As the school year comes to an end and students get ready to leave studies behind and prepare for some fun in the sun, frequent moviegoers are gearing up for the biggest movie season of the year. This summer sees the release of a number of highly anticipated blockbusters, ranging from warring robots to teenage wizards and reckless space explorers on the Starship Enterprise. Along with the traditional, big-budgeted popcorn flicks, however, there’s a number of more independent features worthy of your hard-earned summer dollars.

May sees the release of a number of the most anticipated films of 2009, including X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the troubled prequel to the blockbuster series starring Hugh Jackman, Star Trek, J.J. Abram’s new vision of the classic science fiction series, and Up, the new animated film from production juggernaut Pixar.

Along with these films, however, are films like The Limits of Control, the newest film from uniquely independent director Jim Jarmusch starring Tilda Swinton and Gael Garcia Bernal in the story of a slick criminal and his encounters with a number of outlandish characters. Also opening is wunderkind Rian Johnson’s second feature, The Brothers Bloom, starring Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz in the story of a pair of con men trying to take on a rich woman who just might be taking them instead.

In June, Michael Bay is releasing his sequel to the massive hit Transformers, ingeniously entitled Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”

On a more independent bent, Sam Mendes’ quirky new comedy, Away We Go, starring Maya Rudolph and a bearded John Krasinski, opens. The film tells the story of an expecting couple struggling to settle down before their baby comes.

Also opening is Chéri, the Stephen Frears-directed new film starring Michelle Pfeiffer as a turn of the century Parisian courtesan and Moon, the cerebral science fiction film starring Sam Rockwell.

In July, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince will be released along side heavy hitters like Judd Apatow’s newest comedy, Funny People.

Also entering release in July is 500 Days of Summer, the film festival sensation and romantic comedy starring indie stalwarts Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt as a troubled couple whose relationship is followed from beginning to end.

All in all, summer film season has something for everyone, even those in the mood for a little something different than your typical summer explosions.