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5. Captain America: Civil War

As you're reading this I'm hoping to be staring into the transfixing eyes of the captivating superheroes of the Marvel franchise, Captain America, Tony Stark, and the rest of the gang, in the latest installment of the Captain America franchise.

After bombarding us with trailers for several months now, they have finally broken my will, and I'm genuinely curious who wins the epic battle - though I'm obviously rooting for the Captain, as Robert Downey Jr. annoys me. Still, last year I was most excited about Age of Ultron and was somewhat disappointed in the formulaic repetition that this franchise (for I consider these Avenger movies all one franchise) has fallen into.

So, my hopes are somewhat tempered for Civil War (which may just mean I will love it all that much more), but I still cannot resist the spectacle and the buzz that the movie is generating. As last year, I believe there is some, but not complete, overlap between what box office predictions tell me the public is most anticipating. This is one where I've been somewhat caught up in the wave.

Civil War opens in theaters tomorrow, May 6th, with sneaks already under way as you read this column.

4. The Founder

Can you fault an Oscar prognosticator for looking forward to what could be a serious Oscar contender next year?

Where Downey has revived his fortunes with his turn as Stark and somewhat stayed there, Michael Keaton's resurgence has gone in the opposite, and arguably better, direction. From Batman to Birdman, Keaton's Oscar nomination and appearance in two consecutive Best Picture winners makes him the hot (older) star of the moment. At the very least, his turn as legendary McDonald's pioneer Ray Kroc is sure to attract attention. And it's not just the Oscar potential of this movie that has me excited - any story about a man potentially greater than his britches, or greater than his time, from The Social Network to Steve Jobs, is right up my alley.

Now, I'm just hoping a movie about another such man - a certain presidential candidate - is not in the offing. But that's another topic for another column.

The Weinstein's Company The Founder opens in wide release on August 5th - just in time to catch the last wave of summer audiences while being late enough in the year to be a potential Oscar contender.

3. Suicide Squad

Somewhat stunningly, however, the third movie on my list is another one that opens on the exact same day as Keaton's film. But they couldn't be any different.

Suicide Squad is DC Comics' answer to Marvel's surprise hit Guardians of the Galaxy. While I was not sold on the invitingly silly nature of that superhero franchise, the movie caught me by pleasant surprise and made me a believer. I had a similar existential transformation with respect to Deadpool - from skeptic to fanatic - enough so that this movie is squarely on my anticipated list. The antihero genre, if you will, is an obvious but so far effective antidote to the goody-two shoes stories of the Captain, Thor, Hulk, and others. The franchises work infinitely better for me because they do not take themselves seriously, and thus fit much better in my stereotype of what a comic book movie should be - silly, non-pretentious fun.

Where The Avengers and Iron Man are trying to find profound answers to their existence, the faux-heroes in these movies revel (admittedly, somewhat woodenly) in their different-ness. Perhaps I'm giving a movie that stars Margot Robbie and Will Smith too much advance credit, but at least Jared Leto's presence is somewhat reassuring.

Like The Founder, Suicide Squad annoyingly opens on August 5th. Which will you go see first? Take it to Twitter if you will.

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