The summer season begins on May 1st in the movie world.

So that means here at News 12, we are in the middle of picking movies for our annual summer contest.

It's a simple game. We divide the summer movies between us. Then we see which ones make the most money.

The challenge isn't picking the blockbusters. By now we've all heard something about Ironman, Indiana Jones, Narnia & The Dark Knight. The challenge is picking which other movies could be hits, before you actually see any evidence it they are good movies or not.

Brian accepting his "trophy"Brian Smith is defending his championship from last summer when Transformers, The Bourne Ultimatum and Hairspray carried him to victory (so far he's got Kung Fu Panda & the Mummy sequel for this summer).

If you are interested in trying something similar at your workplace, check out our website at www.officepool.name.

So what kind of summer is this looking to be?

Last summer was the Year of the Sequel with Spiderman, Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean. This year's sequels aren't quite as strong (despite the return of Indy).

So I'm calling this the Summer of the Super Hero.

Comic books and Animation are once again dominating. We've got Ironman, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy, Batman. And new franchises like Speed Racer, Wanted with Angelina Jolie, & Will Smith's Hancock.

Comedies

The credentials are there for some top comedies, but will the laughs follow?

We've got Will Ferrell (Stepbrothers), Adam Sandler (You Don't Mess with the Zohan), Mike Meyers (The Love Guru), Steve Carell (Get Smart), Ben Stiller & Jack Black (Tropic Thunder), Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express), and Eddie Murphy (Meet Dave).

Surely, something funny will come out of that.

Romance

And Romantic Comedies are back. Of course the Sex in the City Movie leads the way. But here are some of the couples you'll see this summer, beginning this weekend:

Patrick Dempsey & Michelle Monaghan (Made of Honor)

Cameron Diaz & Ashton Kutcher (What Happens in Vegas)

Emma Roberts & Aidan Quinn (Wild Child)

Uma Thurman & Colin Firth (The Accidental Husband)

Meryl Streep & Pierce Brosnan (Mama Mia)

For the Kids

On the Animation front, the folks who brought you Toy Story should clean up this summer with Wall-E. But we also get Jack Black as a lazy Panda who must learn the martial arts (Kung Fu Panda).

And there is definitely a space theme here.... The story of the chimps we used in the space program (Space Chimps). Houseflies who tag along with Apollo 11 (Fly Me To The Moon). And a new Star Wars Animated Series (The Clone Wars).

Kids should also eat up Speed Racer, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, and Kitt Kettridge for the young girls.

So what will be the surprises and bombs this summer? Here my best guesses right now.

Surprises

On the Action movie front, I'll take Wanted, starring Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. The story about becoming a Dark Avenger looks sharp & is supposed to be a little brainier than your average comic book movie.

For a Suspense movie, how about M. Night Shyamalan's latest. Most of you have written him off by now, but The Happening with Mark Wahlberg looks sufficiently creepy. I'll be optimistic that the magic is back.

On the Comedy front, you know what you're getting from Ferell and Sandler. So I'll take Stiller's Tropic Thunder. It's a spoof of how seriously actors take themselves in a war movie. Robert Downey Jr. has some great lines as a white actor who thinks he can play a black grunt.

And a deep sleeper at the end of the summer is Hamlet 2. It takes a really back drama teacher to think he can write a sequel to the classic Shakespearean Drama where all the characters died in the original. But his musical adaptation, (which includes Jesus, the Devil & Star Wars) looks hilarious in the trailer.

BOMBS

It's dangerous to judge a movie too much by the trailer.. but I see trouble ahead for these efforts.

Speed Racer: sure it's from the Wachiowski brothers (Matrix) and it looks pretty. But this movie is obviously aimed at 8 year olds, and looks like a real trial for adults.

The Incredible Hulk: It's just a curse franchise and the star (Ed Norton) is feuding with the studio over creative differences... a bad sign.

Get Smart: The trailer looks kind of dumb, but this is based more on the troubled history of TV show remakes. Hollywood never gets them right.

The Love Guru: Mike Myers tries to launch another comedy franchise, but this looks like one of his turkeys. You get a lot of his same old schtick in the trailer (including Mini-Me). And who wants to see a hockey movie in the summer (or ever)?

Meet Dave: Eddie Murphy is a space ship carrying Aliens trying to figue out Earth. Do you remember Pluto Nash?

Made of Honor: Dumb, Dumb, Dumb rewrite of another Romantic comedy with the same plot! (My Best Friend's Wedding)

But you can judge for yourself by going to my page with this summer's movie trailers. What do you think will be the biggest Hits and Misses this summer?

Also vote in our Summer Movie Poll.