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Right now you’re probably at a crossroads. On the one hand, you’re excited about the upcoming summer’s entertainment possibilities, but on the other you’re worried that the Tribune won’t be here to guide your entertainment selection process. Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do about that, so you’ll just have to keep an eye out for these three things.                      

Cowboys and Aliens

This summer promises a ton of action-packed blockbusters, and Cowboys and Aliens is sure to be one of them. Although there are a number of exciting movies based on comic books coming out in the next few months (Thor, X-Men: First Class, Captain America: First Avenger) and a number of good-looking sequels (The Hangover 2, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II), I’m especially excited for the July 29 release of Cowboys and Aliens. Not only does it feature a sweet cast with the hunky Daniel Craig, the smoking Olivia Wilde, the rugged Harrison Ford, and strangely appealing Sam Rockwell, but it kind of sounds like a movie script that was pitched by a third grader talking about his two favourite things. Cowboys and Aliens will also feature the classic feel-good story of cowboys and their Native American enemies teaming up to fight a horde of invading aliens with plans to enslave everyone in sight. With that kind of story, how can you not see it?

Memphis Beat

With Mad Men on hiatus until March 2012, you’ll need something to entertain yourself during all your free time this summer. Though summer television can often be disappointing, Memphis Beat is what you might call “easy-watching” programming. This crime drama rarely gets too intense, and most of the storylines feature fun subplots that make the show attractive. Jason Lee stars as good ol’ country detective Dwight Hendricks, who plays the Memphis Blues in his spare time. After a solid 10 episodes in the first season, the second season will start on June 14 and will hopefully deliver the same appealing mixture of head-scratching cases and entertaining hijinks.

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi: Rome

Music is difficult to predict too far in advance, but Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi’s new album, Rome, is something you should keep in mind this summer. Danger Mouse is well known for both his solo work and his Gnarls Barkley collaboration with Cee-Lo Green, but he’s an all-around great producer and songwriter whose also worked with acts like Gorillaz and Beck. Less is known about Italian composer Daniele Luppi, except that he has a sweet mustache and has apparently produced some good stuff. Two tracks from the album are already available for listening online—”Two Against One,” featuring Jack White and “Black,” featuring Norah Jones—and both sound great. If you take the past success of Danger Mouse, the alluring Italian-ness of Luppi, and these two tracks as an indication of what’s to come from this album, get excited for it to drop on May 17.