This is one of those entries that’s more for my own purposes — specifically my increasingly unreliable middle-aged memory! — than you guys, but perhaps one of my Loyal Readers will see something here you weren’t previously aware of and think, “Hey, thanks, Bennion, for letting me know about that!”

Memorial Day weekend traditionally marked the beginning of the summer movie season back in my days as an usher and projectionist, so here are the upcoming (and a couple of already-playing-that-I-haven’t-gotten-to-yet) summer movies that have caught my fancy:

May 16

Godzilla

Because, well, why not?

May 23

X-Men: Days of Future Past 

There seems to have been a re-evaluation of the X-Men series over the past few years, and the popular opinion now holds that these movies — which I recall being highly praised (at least by the geeky community) when they first came along — aren’t very good. Nevertheless, I still enjoy them, especially Hugh Jackman’s performance as Wolverine, and this one looks especially promising.

May 30

Maleficent

Honestly, this one only makes the list because Anne wants to see it — I really don’t see the point of a live-action retelling of an old Disney cartoon, nor do I get the appeal of all the recent fairy-tale-based properties in general (Wicked, Once Upon a Time, etc.). But I will say Angelina Jolie looks utterly fabulous as the title character, and also like she had the time of her life playing this role.

A Million Ways to Die in the West

I’m not a big fan of Seth McFarlane’s humor — okay, I’ll be frank: I think Family Guy is the most painfully stupid, vulgar, tasteless, and unfunny garbage ever foisted off on an unsuspecting public in the history of, well, anything — but the trailer for this actually made me laugh a couple times. I liked the gag with the bottles. And Liam Neeson lends coolness to everything he touches. So… we’ll see.

June 20

Jersey Boys

A biopic about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, directed by Clint Eastwood? Yes, please.

June 27

Boyhood

This coming-of-age project from writer/director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise) begins with a fascinating gimmick — he filmed it intermittently over a twelve-year period so he could use the same child actor throughout the story as he ages from six to 18 — but it also just looks like a really good story. Linklater has become one of my favorite filmmakers, a consummate observer of the human experience.

July 2

Tammy

And then there’s this, which I’ll probably regret even admitting to having any interest in. But I like Melissa McCarthy and I love Susan Sarandon, and the two of them have demonstrated really great chemistry on McCarthy’s TV series Mike and Molly. God help me.

July 18

Jupiter Ascending

Mila Kunis discovers she’s some kind of long-lost interstellar princess in yet another live-action anime from the Wachowskis (The Matrix trilogy). If nothing else, it looks like some excellent space-opera spectacle.

August 1

Guardians of the Galaxy

Here it is, my number-one can’t-wait gotta-see of the summer. The next entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe looks utterly goofy, but everything in the two trailers (trailer #1, trailer #2) released thus far mashes my happy buttons hard. Trailers lie, true, but from what I can tell, this is something akin to The Fifth Element (a favorite of The Girlfriend and myself), an eye-popping visual feast with its tongue firmly in cheek. Exactly my kind of movie. I never in a million years imagined I could be this excited for a movie that so prominently features a machine-gun-toting badass berserker raccoon… but damn, I am excited. Don’t let me down, Marvel-ites!

Get on Up

Another biopic of a musical legend… James Brown, in this case. These flicks all tend to follow a formula, but I love ’em anyhow… the music, the period settings… love ’em.

August 8

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Twenty-four years ago, The Girlfriend and I went our first date. I took her to see the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the one where the heroes wore rubber suits with animatronic faces. And we loved it. (Of course, we didn’t go another date for three more years, but that’s unrelated.) Now comes a reboot directed by trashmeister Michael Bay and starring Megan Fox, whose main talent, as far as I can tell, is outbitching everybody else. I have very low expectations, but a lot of morbid curiosity.

August 15

The Expendables 3

Stupid stuff-blow-up-good movies, but I love seeing all the decrepit old heroes of my youth back in action. And this one includes Harrison Ford! And, rather incongruously, Kelsey Grammar! But hey, Harrison Ford!

August 22

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

I have very mixed feelings about the first Sin City movie… I thought it was a beautiful-looking movie with an utterly unique visual style and an unbelievable cast that brought life to a graphic novel in a way no other movie has ever done… but the story was one of the ugliest, most nihilistic things ever written. (I’m not a fan of Frank Miller.) Now here’s a sequel which looks like more of the same… I’ll see it, but I expect I’ll be equally as ambivalent as I was the first time around.

And there you go… what are you planning to see at the cinema this weekend?