So, spurred on by the Super Bowl commercials and encouraged by the fact that school is closed tomorrow, here is your first annual Post-Super Bowl Upcoming Epic US Summer Popcorn Movie Roundup. Clear your schedule for a few minutes and gird your metaphorical loins, because I'm about to drop on you some great trailers for what I hope will be great summer movies.

Most of these trailers are from the apple.com trailer site. Copy and paste the links into your favorite web browser. Ready? Okay then, in date order.

This Friday, February 12: The Wolfman, a remake of the 1941 Lon Chaney classic. This one has Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving, and Emily Blunt. I recommend Trailer Two.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/thewolfman/

Also this Friday, February 12: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief. Modern-day Greek gods go after Zeus's stolen lightning. Not as goofy as it sounds, I don't think. A cast to die for, and PG rated so it's safe for young ones.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/p...lightningthief/

Next Friday, February 19: Shutter Island, a thriller about people disappearing from a mental hospital, set during a hurricane. Starring Leo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorcese.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/shutterisland/

March 5: Alice in Wonderland. Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen of Hearts, and Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Sure to be popular with stoners for decades to come.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/aliceinwonderland/

March 12: Matt Damon in the Green Zone, a man-on-the-run thriller set in the Iraq War.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/greenzone/

March 19: Nicholas Cage in Season of the Witch. A medieval-age knight has to stop the Black Witch.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions...asonofthewitch/

Also, March 19: The Runaways. Would you believe Dakota Fanning and the girl from Twilight as Cherie Currie and Joan Jett? Those of us over thirty remember this incredible band, and the youth of the lead actresses stand a pretty good chance of wigging me out. On the other hand, rock.
http://www.runawaysmovie.com/ (click on 'Teaser Trailer')

March 26: Clash of the Titans, starring the guy from Terminator Salvation. Sure to mutate the stories of Greek mythology until they're just about unrecognizable, but nobody will care if it turns out to be as mind-blowing as it looks.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/clashofthetitans/

April 16: Kick-Ass. Some normal people become superheroes in the real world, and it turns out they're pretty good at it. Looks like half humor, half action, and all good.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/kickass/

May 7: Iron Man 2. If you haven't heard of this, I hope it's nice and comfortable under your rock. Robert Downey Jr., Scarlet Johanssen, Mickey Rourke, Gwynyth Paltrow, and Don Cheadle.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/ironman/

May 14: Robin Hood. This actually looks like one big stroke to Russell Crowe's ego, but why not. Cate Blanchett plays Marian.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/robinhood/

May 28: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Jake Gyllenhaal in an Arabian-themed movie based on a video game. Something about a dagger which stops time.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/disne...thesandsoftime/

June 18: Toy Story 3. Pixar has a perfect 10/10 record for incredibly good movies. There's no reason to think this one will be anything else. I'm chuckling already.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/toystory3/

July 2, The Last Airbender. Based on an animated TV series, this has a lot to do with martial arts, elemental forces, and medieval China.
http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com/#home/video

July 16, The Sorcerer's Apprentice. More Nicholas Cage. This looks to have achieved the logical conclusion of the popcorn movie, and done away with plot altogether in favor of special effects. But whatever, it's not exactly Oscar season.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/disne...rersapprentice/

August 20: The Expendables. This one looks bad, as in B-movie bad, but check out the cast: Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and bad movie legend Eric Roberts. Also, cameos by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Whoa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7H_Q1-4Z6I

I can't tell when this one is being released in the US, or if it already has. It's a German film called the Red Baron, about the life of Manfred von Richtofen, and even though I have a feeling it is heavily romanticized, it looks really good.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/theredbaron/

There are also impressive movies being released later in the year. They don't have trailers yet.
October 8: Secretariat, about the greatest race horse that ever lived. Diane Lane, John Malkovich.
October 15: Jackass 3D, in case you want to be really stupid for two hours, which isn't always bad.
November 19: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I: The first half of the finale.
November 24: Rapunzel, a Disney animated movie about the girl with the hair.
December 10: Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. A half-new cast in part 3 of the series.
December 22: The Green Hornet, with Seth Rogen as the lead. Not very sure about the casting.
Sometime in 2010: Warrior, a movie about mixed martial arts, with Nick Nolte as a washed-up fighter.

OH.MY.GOD!!!! Really!!?? They've made a Runaways flick!!!??? Got to check that out!
You've not had that yet? It's been and gone and out on DVD over here. Haven't had a chance to see it yet but it looks amazing.


Also looking forward to one you've not put on your list, Aries, Solomon Kane which is based on the Robert E. Howard (Creator of Conan) books. Opens here in two weeks, trailer here:
http://www.traileraddict.com/traile...on-kane/trailer

__________________

This actually looks pretty good. It's been a long time since Nic Cage was in a decent movie.

__________________

I'm most looking forward to:

Kick-Ass, Based on a comic series which I've been tempted to start reading but have lacked the time.

Shutter Island, Previews looked good.

Alice in Wonderland, Depp + weird = good most of the time.

Iron Man 2, for obvious reasons.

Also a little interested in The Last Airbender.

__________________