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2010s, Coming Soon, Lists, Trailers

Most Anticipated Releases – July 2019

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Happy Birthday, America! Summer is in full swing and there is a whole slew of great looking films coming to theaters. With so many things going on during the summer I want to make sure you have a guide for the best movies headed your way. Granted, not all of these will match every person’s taste. Hopefully if one or two aren’t your style the others will fit you well.

Spider-Man: Far From Home – July 2

If you haven’t seen Endgame then don’t watch this. For that matter, don’t read this article. Just go buy a ticket a watch it. Help it beat Avatar and The Force Awakens.

Well, Thanos and his armies are finished and the remaining Avengers are moving on with their lives after the traumatic events of Endgame. It will be interesting to see where Marvel plans to go from here. They have our attention and all of our money so now they can really shoot for the fences and give us all the superhero movies we never even knew we wanted.

I haven’t found anyone who doesn’t like Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. He brought the wit and frenetic energy to the web-slinger that we’ve been missing for quite a while. This really feels like a new beginning for the entire MCU, because from the trailer we now know that it does come after the events of Endgame. However, Kevin Feige back in April before Endgame was released said that this would be the final movie of phase three instead of beginning phase four. Part of me thinks that was just a dodge to keep from giving away details from Endgame including the fact that Spider-Man and all of his snapped buddies come back to kick butt.

Regardless of whether it is an end or a beginning, I’m excited to see what antics this friendly neighborhood Spider-Man gets into when he and his school friends leave the five boroughs and head to Europe for a summer vacation. We know that Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) will be making an entrance and at least according to Nick Fury he’s a good guy from an alternate dimension. I hope that’s true because he’s never been a good guy in this dimension before. Spider-Man: Far From Home swings into theaters on July 2nd.

Midsommar – July 3

We’ve always been taught to be afraid of the dark. What happens when the really scary things happen in the daylight?

Right on the heels of a fun superhero movie comes the creepiest looking movie of the year. Ari Aster made Hereditary last year and he was immediately recognized as a fresh new voice in the horror/thriller genre. Midsommar is his much-anticipated follow-up film and the trailers make it look like a suspenseful slow-burning horror film that leaves all the lights on instead of being all dark and creepy with shadows and jumpscares.

It looks like a combination of The Wicker Man (the original one from 1970s, not that horrible remake with Nicholas Cage.) with its strange pagan rituals and The Stepford Wives (the original one from the 1970s, not that horrible remake with Nicole Kidman.) with the idyllic surroundings and cheerful almost too happy people. It just makes you know that there is something darker lingering under the surface. If you haven’t seen either of those or Hereditary, I would recommend seeing them if this looks interesting to you. Midsommar will be in select theaters in time for the July 4th holiday.

The Art of Self Defense – July 12

Could this be the Lex Luthor origin story? After learning karate he unlocks his hidden passion to take down the ubermensch.

A dark comedy set in the world of karate. The film centers on Casey (Jesse Eisenberg), who is attacked at random on the street and enlists in a local dojo led by a charismatic and mysterious Sensei (Alessandro Nivola), in an effort to learn how to defend himself. What he uncovers is a sinister world of fraternity, violence and hypermasculinity and a woman (Imogen Poots) fighting for her place in it. Casey undertakes a journey, both frightening and darkly funny, that will place him squarely in the sights of his enigmatic new mentor.

Let’s face it, Jesse Eisenberg is a wimp. At least that is the persona that he has chosen with his film career. Well, this film looks like it is playing right into that sniveling weakling persona and it could be the most Jesse Eisenbergian character that Jesse Eisenberg has ever played. Feeling inadequate, he is going to try and learn how to be a man and things are going to go wrong. If you couldn’t tell, this is a dark comedy and probably has a lot to say about the kind of stereotypical machismo that we all understand. The Art of Self-Defense will fight its way into theaters on July 12th.

The Lion King – July 19

Does it count as live action if all the characters are CGI?

Everyone knows the story of the lion prince who would be king who is betrayed by his evil uncle and leaves the kingdom in the wake of his father’s traumatic death. While he is away he makes friends and tries to forget his past. But his past finds him and he must choose whether he believes in himself enough to take his rightful place as king. Sounds Shakespearean right? That’s because it’s Hamlet with Lions.

As needless as they are, most of the Disney live-action remakes have been good. None have surpassed their originals in my opinion and I think Lion King will be fighting an uphill battle to even get close. It is widely considered to be the pinnacle of Disney Animated Musicals. It doesn’t seem like this one can really miss at the box office. It is a sure success. Parents who loved the original taking their kids to see the movie that they were shown when they were babies. Hopefully, it will update and spin the story in a new way, but even if it doesn’t I think it will make heaps of money and probably get mostly favorable reviews. We’ll find out on July 19th when The Lion King marches into theaters.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – July 26

Quentin Tarantino’s 9th film according to the trailer, but 10th if you call Kill Bill two movies. Or maybe he’s not counting Death Proof. Anyway, I count ten.

Tarantino has called this his most personal film. Tarantino moved to a community called Torrance just southwest of L.A. with his mother in 1966 when he was 3 years old. Some of his earliest memories may have included discussion around the dinner table about Hollywood and hippie culture. When the movie was announced, and it was revealed that Sharon Tate would have a role, it was assumed that this would be a movie about the Manson family murders, but Tarantino has denied that saying that while many of the characters overlap, the movie is actually about the loss of innocence in the late 60s.

I’m excited to see what all the fuss is about, besides a cast that includes Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch, Kurt Russell, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, and Al Pacino. Apparently, it got a six-minute long standing ovation at Cannes. That seems excessive. Have you ever clapped for an extended period of time? It hurts your hands. Tarantino is probably one of the biggest geeks about that culture which included kung-fu movies and spaghetti westerns. I’m sure that much of that respect and admiration comes through. If there is one thing that you can count on Hollywood to love, it’s itself. We’ll see what secrets Tarantino holds in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood on July 26.

Do you have any thoughts on the movies I mentioned? What are you hoping to watch in July? Leave a comment below or find me on social media. I’m always ready to talk about movies.

1990s, Anniversary, Article, Best Movie Bracket, IMDB 250, Lists, Longform, Top 3, Video Essay

1994 Best Movie Bracket

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It was a simpler time 25 years ago. A time when everyone was glued to the 24-hour news coverage of the unfolding dramas of Tanya Harding and O.J. Simpson. I was busy playing on my Super Nintendo and figuring out this new thing called the World Wide Web with the help of Yahoo! As far as movies go, I’m actually surprised at some of the stuff I saw. If you asked me then what my favorites were I would have probably said North, Street Fighter, The Mask, Angels in the Outfield, and Maverick. And I won’t apologize for that, I was eleven! Besides, I still love Maverick, it’s so much fun.

I still got to see some amazing films because our family’s favorite past-time was going to the video store on Friday night and renting an armful of movies. Did anyone else have a two VCR set up and a stack of blank VHS tapes? Has the statute of limitations run out on that type of copyright infringement? I loved being a latchkey kid. I got off school and was alone at home until my parents got home after most people had already eaten dinner. My dad would put me in charge of recording the VHS tapes, and even if he didn’t I would just watch them anyway, which meant that I got to watch a lot of movies! Still, looking back through the common top lists for the year, I do still have a couple of notable blind spots including Little Women, The Last Seduction, Cronos, Shallow Grave, Immortal Beloved, Heavenly Creatures, The Crow, Naked, In the Mouth of Madness, and Satantango.

Onto the best of the year, let me start with some honorable mentions. In another year without so many heavy hitters, many of these could have been my number one. Ed Wood is the Best Tim Burton directed Johnny Depp film that it seems like no one has ever seen. Quiz Show got four Oscar nominations, it is easily the best film that Robert Redford has ever directed. With Hoop Dreams, Steve James created one of the best documentaries of all time. The Three Colors Trilogy is a masterpiece of French cinema by Kieslowski and I don’t think nearly enough people have seen it. Lion King was the pinnacle of the great Disney animated films, everything after went downhill. And unlike some, I really love Forrest Gump which won the Best Picture Oscar for the year even though it is clearly not the best film. But enough with those losers, let’s get to my Top 3.

# 3 – Leon: The Professional

Rossatron gives a good breakdown of why Leon: The Professional is full of action that we care about.

As is my tradition, I have to narrow down my favorites to a top three, and I’m not allowed to do a three-way tie even though it is very tempting. Coming in at number 3 is Leon: The Professional. There’s been a movement to downgrade this movie because of alleged misconduct by its Director, Luc Besson. There are others who see the plot of the film which involves a complicated relationship between hitman Jean Reno and a stellar 12-year-old Natalie Portman in her first film appearance as troublesome. Some have even said that it promotes pedophilia and they condemn it.

However, I remember watching this around 1997 when I was about 15 and I fell in love with that damaged little girl. It is a performance reminiscent of the young Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver. She conveys so much emotion in her face. Especially the scene at Leon’s door which is so powerful as their worlds collide for the first time. The thirst for revenge against the man that slaughtered her family is palpable and that man is played deliciously over the top by the incomparable Gary Oldman. It is far and away Besson’s best film and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

#1 – The Shawshank Redemption

WARNING! LANGUAGE! Logos Made Flesh explains why The Shawshank Redemption might just be the greatest Christian movie of all time.

The Shawshank Redemption has been seated atop the IMDB Top 250 list for the past 15 years. Despite not doing well at the box office in 1994, it was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and didn’t take home a single statue. However, has received new life over the years as it is one of the most widely seen moves of all time. If you’ve never seen it, just turn on TBS or A&E this week and you’ve got about a 65% chance that it either is on currently or will be soon.

I consider it to be one of the greatest movies of all time. It is a wonderful story crafted by one of the masters, Stephen King, and directed by a powerful visionary in Frank Darabont. I’m not going to say a negative word about it. It has an amazing cast featuring the soothing narration of Morgan Freeman and so many great character actors that you should know. It is clearly and unflinchingly a prison movie but we aren’t trapped inside. Instead, along with Andy and Red, we get to experience new life and redemption that comes when you die to self and start really living.

That means that we are going to be faced with another year with a tie. If you’ve been following along, you know that when I covered 2007, we had a stand-off between what I believe are the two best films of the 2000’s right there in the same year, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Here atop the 1990’s we have Shawshank Redemption matched with another masterpiece from 1994.

#1 – Pulp Fiction

Wisecrack’s Garyx Wormuloid shares thoughts on Pulp Fiction now that Earth has been destroyed and aliens are rediscovering our culture through film artifacts.

I love that even the name of the movie is a subversion of what you are going to see. Pulp Fiction makes you think of trashy paperbacks that you read once and then toss, but Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece is known for its rewatchability. It’s profoundly violent yet somehow feel-good. It’s full of iconic scenes and characters that you can’t wait to spend time with again, and the narrative structure is so different that it takes a few views just to really grasp at what point everything happens in relation to one another. At the same time this structure takes nothing away from the telling of the story and in fact I would not want to see it chronologically. The streams all coming together perfectly the way they do is part of the magic.

I’m an actor-centric movie reviewer. This just means that I really relate to a film by the people that I see on the screen. I always have the director and his vision in the back of my mind, but I will usually judge a film on the power of its performances first. I don’t know how young Quentin Tarantino video store clerk was able to assemble this fantastic cast with just one film under his belt, but Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson, Harvel Keitel, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, and Christopher Walken. That’s something.

Pulp Fiction sent shockwaves through cinema when it was released in 1994. It was a wakeup call and it lit a spark under an independent film market that was ready to explode. It made $213.9 million worldwide making it one of the highest-grossing independent films to ever be made. It helped Tarantino to create his own genre of dialogue-heavy scenes, non-linear narratives, violence and dark humor. This genre is now lazily called Tarantino-esque as there have been dozens of films inspired by Pulp Fiction and many others that have just ripped it off hoping to make a buck on its runaway success.

What about you? What’s your top movie of 1994? Do you hate Luc Besson and everything he makes? Do you feel like my picks are too pedestrian and would rather elevate something truly original and independent? Let me know. Comment here or on social media. I want to hear from you.

2010s, Coming Soon, Lists, Netflix, Video

Most Anticipated Releases – June 2019

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We’re in that time of year when there is a lot of new content being thrown our way hoping to grab our attention over the Summer blockbuster season. Here are some of the new titles that will hit theaters this month that I think might be worth your time.

Black Mirror – Season 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bVik34nWws
I’ve been avoiding most of the trailers because I like to walk into these immersive fables blind, but if you want a peek at what to expect from season five check it out.

I’ll start with a bit of a cheat since it isn’t a movie. Netflix is bringing back Black Mirror for a short season 5. It looks like it will only be 3 episodes so it really won’t be much longer than a feature-length movie. I have adored the twisted technological storytelling of the first four seasons, and the create your own adventure style special. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch was something I’ve been waiting for Netflix or another streaming platform to do for a long while.

Season 5 looks like it’s going to continue to trend of bringing A-list talent as the information we have seen the names Anthony Mackie (Falcon from Avengers), Miley Cyrus (You know her), Topher Grace (That 70s Show and lots of other stuff), Andrew Scott (Moriarity in Sherlock), Pom Klementieff (Mantis from Avengers), and Angourie Rice (I’ve been waiting to see her in more since The Nice Guys years ago) thrown around. Season 5 drops on Netflix on June 5th.

Dark Phoenix

Big plot spoilers are visible in this trailer so watch at your own risk.

With Disney now owning 20th Century Fox that means that they own the rights to the X-Men, as well as Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, X-Force, Deadpool, and much more. Because of this transition and a quote from Fox Executive Emma Watts who said that Dark Phoenix would be the “perfect sendoff for our X-Men team,” it looks like this will be the conclusion of the X-Men: Beginnings story arc which began with X-Men: First Class in 2011 and melded with the original timeline in X-Men: Days of Future Past. I think it is safe to say that we haven’t seen the end of the X-Men, but they may look very different under Marvel’s umbrella and this film will close the door that was opened in 2000 with the original classic X-Men. It still remains to be seen what will happen with the New Mutants horror spinoff that has been in the works for at least 3 years. It might just end up on Disney+.

Ever since the 90s cartoon, the X-Men have been my favorite superhero team. That’s right, even more than the Avengers. I mean my parents named me after Wolverine. (Not really, but that’s what I tell myself.) Over the years we’ve gotten some great stories and we’ve seen them weave several timelines together. Last Stand didn’t really do the Dark Phoenix storyline justice, so it will be nice to see something a little more in line with the comics. I’m tentatively excited about it if for nothing more than the return of Evan Peters’ Quicksilver. Dark Phoenix will rise in your theaters on June 7th.

I Am Mother

Feels like Moon meets 10 Cloverfield Lane meets Ex Machina.

Shortly after humanity’s extinction, in a high-tech bunker deep beneath the earth’s surface, a robot named Mother commences her protocol. Designed to repopulate the earth with humans born from test-tube embryos, Mother raises a baby girl to become an intelligent, compassionate teenager (Clara Rugaard). But the arrival of a wounded woman (Hilary Swank) at the bunker door soon casts doubt on Mother’s account of the earth’s fate and threatens the unique bond between Mother and her “daughter.”

I don’t know much about this film, outside of this official synopsis. This is Grant Sputore’s first feature-length film and it looks like it could be a good addition to the myriad of man vs. machine movies that we have seen since the origins of cinema itself. With Hillary Swank and Rose Byrne, artificial intelligence, and a dilemma over who to trust it sounds like this will be a fun ride for a stay in date night. It will drop on Netflix on June 7th.

Murder Mystery

This one isn’t going to win any awards, but maybe it’s worth a couple of laughs.

You’re probably thinking, are you serious Logan? An Adam Sandler movie? Direct to Netflix? Is this going to be another Ridiculous Six, The Do-Over, or The Week Of? With Sandler, it is always possible. He has given us some real stinkers over the years, but I still remember the good old days and I hope that maybe he is turning a corner in his career and really trying to make more quality films. I really enjoyed him in Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories. I know that he has good acting chops.

The same could really be said for Jennifer Aniston, however, I have usually enjoyed her films and I’m a fan. Add in Gemma Arterton, Luke Evans, and others in a good cast and give me a story that feels like it is pulled right from an Agatha Christie novel and I think we’ve got another good date night movie. Pop the popcorn and get ready to laugh with Murder Mystery dropping on Netflix on June 14th.

The Dead Don’t Die

Bill Murray in another Zombie movie! Sign me up.

If I asked 10 random people on the street to name 10 film directors I would bet a dollar a name that no one would mention Jim Jarmusch. He is an enigmatic and quirky individual who is extremely creative and has developed relationships all over Hollywood over the last 35 years. When I heard that he was producing a zombie movie with Adam Driver (who he directed in Paterson) I was instantly interested.

I had almost forgotten that Jarmusch is not a stranger to the horror genre. He created the vampire film Only Lovers Left Alive starring Tilda Swinton who also has a role in this. But when I saw the reclusive Bill Murray as the co-lead with Driver I was sold. The Dead Don’t Die will be hitting select theaters on June 14.

Beats

Shut up and take my money! Wait… this is on Netflix. Shut up and take my password.

We had a flurry of powerful African American led dramas last year. Beats looks like it might be bringing that game to Netflix. Anthony Anderson (Dre from the TV show Black-ish) plays a school security officer who goes looking for a truant student and finds a hurting young man who is gifted musically. He begins to support the boy and encourage him but will he push him too hard? Is he ready to put himself out there with wounds and trauma still so fresh in his mind?

This one will pull on the heart-strings and probably make you think about music, race, law enforcement, mental health, education, and who knows what else. I love living in this creative environment where it feels like much of the creative and unique storytelling is being done on these new media platforms while theaters still play a rich role as the only venue for amazing experiential blockbusters. I hope that we keep both and that they both continue to thrive and grow. I’m really looking forward to Beats and Netflix will be releasing it on June 19th.

Yesterday

What would you do if you were the only one in the world who knew the Beatles music?

Jumping to the end of the month, we see another very unique story coming from the incomparable Danny Boyle. If you don’t know his name just do a quick google search and great movies will explode all over your screen. He’s one of the most reliably great directors out there. If he puts his name on it you can be sure it is worth your time.

I just love this concept. I’m not familiar with the lead actor, Himesh Patel, but he has a beautiful voice from the trailer. Lily James and Kate McKinnon are always wins as well. It looks funny and romantic and the music is guaranteed to be fantastic unless they take Ed Sheeran’s advice and change Hey Jude to Hey Dude. That is potentially blasphemous. Yesterday will be playing in your local theater on June 28th.

What About Toy Story 4?

I intentionally left Toy Story 4 off this list because I am reverse anticipating it. I’m still upset with Pixar for not listening to me after I told them to leave well enough alone after Toy Story 3. They’ve gone too far. If Pixar can’t continue to innovate and create unique stories then they should just hang it up and not ruin the great films that they already made. I could be totally wrong and it could be amazing. I’m sure I will see it, but I have a sinking feeling that it is not going to be great.

What is your most anticipated release of June? What do you think about Netflix putting out some great original content? We cancelled our Amazon Prime and haven’t really missed it, do they have some new movies or shows you’d like to share? Leave it in the comments below or find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and we can chat.

2010s, Action, Animation, Awards, Best Movie Bracket, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Family, Lists, Reviews, Science Fiction, Top 3, Uncategorized

2018 Best Movie Bracket

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From my best count, there were about 266 major films released in 2018. That includes all the tentpole blockbusters and the independent festival darlings. It also includes the most prominent foreign films which received a US release and major original releases from streaming platforms. Of those 266, I have seen 111. I’ve still got about 50 for 2018 on my watchlist, but I will probably never see the vast majority of those unless I get a government grant that allows me to stop working and do nothing but watch movies all day every day.

I track and rate all of the movies I watch at Letterboxd.com. Since I usually do this list as a top 3, it is convenient that I have exactly 3 movies from 2018 that I would classify as five-star films. That number may increase because I have a rule that no film can be rated as 5 stars based upon a single viewing. The highest I can go on one viewing is 4 1/2 stars.

Honorable Mentions

It was a very good year for film. I could just list off 20 films that were easily in the running for my top film of the year, but in addition to my top three, I want to highlight a few special films that were unique or extraordinary in some way.

A Quiet Place surprised me because I didn’t expect such an immersive story from Jim from the Office. Upgrade was the best Science-Fiction action film with its locked camera Logan Marshall-Green’s face/body acting split. Mission-Impossible: Fallout was easily the most entertaining film I saw all year, I could watch it a dozen times and still be ready for another go around. 

Leave No Trace is Debra Granik’s long-awaited follow-up to Winter’s Bone (2019) and it was heartbreaking and uplifting and hopeful and brutally honest. BlackkKlansman is Spike Lee’s best since Malcolm X. It caught you laughing about systemic racism and how dumb those Klan members could be then flipped the script and left me with my mouth hanging open and tears in my eyes. Shoplifters left me wanting to be kidnapped and loved so purely whether it is technically a family or not. Finally, I’m so sad to leave First Reformed out of my top three, Paul Schrader had my rapt attention with an arresting meditation on faith’s place in the modern world.

Top Three

3. Blindspotting

The year was filled with amazing films focused on the theme of race relations. We’ve already mentioned BlackkKlansman, but there was also If Beale Street Could Talk, The Hate U Give, and Sorry to Bother You. However, the best, in my opinion, was the one that was criminally overlooked, Blindspotting.

The story is pretty simple. Collin, played masterfully by Daveed Diggs (whom you might know as Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton), must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. Despite his childhood best friend Miles (a solid introduction from newcomer and co-writer Raphael Casal) not being the best influence, Collin is loyal. That countdown clock comes under pressure when Collin witnesses a police shooting and the two men’s friendship is tested as they wrestle with their identity in their rapidly-gentrifying Oakland neighborhood.

I don’t understand why Lionsgate released this unbelievably prescient masterpiece in mid-July rather than holding it a little later for Awards season. It was electrifying while also remaining accessible. However, Blindspotting was released in the same summer as Childish Gambino’s firebrand This is America and it is a perfect companion piece. 

2. Won’t You Be My Neighbor

I wouldn’t usually even think of putting a documentary on my best films of the year, but I was so incredibly floored by Morgan Neville’s documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor. I grew up watching Mister Rogers every afternoon as a little kid and I even remember watching often into my teenage years. At some point, I probably kind of outgrew it and thought that he was uncool. But now looking back as an adult I see that Fred Rogers was the coolest guy in the neighborhood.

If there were one film in 2018 that I would force every person to watch it would be this. The faith, hope, and love that Fred Rogers exhibited in every show is a salve that I believe our culture needs now more than ever. Fred Rogers wasn’t seeking to entertain kids with his show and he wasn’t trying to rush them through growing up like so many try to. Instead, the yellow caution light flashes outside the building even before the familiar song begins as if to signal that it is time to slow down and learn what it means to be a human and how to live as a human with other humans. 

It didn’t fall into the trap of fawning over Mister Rogers. That’s good, because he would push back on being idolized in any way. Instead, he would call us to action, encouraging us to be better neighbors to all in hopes that this love and kindness might spread. Morgan Neville struck gold with this film and I only hope that it stays on constant rotation and that Fred Rogers is allowed to touch the hearts and minds of another generation and that my generation might be reminded of his gentle example.

1. Spider-Man Into The Spider-verse

I was not on the early bandwagon for Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse. I felt like it was too soon to do anything with Spider-Man much less introduce eight new ones. It wasn’t until I saw the sneak preview after Venom that I was even interested. I thought the animation looked great and I was intrigued by the concept and thought that it would be a good movie to take my kids to. However, about 15 minutes into the film, I knew I was watching something special. 

Let’s count the Spider-Men. First, we have Chris Pine’s stellar Peter Parker prime. He’s better than our Peter Parker and Spider-Man in every way except for the turn of events of this film. Second, we have Miles Morales, also from the home dimension of this film. Miles is played by Shameik Moore with bright-eyed energy. Then things get crazy with a whole slew of Spider-people.

Third, the road-weary veteran Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), complete with sweatpants, who is a sadder more tired version of the uber Spider-man. Fourth, Spider-Gwen, which I can easily see getting her own stand alone. Hailee Steinfeld brought some youthful confidence to the powerful girl’s role that will be seen over and over at Comic-con. Fifth, Spider-Man Noir, voiced in an amazing casting choice by Nicholas Cage. It’s seriously the best thing he’s done in years except destroying that pool table while singing the hokey pokey in Mom and Dad.

Sixth, Peni Parker, who shares a psychic connection to a radioactive spider that lives in her deceased father’s robot. I’m not making this up and she’s not even the weirdest. That award easily goes to seventh, Peter Porker (a.k.a Spider-Ham) a Looney Tunes type animated pig who actually started out as a spider but was bitten by a radioactive pig. In case you think I’m making this up, this is a comic you can actually read. Finally, eighth, featured just briefly in the post-credit scene is Oscar Isaac playing Miguel O’Hara as Spider-Man 2099. 

Somehow, all of this works and is magically told with no confusion and incredible balance and confidence. I haven’t even mentioned the supporting cast in Lily Tomlin, Katherine O’Hara, Mahershala Ali, and Liev Schriber among others. It is a truly star-studded cast and with all the right stuff.

So what do you think? Agree or disagree? Did I miss one of your favorites? Let me know in the comments below or on social media.

2010s, Article, Coming Soon, Lists, News, Trailers

16 Most Anticipated Films of the Rest of 2018

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With the collapse of MoviePass over the past few weeks, it looks like I might need to be a little more picky in my choice of movies. I’m still going to hold onto it and I will try to use it as often as they will allow, but with service outages just about every night and no access to new releases, it will definitely be limited. Before the AMC Stubs A-List people come out of the woods to accost me, my closest AMC is about 80 miles away, so that is a no go. I’m waiting to see if Regal announces any plans, but in the meantime, I have signed up for Sinemia which allows me to see three movies a month in any format.

With that in mind, I took a look at all the upcoming films for the remaining five months of 2018 and tried my best to whittle it down to my top 15 most anticipated. There are probably three times this many that I will actually do my best to see. A lot of these only have a limited release announced and the word of mouth before and performance during that run will make the difference in whether they will ever see a national roll out. So this is me doing my part to make sure I get to see them in my neck of the woods. 

Eighth Grade – August 3rd

I figured I would cheat right out of the gate and make this list 16 instead of 15. Technically, this one hit a few theaters in July, but it hasn’t been near me until now. I haven’t seen it yet, but I am really looking forward to it. Comedian Bo Burnham makes his directing debut as we follow teenager Kayla (Elsie Fisher) as she maneuvers transitioning from middle school to high school. From the trailer it looks like something wonderful that I am going to love.

BlacKKKlansman – August 10

Spike Lee’s latest movie, produced by Jordan Peele, follows the true story of a real black police officer, Ron Stallworth, who managed to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. This is the first I’ve ever seen of John David Washington who stars, but it also stars Topher Grace as David Duke as well as other big names like Adam Driver and Alec Baldwin. This one can join the list of 2018 films with a racially charged message (Sorry to Bother You, Blindspotting, and another coming up on this list).

Searching – August 31

I’ve heard good things about John Cho’s performance in this. It seems like he has the difficult task of holding it all together since it uses the same gimmick that we have seen a couple of times now (Unfriended), the whole movie occurs on a computer screen. 

The Predator – September 14

Director Shane Black (Hawkins from the first Predator movie), has taken the reins of the franchise for its latest chapter. Sure to be an entertaining viewing experience, the movie stars Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Keegan-Michael Key, and Jacob Tremblay.

The House with a Clock in its Walls – September 21

Jack Black is hit or miss. This could be bad like Goosebumps, but the kid actor (Owen Vaccaro) looks good and it seems like a cool concept. I’m more interested in this than the next Fantastic Beasts movie. That’s saying something considering the fact that I’m currently wearing a “Become an Obliviator!” t-shirt. 

First Man – October 12

Ryan Gosling and director Damien Chazelle join forces again after La La Land for this look at Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. With Gosling as Armstrong, the movie delves into the dramatic events leading up to the historic launch.

Bad Times at the El Royale – October 12

Drew Goddard’s (The Cabin in the Woods) latest movie follows the lives of seven troubled strangers as they stay at a rundown hotel in search of redemption. Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Jon Hamm, and Dakota Johnson lead this star-studded cast. This could easily be either my favorite of the season or a jumbled mess. There is a thin line between the two.

The Hate U Give – October 19

Based on an acclaimed young adult novel of the same name, we follow Starr (Amandla Stenberg) as she tries to figure out the right path after witnessing her childhood friend die in a fatal shooting by a police officer. It sounds like the teenage version of the recent firestarter, Blindspotting. It looks powerful. 

Can You Ever Forgive Me? – October 19

This is a rare serious role for Melissa McCarthy. I’m always up for watching an actor stretch their creative legs and show me something I haven’t seen before. Apparently, this comes from the true story of author Lee Israel who began forging letters from literary legends when her writing career was in the doldrums. If it’s really good, we could see nominations come award season. 

Bohemian Rhapsody – November 2

Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) plays Queen front-man Freddie Mercury in this look at the band before its legendary Live Aid concert. Queen is usually my answer when asked for my favorite band, and Mercury is a very interesting figure that should make for a good watch. If all goes according to plan, Malek is looking at some major award season consideration for this one.

The Sisters Brothers – November

The Sisters Brothers are John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix. That’s enough to get me interested, but it looks like a dark comedy. This could easily be the year the John C. Reilly really breaks out. I’ve been waiting for it since Walk Hard.

Ralph Breaks the Internet – November 21

Six years after the original, Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) head off on a new adventure. This time they discover what’s out in the internet after finding a pathway through a wi-fi router. I’m hoping this is a sequel more like Incredibles 2 than Cars 2 or worse The Emoji Movie. It looks funny from the trailer and the internet creates a lot of fodder for humor, but my worry is that with as quickly as things move on the internet, this could feel stale by the time it hits DVD. 

Robin Hood – November 21

Taron Edgerton as Robin of Locksley back from the crusades with Jamie Foxx as his trainer/sidekick? Sign me up! We might be in for the best Robin Hood movie since Men in Tights.

Mortal Engines – December 14

Based on the Philip Reeve book, and written for the screen by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, this film is set in a world where cities are forced to move around in a constant chase to avoid being overthrown. Essentially, this is a real life game of Agar.io. It looks amazing, but if it is too complicated, it could end up like Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. It also doesn’t really have many big names to anchor it except Jackson and Hugo Weaving. 

Alita: Battle Angel – December 21

I got worried when this film moved from a July date all the way back to December. Hopefully, this was so it could get away from juggernaut tentpole films and find a better viewership. I’m not familiar with the original manga also known as Gunnm, by Yukito Kushiro, but James Cameron has apparently been attempting to get a film adaptation made for several years. Now he has finally produced it with Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) directing. It looks like we can expect some amazing visuals. Let’s just hope this movie about a fighting cyborg girl has a bit more heart and substance than the Ghost in the Shell remake. 

Welcome to Marwen – December 21

Based on the intriguing 2010 documentary, Marwencol, about how a man copes with a brain injury through creating a 1/6th scale World War II-era town in his backyard, Robert Zemeckis takes that story and glosses it up with CGI. It stars Steve Carell in the lead role. I expect this to be top of some best of lists at the end of the year. But Zemeckis’ barbie doll CGI could turn some away. Only time will tell. 

Which of these is your most anticipated? What did I miss? Venom? Into the Spiderverse? Let me know what you’re looking forward to in the comments section below!

1990s, Article, Best Movie Bracket, Computer, Crime, Detective, Lists, Top 3

1995 Best Movie Bracket

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I have a theory that 12 years old is the greatest age. You are in the homestretch of your childhood and the world is at your doorstep. You haven’t quite entered the dreaded teenager phase where you start caring way too much about what other people think instead of just being yourself. Being 12 is great. 

As a part of that theory, I also think that the movies you see when you are 12 will stick with you and potentially even shape your future. Look back for yourself. What movies did you see when you were 12? I was 12 in 1995 and I remember having some of the best times of my life in a movie theater. It was a different time then and I recall getting dropped off at the theater at lunchtime with $20 and getting picked back up at 5 o’clock or so having binged on popcorn and soda and soaked in the flickering light of the cinema for two full films. 

I remember sitting in the theater as the lights dimmed for Toy Story, Jumanji, GoldenEye, Hackers, Batman Forever, Mortal Kombat, and A Goofy Movie. I remember sneaking into the theater for Se7en, Bad Boys, and Die Hard with a Vengeance. But my greatest memory in the theater was actually on the opening weekend of 1995’s Clueless.

My Greatest Theater Memory

I think it was my brother that took me to the theater when he was going to see Species or something like that. I got my favorite seat in those days which was literally front and center. I wanted my entire range of vision to be absorbed by the experience of the film. The house was packed and I had a group of what I can only describe as colorfully dressed punk rockers and skaters sitting there on the front row with me. The theater was a Regal Cinemas (as it still is to this day) and if you don’t know, Regal has a great intro video before all movies that make you feel like you are on a roller coaster zooming through popcorn showers and past waterfalls of Coca-Cola.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6o6ZlefvOo

As the roller coaster came on the screen, I raised my hands to signify that I was ready for the ride with the confidence that only a 12 year old can muster. As I sat waiting for the coaster to pull out of the station, I looked around and it seemed to my 12 year old eyes that everyone was joining with me in this fanciful charade and we collectively swayed and gasped and screamed as if the coaster was 100% real. It was amazing. I shared a “gimme some skin” kind of handshake with the dude sitting next to me and we launched into Amy Heckerling’s wonderful teenage adventure. Even though I was just 12, I feel like that is the day I became a man, my cinematic bar-mitzvah. 

Best Movie of 1995

As I press on to determine the best film of each year to fill out my Best Movie Bracket, it’s very hard to separate my nostalgic feelings towards some of these films from my critical thinking. I have such great memories of watching my VHS copies of Powder, Braveheart, and Mortal Kombat, but while they may be a lot of fun, they are definitely not the best of the year. That honor belongs to… 

Win: Toy Story

Did you realize that there have been over 250 computer animated films released since Toy Story hit theaters back in 1995? What a way to start. If I look at Pixar’s canon of films, it is hard for me to count this gem out of the running for their greatest. It isn’t because the animation looks super realistic. I’m very glad they decided to go with toys because everything in this film feels plastic. However, the emotions that are conveyed certainly aren’t. 

Toy Story presents us with a buddy cop comedy featuring two leads vying for the attention of their boss. It also feels like a real-life situation for a kid who might feel as though they are being upstaged by a little brother or sister. The emotions of jealousy and anger and fear are well displayed on their plasticine faces, and it touches way down into the hearts of the viewers whether they are 8 or 80.  

Place: Se7en

David Fincher has made 9 feature films, ten if you count Alien 3 (Which I don’t). His experience with that film was so bad that he went back to directing music videos for 3 years and wasn’t sure if he would ever direct a movie again. When he did decide to come back, he created what is probably the most gritty and disturbing crime drama that you will ever see. Everyone asks what’s in the box, but there is so much going on outside of it.

Morgan Freeman is awesome as usual, this is the film that rocketed Brad Pitt into the stratosphere, and Kevin Spacey is a natural at playing the creepy sociopath. In fact, he gets to do it twice in the same year. The second was a better performance (if only because of screen time) but the movie itself fell just short of this one.

Show: The Usual Suspects

The director (Bryan Singer) and the lead actor (Kevin Spacey) may have shown their true colors as filthy scumbags, but that can’t keep me from loving the heck out of this movie. It has one of those twist endings that rivals The Sixth Sense, Soylent Green, and Fight Club, but this film has somehow flown under the radar to the point that you can actually find people who have not sullied their opinion of the film with spoilers. I’m certainly not going to spoil anything here, but Spacey is great as mild mannered Verbal Kint who serves as our narrator as we explore the crime ring led by the iconic Keyser Soze. 

What is your most memorable or transformative movie moment? What 1995 film is your favorite? What movies did 12 year-old you watch and love? Let me know in the comments!

1990s, Action, Alien/Monster, Best Movie Bracket, Comedy, Detective, Disaster, Drugs, Holiday, Lists, Science Fiction, Top 3

1996 Best Movie Bracket

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If you stumbled across this and have no idea what’s going on, you can visit my Best Movie Bracket Page and see what I’m doing here to whittle down a century of film into a bracket so I can determine once and for all which film will reign supreme as the best of all time.

Best Film of 1996

Bill Clinton began his second term after defeating Bob Dole and Ross Perot and DVD’s became a thing. Nintendo released the mostly forgettable N64, and the fear of Mad Cow Disease entered the global consciousness. 1996 was an interesting year. It was a year filled with lots of changes for me personally. I was becoming a teenager and my year started with Pauly Shore in Bio-Dome and along the way, I realized that I liked William Shakespeare through Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo+Juliet and I recognized that I would rather watch a movie like Sling Blade than the live-action 101 Dalmations.

However, after 22 years of watching films and a significant amount of cramming in the last month, I think I have come to a determination of the best films of the year. Obviously, best is a subjective term and if you ask me next week I could give you a different list altogether.

1. Fargo

Fargo would probably be my gut instinct pick for best film of the 90s and the Coen brothers are probably my favorite living directors (definitely my favorite directorial sibling team). So, it should be no surprise that this film is on the top of my list. I don’t think I will get a lot of argument about its inclusion either. Frances McDormand won Oscar gold for her performance as Marge Gunderson, and the Coens won for best original screenplay, but in one of the biggest mistakes in Oscar history, they somehow picked The English Patient as the top of the year and overlooked Fargo for 4 other categories.

I probably enjoy this film so much because of Marge Gunderson. Cathleen Falsani in her book The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers, says:

Marge is a Christ figure, a mouthpiece for God, willingly risking (with unfailing good cheer) her own safety in order to vanquish evil and restore moral order. In the face of death, she is, quite literally, a fecund life-giver, poised to deliver a child – and a new beginning – into the world. She could also be viewed as the Madonna, the gentle, willing vessel of the Lord. Perhaps her initials, M. G., even indicate this interpretation as Mother of God.

The Rev. Bob Barron, my friend and a catholic priest, suspects the film’s title, Fargo, describes Marge’s mission in life – to go far out to the margins in order to bring wayward sinners back to grace. “She represents Christ; she represents the church at its best,” Barron says. “She’s able to go out to the margins but she is not compromised by it. She’s not drawn into that world. She’s able to go into it in a very intense way; she’s not afraid of it…yet she’s not attracted to it, she’s not drawn into its power. And that’s what the church at its best ought to do.”

I’ve heard that the recent television version of the story is good, but I haven’t caught it yet. Let me know if it’s worth my time.

2. Trainspotting

Director Danny Boyle is exciting to watch. Some auteurs have a particular gimmick, style, genre, or theme, but Boyle is always keeping us guessing. He might give us a dark comedy about heroin use in Scotland, or he could tell us a true story about a hiker who gets trapped and is forced to cut his own arm off to survive, or any number of others like Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later, Steve Jobs, Sunshine, or The Beach. Whatever the film, he does it with excellence as if he has always produced that type of film and he brings a visual style and a storytelling flair that is unmatched.

In Trainspotting, the story goes much deeper than heroin as it becomes a stand in for any number of vices and addictions, like sex, violence, or the mindless consumerism that fills much of our days. This is on full display in Renton’s opening/closing “choose life” monologue. Warning Strong Language!

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life.

3. Independence Day

The other two were easy choices, but this one took a bit of reasoning. It might help that I sit writing this on the evening of July 4th as I listen to dozens of fireworks boom throughout the neighborhood outside. This film captured my attention for an entire summer and left me wanting more. It did for aliens what Jurassic Park did for dinosaurs. 

As I’ve said before, this Best Movie Bracket list isn’t always about the most critically acclaimed film. There are many different ways to measure the best. Financially and culturally, Independence Day won for 1996 and it left a mark that still resonates today. Alyssa Wilkinson writing for Vox gets to the heart of why I chose Independence Day over a half a dozen others vying for this bronze pedestal.

Independence Day is more product than movie, which isn’t really a strike against it: Like an amusement park thrill ride or a skydiving expedition, the experience of watching it is more about adrenaline and excitement than the artistic qualities of the movie itself. The catharsis of seeing the world destroyed (and then seeing the American president save it) was just right for its moment — when just enough optimism still reigned and computer animation was new enough that the images felt new and invigorating rather than dark and foreboding — and people loved it.

Movies like Independence Day partly succeeded because people could see the movie with their friends or family in the theater and talk about it at work, or over the backyard grill. It was cool and awesome and fun, and that’s all it needed to be.

And, like any good product, the success of Independence Day was a function of its then-pioneering marketing push, which set a template for future big-budget films. Today, selling your film to audiences isn’t just about cutting a good trailer and running it on TV during NFL games, and maybe getting a toy into Happy Meals. It’s about teaser campaigns and cross-promotion and stealth marketing and post-credits scenes that make people want to see the sequel that hasn’t even been shot yet.

All that money, all that marketing, all that big-budget spectacle: It’s quintessentially American, and quintessentially Hollywood. Love it or hate it, that’s the world that Jaws built and Independence Day made inescapable.

Honorable Mentions

So, where were you in 1996? What fond (or not so fond) memories do you have? Did I leave out one of your favorites? let me know in the comments below. You can also share what you enjoy about these or other top films on social media using the #BestMovieBracket. Thanks for joining me!

1990s, Best Movie Bracket, Blindspotting, Lists

Upcoming 1996 Movie Nights

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It seems like I missed a lot of good movies from 1996. It was probably because I just turned into a teenager and I didn’t have free rein to watch whatever my heart desired. Now that summer is here, I want to relive those awkward days and fully embrace 1996 with a 12 movie marathon. I’ve mixed in some movies that I consider the best of the year along with some popular films that I’ve never seen. 

They are in no particular order, and I’m sure that I will have something come up to cancel one or more, but this should give me a good framework to base my decision on the best movie of the year by the end of June. I hope you’ll join me on Rabbit as I watch these. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

  1. A Time To Kill

    June 2 @ 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm EDT

  2. The Crucible

    June 3 @ 9:30 pm – 11:30 pm EDT

  3. Mars Attacks

    June 4 @ 9:30 pm – 11:30 pm EDT

  4. Trainspotting

    June 9 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT

  5. Bottle Rocket

    June 10 @ 9:30 pm – 11:30 pm EDT

  6. Breaking the Waves

    June 11 @ 9:30 pm – 11:30 pm EDT

  7. Pusher

    June 16 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT

  8. Secrets and Lies

    June 17 @ 9:30 pm – 11:30 pm EDT

  9. Fargo

    June 18 @ 9:30 pm – 11:30 pm EDT

  10. Crash (1996)

    June 23 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT

  11. The Birdcage

    June 24 @ 9:30 pm – 11:30 pm EDT

  12. The English Patient

    June 25 @ 9:30 pm – 11:30 pm EDT
     
1990s, Art-house, Best Movie Bracket, Detective, Drama, Film Noir, Lists, Trailers

1997 Best Movie Bracket

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On to the year 1997 in our journey to find the Best Movie of all time. If you’re new to this Best Movie Bracket. You can learn more on my Best Movie Bracket Page. There you can explore the whole idea as well as 20 years worth of reviews and countdowns. 1997 was monumental, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first published and would soon set the world on fire with Pottermania. Scottish scientists successfully cloned Dolly the sheep, we landed a rover on Mars, and we mourned the loss of Princess Diana.

But the biggest news in the film world was of course James Cameron’s epic Titanic. It opened in December and overshadowed everything else that was released that year and even into 1998. Even by today’s standards, many of the effects are amazing and ambitious. It was nominated for 14 Oscars tying 1950’s All About Eve and took home a record tying 11, sharing that feat with 1959’s Ben-Hur. It was the first film to ever cross the $1 Billion earnings mark staying at the top of the box office charts for 15 straight weeks and within the top ten for 26!

You won’t find Titanic on the top of my 1997 best list. I thought it was a good disaster film on par with The Towering Inferno, or Dante’s Peak with a uninteresting romance thrown in between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. I consider myself a fan of both of these actors, but I don’t think it is their best work, and it appears that I’m not alone in this. The only major acting award received for Titanic was a tie at the Screen Actors Guild for best supporting actress for Gloria Stuart. The other two Oscars that Titanic didn’t take home were for screenwriting. Those went to my top two.

1. L.A. Confidential

I find it funny how Kevin Spacey and Kim Basinger get the top billing and focus in marketing. When you look at Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce today, it is obvious that they are big name stars. But they owe their Hollywood status to the late director Curtis Hanson. He went out on a limb and took this script that he spent years adapting and put it in the hands of two relative unknowns from Australia who hadn’t even perfected their American accents.

It is a great film that captures the look of this hard-boiled noir time-frame all while feeling modern and supremely entertaining. In addition to the big four characters which is still a lot of most films, we still have James Cromwell, Danny Devito, David Strathairn, Paul Guilfoyle, Ron Rifkin, and even a pre-Mentalist Simon Baker. The story moves very well and we have enough character development to fill several movies. The world feels lived in and tactile. There is action, humor, and plenty of twists and turns to make this one of the most engaging films of the 1990’s.

2. Good Will Hunting

Is this a movie about a kid from the wrong side of the tracks trying to cope with the fact that he is smarter than the average Southie, and even smarter than those stuffed shirts at MIT? I guess that is the basic plot, but it is really much deeper than that. Honestly, his genius really only becomes the reason that anyone cares about him, which is pretty sad. He uses his genius to build his walls higher and thicker, but the walls were put there in the first place through abuse. Abuse that is all too common and is often unnoticed. If Will was just an average guy from Southie like his buddies played by Ben and Casey Affleck would we even see him speaking to a therapist? No, he would have been in jail or worse. 

So, we need that piece of the puzzle to pull the movie along, but in reality, the movie is about how to be a friend, how to form relationships, and how to embrace commitment. Matt Damon and Robin Williams establish a great chemistry together and their scenes together make the film. The whole film rests on Sean’s relationship with Will. Is he going to fold under the hostility and egotistical superiority of this savant? Or will he look deeper than the math problem that is Will Hunting’s genius and actually care about him as a person? And by treating the person can he teach Will how to let others in and how to make a commitment?

Honorable Mentions

So, where were you in 1997? What fond memories do you have? Did I mess up my sinking the Titanic? Did I leave out on of your favorites? let me know in the comments below. You can also share what you enjoy about the top films on social media using the #BestMovieBracket. Thanks for joining me!

2010s, Coming Soon, Lists, Trailers

Ten Indie Movies to Watch this Summer

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You’ve probably already seen my regular Summer Movie Preview. That’s the one with Star Wars and Superhero movies. This is not that list. My favorite movies are usually indie films with a lower budget, a great story to tell, or a unique perspective or spin on things. This is a list of 10 of those movies that are coming soon. I actually have eleven on the list, but don’t worry, I won’t charge you extra.

The dates I have listed are their “limited release” dates. Unfortunately, they may not all reach you on those dates. If you are blessed to be in a primary or secondary market, you have a pretty good shot of seeing these indies. But these look like they will be worth keeping your ear to the ground and maybe even talking to your local theater manager about programming.

Tully – May 4

The third collaboration between writer Diablo Cody and Director Jason Reitman, after Juno and Young Adult. This film tackles motherhood and post-partum depression. Mackenzie Davis shows up like a adult version of Mary Poppins and Charlize Theron somehow makes herself look average. That should win an Oscar for best makeup.

First Reformed – May 18

Paul Schrader (The guy who wrote Taxi Driver) is directing this film and it has me very excited. I love Ethan Hawke’s acting abilities in the first place, but cast him as a disaffected minister struggling with anger and depression and you have me hook line and sinker. I have loved movies like Calvary and Doubt, but they have focused more on the Catholic side of the world of Christian ministry.

How to Talk to Girls at Parties – May 18

I’ve been a big fan of Elle Fanning since I saw her angelic face in Super 8. Now this year she is in this film about a group of aliens who descend on 1970’s London and get caught up in punk rock culture. It looks like a fun version of Under the Skin. She is also starring as the Frankenstein author Mary Shelley in a biopic. How to Talk to Girls at Parties has all the makings of an awesome indie cult favorite. It’s directed by John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and was written by Neil Gaiman. This should be a lot of fun.

Upgrade – June 1

Warning: language and graphic violence in the trailer. No, that’s not Tom Hardy in the lead role, it’s Logan Marshall-Green. I will be surprised if this isn’t a huge hit this summer. Essentially, this guy becomes a cyborg John Wick going on a rampage taking out the guys that killed his wife. The action looks crazy, the banter between the AI chip and the guy is solid, and the social media presence is already pretty high. This won’t win any Oscars, but it will make way more money than it cost to produce and even without a big name attached it will put butts in seats at the theater, count on it.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor – June 8

I want to be his neighbor! We live in a world full of people that hate each other. Blacks vs. Whites, Democrats vs. Republicans, Rich vs. Poor. It is time for the amazing philosophy of Fred Rogers to make a comeback. It is a pure and powerful look at Mr. Rogers as a force for good in the world. He welcomed us to his neighborhood the year my father graduated from high school in 1968 and finally said a tear-filled goodbye the year I graduated from high school in 2001. I hope that this vision of kindness and love takes hold and inspires others to this simple mission of showing unconditional love to everyone.

Under the Silver Lake – June 22

From the mind of David Robert Mitchell (It Follows) comes a crazy looking neo-noir crime thriller. With Andrew Garfield in the lead this looks like it could be an early Oscar contender. The trailer reminds me of Chinatown, Mulholland Drive, and L.A. Confidential all at once and there is nothing bad about that.

Leave No Trace – June 29

It’s really exciting to see Debra Granik get back behind the camera for a feature film. You may not recognize her name, but she is the director of one of the best films of 2010, Winter’s Bone. Making her directorial debut in that film, she wowed critics, earned 4 Oscar nominations and launched the career of a young girl named Jennifer Lawrence. Now, 8 years later, she is back and she has Ben Foster (who I have loved in everything he’s done since 2016’s Hell or High Water) and another relative newcomer (Thomasin McKenzie) who could take off just like J. Law did.

Sorry To Bother You – July 6

I’ve had my eyes on Lakeith Stanfield since 2013’s Short Term 12. You’ll probably recognize him from Get Out or TV’s Atlanta. This film was written and directed by first time movie maker and music front man named Boots Riley. It has the potential to be this year’s Get Out, a film that makes a social commentary in a subversively entertaining way. The trailer is very busy, so I hope they don’t go too far down the rabbit hole, but what a great premise.

Eighth Grade – July 13

Stand-up comedian Bo Burnham makes his directing debut helming a film about the life of a quirky 8th grade girl named Kayla played by Elsie Fisher who previously voiced Agnes in the Despicable Me franchise. I have an eighth grader, it is awkward, but these awkward situations and feelings aren’t unique to this time of our life. They are universal. I feel out of place and goofy every day of my life, the challenge is learning to embrace it, knowing that the things that make us different are the things that make us great.

Blindspotting – July 20

I just watched Fruitvale Station and I’m dying for more of this type of storytelling. Daveed Diggs plays a man who is almost completed with his parole. He’s just a few days away and his plans get interrupted by a life changing event. It looks like it might have a good touch of humor but also just some rich storytelling about race relations and the criminal justice system.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post – August 3

No trailer for this one yet, but it won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance. Essentially, Cameron Post (Chloe Grace Moretz) is in a physical relationship with her best friend. She’s caught having sex in the car at their homecoming dance, and her guardians freak out. The first twist is that her best friend is a girl and Cameron is gay. Her guardians send her off to a Christian conversion therapy camp/school. Ironically, she meets other queer teens and they form a sort of support group to get through the brainwashing.

The subject matter might be a bit risque for Christians but I’m not afraid of hearing those stereotypes. It helps me to be able to go against them and I can’t really blame people for making fun of some religious people.

So, what do you think? Are you going to add any of these to your watchlist? Which ones look the best to you? Tell me in the comments below or reach out to me on social media. See you at the movies!