Action flicks not your taste? Try these.

For those who don't tingle with anticipation for sequels or count down the days until a superpower fights for right, summer was once a time to stay out of the theaters. But as studios have smartened up about redefining and seducing mass audiences, they're making some changes about what this season has to offer -- and incidentally, beginning the Oscar race earlier than ever. Here, a highlight of upcoming films whose muscle relies on pedigree rather than pecs:

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'Adoration'

Heralded at the Toronto and Cannes film festivals, Atom Egoyan's latest drama focuses on a teenager (Devon Bostick) whose fantasy about his parents causes controversy when it plays out as reality on the Internet. While exploring the themes of terrorism, family and the information-sharing power of the Web, the film, says its writer and director, "is ultimately about how we gain access to the histories denied to us." (Friday)

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'Easy Virtue'

Stephan Elliott ("The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert") comes out of a decade-long retirement to direct this adaptation of Noel Coward's 1924 comedy of manners. Colin Firth stars as the put-upon husband of Kristin Scott Thomas, dowdy and tight-lipped as a lady fighting for her estate. Her devoted son's appearance on the scene with an American floozy, played by Jessica Biel, does nothing to improve her mood. "There's Jessica looking like a million bucks, and Kristin's all uglied up with a bad wig and a bad cardigan," Elliott says with a laugh. "I said, 'Kristin, you will never again be so camp and so evil.' " (May 22)

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'Cheri'

Adapted from two of Collette's novels, Stephen Frears' "Cheri" stars Michelle Pfeiffer as an aging prostitute who embarks on a long affair with the youthful title character (Rupert Friend); Kathy Bates costars as Cheri's mother. "I liked that on the surface it's bubbly, but underneath it's quite tragic," Frears says of the story, which layers social satire with romantic tragedy. As for casting Pfeiffer as a woman on the wrong side of youth, "You need someone who has been one of the great beauties of the world and is still beautiful," says the director. "She was very courageous about it." (June 26)

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'The Hurt Locker'