Need a little something for that blockbuster fever? From Woody Allen's latest offering to another screen sighting of "Twilight's" Robert Pattinson, look for summer's little sleepers to make big news.

The Brothers Bloom (May 15)

"Angels & Demons" may have heaven, hell and Tom Hanks to command your attention. But this clever little con caper is no less divine.

Director-writer Rian Johnson does everything right in "The Brothers Bloom."

No clichés. No yawns. Just a wild, one-of-a-kind tale about two flim-flamming brothers (Adrian Brody) and (Mark Ruffalo) and a zany heiress (Rachel Weisz) who outsmarts them both.

As one last career blowout, the hucksters try swindling this girl's fortune. Their plan, like all the others in their infamous career, is layered with zigzagging ins and outs to rival "The Da Vinci Code." Double-dealing bad guys. A budding romance between the dour Bloom (Brody) and oddball Penelope (Weisz)...It comes together in this bold, bittersweet romp that never has to con us into caring.

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Little Ashes (May 22)

Attention teen "Twilight" fans. Robert Pattinson is back on the big screen this summer. But be forewarned: The vampire-playing hunk is flaunting more mature acting muscle in "Little Ashes."

Starring as an 18-year-old Salvador Dali, Pattinson's dark, brooding looks add lush allure to this British drama about the friendship that emerges between Dali, poet Federico Garcia Lorca (Javier Beltran) and filmmaker Luis Buñuel (Matthew McNulty) in 1922 fascist Spain.

Drawn to one another, Dali and Lorca embark on a complicated sexual affair -- one that appalls Buñuel and sends Dali fleeing to Paris. Sex, art, politics, social convention...All that plus some smoking hot eye candy.

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The Girlfriend Experience (May 22)

A far cry from Steven Soderbergh's sweeping four-hour revolutionary epic "Che," this art-house gem about a high-priced Manhattan call girl (porn star Sasha Grey) is big in spirit if not in size.

Here it's capitalism in a free-falling economy that's piqued Soderbergh's curiosity. What better way to represent America's interest in industry than with a prostitute looking to turn herself into a household brand?

Shot over five topsy-turvy days leading up to 2008's presidential election, this $2,000-an-hour hooker gives her johns sex, love, conversation and companionship. But while she's servicing mankind her mind is busy calculating inventory for the upscale boutique she hopes to launch. A great satire about self-delusion in today's age of entitlement.

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The Limits of Control (May 22)

For fans of Jim Jarmusch ("Stranger Than Paradise," "Down by Law"), the arrival of this enigmatic new flick is like Christmas coming early.

His first film since 2005's acclaimed hit "Broken Flowers," Jarmusch places his director's spotlight on an inexpressive loner (Isaach De Bankole) who is on a hush-hush job in Spain. Steered by cryptic instructions from his bosses ("Go to the café. The guitar will find you") Jarmusch fills this treat with plenty of oddball moments that leave you guessing. Between the rampant espresso drinking and sightings of Tilda Swinton, Gael Garcia Bernal and luscious sex kitten Pas de la Huerta, this Rubik's Cube of a flick comes off like a cool breeze against the hot Spanish sun.

• CTV.ca Trailers: The Limits of Control
  

Easy Virtue (May 29)

Those who think Jessica Biel should only be seen playing beach volleyball in bikinis are in for a shock.

Turned out as a poshly frocked beauty from the 1920s, Biel shows a comedic side to her "body of work" here Hollywood has not revealed before.

Starring opposite British heavyweights Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas, Biel shines a rich American race-car driver named Larita. In quick time she lands an upper-class hunk (Ben Barnes) and weds him. But their honeymoon sours when Larita arrives at her husband's baronial country estate and meets her snooty new mother-in-law (Kristen Scott Thomas).

Based on Noel Coward's 1924 play, "Easy Virtue" is full of snappy roadsters and country house élan. But Coward's stab at Victorian-era morality comes off surprisingly timely thanks to Biel and company. A truly merry romp from "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" director Stephan Elliot.

• CTV.ca Trailers: Easy Virtue

Away We Go (June 5)

Best known for dark, emotionally-wrenching Oscar contenders like "American Beauty" and "Revolutionary Road," director Sam Mendes is shaking things up this summer with the crazy new road comedy, "Away We Go."

In it a young couple (John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph) expecting their first child travel across America in search of the perfect little hamlet to settle down in. Their plans are thrown hilariously off track by a well-meaning assortment of kooky relatives and weirdo acquaintances. Co-starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney, Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels, this charmer casts boisterous new light on what family and home really mean.

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Whatever Works (June 26)

Seeing who Woody Allen casts as his stars is almost as fun as watching his movies. Allen's pulled off one of the best casting mixes of his career in "Whatever Works."

Starring the ever-irritated Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm), Allen's new flick revolves around a New York City eccentric who ditches his upper-crust life for a bohemian existence. As always, this flick comes equipped with all the things we love about Allen's movies: The whiny one-liners, the kooky, philosophical-spewing mishaps. Allen also serves up more cranky angst about May-December romances, hilariously played out by David and Evan Rachel Wood. But the real cherry on this summer snow cone is Patricia Clarkson, Wood's hysterical southern-belle mamma. It's fast. It's fun. "Whatever Works" will work for you. We promise.

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Chéri (July 3)

Not since "The Age of Innocence" has Michelle Pfeiffer put on a period frock and looked so ravishing.

That's what the unfading Hollywood beauty does in "Chéri," Stephen Frears' first film since his 2006 Oscar winner "The Queen."

Based on the juicy Belle Epoque novel by French writer Colette, Pfeiffer stars as the older-woman who mesmerizes the son of a retired courtesan (Kathy Bates). The siren and her 19-year-old hunk (Rupert Bates) are off doing it, faster than Pfeiffer can say bonjour.

Flash forward six years and the happy lovers see their romance crumble after the man's bitchy mother tries marrying him off to virgin (Felicity Jones). When Pfeiffer's lover is forced to leave her, the trouble that follows makes everyone in this scrumptious drawing room bonbon look less than lovely.

• CTV.ca Trailers: Cheri

500 Days of Summer (July 17)

For those who loved "Juno" "500 Days of Summer" is the anti-romantic-comedy fix you've been waiting for.

Surrounded by buzz after this year's Sundance Film Festival, the music-heavy indie flick stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a greeting card writer who falls for his boss' new assistant (Zooey Deschanel). Unlike the usual cardboard hunks Hollywood goes for, this everyday hero quakes as he woos the girl of his dreams. When she inexplicably goes cold on him, the devastated schmuck is left to deal with the fact that he's not going to spend his life with his one true love. Lots of fun. Lots of great music. A true twenty-something gem about getting dumped and getting over it.

• CTV.ca Trailers: (500) Days of Summer

The Hurt Locker (July 24)

The Iraq War hasn't been a big money-maker at Hollywood's box office so far. But "The Hurt Locker" could the one that breaks that streak.

Starring Guy Pearce, Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie, this action-packed war thriller is based on recently declassified information about a U.S. Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal bomb squad working in present day Iraq.

After an opening quote that says "war is a drug," director Kathryn Bigelow turns our attentions to Sgt. Matt Thompson (Pearce). The tough-ass soldier is brought in to investigate a suspicious pile of rubble. But that tense opening sequence leads to some serious head-butting between Thompson and his by-the-book deputy (Mackie). Toss in the non-stop sniper shooting and appearances by Ralph Fiennes and Evangeline Lilly and this "war is hell" character study will keep you watching.

• CTV.ca Trailers: The Hurt Locker

It Might Get Loud (August 21)

There are rock stars. Then there are guitar-playing gods. "It Might Get Loud" delights in the difference.

Davis Guggenheim, the director of "An Inconvenient Truth, brings together Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, U2's the Edge, and White Stripes leader Jack White to discuss the impact of the electric guitar on the 20th century. Shot in London, this documentary spans the gamut from Page's 1960s days as a session musician and a member of the Yardbirds to the Edge's unique '80s sound and White's current work. Throughout it all these electric guitar geniuses reveal how they mastered this tough instrument to suit their revolutionary musical style. 

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Fireflies in the Garden (June 26)

If you can't see Julia Roberts in anything but "Pretty Woman" "Fireflies in the Garden" won't turn your crank. But for those curious to see what kind of acting chops Roberts has these days, this one's for you.

This dark, layered dramedy revolves around a terrible tragedy that happened to a woman (Roberts) married to a domineering university professor (Willem Dafoe). Things go from bad to worse, tossing all the cracks that exist between her husband and family into the harsh light of day. A far cry from Roberts' usual lighthearted fare but still worth sampling.

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Taking Woodstock (Aug 14)

Oscar-winning director Ang Lee puts his glorious visual spin on the true story of Elliot Tiber, the man who helped make Woodstock happen.

Based on the autobiography, "Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life," Tiber volunteers his family's motel in the Catskills to be the base for the concert that would define the '60s generation.

This raunchy hippie comedy comes equipped with all the sex, drugs and '60s mood rings you can handle. Look for Liev Schreiber, the sadistic he-men in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" as a kick-ass transvestite named Vilma. Nice!

• CTV.ca Trailers: Taking Woodstock
  

Adam (July 29)

Tales about dysfunctional guys and the hot women they lust after aren't anything new in Hollywood. But

in "Adam," the new charmer from rookie writer-director Max Mayer, we get something remarkably different.

The story revolves around a social misfit with Asperger Syndrome (Hugh Dancy) who falls madly in love with his neighbour ("Damages'" Rose Byrne). Filled with spot-on performances and clever dialogue, Mayer's fresh spin on modern romance will make you laugh, cry and show any first date a good time at the movies.

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Julie & Julia (August 7)

At first glance this tale about dowdy chef Julia Child might seem a snore. Not so film fans.

This unusual treat is based on two books: Childs' autobiography, "My Life in France" and Julie Powell's memoir, "Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen." In fact, Powell's blog on cooking Child's recipes sparked the interest from director Nora Ephron to turn this food fest into a Hollywood movie.

Starring Meryl Streep as Child and Amy Adams as Powell, "Julie & Julia" serves up a delicious portrayal of two women who are both at loose ends in their lives. But with the help of the right recipe and loads of butter they find that life's taste is still sweet.

• CTV.ca Trailers: Julie and Julia