Having two kids under four years old puts a pretty sturdy damper on the ability to trot off to the movies anytime something interesting is showing.  My wife and I have made good friends with Netflix, which has been a good thing, since going out to the theater generally requires you to interact with the public, and we all know how horrid that can be, right kids?

Add to that the fact that last year was a big fat dud, with a few notable exceptions, in terms of entertaining cinema, and what you end up with is a movie buff like myself who hardly ever goes to the movies anymore.

With our youngest getting a bit older and more easily manageable without the constant need of her mom, I find myself looking out on the advent of the summer blockbuster season and evaluating what’s out there that looks worth seeing in the theaters, as opposed to waiting for on DVD.  I’m pleased to say that there are actually a couple of really good candidates out there.  Dare I hope that one, or even a few, of them turn out to be good entertainment?  Dare I?  Dare I???

Oh, I dare, though I admit I should know better by now.  So here’s the rundown of the list I’m looking forward to seeing.  We’ll see if Hollywood manages not to turn all these into more turds for their ever-expanding library of turds.

Clash of the Titans (April 2)
This was one of my favorite movies growing up, along with Jason and the Argonauts (which in retrospect I now see was about 13 years older and nowhere near as cool in actuality, but when you’re nine years old, it’s all the same).  I hope the remake lives up to my expectations.  It looks pretty cool from the trailers.  But am I the only person in the world who is adamantly opposed to this new fascination with 3D?  Thank you, James Cameron, for starting a fad that’s going to be really annoying for a while before it burns out again.

Date Night (April 9)
You’d think Steve Carell and Tina Fey would guarantee funny, but Get Smart wasn’t gut-busting, and none of Fey’s movies have been either.  But my wife and I think this looks funny.

Iron Man 2 (May 7)
Loved the first one.  Really hoping for a worthy sequel.

Prince of Persia (May 28)
Looks cool, with a vibe like the first Pirates.  Hopefully it can overcome the typical stumbling blocks of being a video game translation.  They avoided hiring this guy to direct, so that’s a good start.

The A-Team (June 11)
The trailer leaves a lot to be desired.  I can’t tell yet if this is going to be an awesome translation that’s a sleeper in the hype, or is it just under-hyped because they know it’s not that good.

Knight and Day (June 25)
Say what you will about Tom Cruise, I’m certainly no fan of the guy, but I still think he can act.  While the premise of this one doesn’t look all that terribly original, the trailer indicates a good blend of action and comedy, and it has me intrigued.  I’ll leave it at “I’m interested.”

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (July 16)
Nicholas Cage seems pretty hammish in the trailers, but I love a good fantasy tale, so I’m hoping for good things.

That’s the end of the Summer stuff that I know of.  It seemed like the list was longer in my head.  Probably because of these other late year entries that I can’t wait for:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1 (Nov. 19)

Tron Legacy (Dec. 17 = Oh yeah!)

Aside from all those, there are a handful of potentially interesting “maybes,” as in they may be pretty good, but I’m just not sure.

The Last Airbender (July 2) Shyamalan has pretty much lost his cred with me, but this isn’t a story he came up with, so we’ll see what happens.
Inception (July 16)  It’s Christopher Nolan, which gives a good headstart, but I can’t figure out what it’s really about yet.
The Expendables (Aug. 13) The biggest action gimmick ever.  Who would win a fight between all the old school action stars?  Stallone, Arnold, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren.  The funny thing to me is that Van Damme declined to participate.  What?  Has he got something better to do?  This will probably be completely lame, but I bet it makes big money anyway.
The Green Hornet (Dec. 22) No idea about this one, but I’m keeping a lazy eye on it.

Watch this trailer at your own peril!

See, at first glance it looks like a great entry into the realm of the SFOP, but from everything I’ve read, it’s actually something infinitely more dangerous, because this film was not intended to be a joke. Maybe that is the real horror…of BIRDEMIC!

I also love the awesome original song.

So what do you think? Joke or no joke?