Summer Movie Round Up

Ok, so the "summer movie season" started kind of early this year and I'm already late, but here is a round up of the movies I deem "baby sitter worthy" for the 2014 action/comic/geek movie season!

A note on my metric: now that we've spawned the biggest difference in terms of how we live our lives is that we just can't go out to a bar or to see a movie any more. These types of activities require baby sitting which needs to be scheduled in advance and gets pricey ($40+ for an evening with a teenager or costs in goodwill with GrandparentsBee). So, going to see a movie has become a much planned event, the bar for which is higher than pre-spawning.

No spoilers after the cut though I will discuss currently published reviews (and Hugh Jackman's rear end).



Captain America Winter Soldier
Seen!
When: Came out April 4th
Why it's Baby-Sitter Worthy: First off, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done such a good job so far that I will see basically anything they put out at this point. Second, I really enjoyed the first Captain America despite not being a big fan of the character and I was hoping for more. Third, early reviews hinted that it would be heavy on Black Widow and... I am loving Black Widow. Lastly, of course, my mom graciously volunteered baby sitting and I rarely refuse an opportunity for a date. In honor of the theme of the film (which wasn't nearly as thematic as the comic predecessor would suggest) we got Russian food for dinner first.
TL;DR Review: So good, now when do I get my Black Widow stand alone film?!

The Amazing Spiderman 2
Boybee saw by himself
When: Came out May 2nd
Why it didn't make the cut: Ok, you guys, I love Emma Stone. Really. If she is in a movie, I am way more likely to see it than not. To be honest, I enjoyed the first Amazing Spiderman - I felt it was a better representation of Peter Parker's wisecracking than previous iterations of the franchise and honestly, Stone carried that film. She is hilarious. But... early reviews were meh and I get motion sickness in movies sometimes (especially during those big cgi set piece scenes with Spidey swinging all over Manhattan) and I just wasn't feeling up to going to a meh movie that might just make me queasy. So I sent Boybee on a date with his best friend and settled in for an early, quiet night at home.
Boybee's Review: It was OK, worth seeing but not worth seeing twice in the theaters. He will see The Amazing Spiderman 3 if/when it comes out.

Godzilla (2014)
Not Baby Sitter Worthy
When: Came out May 16th
Why it didn't make the cut: I'm just not big into Godzilla. It's getting a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes, so if Godzilla is your thing, then you will probably enjoy it. It's a reboot of the franchise and Ken Watanabe is in it, so that's a thing. Also... am I the only one who liked Puff Daddy's Come with Me from the 1998 Godzilla? TeenagedBee may have watched too much Total Request Live...

X-Men Days of Future Past
Seen!
When: Came out May 23rd
Why it's Baby-Sitter Worthy: So, X-Men 3 was pretty sub-par. The first two were cute, but 3? Eh. Then when X-Men Babies First Class came out I really enjoyed it, but mostly saw it because I love the X-Men. The best part of the first Wolverine movie was the long naked sequence (hell yeah fan service!) and the second Wolverine movie was... a comic book movie. Whatever. So why did this film make it on the short list? Mainly, Rotten Tomatoes said it was awesome and that they figured out that Jennifer Lawrence can act and therefore should have a bigger role. For all that I love Emma, I love J-Law that much more.
TL;DR Review: A legitimately good and entertaining film - the pacing and script were right, the acting was actually good for what could have been a superhero cheese fest, and the plot made me care about X-Men again in a way that the intervening films had not. Also, a spoiler but only because I love you; Hugh Jackman's tusch makes an appearance in this film. Fan. Service.

Maleficent 
When: May 30th
Why it's Baby-Sitter Worthy: Maleficent. MALEFICENT.

YES.

Do I really need to say more? Because I will: Angelina Jolie. Angelina Jolie is playing Maleficent. In a movie. And I need to see it. In 4th Grade, we were doing these acrostic poems of our names and for 'M' I went with Maleficent, which my poor teacher thought should have been "magnificent" or something and I was like, nope! I keep thinking that what I really need to do is make a SCA period appropriate cosplay of her houppelande and hat... Maybe this movie will give me the kick in the pants to get it done?

Edge of Tomorrow

Not Baby-Sitter Worthy

When: May 30th

Why it didn't make the cut: I'm just meh on Tom Cruise (though I did enjoy Minority Report!) and I've never read the story it's based on and... there's only so much time travel stuff a girl can take. 

Transformers Age of Extinction

Not Baby-Sitter Worthy

When: June 27th

Why it didn't make the cut: I have yet to see any of the new live action Transformers movies. I wasn't big into the original cartoon as a kid (though I love Beast Wars) and I'm not into Michael Bay or his movies. 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Undecided

When: July 11th

Why I can't decide: I love the Planet of the Apes movies. I used to watch the marathons on TV and even enjoyed the 2001 remake. I liked the Rise of movie just fine, and this is honestly a real test of the baby-sitter worthiness metric. Pre-spawn, I would have seen this movie in the theaters, no questions asked. Post-kid though? It's on the line. I think it will come down to how the early reviews go. 

Jupiter Ascending 

Undecided

When: July 18th

Why I can't decide: I have a special place in my heart for The Matrix and am generally a fan of anything that can be described as a "space opera" but... the plot to this film sounds kind of hokey. Ok, so technically, the plot to Star Wars is also pretty hokey, so that's why I'm on the fence. Again, this one will come down to early reviews. 

Lucy

Baby-Sitter Worthy

When: July 25th

Why it's Baby-Sitter Worthy: OMG have you seen the trailer?! Go watch it and then you will agree, this is a must see. 

Hercules (2014)

Waiting for Netflix

When: July 25th

Why it didn't make the cut: It looks like good fun, I mean, The Rock plays Hercules - what's not to love? But, eh, just doesn't get me excited. I'll probably really love watching it in a few years on netflix while eating pizza in my jammies. 

Guardians of the Galaxy

Undecided

When: August 1st

Why I can't decide: So, remember how I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe? This is in it, so that's a plus, but... I'm not familiar with the comics, and the trailer looks really... blah. It's a boring white dude who rallies together a bunch of weird looking aliens plus bad-ass-hot-alien-chick to save the world. I've seen it before and it's just not exciting. You want to get me excited about a property that I've never heard of before? Give me something new and interesting (like Lucy). It will come down to the reviews for me, and I'm guessing this is one where I send Boybee on a date with his friends. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Not Baby-Sitter Worthy

When: August 8th

Why it didn't make the cut: First off, Michael Bay is the producer. Second, I've heard all sorts of rumors and the like about this film and none of them excite me. I love the turtles (my afore mentioned jammies are TMNT themed!) and at one point in my life I knew many/most of the words to the Vanilla Ice Ninja Rap (Go Ninja! Go Ninja! Go!) but... eh? I don't think I care. I really want to like Megan Fox but I'm just not feeling her as April O'Neil. 

So, that's my summer movie rundown. Are there any that I missed? Any information that you think will help sway me on my undecideds? What movies will you be seeing this summer?