> June 6 - Edge of Tomorrow

This looks kind of dumb but also amazing. It's basically Warhammer 40k: The Movie. Yes please.

> August 1 - Guardians of the Galaxy

I'm so excited that we're actually getting a good-looking movie in early August. My birthday is August 2 and I usually go see a movie for it, but my choices are generally limited. (Though the last two years I was able to see good indie movies with Fruitvale Station and Beasts of the Southern Wild).

> I hesitate to predict whether I'll like it or not -- my success rate on Marvel
> films so far is about 50-50.

For my money, the Guardians trailer is hands-down the best *trailer* Marvel has done, so that's something. The idea of a superhero comedy seems good to me, and the trailer makes it look like a fun summer flick.

And I'm with you on the overall Marvel success rate: Avengers, Iron Men 1 and 3, Captain America are all good. Both Thors, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2? Not so much. I haven't seen CA2 yet, though word is pretty promising on that.

> But I'm optimistic that the film itself will
> be successful, despite the inevitability that sooner or later Marvel is going
> to release a dud and drop the bottom out of the superhero fad.

I was waiting for that to happen for a long time, but it's been almost 14 years since X-Men surprised everybody by opening to $50m+ its first weekend (back when that was an impressive number) and nearly 12 years since Spider-Man did $100m+ its opening weekend. In that time period we've survived two Hulk movies, Daredevil, Elektra, Catwoman, Superman Returns, Fantastic Four Meets the Silver Who Cares, etc.

That's more than a decade of steady superhero movies with some big duds. I don't think we can call it a fad any longer, and we've had our share of duds (no outright bombs from Marvel Studios/Disney, but Incredible Hulk certainly didn't light up the box office). If superhero movies go away, I expect it will be a slow decline rather than a sudden falling out of fashion.

> August 8 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
>
> I suppose this franchise is a product of my generation. Maybe I was just a
> couple years too old for it, but still, not far off. And even at the time,
> I thought it was the most ridiculous thing ever. I realize, though do not
> comprehend, that I am stepping on some cherished childhood memories by saying
> so, but how can stringing all those particular adjectives together in front of
> the word "turtles" not be a blatant joke? They're teenagers. Who are mutants.
> And ninjas. And...turtles. But the franchise doesn't treat itself like a
> joke, however tongue-in-cheek it is in tone. I can't get around that.

My understanding is the original comic books were tongue-in-cheek and aimed at teenagers/college students, and then somehow it became a Saturday morning cartoon aimed at children to sell toys, which is in when it blew up. I was the right age, probably 5 or 6 when the cartoon started, and loved it.

What I don't get: as an adult, I realize that thing I liked as a kid was dumb as hell. Why are people who are now 30 so invested in another movie adaptation? As you say, there's nothing that suggests this is some new, interesting take on the material and also THE MATERIAL IS STUPID. Nostalgia has to be the most powerful force in the world.