11 summer movies recommended by critics right now

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a summer blockbuster!

As a new "Superman" reboot opens in theaters, PBS News Hour's Jeffrey Brown sits down with Mike Sargent, co-president of the Black Film Critics Circle, and Ann Hornaday, chief film critic for The Washington Post, for a roundup of big summer spectacles, comedies and lesser-known streaming gems.

Watch the PBS News Hour in the coming days for their full commentary. Here's a list of the movies they chose as their top picks.

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"Superman"

"It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's definitely an entertaining take on 'Superman.'"

– Mike Sargent

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"28 Years Later"

"I'm not a huge zombie movie fan, but I thought that this was actually better than the first two. … It's probably the most artistic and creative zombie movie I've ever seen in my life."

– Mike Sargent

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"The Naked Gun"

"I think the idea of getting Liam Neeson at this point in his career is sort of like Leslie Nielsen where he was in his career, formerly having done serious stuff and almost mocking himself. … I'm looking forward to this reboot. "

– Mike Sargent

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"F1"

"A wonderful cast done by the same team that did "Top Gun: Maverick" a couple of years ago. And they just, they know how to do these sort of big action spectacles."

— Ann Hornaday

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"Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning"

"That kind of classic, big-scale spectacle, and maybe … the final one. So just for old time's sake, I would recommend people go to that one."

— Ann Hornaday

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"40 Acres"

"Danielle Deadwyler plays … an ex-military mom who has got a farm and she's got to create a fortress, literally, because there are cannibals …"

– Mike Sargent

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"Companion"

"Really, really good science fiction, the kind of science fiction that it's not about the effects, but it's about the concept and what it has to say about the human condition."

– Mike Sargent

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"Materialists"

"It's being marketed as a rom-com, but it's a little bit more dramatic than that. And I thought it was interesting."

— Ann Hornaday

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"To A Land Unknown"

"It has this kind of '70s energy, this sort of realism, naturalism, but with a little bit of poetry thrown in there."

— Ann Hornaday

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"K-Pop Demon Hunters"

"It blends K-pop, girl energy and demon-slaying. And it's got a really fun soundtrack.

– Mike Sargent

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"The Life of Chuck"

"It's a coming-of-age movie that's dealing with identity and mortality and the end of the world and dancing, and it has some terrific dance sequences."

— Ann Hornaday