Guardians of the Galaxy got HUGE favorables from the critics and audiences alike. I was looking forward to that film and came away very disappointed. I thought it was one of the weaker Marvel films. It was too jokey/childish for my tastes and the only character that connected with me was Groot (I suspect people may have liked Guardians because it reminded them of.... you guessed it... the original Star Wars)
Pixels got strongly negative reviews from critics and there was no "buzz" about the film at all, although the trailers looked intriguing. It had Adam Sandler in it, so most of us safely avoided it at the theater and waited for DVD. I came away pleasantly surprised. It had some ridiculous romantic subplots but Sandler WASN'T an obnoxious man-child in the movie and the film was VERY creative and funny. I recommend it.
I’m not seeing TFA until Monday, but I wasn’t blown away by guardians or the rest of the marvels. We’ll see how Star Wars goes.