting superhero, Peter Parker opts to become a civilian — until another villain called Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina) seeks him out. What to look for: Bruce Campbell (from “Spiderman” director Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead” series) as a snotty theater usher.

July 2

The Clearing: An executive (Robert Redford) is kidnapped, and as he negotiates with his kidnapper (Willem Dafoe), his family (Helen Mirren plays the wife) tries to meet the demands. What to look for: Redford and Dafoe rolling in the mud.

July 7

King Arthur: Another take on the legend of Camelot, this time director Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”) gives things a bit of a “Braveheart” feel. What to look for: Keira Knightly playing Guinevere as one hard-core warrior.

July 9

Anchorman: Two words — Will Ferrell. Here the “Saturday Night Live” veteran plays a Ted Baxter-like anchorman who finds himself threatened by a woman who can do more than read a teleprompter. What to look for: L.A. passing itself off as Portland.

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster: The co-directors of “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” document two years in the life of the band Metallica. What to look for: group therapy, heavy-metal style.

Sleepover: As a way of improving their high school social status, four girls lie so that they can compete in an all-night scavenger hunt. What to look for: “Spy Kids” star Alexa Vega on a skate board.

July 14

Shadow of Fear: Shot in Spokane, and directed by North By Northwest’s Rich Cowan, this mystery stars Matthew Davis (“Blue Crush”) as a young man who accidentally kills someone and then has to pay blackmail to keep from getting arrested. Also starring James Spader, Robin Tunney, Peter Coyote (of North By Northwest’s “The Basket”) and Aidan Quinn. What to look for: Locals who worked as extras.

July 16

A Cinderella Story: Hillary Duff is stuck with a stepmother and two scheming stepsisters, but still manages — with the help of a cell phone instead of a glass slipper — to find her Prince Charming. What to look for: Jennifer Coolidge (“Legally Blonde”) as the wicked stepmom.

I, Robot: Bearing only a slight resemblance to the Isaac Asimov stories that inspired it, this sci-fi film stars Will Smith as a police officer of the future investigating the alleged murder of a human by a robot. What to look for: robots, robots, robots!

July 23

The Bourne Supremacy: Matt Damon returns as the renegade intelligence agent/killer Jason Bourne who is fingered for the murder of a Chinese vice-premier. What to look for: Franka “Run Lola Run” Potente.

Catwoman: Halle Berry stars as the mild-mannered Patience Phillips who is murdered, only to reanimate as the superhero Catwoman. What to look for: Holy dominatrix, Batman!

July 30

Garden State: Zach Braff of TV’s “Scrubs” wrote and directed this darkly comic little movie about an inhibited actor wannabe who returns home to attend his mother’s funeral. What to look for: Natalie Portman showing the acting talent she first showed eight years ago as a 15-year-old in “Beautiful Girls.”

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle: A pair of stoners (John Cho, Kal Penn) discovers themselves on an all-night quest through New Jersey to find White Castle hamburgers. What to look for: “Dude, Where’s My Car?”-type gags.

The Manchurian Candidate: Denzel Washington is a Gulf War vet/prisoner of war who can’t get over the feeling that he may be part of a plot to affect a U.S. presidential election. What to look for: comparisons with the 1962 original.

She Hate Me: Spike Lee’s first film in two years is about a jobless biotech engineer (Anthony Mackie) who begins making money impregnating lesbians. What to look for: pickets outside the theater by religious and lesbian groups.

The Village: A 19th-century village lives in peace with the creatures of the forest. And then one day the truce is broken. What to look for: Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’s typical blend of cool-colored visuals and creepy plot lines.

Aug. 6

Collateral: A contract killer (Tom Cruise) forces a taxi driver (Jamie Foxx) to ferry him around for a night of murder. What to look for: Cruise as a bad guy? Holy “Taps,” Batman!

Shall We Dance? In this remake of a pleasing Japanese melodrama, accountant (Richard Gere) breaks out of his regular routine by taking ballroom dancing lessons from . . . J-Lo! What to look for: dance moves from former Fly Girl (“In Living Color”) Lopez.

Aug. 11

The Princess Diaries 2: Anne Hathaway returns as the young nerd of a girl who, now a queen-to-be, finds herself being groomed for an arranged wedding. What to look for: Julie “The Sound of Music” Andrews sings.

Aug. 13

Alien vs. Predator: In the ruins of an ancient Antarctic city, a group of scientists discovers five Predators hunting Aliens as part of a boys-to-men ritual. What to look for: Lance Henriksen and lots of gunfire.

We Don’t Live Here Anymore: Cheating ruins some good friendships, and two marriages, in this Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner. What to look for: a marriage counselor.

Yu-Gi-Oh: Based on the television series, and the basis of trading-card frenzy, this “Pokémon”-like creation has hero Yugi battling his archenemy Anubis. What to look for: the exit?

Aug. 20

Exorcist: The Beginning: Prequel to the 1973 original, this the-devil-made-me-do-it thriller stars Stellan Skarsgard as the young Father Merrin first encountering the demon in post-World War II Africa. What to look for: salvation?

Hero: Chinese director Zhang Yimou directed this “Crouching Tiger”-like story of a warrior (Jet Li) and his three confederates (Donnie Yen, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung) who may, or may not, be plotting to overthrow a warlord. What to look for: swordfights!

Open Water: A married couple on a diving trip gets left behind and must fight to survive as the sharks begin to close in. What to look for: expedition leaders with bad math skills.

Without a Paddle: Three city slickers (Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, Dax Shepard) head out on a canoe trip, searching for D.B. Cooper’s $200,000 treasure, but trouble looms. What to look for: Burt Reynolds — and comparisons to “Deliverance.”

Aug. 27

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Black Orchid: Looking for the mysterious black orchid, which is said to extend life, a group of scientists runs into a gaggle of big snakes. What to look for: an original plot line.

Benji Returns: Rags to Riches: The doggie hero returns to help a couple of humans develop faith in themselves. What to look for: a dish of Alpo.