The Best Movies to keep on watch this season!

THE DARK KNIGHT

Take note, future DC and Marvel installments: This was everything we wanted in a summer movie and a superhero movie. There was hype, but no over-saturation. The flick was dark, but not so dark as to make us question why we watch these movies in the first place. And Christian Bale made for a great hero we could all get behind. In other words, this was the summer movie we all needed, but not the one we deserved.

THE HURT LOCKER

Summer is normally a place for gaudy comedies and over-the-top action flicks, which is what made this July, 2009 release stand out even more. Then-newcomers Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie starred in a heavy hitter about a bomb disposal unit in the Iraqi War that went on to win six Oscars (and be nominated for another three on top of it). By accolades alone, this has to take at least one of the top spots. After all, just because it's summer doesn't mean that audience members couldn't use a good life lesson on the perils of war and mental repercussions that soldiers face.

BRIDESMAIDS

It was May 13, 2011, and America was readyyyy to partyyy. This was the kind of flick that you found excuses to see (in the theater!) several times during the course of its run. Your dog walker's sister hasn't seen Bridesmaids? Time to hit the AMC.

MEN IN BLACK

Humans fighting aliens will always make for a stellar summer movie—as long as it's not a sequel, of course. Men In Black, for its part, even had a Top 40-ready soundtrack to really lean in on that whole branding thing. "The galaxy defenderssss."

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

It seems like there may be a theme here: If you're looking to release a movie during the summer months that has a momentum that lasts through awards season, make sure it's about war. 

UP

Ugh, we can't even look at this photo without ugly-crying. And thus, into the record books, it goes.