june

The weather may not feel very summery, but the movies this month sure are.

I think it's about time we have a fun summer movie about people having a fun summer and that's what Action Point looks like. Where Adventureland and The Way, Way Back were more drama than comedy, Action Point looks like a whole lot of irresponsible fun. Loosely based on the real life and notably dangerous New Jersey theme park Action Park, the story is about a park owner who needs to attract customers and does so by stripping away safety regulations. Johnny Knoxville stars as the park owner and went to the emergency room many times during production. The guy is almost 50 and still beating himself up for our entertainment. As a fan of the Jackass movies and TV show I am very excited for this.

Baltasar Kormákur is an Icelandic director with a penchant for making man v. nature films. American producers tapped him to make a couple Mark Wahlberg action films, but after that he made Everest, which seemed more fitting. Now he's made Adrift which, like Everest, is based on a true story but this one is a bit more romantic than a treacherous mountain climb. Two young lovers embark on a journey across the sea that gets interrupted by a deadly storm. With the boat destroyed and one of them wounded they make the long, dangerous trip to a safe port. Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin seem like likeable enough leads and the director has a talent for putting people in danger, so if you think you'll like this it may just be for you.

True story heist films usually embellish the facts, but the more I read American Animals the more I realize it doesn't need to embellish the facts - the facts are crazy enough. When a student realizes his college library houses extremely rare books, he decides he and a group of his friends are going to steal and attempt to sell the books. Spoiler alert - the plan doesn't go well, but the film features interviews from the real life thieves inter-spliced with the actions of the actors portraying them. It's an odd method for what will most certainly be an odd film.

You can really make a movie about anything if you have a fun cast and  the 'true story' of Tag - the game where you are 'it' and you make contact with another so they become 'it' - did just that. Based on the schoolyard kids game, Tag stars Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm, Jake Johnson and Ed Helms as friends who have played tag since they were in high school. They're all older and some are married and successful, but they still make time to get together and play their silly game. But one friend, Jeremy Renner, has never been 'it' and the friends team up to finally tag him. If you have a moment, look up the article in WSJ article It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being 'It', it's pretty charming.

Leigh Whannell has been in the screenwriting business for several years now. He's worked on the Saw movies which are over the top and pretty gross, the Insidious movies which are freaky and kind of funny and now he has Upgrade which looks over the top, gross, freaky and kind of funny. In his sophomore effort as a director, Whannell is abandoning his horror roots and going full on action sfi-fi with a story about a man with new, enhanced robot abilities. After his wife is killed and he is left for dead, the road to recovery is sped up significantly when he agrees to partake in an experimental procedure that fuses his body and mind to a computer program called STEM that helps him track and kill those responsible. The trailer alludes to a violent, sadistic sense of humor that probably won't click with all audiences.

The Ocean's 11 series is a fun series about a group of guys coming together for a massive and complicated theft. George Clooney starred as Danny Ocean and now in Ocean's 8, it's his sister’s turn. Debbie Ocean, Sandra Bullock fresh out of prison, hatches a major heist during the Met Gala. Much like her brother her role is to plan the heist, round up the crew and look classy while doing so. The crew includes Helena Boham Carter, Rihanna, Cate Blanchette, Mindy Kaling and Sarah Paulson while Anne Hatheway plays a mark. As this does take place during the Met Gala expect lots of cameos along with the intrigue and snappy dialogue.

Trailers for bigger movies tend to be mini-movies, some even go so far as to show key scenes of the ending! It's frustrating but sometimes you get some inspired marketing that tells you little about the movie while showing some scenes that give hints at the plot and themes. Hereditary succeeds at this. The film is about is about a woman passing and her daughter discovering secrets that will have an impact on her and her family. You wouldn't get that from the trailer. It just includes some unsettling images, including a person on fire, and some reviews for how good the movie is. It worked for me. I want to see this.

Disney is still relatively new to the Marvel superhero world but14 years ago they released one of the best superhero movies ever and this month, we get the long awaited sequel: Incredibles 2. The Incredibles are comprised of Mr. Incredible - super strong, Elastigirl - ability to stretch her whole body, Violet - can become invisible and create force fields, Dash - can run real fast and Jak-Jak - a baby who's appears share the powers of his entire family and potentially even more. This sequel takes place in a world where superheroes need a rebranding and a PR exec places Elastigirl front and center and keeps everyone else out of the spotlight. Mr. Incredible stays at home and tries to care for two grumpy teens who can't use their powers and a baby who can't control his, while Elastigirl saves the world. The trailer shows the funny stuff but I'm hoping the action and excitement delivers because it sure did in the first one.

After the events of Jurassic World, it finally became clear that having a theme park based around genetically superior deadly creatures was a terrible idea and the doors were closed. Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom takes place a few years after the World events when it is discovered that a deadly volcano will destroy all of the surviving dinos. Owen and Claire (Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard) are tasked to track down some of the dinosaurs under the impression they are there to save living things but soon find out there is something shady going on. It seems the Jurassic World series has surpassed the Austin Powers series in terms of ridiculousness when some rich evil doers plan to sell the deadly dinos and the world once again finds itself under attack by dinosaurs. Jeff Goldblum is back. Can't wait.

Sicario stars Emily Blunt as a young federal agent on the Mexican - American border who works under the charismatic Josh Brolin and alongside the mysterious Benecio Del Toro who seems to have a mission of his own. Sicario: Day of the Soldado, continues the story of Del Toro's character, who is once again working with Brolin (having the biggest year of his career). Their goal is to start a war with drug cartels when the U.S. Government lists them as a terrorist organization. When a young child is witness to a shootout with Mexican police, Brolin is ordered to take her out and Del Toro takes it upon himself to protect her - probably in an attempt to redeem his twisted and dark past. This may sound like a typical action film but having seen the first I believe this will be more upsetting than exciting.