summer movie preview: a literary glance

It's not a secret I rarely go to see a movie in the theater. I love the experience, but I do not love the cost. I'm mostly content to wait for the dvd. Still, when people ask if I've seen a movie, I absolutely love to reply, "not yet, but I read the book." With the new summer movie preview issue of Entertainment Weekly in hand, I decided to do a little research to see how many books I need to read to stay abreast of summer movie season. Traditionally, of course, summer movie season is not a literary playground, but there are a few treasures heading to the movie theaters. Here's the breakdown by month of release:

May

• X-Men Origins: Wolverine - not based on a book, but it is a spin-off of the X-Men series, of which I've seen zero of the three films.
  
• Terminator Salvation - not based on a book, but is the fourth Terminator film, of which I've seen none.
  
• Rudo y Cursi - not based on a book
• Drag Me to Hell - not based on a book
• Up - not based on a book
• Angels & Demons - based on Dan Brown's bestselling novel of the same name. Brown wrote Angels & Demons before the more famous DaVinci Code, and I read them in the proper order. I don't know why the movies were made in the opposite order. Still, I was lukewarm about the DaVinci Code book and didn't manage to finish the film, but I really enjoyed the book Angels & Demons. I'm curious to see how much of the story will be included in the movie.
• Star Trek - not based on a book
  
• Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - a sequel to a movie that was based on Milan Trenc's book children's book of the same name
• Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - not based on a book
• The Limits of Control - not based on a book
• Dance Flick - not based on a book
• Management - not based on a book
• Easy Virtue - based on the play by Noel Coward, written in 1924. The play was also made into a movie in 1928, directed by Hitchcock
• Next Day Air - not based on a book

June

• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - a sequel to the movie based on the 1980's cartoon. I loved the first movie and thought Shia LaBeouf's performance was the then-best performance in an action movie. Then, I saw The Dark Knight.
• Land of the Lost - based on the 1970's sci-fi tv show
• The Taking of Pelham 123 - based on the book by John Godey. It was also made into a movie in 1974 and a tv movie in 1998.
• My Sister's Keeper - based on the book by Jodi Picoult. There's been a slew of media attention to the controversially changed ending.
  
• The Proposal - not based on a book
• The Hangover - not based on a book
• Away We Go - not based on a book, but the screenplay was written by Dave Eggers and his wife, Vendela Vita.
• Whatever Works - written and directed by Woody Allen.
• Year One - not based on a book, but Genesis is a prominent part of the story.
• The Hurt Locker - not based on a book
• Imagine That - not based on a book
• Food, Inc. - not based on a book
• Cheri - based on Collette's novel
• Moon - not based on a book

July

• Public Enemies - based on Bryan Burrough's book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - based on J.K. Rowling's book
• (500) Days of Summer - not based on a book
• Bruno - not based on a book
• The Ugly Truth - not based on a book
• G-Force - not based on a book
• Funny People - written by Judd Apatow
• I Love You, Beth Cooper - based on a novel by Larry Doyle, writer for The Simpsons
• They Came From Upstairs - not based on a book
• Humpday - not based on a book
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - not based on a book; the third Ice Age movie, and I haven't seen any of them.
• Orphan - not based on a book
• Soul Power - not based on a book

August

• Julie & Julia -based on Julie Powell's memoir of the same name. I loved the book.
• Taking Woodstock - based on Eliot Tiber's memoir of the same name.
• The Time Traveler's Wife - based on Audrey Niffenegger's novel that everyone seems to have recommended to me, but I haven't read yet.
• District 9 - not based on a book
• Paper Heart - not based on a book
• The Boat that Rocked - not based on a book
• G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra - not based on a book, but includes characters from the comic books and action figures
• Bandslam - not based on a book
• Inglorious Bastards - written and directed by Quentin Tarantino
• The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard - not based on a book
• Post Grad - not based on a book
• World's Greatest Dad - written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait
• It Might Get Loud - not based on a book
• Ponyo - not based on a book
• Shorts - written and directed by Robert Rodriquez
• Cold Souls - written and directed by Sophie Barthes

Recap:
I need to move I Love You, Beth Cooper, The Time Traveler's Wife and My Sister's Keeper to the top of my to read pile. What do you intend to read before the movies come out?