One quarter ends, another begins.  Here is the list you’ve been waiting for! Get excited for what we’re excited for!  Mass excitement!  Yay!

Spider-Man 2099 (July 9th)

Lauren #1 Pick:  With the new run of Marvel titles, Superior Spider-Man was easily towards the top of my list.  With that said, I’m glad we’re done with Otto Octavius and back to Peter Parker and a new run of Amazing Spider-Man. But wait… Feels like I am forgetting something… Oh yeah!  Doc Ock may have gotten his resolution, but what about Miguel O’Hara!?  He’s still stuck in present day New York, so bring on his own title to dig into how he deals with being displaced in time.

The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave Book 2) by Rick Yancey (Sept. 16th)

Heather’s #1 Pick: This series got off to a great start. Yes, it’s part of the post-apocalyptic rage that has been sweeping the young-adult genre for some time now, but this is one of the better ones in my opinion!

Lauren’s #2 Pick: Yeah! And not all of them have love triangles to get all giddy about! Oh wait… They do? Well… Not all come with an alien corner! Ooo sexy.

Boyhood (July 11th)

Zac’s #1 Pick: Richard Linklater has always been an innovator behind the camera, and Boyhood is his most ambitious effort yet. Filmed a little bit each year for 13 years, using the same cast, the story follows a young boy through his college years as you get to watch a child literally grow up on film. I can’t wait.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (July 11th)

Zac’s #3 Pick: I really loved the first film in this Apes reboot, and the latest “of the of the” film seems like it isn’t going to disappoint. Bringing in Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) is an upgrade at the director’s chair if you ask me, and I can’t wait to hear a new score from Michael Giacchino. Plus, Cesar might be Andy Serkis’ best creation to date, and I can’t wait to see him get an even bigger role this time around.

Guardians of the Galaxy (Aug. 1st)

Lauren’s #1 Pick: I know next to nothing about this aspect of the Marvel universe, but all signs from the first trailer point to a blend of superheroes and Firefly.  If this is the case, this will be the best movie ever.

Zac’s #2 Pick: I’m with Lauren; never read the comic, but I love the casting here, and James Gunn with a mega budget and material this weird has me excited. Plus, I want Chris Pratt to be a superstar and this should help that out. Plus plus, there is a f*cking racoon with a machine gun!

Life After Beth (Aug. 15th)

Lauren’s #2 Pick:  When Warm Bodies was in production I never thought that a zombie love story could work, it just seems so ridiculous.  But then I really liked that movie.  Now we have another movie of that subgenre!  More or less anyway.  From what the trailer shows, watching a sane minded Aubrey Plaza slowly lose herself to zombie tendencies is going to be awesome.  And hilarious.  Because it’s Plaza.

The Skeleton Twins (Sept. 19th – Limited)

Lauren #3 Pick: Whether it’s big or calm comedy, I love Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader.  Having them play twins can only make their comedy power meld into a big fighting robot of comedic epicness.

Lauren’s Honorable Mentions: A Long Way Down (July 11th – Limited), Video Games: The Movie (July 18th – Limited), Beneath (July 25th – limited), Happy Christmas (July 25th – limited), About Alex (Aug. 8th – Limited), Let’s Be Cops (Aug. 13th), The Giver (Aug. 15th), Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (Aug. 22nd), The Maze Runner (Sept. 19th), This is Where I Leave You (Sept. 19th – Limited), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (Sept. 26th)

Zac’s additional Honorable Mentions: The Congress (Aug. 29th)

Apparently the three of us are lacking in the musical taste that would lead to excitement for the upcoming album releases.  Good thing there are plenty of podcasts out there to spend time with…

Leftovers (Premiered June 29th)

Zac’s #1 Pick: This was probably the best pilot I have seen since Lost, and I am very excited by its potential. The pilot was all mood and atmosphere, but it quickly established itself as a rich and dark world filled with a ton of intrigue and mystery. Plus, the Guilty Remnants really freak me out. I don’t like their attitude and do whatever we want nature.

Lauren’s #1 Pick:  I haven’t watched the pilot yet because I feel like I have to build up strength for a lot of depression after seeing a trailer in which a woman’s baby disappears from her car. Definitely a concept that grabbed me right a way, so I will get there, it will just take time.  HBO doesn’t tend to let me down with their shows, so I can’t imagine this being any different.

The Strain (July 13th Premiere)

Lauren’s #2 Pick: I’ve only read the first novel in this series, but I’ve enjoyed the story so far.  Who can be upset when Guillermo Del Toro is involved?  Ok, so maybe I don’t actually like a lot of his movies, but his creatures are excellent and I really want to see how they design the vampires he created in the book in a way that doesn’t look completely idiotic thanks to their weird elongated tongues. Don’t worry, for those of you who don’t like the romantic and brooding vampires then you have nothing to worry about, these guys are straight up murderous creatures.  Let the contamination of the human species begin!

So You Think You Can Dance Top 20 Performances (Started July 2nd)

Lauren’s #3 Pick: Now that Vegas (but not really Vegas this season) Week is over we finally get into the choreographed dances with the top 20.  Let’s get those partners together, the music going, and some screentime for Travis!

Zac: I support this.

Heather: The highlight of summer!

Destiny (Sept. 9th)

Lauren’s #1 Pick: I’m honestly getting a little worried about the trend towards co-op games in the future since some are looking like they might force it on those of us who are often solo campaigners (bummed that I may be able to get into Division afterall), but I’m still holding onto hope for Destiny because it just looks like a straight up fun time shooter.

Zac’s #1 Pick: It’s Bungie; it looks like Halo meets Mass Effect. I hope to lose many hours to this starting with the Beta this summer. I have heard nothing but great things based on the Alpha alone, and the MMO aspects are very intriguing given that I have no experience with those sorts of games. Look for me online!

The Last of Us Remastered on PS4 (Aug. 1st)

Lauren’s #2 Pick: The Last of Us was my favorite game of last year, so if you haven’t played it yet and do have a PS4 then you better not miss out this time around.  Or if you did play it on the PS3 then get it again anyway cuz it was that good.

Lauren’s Honorable Mentions: The Sims 4 (Sept. 2nd) – because I grew up playing all of the Sims games, so even if I don’t play this game since I don’t really play on the PC anymore, it still deserves a shout out.  InFamous: First Light Standalone DLC (Aug. 31st) – Didn’t play the most recent InFamous game because of my lack of PS4, but like the Sims, the InFamous series has a strong track record for me so as soon as I do get that system, I will be sure to play this ASAP.