Thursday, May 31, 2018

June Movie Preview


As expected, May was a mixed bag, especially with Infinity War getting pushed up a week. June, on the other hand, looks very promising. Just about every week has a big movie coming out, and there's a variety to the kinds of movies they are. Just as exciting is that all the Sundance movies are starting to trickle in. That gives nearly every week a surprise factor seeing what has expanded.
Interest Level Guide
2018
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May  
2017
 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | July | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec   
2016
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec  
2015
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec 
2014
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
2013
Mar |  Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

6/1


Johnny Knoxville opens an intentionally dangerous amusement park.

Working For It: Despite years of detesting the MTV series, I've come around on the Jackass movies over the last few years. This looks like a better narrative device to use to fit in a bunch of crazy stunts than Bad Grandpa. I'm sure I'll laugh at a few things.

Working Against It: I hated Bad Grandpa and I haven't warmed up to this narrative Jackass idea yet.

Interest Level: Uninterested




Two people get trapped on a boat alone in the middle of the ocean without a sail.

Working For It: It's based on a true story, so basically, it's Open Water but with a boat. The two stranded people are Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin (who they could switch out with a dozen different British actors and I'm not sure I'd notice). Woodley certainly has the chops to pull off something like this. This has the same director as Everest, so I trust that he can find the human element in a disaster movie.

Working Against It: The fact that I still haven't gotten to 47 Meters Down, The Shallows, and All Is Lost means I'm really not in a hurry to see maritime disaster movies.

Interest Level: Curious



American Animals [Limited]

A group of young men looking for thrills try to pull off a rare book heist.

Working For It: It was one of the movies I heard the most about coming out of Sundance this year. I'm most excited about it being from the director of The Imposter, which is a documentary I adore and has a similar topic. It has young actors like Evan Peters and Barry Keoghan who I like. Oh, and Ann Dowd is always great.

Working Against It: I could easily seeing this losing its focus pretty easily.

Interest Level: Intrigued



Social Animals [Limited]

A slacker woman watches as her life falls apart.

Working For It: I'd be surprised if this didn't premiere at Sundance or at least SXSW. It has Noel Wells in the lead role, who has been making quite a name for herself in indie movies after getting let go from SNL. Aya Cash, Samira Wiley, Carly Chaikin, and Josh Radnor fill out the "TV All Stars" cast of this brand of indie movie.

Working Against It: The writer/director is pretty green, and this does look like one of those movies that could amiably meander for 90 minutes without ever really being about anything.

Interest Level: Curious



Upgrade [Limited]

A man gets an experimental computer chip installed in his brain that makes him a total badass.

Working For It: We're basically talking about if Jarvis was installed into Tony Starks' brain of if the show Chuck was directed by Quinten Tarantino. The trailer makes this look like it's a blast. The movie appears to be pulling no punches. As a shoot 'em up, I'm not sure a better movie will show up this year. I also have liked Logan Marshall-Green (American Tom Hardy) whenever I can recognize him in a movie.

Working Against It: Whenever something comes out with a red band trailer that plays in theaters, I get worried that they are more concerned with shocking or disgusting people that putting together a good movie.

Interest Level: Curious



6/8


After a woman's mother dies, strange and cryptic things start happening to the rest of her family.

Working For It: It was the horror hit coming out of Sundance. The last non-major studio horror movie I remember getting this kind of advanced praise was The Babadook or maybe The Witch. Either way, that's a good sign. Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, and Ann Dowd are all great.

Working Against It: This definitely is in danger of getting overhyped. Mixed in with all the praise I heard after Sundance was a few people saying that people need to cool it with all the love. That said, it's hard to find good horror without going into niche markets.

Interest Level: Intrigued




A woman runs a secret, members-only hospital that comes under attack in a near future Los Angeles.

Working For It: There is no reason for this not to belong in the John Wick universe, because it fits right in. Jodie Foster runs the hospital and looks absolutely perfect for a sort of oddball, over-credentialed performance. It's got a delightfully eclectic cast all looking like they are playing to their strengths (Dave Bautista, Sterling K. Brown, Jenny Slate, Jeff Goldblum, Charlie Day, Zachary Quinto). I'm especially excited to see Sofia Boutella be a badass. She's fine in other roles, but few actresses have her physicality. It's nice when she gets to use it. And it has Brian Tyree Henry, which furthers my opinion that all summer movies should have someone from Atlanta in them.

Working Against It: It's very possible that this has too much going on in it, especially for a first time feature director.

Interest Level: Curious




Eight women team up to rob the Met Gala.

Working For It: Sandra Bullock in the George Clooney role. Cate Blanchett in the Brad Pitt role. Anne Hathaway in the Andy Garcia role. Mindy Kaling getting to do her thing. Sarah Paulson, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, Awkwafina. I love this cast. Ocean's Eleven is a top five all-time movie for me, so anything close to it is enough to get me excited.

Working Against It: Do not underestimate how key Stephen Soderbergh's direction was to the success of Ocean's Eleven. I've liked director Gary Ross' other movies (Pleasantvile, Seabiscuit, The Hunger Games), but making an Ocean's movie work is a whole different thing. I have so much love for Ocean's Eleven, that I'm not sure if I'll be able to separate it from my assessment of Ocean's 8. I'll try though.

Interest Level: Excited



Hearts Beat Loud [Limited]

A father and and his daughter in college start a band.

Working For It: That's what I'm talking about! Sundance movie. Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons are the father/daughter pair. Ted Danson and Toni Collette are in there too. The music even sounds pretty good.

Working Against It: ...I'll get back to you.

Interest Level: Intrigued




A Documentary about the life and work of Mr. Rogers.

Working For It: This was the documentary hit of Sundance. This isn't about exposing the childhood icon as anything but a fine individual. I don't have the same affection for him that seemingly everyone else does, but I like the idea of a feel good documentary like this.

Working Against It: There's a chance this might move a little too far into hero worship. I'm fine with this being about "he's really as great as you remember". I'm hesitant about it becoming "he's basically a god among men".

Interest Level: Intrigued



6/15


Mr. Incredible gets left watching the kids while Elastigirl gets a new job saving the world.

Working For It: The Incredibles has quietly established a reputation as a top-tier Pixar movie. Brad Bird is back to direct. Given that I even loved his divisive Tomorrowland, I couldn't be more excited about his involvement in any movie. The core cast is back and the premise works well for sequels.

Working Against It: Outside of Toy Story, none of Pixar's sequels have matched the originals. Perhaps it would be better to leave this one alone.

Interest Level: Excited




A hustler tries to get one last score so he can retire and get out of his dangerous life.

Working For It: The trailer looks cool and that's the main goal when you are remaking Superfly. I like the supporting cast, including Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton) and Michael Kenneth Williams.

Working Against It: I don't know enough about Blaxploitation to be sure, but I always figured that belonged to a specific era. I'm not sure how it would work now. The director goes by the name "Director X." which is one of those names that begs me to dislike him. He's mostly known for music videos, which is a route with a spotty track record (On the good side, Spike Jonze. On the bad side, McG or worse). I'm also not crazy about Trevor Jackson in the lead role. I've only seen him in Grown-ish and he didn't make an impression there.

Interest Level: Uninterested




A group of friends play an elaborate, 30 year game of tag ever May.

Working For It: The premise is incredibly simple and has room for countless gags. Jeremy Renner, Isla Fischer, Rashida Jones, Leslie Bibb, Jake Johnson, Jon Hamm, Ed Helms, Hannibal Buress. This cast is ideal for this kind of comedy. And they stuck with the R rating. PG-13 isn't a death sentence or anything, but the R-rating is one less feter holding it back.

Working Against It: If the jokes aren't good, the movie won't be. Not enough of the actors, as much as I love them, are the kind that can generate a laugh out of anything (only Jake Johnson and Hannibal Buress). The writers and the director lack any stand-out credits - the best one is that one of the writers wrote Waiting...

Interest Level: Curious



Loving Pablo [Limited]

A journalist starts dating Pablo Escobar.

Working For It: Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz both have Oscars for a reason.

Working Against It: Simply put, how many stories about Pablo Escobar can there be?

Interest Level: Apathetic



6/22


Owen and Claire try to rescue some of the dinosaurs before a volcanos errupts on the island.

Working For It: I like Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. Jeff Goldblum is returning to the series. A lot of my problems with Jurassic World had to do with how the park was run, which isn't going to be a problem here. I'm cautiously optimistic about this.

Working Against It: When a movie does really well, the filmmakers and producers tend to treat it like they did everything right the first time, so the sequel ends up the same but bigger. I worry that the problems with Jurassic World are just going to be ignored.

Interest Level: Curious




A man becomes obsessed with finding a girl he likes who disappeared under suspicious circumstances.

Working For It: This movie is either going to be brilliant or a complete mess. I don't see much room for something in between. It's built on Andrew Garfield uncovering a massive conspiracy. It appears to be filled with odd characters and quirky humor. There's a lot of Inherent Vice to this. It's overflowing with familiar faces who are difficult to name at the top of your head. It's from the director of It Follows, going in a very different direction. I'm optimistic.

Working Against It: As I said, it's not difficult to how this could be a complete mess. I'm really relying on the reputation of the distributor (A24) to tell me this is good. I can't fault it for its ambition.

Interest Level: Excited



6/29


A female remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Working For It: I'll start by saying that I'm not convinced that this is really being release this weekend. There isn't even a trailer for it yet. It's the second female remake of a con-woman movie with Anne Hathaway this month. She's pairing with Rebel Wilson in this. I really like Dirtry Rotten Scoundrels. If they can pull off the same tone as that, this could be enjoyable. I'm pleased to see veteran Veep director Chris Addison behind this one.

Working Against It: There's no trailer that I could find, which is very worrisome. I have a hard time seeing how Rebel Wilson doesn't steamroll Anne Hathaway. It took an entire Bella crew to prevent it in Pitch Perfect and Hathaway is only one woman.

Interest Level: Apathetic




More fun with the drug war on the US-Mexico border.

Working For It: Taylor Sheridan returns to write the script. The cast still has Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro.

Working Against It: This sequel feels like a mistake. I think they are severly underestimating how key Emily Blunt was as the stabilizing core of the first movie and how much director Denis Villeneuve brought to it.

Interest Level: Curious




A man assembles a crew of old men (all played by NBA players) to win a street basketball tournament.

Working For It: Yeah, Kyrie Irving's Uncle Drew Pepsi ads are being turned into a movie. He puts together a team of Shaq, Nate Robinson, Chris Webber, and Reggie Miller. This is the closest spiritual sequel to Space Jam that we've seen yet.

Working Against It: I just don't think that the combined comedic efforts of LilRel Howery, Tiffany Haddish, J.B. Smooth, and Nick Kroll will be enough to make up for the non-basketball deficiencies of the rest of the cast.

Interest Level: Apathetic



Leave No Trace [Limited]

A father and daughter living in the wilderness get sucked back into the "real world" when they are discovered living in a state park.

Working For It: It's from the writer/director of Winter's Bone and seems to have a similar tone. It looks like Thomasin McKenzie could be a significant discovery.

Working Against It: I didn't care for Captain Fantastic and this sure looks similar to that.

Interest Level: Curious




A documentary about three men in the 70s who find out that they are triplets separated at birth.

Working For It: I don't know much about the true story and I don't want to until I see this. Everything I've heard about this is that it's a mystery, full of twists.

Working Against It: Documentaries have a habit of promising "stranger than fiction" twists that don't end up that. I don't get that vibe here, but I've been wrong before.

Interest Level: Excited