Spring has begun and Summer is on the way, so here's a look at a mix of blockbusters and smaller films that might be worth your attention in the coming months.
April 3rd
The Drama
dir. Kristoffer Borgli; starring Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Mamoudou Athie, Alana Haim, Hailey Gates, and Zoë Winters; distributed by A24
Synopsis: A happily engaged couple is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails.
My thoughts: Zendaya and Pattinson tend to make interesting work. Also, I accidentally saw a spoiler for the "twist" (if that's the right word) of the film and am certainly intrigued to see what they do with that.
April 10th
The Christophers
dir. Steven Soderbergh; starring Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel; distributed by Neon
Synopsis: Art can be copied. Artists cannot. The estranged children of a once-famous artist hire a forger to complete his unfinished works so they can be “discovered” and sold after his death.
My thoughts: Interesting premise with a couple of excellent actors and one of the best living directors.
April 17th
Mother Mary
dir. David Lowery; starring Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, Atheena Frizzell, Kaia Gerber, Jessica Brown Findlay, Alba Baptista, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Sian Clifford, and FKA Twigs; distributed by A24
Synopsis: This is not a ghost story. Long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer Sam Anselm on the eve of her comeback performance.
My thoughts: I've been a fan of Lowery's work since 2017's A Ghost Story and now that's he's in the rotation of guests on Blank Check with Griffin and David, I'm even more in on whatever he's got going.
April 24th
Omaha
dir. Cole Webley; starring John Magaro, Molly Belle Wright, and Wyatt Solis; distributed by Greenwich Entertainment
Synopsis: A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
My thoughts: The main draw for me here is John Magaro, who tends to be a more-than-reliable presence on screen. And the reviews out of Sundance look positive.
May 1st
Hokum
dir. Damian McCarthy; starring Adam Scott; distributed by Neon
Synopsis: We’ve been expecting you. When novelist Ohm Bauman retreats to a remote inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, he is consumed by tales of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite. Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance force him to confront dark corners of his past.
My thoughts: Early reviews on Letterboxd look promising and I'm not sure I've ever seen Adam Scott give a bad performance.
May 15th
Obsession
dir. Curry Barker; starring Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette; distributed by Focus Features
Synopsis: Be careful who you wish for… After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
My thoughts: I've never really heard of anyone involved in this, but it seems like an interesting premise.
May 22nd
I Love Boosters
dir. Boots. Riley; starring Keke Palmer, Demi Moore, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Eiza González, and Poppy Liu; distributed by Neon
Synopsis: Booster: Somebody who steals clothes from a store and sells them at a discount price, aka community service. A crew of professional shoplifters known as The Velvet Gang take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven.
My thoughts: I've been waiting to see what Boots Riley would do next since 2018's Sorry to Bother You. And since I totally missed that he was involved in the 2023 TV series I'm a Virgo (putting that on the watchlist), I'm all here for what looks to be another high-pitched, high concept comedy aimed at the heart of capitalism and class.
May 22nd
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
dir. Jon Favreau; starring Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White; distributed by Walt Disney Studios
Synopsis: If you’re searching for new adventure, “this is the way.” The evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his young apprentice Grogu.
My thoughts: Look, is this movie going to be anything more than a giant episode of the TV show it follows? Is it even going to be good at all? On both counts, I don't f**king know! Now does it have a big ole AT-AT walker on the side of a cliff or something, and would I have loved to have gone this when I was a kid, and do I want to see if this is something I can watch with my kid? YES, YES, YES.
June 12th
Disclosure Day
dir. Stephen Spielberg; starring Emily Blunt, Josh O'Conner, Colman Domingo, and Colin Firth; distributed by Universal Pictures
Synopsis: We deserve to know. If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you?
My thoughts: Spielberg, sci-fi, and aliens, oh my!
June 19th
The Death of Robin Hood
dir. Michael Sarnoski; starring Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer, Bill Skarsgård, Murray Bartlett, and Noah Jupe; distributed by A24
Synopsis: He was no hero. Grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder, Robin Hood finds himself gravely injured after a battle he thought would be his last. In the hands of a mysterious woman, he is offered a chance at salvation.
My thoughts: Sarnoski's 2021 film, Pig, with Nicolas Cage and Alex Wolff was pretty sublime and now that you mention it, why wasn't Hugh Jackman playing Robin Hood for the last 20 years?
June 19th
Toy Story 5
dir. Andrew Stanton; starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Greta Lee, Conan O'Brien, Tony Hale, and Craig Robinson; distributed by A24
Synopsis: Hi! Let’s play! When Bonnie receives a Lilypad tablet as a gift and becomes obsessed, Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs become exponentially harder when they have to go head to head with the all-new threat to playtime.
My thoughts: Are the Toy Story sequels all, to some degree, cynical cash-ins on an industry-altering first installment that was already basically a feature-length commercial for capitalism run amok among children? And do these sequels seem to come to fruition just about any time Pixar is in need of a hit to refresh its juice with audiences, critics, et al. On both counts, absolutely. But does each one, in the face of all normality, tend to be rather charming with some decent lessons for their young, intended audience? And do they offer interesting looks in the mirror at the changing cultural and social landscapes of our times each moment they're released? Also, somehow, absolutely.
June 26th
The Invite
dir. Olivia Wilde; starring Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton; distributed by A24
Synopsis: Joe and Angela’s marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places.
My thoughts: I skipped Wilde's last film, Don't Worry Darling, more because it looked pretty bad than because of any of the drama swirling around it. But I quite liked her first film, Booksmart, so I'm hoping this is something that builds off that earlier success.
June 26th
Supergirl
dir. Craig Gillespie; starring Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham; distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Synopsis: Truth. Justice. Whatever. When an unexpected and ruthless adversary strikes too close to home, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, reluctantly joins forces with an unlikely companion on an epic, interstellar journey of vengeance and justice.
My thoughts: This, thanks to the spectacularly good source material it's based on (Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, by Tom King and Bilquis Evely), is the film I've been waiting for since it was announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran were taking over movies based on DC comics superheroes.
July 10th
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
dir. David Wain; starring Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Sabrina Impacciatore, Ben Wang, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Joe Lo Truglio, Mather Zickel, and Ken Marino; distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Synopsis: A Midwestern bride-to-be, Gail Daughtry, has a celebrity hall pass agreement with her fiancé… who uses it. Their relationship in crisis, Gail sets out on an epic journey through Hollywood to even the scales.
My thoughts: To be honest, quite a few of the critics I follow on Letterboxd gave this pretty bad reviews out of Sundance, but there are two folks in particular who I follow who seem to have loved it, which has me intrigued.
July 17th
The Odyssey
dir. Christopher Nolan; starring Matt Damon, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Mia Goth, and Robert Pattinson; distributed by Universal Pictures
Synopsis: Defy the gods. Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, embarks on a long and perilous journey home following the Trojan War, chronicling his encounters with mythical beings such as the Cyclops Polyphemus, the Sirens, and the witch-goddess Circe, while attempting to reunite with his wife, Penelope.
My thoughts: I'm really no stan for Nolan, but at this point he's arguably the most successful director of his generation. And he's following up what I personally think was his best film to date with an adaptation of one of the cornerstones of storytelling as we know it, featuring an ensemble that could make any casting director blush. So, yeah, I think it might be worth taking a look at.
July 31st
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
dir. Destin Daniel Cretton; starring Tom Holland, Zendaya; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Synopsis: A brand new day starts now. Four years have passed since the events of No Way Home, and Peter is now an adult living entirely alone, having voluntarily erased himself from the lives and memories of those he loves. Crime-fighting in a New York that no longer knows his name, he’s devoted himself entirely to protecting his city — a full-time Spider-Man — but as the demands on him intensify, the pressure sparks a surprising physical evolution that threatens his existence, even as a strange new pattern of crimes gives rise to one of the most powerful threats he has ever faced.
My thoughts: These Spider-Man films are very uneven, but I keep f**king going to them anyway because I like seeing Spider-Man go pew-pew with his little wrists. Okay???
August 14th
The End of Oak Street
dir. David Robert Mitchell; starring Ewan McGregor, Anne Hathaway, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery, P.J. Byrne, and Chris Coy; distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Synopsis: After a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighborhood to someplace unknown, a family soon discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings.
My thoughts: Mitchell's 2014 film, It Follows, was damned good, while 2018's Under the Silver Lake was a more scattershot mix of interesting ideas and digressive storytelling. Not sure which way this one falls, but it sounds intersting enough to take a shot on.
August 28th
The Dog Stars
dir. Ridley Scott; starring Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Benedict Wong, and Guy Pearce; distributed by 20th Century Studios
Synopsis: After the world’s population has been ravaged by a pandemic, a man lives a lonesome existence in a Colorado airplane hangar with his dog and a dour gunman he has befriended. When a mysterious transmission comes through on the radio while he’s flying his old Cessna, it sparks a hunt for the provenance of the sound.
My thoughts: While Scott is one of the most gifted directors of the last 50 years, he's certainly never been someone whose every film is a masterpiece – though many obviously are. But hey, the guy is 88 years old, so barring the worst reviews in the world, I'm pretty much going to go see anything he makes while I still can. And this one sounds promising.
September 18th
Resident Evil
dir. Zach Cregger; starring Austin Abrams, Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Synopsis: A hapless courier tasked with delivering a package to a remote hospital finds himself caught in the middle of an outbreak and must fight through hordes of mutated creatures to survive.
My thoughts: I'm not a gamer and I've never seen any of the previous adaptations, but after Barbarian and Weapons, I'm here for whatever Cregger's doing. Plus lead actor Austin Abrams was wildly entertaining in Weapons and the other 3 top cast are all folks I've enjoyed elsewhere.
September 18th
The Weight
dir. Padraic McKinley; starring Ethan Hawke, Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, and Russell Crowe; distributed by Vertical
Synopsis: In 1933 Oregon, Samuel Murphy is torn from his daughter and sent to a brutal work camp. Warden Clancy tempts him with early release if he smuggles gold through deadly wilderness, but betrayal festers within the crew, and Murphy questions how far he’ll go to see his child again.
My thoughts: Seems like this will be Ethan Hawke in grimy mode, which is usually pretty good. And the reviews out of Sundance are very promising.
Also this Spring/Summer:
- 4/24 - Michael (dir. Antoine Fuqua; distr. Lionsgate)
- 5/1 - Animal Farm (dir. Andy Serkis; distr. Angel Studios )
- 5/1 - The Devil Wears Prada 2 (dir. David Frankel; distr. 20th Century Studios)
- 6/5 - Masters of the Universe (dir. Travis Knight; distr. Amazon MGM Studios)
- 6/26 - Jackass 5 (dir. Jeff Tremaine; distr. Paramount Pictures)
- 7/17 - Cut Off (dir. Jonah Hill; distr. Warner Bros. Pictures)
Later this year or no known release date:
- The Adventures of Cliff Booth (dir. David Fincher; distr. Netflix)
- Avengers: Doomsday (dir. Anthony and Joe Russo; distr. Walt Disney Studios)
- Clayface (dir. James Watkins; distr. Warner Bros. Pictures)
- Digger (dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu; distr. Warner Bros. Pictures)
- Dune: Part Three (dir. Denis Villeneuve; distr. Warner Bros. Pictures)
- The Great Beyond (dir. J.J. Abrams; distr. Warner Bros. Pictures)
- Hexed (dir. Josie Trinidad and Jason Hand; distr. Walt Disney Studios)
- The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (dir. Francis Lawrence; distr. Lionsgate)
- I Play Rocky (dir. Peter Farrelly; distr. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
- Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew (dir. Greta Gerwig; distr. Netflix)
- Over Your Dead Body (dir. Jorma Taccone; distr. IFC)
- Remain (dir. M. Night Shyamalan; distr. Warner Bros. Pictures)
- Sense and Sensibility (dir. Georgia Oakley; distr. Focus Features)
- The Social Reckoning (dir. Aaron Sorkin; distr. Sony Pictures Releasing)
- Verity (dir. Michael Showalter; distr. Amazon MGM Studios)
- Werwulf (dir. Robert Eggers; distr. Focus Features)
Follow me on Letterboxd for more thoughts on film...
