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Jay Barney: I have not been to the movies as much as I would like this summer. Had the chance to go and see X-Men:Days of Future Past and it was excellent. I was amazed they were able to get so many of the actors who made appearances in the franchise to come together like that. It was very satisfying, and I think we have to evaluate the discussion we had last year about how the franchise was in decline. Last year everyone was saying there was a bit of franchise fatigue with The Wolverine, and I remember some people knocking X-Men First Class, flippantly asking why they placed the story in the 1960s. X:Men Days of Future Past answers all of those questions and stifled any doubts. This was a great movie.

Max Braden: Since the "summer" started, I've only seen a handful of the majors: I was looking forward to seeing Godzilla based on the cinematography shown in the trailers. There were some nifty visual moments in the trailer, but I was hugely let down by the movie. In fact, I'd say I can't think of any monster or catastrophe movie I disliked more than Godzilla; including the Matthew Broderick version, including The Day After Tomorrow, and including the Transformers movies. The first half of the movie, dealing with the characters, is terribly boring. And then, when the action gets started in the second half...it's again terribly boring. Godzilla is treated like an afterthought, with the action set behind buildings and mostly out of sight, and the music doesn't help the action at all. Add to that the idiocy of Elizabeth Olsen's character wanting to stay in the killzone to wait for her husband, and I was annoyed to the point of never wanting to see this movie again.

I was also looking forward to Maleficent and fortunately it lived up to expectations. Angelina Jolie is currently my favorite performer of the year so far based on this movie. Casting her, and the twist on the character of Maleficent, was excellent. She's intimidating and seductive at the same time (though I wasn't a fan of the leather pants at the end). Elle Fanning was lovely, but I wasn't impressed with Sharlto Copley.

I didn't think Edge of Tomorrow looked very good from the trailers - you really couldn't tell what was going on except for a lot of chaotic action. I was shocked how much I liked it. Cruise, playing a mostly helpless character instead of his normal hero, manages to be funny (though still weirdly Cruise in that way that you see him acting and never quite genuine). I don't think I was really a fan of Emily Blunt before, since she has her own severe and unapproachable aura, but I'm a big fan of her now. I think I'm in the minority in that I liked Oblivion, and I still think I liked that movie more than this one, but Edge of Tomorrow is a fun time-travel movie. I like these as a double header of Tom Cruise sci-fi.

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