July

We’re in the middle of summer and there are some big movies coming out! The last Marvel movie for a while, the latest Tarantino movie and the newest Disney reboot.

After the events of Civil War, his own movie, Infinity War and Endgame, it's about time that the friendly neighborhood webslinger take a vacation in Spider-Man: Far from Home. Unfortunately for him, bad guys don't take a vacation and his class trip is interrupted putting his classmates, and the entirety of London, in danger. Spoiler alert - Iron Man has passed and when trouble arises in London, it's now Nick Fury's job to turn to the next goodhearted, well-trained individual to save the day - and that person is Spider-Man. He also meets Mr. Fishbowl (actually he goes by Mysterio, but he wears what looks like a fishbowl on his head) played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who may be a good guyfrom another dimension or a trickster who is causing all of the trouble and pretending to be a good guy. This is also the final film in the stretch of movies referred to as the Infinity Saga that started with Iron Man and many assumed ended with Endgame but nope, they made room for one more. So we might have a bit of a break between this one and the next Marvel movie.

Last year Hereditary came out and it managed to become a minor hit by drawing in the indie crowd and the horror crowd. I saw it months after its release and found it really good and very unsettling. The director is back this year with another film that also looks good and unsettling. Dani and Christian are a couple whose relationship is deteriorating, but a tragedy keeps them from separating and Christian invites Dani to a vacation he had been planning with friends. It's a vacation to a seemingly idyllic European village for a celebration that occurs every 90's years called Midsommar. The trailers keep things vague but it looks as if things go from tranquil to horrifying over the course of a few days as the guests realize there is something very sinister going on. Since Hereditary had its fair share of twisted, in film traditions I imagine this one will feature a couple of its own.

On the day LA detective Vic, Dave Bautista, receives Lasik surgery he takes it upon himself to track down a dangerous criminal and since he can't drive for a few hours after the surgery, he calls for an Uber and Stu, Kumail Nanjiani, shows up. So Stu +Uber = Stuber. Stu just wants a 5-star rating but instead finds himself in an increasingly dangerous situation involving martial artists, car chases and the overwhelming possibility of a low Uber rating. Bautista and Kumail have both proven to be funny and entertaining actors and the pairing should make for a great action comedy. To help things in the action department, Iko Uwais is the bad guy. In non-American productions he's an amazing fighter, but  he was wasted in last years Mile 22 so hopefully this new movie lets him do what he does best. 

When a category 5 hurricane hits, a young woman goes to find her dad who is trapped in their home. Now, that is terrifying enough. Now, to make matters worse, there's an alligator in the house!  Crawl  has a relatively simple premise, but in the hands of director Alexandre Aja will most likely be a thrilling, fast paced and violent time at the movies that horror fans will enjoy. His movies tend to be a bit on the extreme side, as seen in High Tension and The Hills Have Eyes, but his last creature feature Piranha was over the top goofy violence. So this one might fall somewhere in the middle.

 A young boy who will one day rule the land his father rules goes on the run after his father is assassinated by his uncle, the boy believes he is the one responsible and goes on the run where he befriends a warthog and a meerkat. This is the time old tale of The Lion King, which is the latest Disney update. Unlike other recent remakes, you can't really call this a 'live action' remake since there were no human characters and everything is animated. It's just an updated version of the story we are familiar with but with alarmingly realistic animation, aside from the whole talking animals thing, and a whole new, and wildly popular, voice cast - except for James Earl Jones, because you just can't replace James Earl Jones.

Quentin Tarantino has always had a passion for referencing movies in his movies, so it was only a matter of time before he full-on made a movie about movies. The man is lucky that it seems everything he makes is his 'passion project,' but Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood really seems like a passion project. Leonardo DiCaprio is a movie star who's not the star he used to be, Brad Pitt is his friend and stunt man and they have a new neighbor: Sharon Tate, played by Margot Robbie. Some new folks are also in the area, one of which is Charlie Manson. Tarantino's ode to late 60's Hollywood is also his retelling of the Manson Murders because of course, it is. Due to the subject matter I am wary but the cast is huge and Tarantino rarely disappoints.