With summer movie season rapidly approaching, it’s time to take a look at some of the big attractions that will hit the cinemas from May-July. Since the weather outside will be beautiful and your salary for that summer job will be significantly less so, I’ll let you know which movies to see and which to skip based on the trailers alone, so you don’t have to endure every big budget flop (looking at you, Michael Bay) and lame gross-out comedy (looking at you, Adam Sandler).

May 2: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Marc Webb)

What’s it about: Well, the Amazing Spider-Man, of course! Marc Webb’s follow up to his 2012 hit will find Spidey (Andrew Garfield) battling three (!) new foes: the Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan), Electro (Jamie Foxx), and Rhino (Paul Giamatti), as well as trying not to screw things up with new girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone).

See it or Skip it: Skip it. The new cast members, particularly Giamatti, Chris Cooper, and BJ Novak are tempting and Emma Stone makes any movie she’s in better, but the first “Amazing Spider-Man” was a bland rehash of Sam Raimi’s original from 2002, and the trailers for the sequel look to follow the same path. Also, let’s not forget the last time Spidey battled multiple villains on screen (the disastrous “Spider-Man 3”).

May 9th: Chef (Jon Favreau)

What’s it about: An aspiring chef (Jon Favreau) starts a food truck in Miami and reconnects with his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara) after failing to open a restaurant in L.A.

See it or Skip it: See it. Favreau is a smart writer and director and his all-star cast, which includes Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey Jr., and Scarlett Johansson, promises to cook up plenty of laughs, even with the histrionic Vergara on screen.

May 23rd: X-Men: Days of Future Past (Bryan Singer)

What’s it about: The follow up to 2011’s X-Men First Class, Days of Future Past is Singer’s first X-Men movie since X2 and it finds the new X-Men (James McAvoy as Professor X and Michael Fassbender as Magneto among others) traveling in time and meeting their old selves (Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan), who must ally with them to save the mutant species.

See it or Skip it: See it, see it, see it. This movie may be the most fun you have all summer. There’s yet to be a bad X-Men movie and teaming up the old pros and the newbies (also including Jennifer Lawrence and Ellen Page) is a brilliant idea. Plus, Peter Dinklage plays the villain!

June 6th: The Fault in Our Stars (Josh Boone)

What’s it About: Two cancer-stricken teens (Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley, who were brother and sister in Divergent) bond over their mutual plight and fall in love.

See it or Skip it: See it. I haven’t read John Green’s novel upon which this is based, but I’m told it’s quite something. Also, the film is written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, the team behind both (500) Days of Summer and The Spectacular Now, and directed by Josh Boone, whose most recent movie was the underrated Stuck In Love. Grab your tissues and get a ticket.

June 27th: Transformers: Age of Extinction (Michael Bay)

What’s it about: Big robots shoot stuff. Women are demeaned. Mark Wahlberg talks to animals. Two and possibly all three of these things are guaranteed to happen in the umpteenth Michael Bay blockbuster that will inexplicably make obscene amounts of money.

See it or Skip it: Are you kidding me?

July 11th: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Matt Reeves)

What’s it about: The genetically modified apes are growing in strength and numbers and it’s up to a gritty band of humans (including Gary Oldman and Keri Russell) to survive.

See it or Skip it: Close call, but skip it. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was surprisingly not bad, but without a bonafide movie star like James Franco at the center, I have my doubts. Also, director Matt Reeves’s biggest claim to fame so far is the extraordinary dud Cloverfield.

July 18th: Jupiter Ascending (The Wachowski Brothers)

What’s it about: A Russian immigrant and toilet cleaner named Jupiter (Mila Kunis) is told by an interplanetary warrior (Channing Tatum) that her DNA may match that of the Queen of the Universe and that she could be the next ruler.

See it or Skip it: See it. Although I’m sure Mila Kunis is about as convincing as a toilet cleaner as Denise Richards is as a nuclear physicist in The World is Not Enough, the Wachowskis made The Matrix and The Book of Eli, two of the best sci-fi films of the last decade. Plus, Kunis and Tatum are the kind of flawless movie stars who can really light up a movie like this.

Other Movies to See

• Palo Alto (May 16th), an adaptation of James Franco’s short story collection, starring Franco, Val Kilmer, and Emma Roberts.

• A Million Ways to Die in the West (May 30th), a comedy western from writer-director-star Seth MacFarlane. “Wish I Was Here” (July 19th), a.k.a. The Zach Braff Kickstarter movie.

Other Movies to Skip

• Godzilla (May 16th), yet another bland, grimy looking monster movie.

• Blended (May 23rd), the obligatory dumb Adam Sandler comedy.

• Hercules (July 25th), an almost inevitably loud, annoying blockbuster directing by the loud and annoying Brett Ratner.