While spending upwards of $8 to see a film may seem outrageous to some, the always-increasing price tag of going to the movies hasn’t forced me to shy away from the theaters just yet. Spending most of my college summers in Tuscaloosa, a good bit of my paycheck has gone to the Cobb. The movies I’m most looking forward to this summer are movies coming from powerhouses in the industry that never seem to disappoint.

The first of these movies comes this Friday with the opening of Pixar’s latest film, “Brave.” This release marks Pixar’s first movie that wasn’t the second or third installment of an already established film franchise since the release of “Up” in 2009.

“Brave” follows a young princess as she defies her parents wishes to compete against the kingdom’s most eligible bachelors for her own hand in marriage and therefore her own life’s path. The plot may seem a little absurd — and really it is, but what can you expect from the studio that brought you a house floating away with balloons or monsters powering their lives with fear. Being a child of the “Toy Story” generation, I’m still under the impression Pixar can do no wrong, and I, along with thousands of other ‘90s kids, will be sorely disappointed this weekend if it’s a flop. However, I’m really not expecting it to be.

Next Friday, June 29 Seth MacFarlane, creator of “Family Guy,” makes his first big-screen attempt with the movie “Ted.” The film follows Mark Walhberg as John Bennett, who is followed around by his childhood teddy bear who came to life after a childhood wish.

From the previews, it looks like it’s going to be hilarious. The cast is full of talent with Mila Kunis and Joel McHale joining Walberg and MacFarlane, who voices Ted. It could easily be a film that has all the good parts shown in the previews, but I would expect a lot more than that from a guy who has been making us laugh as Peter Griffin since 1999.

Finally, 29 days from today on July 20, the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy comes to a close with the much-anticipated opening of “Dark Knight Rises.” With the first two both in my top five, and Nolan easily my favorite director, it’s hard for me to say I’m expecting anything bad from this movie — and really I’m not.

The additions of Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway can really only enhance the already fantastic cast. If those three, especially Hardy, can put in the dedication to the parts that Christian Bale and Heath Ledger put into theirs, the movie will be great simply based on the acting.

However, with Nolan behind the camera and behind the script, the acting could be terrible and the movie would still hold up. I could easily go through a list of his works and tell you why they are fantastic, but I think the popularity of the first two keeps me from needing to do that. Luckily, while we wait these 29 long days for the most anticipated movie of the year, we have a few other films from other big and small screen greats to keep us from going stir crazy.