Movie aficionado Mike Mayo gives Blogzarro his two cents on this summer’s movies. Unlike me, Mike knows what he’s talking about. He’s one of America’s foremost movie experts, contributing to television, radio, print, and online outlets. He was the co-host of the long-running radio show “Max and Mike on the Movies.” And his next book, “American Murder,” about real crimes and the movies that they have inspired, will be published in early 2008. You can check him out online at MaxAndMike.com. But before you do, see what he has to say about the movies coming this summer…

What makes a good summer movie?
A good summer blockbuster is two hours away from reality. It’s unashamed entertainment; your brain is not going to be overtaxed. But the best Hollywood summer movies aren’t going to be aggressively, insultingly stupid either. It’s going to be highly polished with really good special effects, terrific bad guys, maybe a pinch of sex (but just a pinch), and lots of stuff is going to blow up.

This summer is packed with high-profile movies, but which will be best?
“Ocean’s 13″ shows a lot of promise. The trailers are terrific, but then, so were the trailers to the abysmal “Ocean’s 12,” one of the great stink bombs of our young century. I also like what I’ve seen of “Live Free or Die Hard” (if I can just get the images of those Mac ads out of my head). But I predict that the best movie of the summer is going to be “The Bourne Ultimatum.” It’s got all of the original creative team on both sides of the camera. The premise still has some potential and the “realism” that these films bring to the genre is still fresh.

What’s going to be the big flop of the summer?
This is what they call a target-rich environment — so many choices. But I think it’s going to be unusually tough for the ladies. Has Lindsay Lohan become the new J-Lo with “I Know Who Killed Me”? Or will J-Lo retain the crown and add to her string of box-office disasters with “El Cantante”? And let’s not forget the “troubled” production of “Invasion” (a remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”) with Nicole Kidman, and “No Reservations” (a remake of “Mostly Martha”) with Catherine Zeta-Jones as a chef. Still, the two strongest contenders are Angelina Jolie’s “Mighty Heart,” about the execution of reporter Daniel Pearl, and “Stardust,” a fantasy with Robert De Niro as a gay pirate and what appear to be not-very-special effects. This one’s a tough call, but I’ve got to go with Angelina’s drama about a beheading as the one that people will stay away from in droves.

What’s going to be the big surprise of the summer, in terms of quality and/or box office?
John Dahl’s “You Kill Me,” a hit man comedy with Ben Kingsley and Téa Leoni, looks smart and funny. Dahl has been doing fine work for years — “Kill Me Again,” “Red Rock West,” “The Last Seduction,” “Rounders,” “Joyride” — and has developed a following. He’s overdue for a break-out hit. I’m also looking forward to “Talk To Me,” Don Cheadle’s film about Washington, D.C., radio star Petey Green, but I think that “You Kill Me” will probably do better, at least critically.

Which summer movie will make the best DVD?
Kevin Costner’s “Mr. Brooks” is a thriller about a serial killer. It appears to be dark and offbeat, and neither of those qualities are likely to lead to theatrical box-office success this summer. But they can translate well to the small screen, and quirky crime films work better on DVD than they do in theaters. When you try to watch a thriller at your neighborhood multiplex, as likely as not, the older couple sitting behind you will be yacking away trying to figure out what’s going on. At least that was my experience recently at “Disturbia” and “Fracture.” And those aren’t isolated occurrences; it has happened before.

What are your 5 favorite summer movies of all time?
To my mind, the phrase “summer movie” can be defined in two ways. First, there’s the escapist blockbuster released between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and then there’s the movie that evokes the hot season. Therefore, I have three of each on my list of five:

Blockbusters:
Raiders of the Lost Ark. Hands down, the best adventure movie ever made.

Die Hard. I did not think about anything else while I happily munched my popcorn back in 1988, and I left the theater with a stupid smile on my face.

X-Men. Perhaps because I was not familiar with the comic-book characters, the first film in the series was inventive, lively, quick and perfectly realized.

Evocations of Summer:

Body Heat. Sex, sin, sweat, murder, more sex, heat, humidity, wind chimes, and a great John Barry score.

Cool Hand Luke. O.K., so it was shot in California, this is still one of the best depictions of the South in summer ever put on screen. And, of course, it’s one of the all-time great movies.

Breaking Away. There is something about that summer after you graduate from high school — even if you’re not pretending to be an Italian bicycle racer — and this movie captures it perfectly.

He’s had the No. 1 movie for three straight weeks. He’s starring in this summer’s “Transformers” and then the fourth Indiana Jones movie. Is Shia LeBeouf really going to be a star?
Before I saw “Disturbia,” I was saying that “Transformers” was going to be the flop of the season. After all, it was directed by Michael Bay. But I think that “Disburbia”‘s success is due in large part to LeBeouf’s appeal. He’s managed that often difficult transition from children’s roles (“Holes”) to teen star. He’s the new John Cusack and things look bright for “Transformers.”

Superhero movies are inundating theaters and a spate of new projects have been announced — which superhero flick would you absolutely not want to see?
I remember Aqua-Man and Submariner as being particularly off-putting characters, so I doubt that they’d make good screen heroes, plus there’s the whole underwater thing that would probably make them too expensive. I always thought that Green Arrow would be difficult to translate to the screen unless you camped it up. And I was such a fan of Plastic Man that I don’t want to see anybody mess around with him.